Escuchanos en Los Campos

.Although strict guidelines were passed in 2005 demanding that farm workers be given adequate rest, shade, and water, the United Farm Workers Union reports that heatstroke continues to claim the lives of California's farm workers. Lack of accountability has been the issue.Today, the Farm Worker Safety Act, AB 2346 (Butler), is making its way through the California State Assembly


Reports say that this bill has more 'teeth', allowing both growers and contractors to be liable for manslaughter should a farmworker die of heat stroke on their watch. Yes, that is a serious consequence, but allowing someone to die for lack of rest, shade, and water is a kind of indifference to human life that is shocking. And so far, current legal remedies have proved ineffective in stopping the deaths.


In 2009 we mourned the life of Agustin Gaudino, who, having been denied the opportunity to rest and get shade, sought respite under some grape vines. There, he breathed his last. His coworkers did not miss him until that evening. His body was found the next day.


Here is Agustin's song, written and performed by Nina Fernando. It still stands as a prayer that no one else will die needlessly for lack of these basic human requirements:

OCCUPY THE LIGHT: A Christian reflects on Channukah and the 99%.

 

On the first day of Channukah, in the midst of Advent, on the eve of Solstice, we, the members of Occupy Los Angeles Sanctuary, prepare for a gathering in Pershing Square which we are calling, OCCUPY THE LIGHT. Below are my reflections as I study the story of Channukah and think about its implications for our movement.

Channukah is a story of reclaimation and God’s abundance in the midst of scarcity. It’s a miracle of the sacred expanding as needed. When one hears the Channukah story, one already knows about the eight days. The people within the story, however, don’t know. Imagine the suspense as each day passes. Will there be enough? This small amount has already stretched one, two, three... days. Will it stretch one day more?

Tonight, we gather in Pershing Square as Occupy Los Angeles Sanctuary. Occupy Los Angeles’s home at City Hall is no longer. We have been evicted from that space, which the Occupiers made sacred by their witness for justice and the common good. How does the movement continue?

Tonight, we claim public space again. We gather in our park, in Pershing Square, with its history of soapbox preachers and free-spirited artists, homeless citizens cheek by jowel with comfortably well-off families. We bring art, music, spoken word, and stories of our sacred traditions.

We celebrate that the darkest night is merely the moment before the light begins to return. We celebrate that we are here, together, Christians-Jews-Muslims-Buddhists-Atheists, Priests-Rabbis-Artists, Rich-Poor-Middle Class. We are united in our desire for our nation to live up to her storied past, to remember the lights that have moved/ are moving us forward: Abraham Lincoln, Susan B. Anthony, Martin Luther King, Jr., Caesar Chavez, Lt. Dan Choi, and others. We celebrate that now, we are the lights.

We celebrate that the Occupy movement has no single hero. We are each a hero, stepping forward together take the movement through the next 24 hours, just as the sacred oil burned each night to reclaim the sacred space, for eight days. Just long enough to sanctify more oil.

We are the 99%, and tonight, together, we celebrate the light. By our presence together in Public Space, we reclaim our heritage as American People. We carry the light for one more day. And one more day. And one more day. We carry it until we find a way to sanctify more light, until the processes of our goverments consider people and the planet before the desires of power and greed. Will we make it? Will the oil last one more day? We cannot know. We cannot see the future. We have today, and today is enough.

Gray IS the Party!

Juliana Margulies (from stylelist.com)

Gray is the Party!
Sandie Richards
June 13, 2011

Juliana Margulies is a beautiful and successful American Actor. At age 45, she is also starring in commercials-- you know the ones: She’s Fighting Wrinkles. She’s Banishing Gray Hair. The picture below accompanied a press release announcing her partnership with L’Oreal’s Revitalift; not only is she fighting the look of fine lines and wrinkles, notice she has also straightened her sumptuous curls.

She’s beautiful, but  her commercial sounds ugly. It starts, “I will always be too young to be gray,"  and ends “Nobody invited gray to this party."

But, Juliana, Gray is the party!

Everyone knows that coloring a few gray hairs is no problem; but coloring a whole head of gray hairs is nothing but a fight to stay ahead of gray roots and what my pal Carrie Snow calls the gray yarmulke. You know, the little circle of roots that spirals around at the back of your head? Once I figured out that I could either embrace my gray hair or spend precious time and money dying those roots every two weeks, I made a daring choice. I stopped coloring my hair. I got a super-short hair cut (it was very chic, by the way) to get rid of all the colored portions. The cut and the natural color got loads of compliments. Would you guess from my picture (below) that I’m five years older than Ms. Margulies?

Gray hair, fine lines and wrinkles-- if we live a long time, we will spend the largest percentage of our years with such physical features.  Whether we choose to cover the gray or let it all hang out, let's at least stop denigrating the signs of aging. Ms Margulies seems to be saying "Hide your age." I'm saying, embrace your age. If we embrace aging, we’ll feel better, free up a lot of time, and save some serious cash.

