The Roundup
Vol. 1, No. 10: December 2021
Welcome to the December 2021 edition of The Roundup!
The holiday season is here! At Gamaliel, we're reflecting on the year so far and looking forward to the year ahead. What are you reflecting on this year?
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National News
Remember Gamaliel in your end-of-year investments!
The end of the year is a time of gratitude, giving, and reflection. As you gather with family and reflect on the world you'd like to build in the year ahead, consider investing in Gamaliel as a partner in our work.
If you're ready to join the fight for a more just and equitable world, invest today! Click here to learn more.
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Join Civil Rights of Immigrants for a Posada Action!
Tuesday, December 21, 2021 at 7 p.m. CST/ 8 p.m. EST/5 p.m. PST
Zoom
Gamaliel's Civil Rights of Immigrants Campaign invites you a Posada for a Complete Inclusive Immigration Reform before Christmas Day. A posada is a celebration in Lantinx and Hispanic Christian communities that commemorates Mary and Joseph's search for a place to stay the night Jesus was born.
The value of providing refuge to those in need is held across religions, and so we want to use this posada to call for Complete Inclusive Immigration Reform. We want our Members of Congress to think of all the immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers before they go home to celebrate with their families. Immigrants cannot be both essential and deportable. Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, millions of undocumented immigrants have risked their lives and the lives of their loved ones to promote the health, safety, and prosperity of all Americans. Permanent protections are long-overdue and are critical for the country’s continued health response and economic recovery, and our efforts to rebuild our communities’ infrastructure.
We ask for: justice; equity; an end to Title 42; and a path to citizenship.
Register here.
For Organizers
Register now for Welcome to 2022, January 5, 11 a.m-1 p.m. CT
Join Gamaliel for Gamaliel's Welcome to 2022, an online welcome-back session on January 5, 2022 from 11:00am to 1:00pm CT (12:00pm - 2:00 pm ET or 9:00am - 11:00 am PT).
This is a necessary meeting for all Gamaliel organizers: use this opportunity to invest in building a more powerful professional life for the new year.
Register by January 3rd through the Member Portal. New organizers, if you have not registered for access to the Member Portal on the Gamaliel website, you must contact Hal Cosentino, Gamaliel Executive Assistant, [email protected] (The Member Portal provides you with organizer development resources and more.)
When you register, you'll also be able to enter into the Organizer's Holiday Photo Contest. Submit your best holiday photo from this December, and vote on the ones you like best.
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Organizer Development and Orientation Sessions
We will provide New Organizer Orientation/Development Sessions Fridays in January and February for your new organizers (according to the schedule below) — but only if you “nominate” them to be part of this unique opportunity. To nominate them, ask them to register in the Member Portal of the Gamaliel website and list you as the “Nominator”.
After registration they will get the calendar invite and link to the first session.
New Organizer Development and Orientation
All meetings are noon CT - 2:00 pm CT EXCEPT January 14
For any and all organizers that have not been to an orientation or need a refresher.
There will be prep work and homework.
Each session will build on the last, so attendance at every meeting is encouraged.
January 14 “Organizer” - What this is and what it is not.
Noon-3 pm CT Principles, Standards and Job Descriptions
Discerning your future.
January 21 You, Your Board and Your Supervisor -
Relationships with Boundaries.
Developing Leaders not dealing with Volunteers
Gamaliel Consultants and Mentors
January 28 The Work - A Work of Art
For Art you gotta have Heart, Practice and Discipline.
1-1’s - the pallet
Teams - the canvas
Meetings - the sketch
Actions - the show
February 4 Local Trainings and Recruiting for NLT
February 11 Conversations and Propositions with Clergy
Building an Expansion Table
February 18 The Spirituality of Organizing and Religious Leaders Caucuses
The four pathways
February 25 Money
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Ntosake Mini-Session on Storytelling: January 20, 2022
History to HerStory
January 20, 2022, 6:00-8:00 pm CST
Facilitators: Angela James, Rev. Denice Norfleet Walker and Sara Meyer
The story of Self – life’s experiences lay the building blocks for who you are. Obstacles are mere stepping stones to a greater you. Are you the hero in your story or just an observant victim? In this session, learn to claim your own story and to tell it powerfully!
