Create Art, Participate in Elections – Justice Must Allow Expression

Join us Monday, May 10th, 2021, at 9:00 AM when host Bev Livingston speaks with Stephanie Charles, MISD member of Art Team & Marketplace Event and Katie Disselhoff, Account Manager at Donor Recruitment and  Biomedical Services at the American Red Cross of Missouri and Arkansas.

Bev is a Founder of Mothers of Incarcerated Sons and Daughters (MISD).  MISD is an advocacy support group in KCMO for families with loved ones in state & federal institutions seeking solace & justice.  Great benefit comes from the actions of MISD.

Listeners will hear about an upcoming event – the MISD Marketplace on June 5th, 2021.

https://misdkc.org/upcoming-event

The motivation behind the Marketplace is an upcoming art show that will feature art done by incarcerated artists.  The show will shine a new angle of visual creativity with an embracing welcome.  Art making has the ability to move people along their journey of grief and loss into a more balanced place of healing and hope.  MISD will be instrumental in allowing everyone to participate in the journey.

During the second half of our hour, host Keith Brown El will speak with Ronnie Amiyn.   Amiyn left prison in 2018 after 25 years. Today, he is the housing coordinator for the Criminal Justice Ministry’s Release to Rent program, which helps formerly incarcerated people with housing and other services.

https://www.cjmstlouis.org/

Amiyn wants to do more for his community by voting in local elections but under Missouri law, formerly incarcerated people cannot vote until they complete their court-ordered probation or parole. He has more than two years left on parole.

He’s among more than 3,400 St. Louisans who could not vote in the recent  mayoral election because they have not yet completed their probation or parole term. About 66% of those residents are Black people.

Amiyn is working with the St. Louis chapter of EX-incarcerated People Organizing on voting campaigns where he participates in discussions with local and state policymakers, lawyers and activists about immediately restoring voting rights for formerly incarcerated people. He also a member of the Missouri CURE board, where he focuses on disseminating information about mistreatment in prison and policies and laws that contradict positive rehabilitation experiences for former prisoners.

https://www.facebook.com/EXPOSTL/

“When a person has done their time, they should be permitted to operate fully and function fully within the community,” Amiyn said. “If you’re quick to take my taxes, you should be quick to give me my voice and vote.”

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We hope you will listen.

“Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are.”

Calendar for the week of May 10th:

In compliance with the latest version of Mayor Lucas’ emergency order, certain business activities may resume while ensuring necessary public health measures remain in place.  Wear a mask.  See the FAQS at kcmo.gov

  • Legal Aid of Western Missouri provides free civil legal services to low-income and vulnerable people. Interested individuals can call 816-474-6750 to apply.
  • Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America is a very active group of Mothers and others. You can learn where their virtual meetings this week will occur at  https://momsdemandaction.org/events/
  • MON, May 10th, 6 PM is the More² Monthly Issues2Action MEETING. You can join, online via zoom. There will be breakout groups by issue task force for both Missouri and Kansas teams. More info at More² on Facebook.
  • TUES, May 11th, 8 AM Women Supporting Mothers is a Networking event at Ilus W Davis Park, 1000 Locust St, Kansas City, MO Open to all.
  • THURS, May 13th, 2 PM May Action Hour Zap! Is an Online Event hosted by Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) More info at SURJ on Facebook.
  • THURS, May 13th , 5:30 PM. Veronica’s Voice Volunteer Orientation. Kansas City, 2400 N 81 St, Kansas City, KS Veronica’s Voice The vision of Veronica’s Voice is to see all people free from commercial sexual exploitation.  RSVP at https://www.veronicasvoice.org/
  • THURS, May 13th, 6 PM KC Parents Breaking the Pipeline is an Online Event hosted by More² Open to Anyone, more info at More² on Facebook.
  • FRI, May 14th SAT, May 15th, 10 AM til 6 PM, Sip & Shop with J. McLaughlin. You can shop in store or through phone or email and 15% will be donated to Veronica’s Voice. You can get personal styling help as you shop their spring collection! Call Veronica’s Voice at (816) 483-7101 for more info.
  • SUN, MAY 16, 1 PM, Prisons, Punishment, and the Family is an online Event freely hosted by Citizens for Prison Reform. Open to anyone on or off Facebook.  You can listen as Peter Scharff Smith, co-author of Prisons, Punishment, and the Family discusses the impact of incarceration on children and families.  More info on Facebook.

 

  • A list of services, meals, and hot lines specific to sheltering are available at lawrenceprogressivecalendar.blogspot.com. It is updated daily.

Stay safe. Practice physical distancing. Wear a mask. Please take care of yourself and others.  Thanks to all our listeners, stay close to your dial and stay well!   A crisis on the scale of the pandemic can reorder society in dramatic ways, for better or worse.  All of society pays a heavy price for decades of failing to create a rational system of health care that works for all of us.


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