Author Sandie Richards

Four months ago, I turned 50. I’m at the start of my real aging process, with the gray hair, fine lines and wrinkles, and chin just now heading south. None of these seems to be holding me back. At fifty, I no longer seem to fettered with the numerous problems and insecurities of youth. As far as I can tell, I'm healthy, I'm happy. I have meaningful work and people I love who love me back. I welcome this new adventure.

The Importance of Women Leaders in Christian Communities

September 11, 2010 Korean-Latino Christian Association of Los Angeles Breakfast

Remarks by Rev. Sandie Richards

(I was one of three religious leaders invited to give closing remarks at the end of a breakfast for Christian Unity on the 9^th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks.)

Good morning! I am the Rev. Sandie Richards, pastor of First United Methodist Church of Los Angeles, in downtown L.A. I am honored to be with you this morning.. I will give brief remarks on the theme, “The Importance of Women Leaders in Christian Communities.

In downtown, on the second Thursday of every month, there’s an Artwalk. It’s a big event, with art showings, music, restaurants, and lots of people. This past Thursday, cartoonist Lalo Alcaraz was autographing and selling prints of his work at a fundraiser. I bought one where a little girl has created her own cardboard version of a courtroom and is sitting ‘on the bench’; behind her is a portrait of Justice Sonia Sotomayor. Because of Judge Sotomayor, every Latino little girl can see herself as a Supreme Court Justice.

It is essential that we honor and elevate the status of women in our Christian communities. There is a saying that women hold up half the sky; yet we do not acknowledge the essential nature of women’s contributions. World-wide, women do more than half of the labor, yet earn only 11 cents on the dollar compared to men. This is because traditional women’s work is unwaged: caring for children, the sick, and the elderly; cleaning; cooking; bearing and raising children. Women’s work is called ‘unskilled’ and therefore deemed unworthy of decent wages. Yet, this very work is the backbone of all societies! We can’t function without someone cooking, cleaning, and taking care of the children. Further, this work is far from ‘unskilled.’ For instance, anyone who cleans knows that to do it thoroughly, efficiently, and well is indeed a skill. Cooking, as well, is the amalgamation of many skills which must be learned and practiced.

As Christians, we look to Scripture for the stories of our faith. The Bible is full of examples of strong women; nonetheless, their witness is often ignored or undervalued. 

Let’s take the example of Mary Magdalene. She is the first disciple to encounter the Risen Christ. Some call her 'the Apostle to the Apostles.' And when she ran to tell the others the Good News, what did they say? They chided her, telling her that she was imagining things, Later, Mary Magdalene would be discredited as a prostitute, even though there is no evidence from scripture to confirm that she was. I hasten to add, however, that it doesn't matter whether she was or wasn't a prostitute before she began to follow Jesus.

And, what of Mary, mother of Jesus? In our Protestant haste not to worship Mary, we diminish her story as well. In saying yes to bearing Christ, Mary risked getting stoned to death because she wasn't considered a virgin before marriage. And I think we can all agree that no one would have believed her story, that she was made pregnant by God. This extraordinary young woman agreed to bring Jesus Christ into the world, for our salvation, at great personal risk. She could have been stoned to death because she wasn't considered a virgin before marriage.

How can we ignore the sacred worth of this woman, and indeed, all women? If a woman bore Jesus Christ to save the world, and a woman was the first to bear the news of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, who are we to say that women can't speak in church? If we silence women, we lose the gifts God has given us through women. And speaking of God...

Friends,God is not a man. God is not a woman either. God is God. Because we know God through metaphor, there are both father and mother images of God in the Bible. Jesus himself said “I long to gather you as a mother hen gathers her chicks...” , comparing his desire to protect God's people to a mother hen gathers her chuicks under soft pinion feathers. What a beautiful image of God!

Women deserve to be treated as people of sacred worth, the plight of women and their children taken under consideration.

Today, the 9^th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks, it isn't enough to mourn the losses sustained on that day. Nor is it enough to mourn the losses of our nation's treasure and troops. During the march to war, as we cried out to feel safe on our own soil, we never thought to count this cost: Women and children bear the majority of the consequences of war. Particularly in societies where women must have male protectors (ie, fathers, brothers, husbands, or adult sons), women are at risk when their male protectors are kidnapped,killed, imprisoned, wounded, or serving in armed conflict. Because there is no way for a woman to own property or work outside the home in these societies, when a woman loses her male protectors she is at risk for kidnap, abuse, and slavery. One of the hidden consquences of the war in Iraq has been that thousands of women have had to travel to Syria, where they sell their own bodies in order to survive. Is this not like the diminishing of Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Jesus, as war forced mothers and children into becoming prostitues? What terror have they suffered, because of our decisions? 

