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NETWORK Lobby enthusiastically celebrates Judge Jackson's nomination to the United States Supreme Court.

NETWORK Strongly Supports Confirmation of Judge Jackson to Supreme Court

NETWORK Strongly Supports Confirmation of Judge Jackson to Supreme Court

Minister Christian Watkins
March 21, 2022

Ahead of this week’s nomination hearings for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, NETWORK sent a letter strongly supporting her confirmation to the Supreme Court to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin and Ranking Member Chuck Grassley.

Watch Judge Jackson’s nomination hearings here.

The letter asks Senators Durbin and Grassley to ensure a respectful, thorough, and swift confirmation process for Judge Jackson.

Judge Jackson’s work representing criminal defendants as well as her participation on the bipartisan Sentencing Commission is particularly meaningful from the Catholic tradition. As the letter explains,

The Gospels echo a sacred call proclaimed by the prophet Micah to act with both justice and mercy (Micah 6:8-9). During World Youth Day 2016, Pope Francis used the three parables in Luke Chapter 15—the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the prodigal son—as a model of Christian mercy, saying: “Our Lord’s mercy can be seen especially when he bends down to human misery and shows his compassion for those in need of understanding, healing and forgiveness.” Judge Jackson’s work to eliminate racial disparities in sentencing and other sentencing reforms as well as her call for robust public defense systems to ensure just, fair, and reliable outcomes demonstrate her profound regard for the humanity of defendants. This is Christian mercy in the public square.

As the Supreme Court regularly decides critical civil rights and civil liberties cases, Judge Jackson’s confirmation will lend an important perspective to the Court’s deliberations. Her more than 600 rulings reflect her dedication to being a fair-minded, even-handed jurist committed to equal justice for all. She has garnered respect and recognition across partisan and ideological lines, and received broad support from the Senate for several high-level appointments. Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson is undeniably qualified to serve on the highest court in the land.

Read the full text of the letter here.

Sign NETWORK’s letter to show your support for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Supreme Court nomination!

Add Your Name
NETWORK Lobby invites you to join your Lent 2022 journey with ours. Our weekly Lenten lesson includes reflections and a video series on individual bias and racism and racist policy built into the US tax code

Lent 2022: Lent Calls Us to See Injustice and Build Anew

Lent 2022, Week 3: Lent Calls Us to See Injustice and Build Anew

Now that we’re aware of government discrimination, we may balk at feeling responsible for it. But, we’ve seen it. The discrimination has been laid bare. We can’t unsee the injustice.

View other 2022 Lenten Reflections: Ash Wednesday | Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 4 | Week 5|
Week 6

Meg Olson
March 18, 2022
Watch Tax Justice For All – Week 3 (at the 14 minutes and 24 seconds mark).
This week, we see how wealth and education intersect to impact economic outcomes for our families. Consider how tax codes and laws can cause real harm. We’ve compared current marginal tax rates to those of the 1960’s and have seen how the 1960’s tax schemes contributed to equitable economic prosperity. Today we tolerate a destabilizing stratification of wealth where the ultra-wealthy and wealthy are favored under the tax code. Why should those who earn exponentially more than the rest of us, like CEOS, be exempt from paying their fair share of taxes?

Questions for reflection:

  1. When is a time that I have benefitted from something I didn’t earn?
  2. When I encounter someone who is suffering some misfortune such as poverty, do I assume they somehow deserve it? Does my opinion change based on that person’s race?
  3. What am I prepared to do to ensure that structures in my world are more equitable?

Thank you to NETWORK Grassroots Mobilization team members Sr. Emily TeKolste, SP and Colin Martinez Longmore for leading us through these lessons. We’ll watch more together next week!

View earlier Lenten Reflections: Week 1 | Week 2 | Ash Wednesday

When we encounter something unpleasant, we sometimes say we ‘can’t unsee’ that, and residual trauma can linger for years, or even decades. Seeing can change us forever – so it’s important that we do it. When we navigate through life with blinders on, we don’t see the harm we cause, but Lenten repentance relies on clear and honest reflection. Without clarity, how can we achieve true conversion and foster a deeper relationship with Jesus and His Father?

