We met with Jo Anne Zettler in Meridian, Mississippi two days ago. She is past director of Mercy Associates. (They are the lay arm of the Sisters of Mercy.) Jo Anne said the Sisters of Mercy go into areas where there are no hospitals and try to establish them, or other supplemental medical services. For instance, she said some of the Sisters of Mercy are working in Mississippi’s Delta region, the poorest in the state. What’s more, unlike a majority of the “snow bird” RVers who come south for enjoyment in the warmer weather each winter, she said one RVing couple from up north come south to the Delta region every winter to work with the Sisters there. In that same volunteering vein, Jo Anne is a wonderful example herself. She was the director of the Associates of Mercy for five years, traveling throughout the 7-state St. Louis Region — while also being the mother of: 10. Jo Anne is an “extra-mile American” in the truest sense of that phrase.
1/6/05
We drove into Green County, Alabama, the poorest county in the country — and it shows. Touring downtown Boligee, Alabama, we saw a grocery, a bank, a mechanic shop and a series of other buildings, all closed. Some reduced to rubble. (The only thing open now is the Post Office.) The small farms, cotton gins, and other industry were once the staple here. But agri-business up north and out west has driven most small farmers off their land here, the industry has gone north and most jobs (which aren’t many) pay little more than minimum wage. Gary Burton, 41, said he is one of the lucky ones, working at a small cedar mill for “pretty good money,” $7.10 an hour. When asked how people got by down here, Gary said: “Dollar Stores.” In Epes, Alabama, just south of Boligee, Debra Bock told us a good number of people from here take a bus 2 and 1/2 hours from here to work at the Tyson Chicken Plant in Forest, Mississippi “for a little over $7 an hour.” She said people will get on the bus at 6:30 p.m., work from 10:15 p.m. to 6:15 a.m., ride another 2 and 1/2 hours home — and do it again the following night. [Meanwhile, many of those who are “advantaged,” comfortably sit back over a chicken dinner and the nightly news — without a social justice thought about it all. What an absolute travesty, not to mention a huge moral failing.]
1/5/05
A front page story about the campaign ran in The Demopolis Times newspaper. Editor Theresa Swope noted I was asking Americans (across the socio-economic board) to “sacrifice.” For instance, the story said I relayed that there was a time in this country when people, all people, lived without air-conditioning. My proposition is we go back to that, and take the savings to help people in the Third World have just the minimum in electricity so they can have, say: light. The Bible exhorts that if we have two coats, and our brother needs one — we give him/her one of the coats. And I have to believe when it comes to energy use in the U.S. versus the Third World, our proposal would represent the spirit of this particular Biblical value in a very tangible way.
1/3/04
We headed west on Rte. 80 to Demopolis, Alabama. There we met with Gala Culpepper (Is that a southern name, or what?), who is a member of the Demopolis Historical Society. She said there is quite a thrust here to preserve history, with a series of renovation projects and historic markers all over town. And as they are trying to preserve history, they are trying to preserve a “simpler” way of life, said Gala. That is, going to work each day, church on Sunday and a “family meal at Grandma’s” on Sunday afternoon” — all wrapped in a slower pace… I then met with St. Leo pastor Michael Wrigley who was a sociology professor at Alabama University until he heard the call to priesthood. He told me he gave up his salary, pension, and so on at age 42, because he said he knew God was calling him in another direction.
12/31/04
We headed into Selma, Alabama — the flash point for the Civil Rights Movement. Local Historian Alston Fitts gave me a tour. Alston explained that the first Civil Rights march from Selma to Montgomery turned into Bloody Sunday, as some 600 (mostly) Black walkers were beaten back by state troopers wielding billy clubs. The TV news cameras were there. And as what many would like to believe was a providential coincidence, the “News Flash” from Selma broke into the showing of the movie The Nuremburg Trials (Nazi Germany) on one of the stations. “People were watching a movie about extreme oppression, and then there was this scene of innocent, non-violent citizens being beaten,” said Alston. Numbers for the next march the next week swelled to 25,000, as people from all over the country came to Selma in solidarity. The march went the 50 miles to Montgomery this time and the eventual result was Lydon Johnson signing the Voting Rights Act… I told the Selma newspaper that the courage demonstrated by these marchers (including Martin Luther King Jr.) should not only never be forgotten, but the American citizenry should be inspired by it as people continue to fight battles for equal rights, peace and social justice throughout the land today.
12/30/04
Was interviewed by Montgomery, Alabama’s newspaper. I told reporter Erica Pippins that we still had “slavery” in this country. That is, Blacks, Whites, etc… are still slaves to inner city poverty loops. And to impact this, significantly impact this, people in the suburbs need to slow their upward mobility climb, roll up their sleeves and head into the inner city to help, really help.
12/28/04
I interviewed Auburn University professor Rene McEldowney today for a position paper on health care. Professor McEldowney is a “Health Care Economist” who has traveled the world researching other countries health care systems. She told me the American privatized system is actually quite wasteful, with some 30% of the budget going to administrative costs, or “paper pushing,” as she put it. Making up some of this “waste” (as opposed to direct care) is: money for advertising, salaries for personnel to deal with insurance companies, lawyers to deal with law suits, CEOs who are making six figures to oversee a lot of this… Meanwhile, in countries like Holland that have gone to socialized medicine (government sponsored), many of these costs are eliminated. The professor, who is a proponent of National Health Care because she sees it as a more efficient, and equitable, system for everyone, told me she saw America, sometime in the future, going to a similar National Health Care plan. And she quoted Winston Churchill in regard to this (and other things). “You can always trust Americans to do the right thing — once they’ve exhausted all the other possibilities.”
12/27/04
Met with St. Bede’s Pastor David Tokarz in Montgomery, Alabama today. He said his church has recently established a Sister Church project with a Black Baptist Church in rural Hayneville, Alabama. It started when First Baptist Church sent out a financial plea for one of it’s congregation members. A mother of three was dying of Aids and the church was trying to move the family in with a grandmother in the area so there was a continuity after the mother passed. The money was needed to build an addition onto the grandmother’s home, and St. Bede’s rallied to help.
12/26/04
In Prattville, Alabama, I met with Gene Brown, Deputy Executive Director of the National Naval Enlisted Reserve Association. He said the biggest Veteran’s issue, in his opinion, is getting more health care benefits for those who have served. His organization supports the Naval Marine Corps and Coast Guard. He said he is quite concerned about recent cuts in Federal funding to help Veterans in general, and would like to see a significant shift back.
12/22/04
We headed south to Clanton, Alabama where we talked with Sr. Marie Dina, pastoral leader of Ressurection Church here. There are many Hispanics connected with the parish that are living below the poverty line. She said, however, the answer is not: “charity.” The answer is: social justice. That is, the gospel would call us not to just throw some short-term money at the poor; but rather the ‘haves’ must work stridently to help the ‘have-nots’ get better education, more mentoring help, more help for people to develop the God given talents they have… so that much more true equality is attained. Note: Sr. Marie is so intent on helping the poor here, she goes without heat in the rectory so the savings can go to help. “I just sleep under a lot of blankets,” she smiled.