If we do not value women, we lose 'half the sky.' That's a big loss. As God has shown us, women are worthy to bear the Christ, and to announce Christ's resurrection. Are we not worthy as equal bearers of God's story and God's image? Are we not worthy in the world? Let us lift up and value the sacred worth and important contributions of women, and thereby receive not half, but all of the blessings God has given us. And little children everywhere will know that they are people of sacred worth, growing up to honor God and one other.

Amen.

Breakfast-- right outta the backyard!

I got some berries, a tomato and some basil. All's I need is some
mozzarella and some olive oil with vinegar and I'm set!

Big Oil/ Deep Roots

Just about every adult my age raised in the U.S. knows this little ditty by heart: “Come and listen to my story ‘bout a man named Jed…”  Black gold, indeed! The poor mountaineer becomes rich! He moves to Beverly, -Hills, that is! Swimmin' Pools, Movie Stars! Naturally, hilarity ensues as the Clampetts continue to shoot at their food and cook over open fire in spite of their great wealth and fancy digs.

The premise was made for laughs, but the story is not to far removed from the real-life tale of a failed silver and gold prospector named Edward L. Doheny. He and his mining partner Charles A. Canfield struck it rich near Chavez Ravine. Their story can be found in an article on the Paleontological Research Association’s webpage titled, History of Oil, The Story of Oil in California. Doheny and his second wife, Carrie Estelle Doheny, were great philanthropists. In fact, the Carrie Estelle Doheny Foundation donated money to First UMC Los Angeles for several years, to put on a holiday party for the children of our neighborhood. So even I and the organizations for which I work reap the benefits from oil wealth.

It struck me as I thrilled to a wonderful afternoon at the Getty Center, that the spewing maw a mile underwater in the Gulf of Mexico was connected to me and my life. As much as I enjoyed the Getty Center, I was challenged by the disparity between its beauty and the ugliness of the oil slick in the Gulf. How many of the privileges I enjoy are directly connected to the wealth of oil? And how many of those privileges are costing me -costing us- a future?

I often buy ARCO gasoline (British Petroleum, of course). It’s the cheapest if you pay cash, and that’s been my guide to how to buy gasoline. I’m not buying ARCO anymore, but my other gasoline choices are no better. So what are my non-fossil fueled options?

We bought an old Mercedes-Benz Diesel, which we hoped to run on bio-fuel; but just as we embarked on the research for how to do it, all the bio-fuel companies in our area went bust. I started doing research online but have run into some roadblocks. Take BioLiberty, for instance. BioLiberty.net was supposed to be a site started by veterans of the Gulf wars who want to encourage U.S. energy independence through fossil fuel alternatives. But, the website was ‘under construction’, and I’m doubtful  the information they do provide (like links to Chevron, for instance) will help achieve the stated goal.

I’ve not given up on reducing my need for fossil fuel. I’m walking more, taking the bus, riding my bike. But as we know, transportation isn’t the only way we use fossil fuels.

I’m surrounded by plastics for one thing. For another, items from food to clothes, furniture, and medicine have ridden countless ships, planes,trucks and my car to get to my house, and when I’m done they’ll make a sort of return trip by similar means. So, I’m working to reduce my reliance on plastics, doing things like getting my seltzer in cans to wrapping things in wax paper. I was given a set of metal chopsticks in a carrying case, and those work great in place of plastic forks and spoons. I’ve started carrying around a container for my restaurant left-overs, sparing the need for the disposable ones. I rarely if ever get those one-use plastic shopping bags—even if I forget my reusable bag.

As for food, we’re closer to becoming locavores.  We’re composting and planting more food in our back yard. Everyone knows about subscriptions to farms, and shopping at farmer’s markets. I love the group, Food Not Lawns (Turning Yards into Gardens and Neighborhoods into Communities). The name alone is informative and inspiring.

In Los Angeles, finding local food has literally become art. Fallen Fruit is a collective who have mapped fruit trees in Los Angeles.  They’re encouraging folks to plant fruit trees on the borders of their properties. They’ve partnered with the Los Angeles County Museum of Art for the show EAT LACMA (February-November, 2010) Once Mother Nature’s been given a showing at LACMA there can be no doubt that she’s making valuable cultural contributions. To paraphrase Trudy the Bag Lady, “Fruit, Art. Art, Fruit.”

I suppose we’re moving full-circle, a la Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. Her family’s adventure is a reversal of the Clampett’s adventure. The Kingsolver family leaves the city (Tucson, in their case) and returns to a mountain home similar to the one where Jed would have been shootin’ at some food. The book documents a year of food on their farm in Appalachia, along with commentary on the state of food in the world, and of course, menus and recipes for food in season.

It’s time to live into a world where we understand that Black Gold is over. The riches we now seek are in fertile soil and waters near where we live.

I used to think, “I just hope it’s not too late.” Now I think it’s worth giving it a try no matter what.

Connection to the cycles of life is a blessing worth pursuing. If it saves the world, so much the better.

In The Eyes of God: Mother's Day Sermon 2010

Happy Mother's Day to everyone! I'm not posting my sermon here, but you can read the text by clicking the link here.