We know that you want to create change that makes life more just. But before we advocate for policies that dismantles systemic racism, we must free ourselves from harmful biases, like the idea that wealth correlates to deservingness. In this Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus underscores this point: “Those eighteen people who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than everyone else who lived in Jerusalem? By no means!” (Luke 13:4-5). It’s a striking comment on our culture that people are tempted to expect bad things to happen, like drive-by shootings or failing schools, in rougher neighborhoods; and good things to happen, like new single-family homes and dog parks in good neighborhoods.

Federal, state, and local laws have negatively impacted economic progress for Black and Brown people. From post-WWI federal public housing policy, red-lining, and the tax code to the ‘War on Drugs’ and school funding, the dire gap in wealth disparity between white and Black families can be traced to government intervention. A 2015 study by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston showed that the median net wealth of Boston’s white households is nearly $250,000, while that of Black households is $8. Let that sink in. All Black and Brown people aren’t prevented from wealth-building opportunities like buying a home, contributing to a child’s 529 college savings plan, and saving for retirement. But as the Boston data shows, far too many have been unable to overcome the obstacles of discriminatory lending, housing, and tax policy to live the liberative, dignified life that God wants for ALL OF US.

Now that we’re aware of government discrimination, we may balk at feeling responsible for it. But, we’ve seen it. The discrimination has been laid bare. We can’t unsee the injustice.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, a market spawned for on demand, short term contracted work. This “gig economy” boomed during the COVID-19 shutdown as services like Lyft, Uber Eats and dog walking were in high demand. The people in these jobs may  provide vital services, but they don’t enjoy wages, benefits and labor protections that traditional employers must provide. A significant portion of gig economy workers are Black, Brown, and immigrants. Their wages are unpredictable and stagnant and they are practically barred from the opportunity to build wealth.

St. Joseph’s feast day is tomorrow. Use his example to see the sacred character of all who seek to make a home for themselves and provide for their families. Consider how what we’ve seen together in the Tax Justice For All resource can help us Build Anew the economic and social structures that are just for all, especially those who struggle to overcome racist policies and laws.

Good and gracious God, as we prepare ourselves to share in the joy of Easter, open our hearts and minds. Help us to see what we would rather not see, especially the suffering caused by the injustice of systemic racism. Help us reflect on these painful realities and see them for what they are. Help us to avoid despair and to move from reflection to action, galvanized by your Spirit. Grant us the courage to speak out and the clarity to cooperate with your grace in building the world anew. Amen. NETWORK Prayer to Move from Reflection to Action

Two Years of the Immoral Misuse of Title 42: Virtual Day of Action

Two Years of the Immoral Misuse of Title 42: Virtual Day of Action

Ronnate Asirwatham
March 21, 2022
Watch the Livestream at 1:00 PM Eastern/10:00 AM Pacific

March 21, 2022 marks two years since President Trump authorized Title 42, a racist, inhumane policy with no medical basis that turns migrants and asylum seekers away at our country’s Southern border. Since President Biden came into office, NETWORK’s community of justice-seekers and our partners have repeatedly called on his administration to end the misuse of Title 42 and restore asylum — to no avail.

Last week, President Biden ended Title 42 expulsions for unaccompanied children. While this is a small win, it makes no sense to say unaccompanied children don’t bring disease, but children with families do. President Biden needs to follow science and allow the CDC to end the Title 42 expulsion policy for all immigrants at our Southern Border.

Take Action on Social Media

From March 18 to March 21, Kino Border Initiative invites people of faith to pray on social media. Your prayers will lift up a Via Crucis (Way of the Cross) in Nogales, Mexico organized by seven migrants to mark two years of Title 42.

Here’s how to participate: 

  • Wear red and make a sign that says, “Save Asylum! End Title 42!”
  •  Take a photo of yourself or you and your friends
  • Post your photo on the social media platform of your choice, with a prayer

Kino has asked that you name the seven migrants in your prayers. They are: Lisandro, Miriam, Esmeralda, Victor, Manuel, Sarahi, and Rosario. In your post, be sure to tag @NETWORKLobby, @KinoBorder, @POTUS, and use the hashtags #SaveAsylum and #EndTitle42.

