Present: Peter, Ellyn, Glenda Rae, Rey, Lois, Wanda, Galen
Old business
1. Approval of Minutes for July 23: The minutes were approved as corrected. Lois pointed out that the library history person called her to do an interview and she agreed only if it could be focused on MPJC. Rey mentioned that the reference to the fire at their house should read "their" bedroom rather than "her" bedroom.
2. Progress Reports:
a. Topic of the Month: Why we oppose nuclear weapons: This was approved and will be put on the wedsite. There was some discussion about the 2017 Indiana law regarding net meetering reimbursement. This is complicated and most of the beneficial sections do not apply to homes installing solar panels after December 2017, so we decided to delete the reference to houses connecting to the grid.
b. Tribune Interview: Peter and Lois were interviewed by one of the library history librarians at the downtown library in late July. They were told a few days before that they needed to speak for only 4 minutes, so Peter prepared some remarks about the history and purpose of MPJC and Lois was ready to talk about how small actions can make big changes. We talked for a lot longer than 4 minutes under questions from the librarian, but she said she would pare it down. The first segment aired on WVPE on August 6 and the second segment on August 13. We were not expecting a second segment, but Ellyn said that many of the previous interviews had appeared in 2 segments. Everyone who listened to them thought they represented us well. See wvpe.org/topic/michiana-stories. When you get to the site, arrow down to Peter and Lois picture, click on the picture and then click on Listen.
c. Hiroshima/Nagasaki vigil: We held this vigil on Monday, August 6, using signs that Peter had rescued from Rey and Glenda Rae's house after the fire. We contacted a number of people; Wanda had her nuclear weapons letter published in the Tribune mentioning the vigil on the day before; and Peter and Lois interview on WVPE was aired the morning of August 6 and mentioned the vigil. However only a few extra people showed up: Sarah Haefner, Jane Pitz, and Ronda Hughes. The vigil went well.
d. International Day of Prayer for Peace: This is Friday, September 21. Lois contacted the head of URC and she said they are having a board meeting on the 28th and she would bring up the day of prayer for peace. Lois will keep us informed. Ome suggestion is to have children create posters and bring them to a gathering around the MLK statue.
c. Book of the Month report: Glenda Rae has been reading "How to Kill a City: Gentrification, Inequality, and the Fight for the Neighborhood," by Peter Moskowitz. She has read about Detroit, New Orleans, and San Francisco. The book describes how the rich are buying up property in the center cities and forcing the poor to the outskirts where there are no jobs and little access to public transportation. Wanda read "Educated," by Kara Westover, who spoke about her upbringing by fanatical Mormon parents. She was not allowed to go to school or be treated by a doctor and forced to work dangerous jobs at a junk yard.
Ellyn is rereading Harry Potter and noticed the prejudice on the part of magicians against muggles (those without magic abilities). It seems similar to the way he who shall not be named is trying to set segments of American society against one another.
Lois is reading "The Times of My Life" by James Langford and how he started a camp for children on New Road. Lois took her head start kids there several times. His neighbors tried to stop him from bringing inner city kids to the neighborhood.
d. Immigration Coalition: The IUSB program to discuss the ways immigrants have enriched the community was very poorly attended - less than 25 folks attended. It must not have been well publicized. There is a talk on September 5, 11-1:30pm at the Notre Dame Kroc center, titled "Immigration and a just peace."
3. Treasurer's Report: $124.52 with $30 in petty cash.
New Business
1. What do we (can we) do next? We incorporated this topic into other discussion
2. Topic of the Month: We might investigate the issue of military recruitment in the local schools. We are to contact teachers we know to find out how problematic this is. Other topics could be U.S. involvement in Yemen or the military budget.
3. Other Topics and Issues: There will be a global climate action summitt on September 8
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4. Next meeting: Monday, October 1st, at 2:30pm at Lois' assisted living center. We will send the directions in the meeting announcement.