“You cannot have lived and not have a story to tell.” — Maya Angelou
If you registered and paid for the September 23-24 Ntosake teaser or any of the Ntosake mini-sessions, the cost for this mini-session is covered. If this is your first mini-session, your $50 registration fee can be paid when you sign up.
If you have questions, contact Angela James, Ntosake National Staff Liaison at [email protected] or Sr. Cheryl Liske, Gamaliel Training Coordinator at [email protected].
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Registration for March NLT opens January 1
In-person National Leadership Training returns in March 2022! We will gather at Villa Maria Conference Center in Villa Maria, PA March 20-26. Registration is capped at 50 due to COVID-19 restrictions. Registration fees are $750/person.
All registrants must agree to follow Gamaliel COVID-19 protocols, which will be linked on the registration page. Please also read this letter before registering any leaders.
If you have questions, please contact Sr. Cheryl Liske at [email protected].
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Deadline extended for In-Prison Relational Voter Program Grants
Gamaliel is offering stipends to a small number of Gamaliel affiliates in order to expand the In-Prison Relational Voter work begun by our Wisconsin affiliate, WISDOM.
As many of you know, the Relational Voter Program (RVP) is a program through which people make a commitment to stay in contact with 10-20 friends, relatives, neighbors, co-workers, or fellow congregation members. The idea is for them, as “trusted messengers,” to keep the people on their lists informed about issues, and to make sure they vote when election time comes. WISDOM piloted an “In-Prison RVP” in 2020. Men and women in prison were encouraged to identify the non-incarcerated people they know who were eligible to vote. RVP organizers stayed in close touch, offering suggested messages and useful information that the incarcerated leaders shared with their loved ones in the community.
Of the 833 RVP leaders in Wisconsin (who reached 16,000 voters total), 226 of those leaders were people who were incarcerated at the time of the election cycle. Those folks, though unable to vote, reached out to a network of family and friends and spoke with them about the upcoming election and the importance of ending mass incarceration, thereby playing an important role in the election.
The bottom line is this: In-Prison RVP provides incarcerated people, most of whom have had their voting rights taken away, with a vehicle for engaging in democracy and the electoral process.
Gamaliel affiliates interested in applying for the In-Prison Relational Voter Program stipend must:
1. Have an active local campaign around transformational justice
2. Participate in the national transformational justice campaign
3. Have experience with Integrated Voter Engagement (IVE)
4. Have a plan for 2022 IVE which will include In-Prison Relational Voter Program
5. Identify a coordinator for the In-Prison Relational Voter Program (IPRVP) – this may be an organizer or a leader who has the
capacity to coordinate your local effort
6. Be willing to communicate with state department of corrections to secure access to at least one prison in the state
7. Secure affiliate board approval for participation in Gamaliel In-Prison Relational Voter Program
8. Secure the commitment of your board chair, lead organizer, and IPRVP coordinator to participate in an initial organizing
Zoom and a midpoint project review Zoom meeting
9. Be in good standing with the Gamaliel Network (“In good standing with the Gamaliel Network” means your affiliation fees
and training fees are current or there is an approved plan in place to address this.)
10. Submit your application no later than Friday, December 31, 2021
Applications are available here. If you would like more information about the In-Prison Relational Voter Program, the recording from the November 12 Transformational Justice Meeting is available here. You may also contact David Liners, WISDOM Executive Director, [email protected] or Ramiah Whiteside, WISDOM IPRVP Coordinator, [email protected].
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Civil Rights of Immigrants Delegates Hybrid Retreat
January 7-9, 2022
Civil Rights of Immigrants Delegates are invited to a hybrid retreat. You're encouraged to gather with your affiliate to attend this Zoom event. Agenda and registration will open soon. Please contact Erica Fernandez Zamora with any questions at [email protected].
For the Good of the Order
Faith Coalition for the Common Good featured in the Illinois Times
Gamaliel affiliate in Springfield, Illinois, Faith Coalition for the Common Good, was featured in the Illinois Times for their efforts to end cash bail. Currently, the organization is working in support of the Pretrial Fairness Act. Read the full article here.
Want your Gamaliel affiliate's news shared in the next Roundup? Send your updates to [email protected].
Upcoming Events and Meetings
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Gamaliel Network
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Suite 301
Chicago, IL 60615
United States
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