Equal Pay Day: Privilege Should Not Predict Pay

Equal Pay Day: Privilege Should Not Predict Pay 

Gina Kelley
March 15, 2022

This year Equal Pay Day is March 15th, symbolizing how far into the year women have to work to earn what men earned the year before [1]. Women are not a monolith, a woman’s race, assigned gender at birth, ability, or sexuality can widen the gap. Therefore we mark multiple ‘equal pay’ days throughout the year to raise awareness for the persistent gender and racial income gaps that have become the norm.  

May is AAPI Women’s Equal Pay Day, marking the 85 cents Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander women earn for every dollar a white man does. June and July have LGBTQIA+ and Moms Equal Pay Days respectively. Black Women’s Equal Pay Day is in September marking the 63 cents they earn in comparison to white male counterparts.  

Both Native and Latina equal paydays are in December with Native women earning 60 cents on the dollar and Latina women earning 57 cents. Meaning that Native and Latina women have to work over two years just to earn what a white man earns in one. 

Cents on the dollar can seem abstract. A recent study found that in 2021 the difference in median earnings nationally found that in U.S workers employed full-time last year women earned $10,000 less. This difference in median earnings varied by states with states and territories like Wyoming, Washington, D.C., and Utah having gendered wage disparities of more than $15,000.  

In an even bigger picture, some reports have estimated that women earn over 400,000 dollars less than their male counterparts do over the course of a 40-year period. The total wage differences between men and women on average is more than $799 billion every single year. 

These gender and racial discrepancies are harmful examples of the ways our society undervalues women and communities of color. There are multiple ways labor laws and employment practices create this loss of women’s wages.  

Blatant pay is discrimination is only one of the ways these inequities are formed. Job segregation is a subversive way that women are overrepresented in lower-paying (and often) service-providing industries due to assumptions about the types work different genders are best suited due to an imagined inherent gendered quality. However, compounding on top of job segregation is that across occupations women are most often employed at the lower end of the wage distribution. A powerful example of this is that women make up 52.8% of legal positions in the U.S but only 37.4% of lawyers are women—meaning that women disproportionately occupy lower-paying positions like legal assistants and paralegals.  

NETWORK continues to actively support policies that address economic inequalities. This includes major labor law reform like the Protecting the Right to Organize Act because we know that collective bargaining agreements and implementing standard wage policies are critical steps to closing these gaps for women and people of color. We also know that creating a national paid family and medical leave program is instrumental in making sure women are not punished for the caretaking responsibilities they disproportionately hold. We also support legislation that implements equitable employment practices like the Paycheck Fairness Act, the Schedules That Work Act, and the Part-Time Worker Bill of Rights.  

This Equal Pay Day and this Women’s History Month we have to recognize that labor issues are women’s issues and these issues matter and demand prioritization. Women’s issues require our attention now more than ever and what women need is economic stability and just labor laws.  

 

1 All studies referenced compare women’s earnings to non-Hispanic white men—even if something more general like “male counterparts” is used. There are also harmful disparities between men of color and white men.  

International Women’s Day: Celebrating NETWORK Foundresses’ Spirit, Wisdom, and Legacy

Celebrating NETWORK Foundresses’ Spirit, Wisdom, and Legacy

March 8, 2021

In honor of International Women’s Day (March 8) and to kick off Catholic Sisters Week (March 8-14), watch NETWORK’s Foundresses tell the story of creating a Catholic, woman-led organization to educate, organize, and lobby for justice in their own words!

Featured in This Video:

NETWORK Foundresses Carol Coston OP, Dr. Mary Hayes SNDdeN, Angela Marie Fitzpatrick OSU, Teresina Grasso SP, Mary Reilly RSM, Marilyn Huegerich OSF, Peggy Neal, Liz Morancy and NETWORK Executive Director Mary J. Novak

NETWORK Lobby invites you to join your Lent 2022 journey with ours. Our weekly Lenten lesson includes reflections and a video series on individual bias and racism and racist policy built into the US tax code

Lent 2022: Lent Calls us To Recognize Our Limits

Lent 2022, Week 2: Lent Calls us To Recognize Our Limits

This Sunday’s Gospel, the Transfiguration, offers a vivid account of the disciples being shown what was hidden from them, the divine reality of Jesus’ identity. We too must strive to recognize the divine in every person and learn to reverence them and their stories in ways that reflect and honor the truth embedded in them. 

View other 2022 Lenten Reflections: Ash Wednesday | Week 1 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6

Sr. Erin Zubal, OSU
March 11, 2022

Watch Tax Justice For All – Week 2 (at 7:47)

In this week’s reflection we’ll explore inequities and racist policies embedded in our tax structures with individual and family scenarios. I encourage you to reflect on financial issues like college savings and student loan debt, and how they impact communities disparately. For instance, student debt and slower income growth are among drivers of the growing racial wealth gap.

More than 84% of college-educated Black households in their 30’s have student debt, up from 35% three decades ago, when today’s Baby Boomers were the same age. The amount of debt has also soared higher. Yet, many older people assume that today’s young adults have the same advantages they did and should have no problem achieving the similar success.

Questions for reflection:

  1. What are privileges I enjoy in my life without fully appreciating it?
  2. When have I avoided seeing or recognizing the suffering of another person?
  3. How does it make me feel, emotionally and physically, to realize the depth of the disadvantage or injustice faced by another person?
  4. What keeps me from recognizing God in every person?

Thank you to NETWORK Grassroots Mobilization team members Sr. Emily TeKolste, SP and Colin Martinez Longmore for leading us through these lessons. We’ll watch more together next week!

Lent calls us to repent

In Lent, God challenges us to let go of pride and recognize our limits and our dependence on the divine. When we fast during Lent, we seek to escape the limits of our experience by being in solidarity with those who go without food and feeling the pain of hunger even briefly. But we also need to recognize the limits of our perspective and life experience in other areas.

When we only experience our own background and its privileges, it’s easy to assume that everyone is like us. In many ways, I had to become a social worker providing direct service in the county jail to realize what I had taken for granted growing up as a middle class white woman in Ohio. Those early years as a social worker, and then as an educator, formed and shaped me to be a better woman religious, social worker, and educator who could name and understand her privilege. Pope Francis preaches integral ecology, which is the recognition that we are all interconnected. This recognition should extend to our neighbors we can’t see. Especially those pushed into the margins in ways we don’t understand and are disadvantaged by our very laws and policies.

Good and gracious God, as we prepare ourselves to share in the joy of Easter, open our hearts and minds. Help us to see what we would rather not see, especially the suffering caused by the injustice of systemic racism. Help us reflect on these painful realities and see them for what they are. Help us to avoid despair and to move from reflection to action, galvanized by your Spirit. Grant us the courage to speak out and the clarity to cooperate with your grace in building the world anew. Amen. NETWORK Prayer to Move from Reflection to Action
NETWORK Lobby invites you to join your Lent 2022 journey with ours. Our weekly Lenten lesson includes reflections and a video series on individual bias and racism and racist policy built into the US tax code

Lent 2022: Lent Calls us to Individual and Communal Repentance

Lent 2022: Lent Calls us to Individual and Communal Repentance

View our Lenten Reflections: Ash Wednesday | Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5

Joan Neal
March 4, 2022

Lent calls us to repentance. It calls us individually and as a community. Sometimes it can be difficult to see our individual failings. Sometimes they’re right in front of us, whether we like it or not. It can be even harder to see our collective failings.

But Robert P. Jones of the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) has unearthed and distilled one collective failing that should distress justice-seekers in the United States. Studying public opinion data year after year, he has found that white Christians are consistently more likely than religiously unaffiliated whites to deny the existence of systemic racism.

This disturbing fact is a driving force behind next month’s NETWORK-sponsored event, “White Supremacy and American Christianity,” featuring Dr. Jones, Father Bryan Massingale of Fordham University, and Dr. Marcia Chatelain of Georgetown University.

But as we look forward to that event and prepare ourselves for the joy of the Resurrection at Easter, it is appropriate that we hone our capacity to recognize systemic racism and to be equipped to act in response to it. As writer, activist, and NETWORK board member Leslye Colvin puts it, “We can’t have reconciliation when you are unwilling to do your own work, as painful and difficult as it is for you.”  As Dr. Jones points out, this is work that Christians, particularly white Christians, must do and Lent is an opportune time to do it.

“We can’t have reconciliation when you are unwilling to do your own work, as painful and difficult as it is for you.”  ~Leslye Colvin, writer, activist, and NETWORK board member
So for the next six weeks, we will explore systemic racism in a form truly obscured from our view in a system we take for granted: the U.S. tax code. We will do this by intentionally working our way through the NETWORK resource Tax Justice for All, which pinpoints inequities and racist policies embedded in our tax structures.

While Lent and taxes may seem like an unusual combination, the reality is summed up by comedian and commentator John Oliver: “If you want to do something evil, put it inside something boring.”

And so it’s incumbent on us to learn. If we can’t see it, how can we ever repent and make amends? So I encourage you to watch the introduction to this resource and begin to wrestle with the questions below. To confront systemic racism, we must move from reflection to action. And that begins with understanding this reality.

Watch the Introduction to NETWORK’s Tax Justice For All Experience

Watch the first 7 minutes and 45 seconds of the Tax Justice for All workshop to learn from NETWORK Grassroots Mobilization team members Sr. Emily TeKolste, SP and Colin Martinez Longmore why it is so important to learn about the inequities embedded in the U.S. tax code. Next week, we’ll watch more together!

Questions for reflection:

  • What are privileges I enjoy in my life without fully appreciating it?
  • When have I avoided seeing or recognizing the suffering of another person?
  • How does it make me feel, emotionally and physically, to realize the depth of the disadvantage or injustice faced by another person?
Good and gracious God, as we prepare ourselves to share in the joy of Easter, open our hearts and minds. Help us to see what we would rather not see, especially the suffering caused by the injustice of systemic racism. Help us reflect on these painful realities and see them for what they are. Help us to avoid despair and to move from reflection to action, galvanized by your Spirit. Grant us the courage to speak out and the clarity to cooperate with your grace in building the world anew. Amen. NETWORK Prayer to Move from Reflection to Action
President Biden in front of a microphone

Centering Solidarity and Healing for Our Democracy

Centering Solidarity and Healing for Our Democracy

A Response to President Biden’s 2022 State of the Union
Mary J. Novak
March 3, 2022

President Biden in front of a microphoneIn his 2022 State of the Union, President Joe Biden addressed people across the country who are anxious and weary as Vladimir Putin threatens the use of nuclear force in his quest for more power and the COVID-19 pandemic continues to shatter a sense of normalcy, claiming close to one million lives in this country alone. President Biden named the pain felt by families and recommitted himself to supporting policies that benefit all families and communities. This vision is grounded in his faith, which prioritizes community and solidarity over individualism and greed. He illuminated a path forward for our national community, marked by dismantling long-standing racist policies and building both a vibrant economy that prioritizes shared prosperity and a truly representative, multi-racial democracy.

Shaping an Economy Rooted in Solidarity

In this time of increasing economic stratification, President Biden spoke forcefully about the need to reorient our economy with a new economic vision built on respecting and protecting the rights of workers and putting people over profits. Given rising costs facing families, his statement: “Capitalism without competition isn’t capitalism. It’s exploitation” likely resonated with many listeners. We know that ensuring jobs pay a living wage is one of the most effective ways we can uphold the dignity of work. I appreciated hearing the President’s call to raise the minimum wage and for the Senate to pass the PRO Act to protect workers’ right to unionize.

Building Anew and Protecting the Sacred Right to Vote

President Biden’s commitments to advancing just policies in NETWORK’s Build Anew policy areas are deeply rooted in the faith values of solidarity, community, respecting the rights of workers, and caring for creation; they include strengthening our democracy and voting rights; making our tax code more just; and, investing in communities by expanding the Child Tax Credit, affordable housing, and healthcare for all. NETWORK strongly supports these efforts to build a more justice union and looks forward to partnering with the Biden administration to achieve these goals. Together, we still have a great amount of work to be done, including passing the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, but we know it is possible by working together.

Confirming a New Supreme Court Justice

Another important step for protecting the rights of everyone in our county will be the Senate voting to confirm Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, President Biden’s nominee to the Supreme Court Justice. The NETWORK community celebrates Judge Jackson’s nomination and the perspective she will bring to the highest court because of her years of service on the federal district court of D.C. and D.C. Circuit as well as her formative service as a public defender.

Defending the Lives of Immigrants and Asylum Seekers

While we commend President Biden clear commitments to advancing just policies for our economy and democracy, we continue to call on the President to be bold in his defense of asylum seekers at our nation’s Southern border. The President was mindful in his speech about the importance of welcoming refugees fleeing Ukraine. Likewise, we call on the President to meet that mission here. Pope Francis has said each person seeking refuge “has a name, a face and a story, as well as an inalienable right to live in peace and to aspire to a better future.” We ask President Biden to take heed of those words and end the cruel and unjust policies that he is perpetuating at the border, and end detention and deportation.

President Biden, our nation’s second Catholic President, often credits the Jesuits and Catholic Sisters with keeping his faith strong. The vision he laid out in his State of the Union reflects a roadmap to rebuilding solidarity, based in encounter. As President Biden said “We can’t change how divided we’ve been. But we can change how we move forward—on COVID-19 and other issues we must face together.”  If we want to rebuild the soul of the nation, we must rebuild it together, with a broad embrace of our human family.

From the Factory Floors to the Halls of Congress, the Call for Unionization is Growing

From the Factory Floors to the Halls of Congress, the Call for Unionization is Growing

Gina Kelley
March 2, 2022

After decades of inadequate labor laws and declining union membership, the labor movement is gaining traction. Initially titled “Striketober”, the swell of strikes and contract negotiations have finally reached Capitol Hill.

Sparked by the viral anonymous Instagram account “Dear White Staffers” which shares horror stories of working in Congress, the call for labor reform is in the halls of the Capitol. The account calls specific attention to the obstacles faced by people of color on the Hill. Congress has not escaped the pay and treatment disparities that harm people of color across the country.

Studies have shown that white staffers make about 8% more than Black staffers because Black staffers are rarely hired into high-level positions. The account has become a megaphone for what was previously one of the worst kept secrets in Washington: Working on the Hill often means low pay, poor treatment or harassment, and burnout.

The folks who answer the call of public service in the efforts of committing themselves to the common good. They choose this occupation with hopes and ambition of working hard and making a difference. Instead, the broken system inside the Capitol spits many of them back out into the private sector, where they can make more money on a normal schedule.

Staffers on both sides of the aisle call out the hypocrisy of their employment practices. Republican legislators wage war against subsidies but pay their employees so little they have no choice but to utilize food stamps and Medicare. In contrast, Democratic lawmakers promote progressive labor policies and call for a celebration of diversity in the workplace but fail to implement equitable pay and hiring practices in their own offices. It seems dissatisfaction is bipartisan. One report of 516 respondents found 47% of staffers struggle to pay bills, 68% are unhappy with their compensation, and 85% believe Congress is a toxic work environment.

Congress currently operates with each office and committee run individually. This means there are more than 535 “employers” on the Hill with no unified hiring practices, paid leave policies, salary structures, or human resource departments. Even with previous legislative attempts to modernize Congress as a workplace, bills like the Congressional Accountability Act have failed to create adequate systems to support a safe and healthy work environment.

We work with Congressional offices to advance legislation that promotes the common good and we proudly support their efforts to unionize. In that commitment, we signed onto the Staffer’s letter to Congressional Leadership in support of their effort to unionize. Our commitment to equitable labor reform is a central part of our mission and is embodied in our efforts to pass key legislation like the Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act and the Protecting the Right to Organize Act. We know that we cannot live out our faith and mission if we do not root ourselves in solidarity with workers and hear their lived experiences.

Despite statements of support from Democratic Leadership and the introduction of a Resolution by Representative Andy Levin, the future of a Congressional Union is unknown. What is clear is that the movement for workers’ rights is growing. From factory workers to television workers to congressional staffers the message is clear: Enough is enough.