“Sing Your Song” Friday, September 7, 7:00 pm

the life of Harry Belafonte 

Friday, September 7, 7:00pm
Projected on the big screen at the LEPOCO Peace Center

313 West 4th Street, south Bethlehem

Hoping to inspire a new generation of activists, entertainer Harry Belafonte allows intimate access to his life to document his many decades as a performer and as a tireless advocate for human rights around the world.  As a supporter of Martin Luther King, Jr., and the victim of racism during his tours of the southern United States, Belafonte was deeply committed to social change in the U.S. and later worked to end apartheid in South Africa.  He gave the most rousing speech of the day at the Jobs and Justice rally in Washington, DC, in the fall of 2010. 

Directed by Susanne Rostock.  103 minutes.

Please bring a snack or beverage to share.

For more information contact LEPOCO at 610-691-8730.

Peace, Nancy Tate LEPOCO Peace Center 313 W. 4th Street Bethlehem, Pa 18015

phone:  610-691-8730 fax: 610-691-8904

e-mail:  lepoco@fast.net web: www.lepoco.org

One Hill CBA Expert coming to Allentown Aug 15, 7pm,

The Allentown Community Benefits Coalition will hold a public meeting on Aug 15, 7pm, @ Zion's United Church of Christ, 620 W. Hamilton St to form strategic partnerships and specific demands on developers who are using public tax dollars for financial gain.CBA expert, Dr. Bonni Young Lang of the One Hill CBA Coalition will be the guest speaker. Dr. Laing is an associate professor of social work at Youngstown State University. She is a native of the Hill District and has served as a community organizer with One Hill Community Benefits Coalition and the Hill District Consensus Group. Her current work and scholarship center on equitable and inclusionary community planning and development in the Hill District.  She holds an MSW with a concentration in community health and mental health from West Virginia University and a Ph.D. in social work from Virginia Commonwealth University. She has published work in the areas of African centered community organizing, labor/community partnerships, community development in African American communities and culturally competent macro practice. (read more) One Hill CBA Expert coming to Allentown Aug 15, 7pm,

Voter ID Town Hall meeting July 18th 6:30pm

This fall you will be required to show photo ID to vote in person. Only certain kinds of photo ID will be accepted.

Protect your vote!

Join us for a Voter ID Town Hall meeting and find out:

 * What photo ID you will need to vote

 *  How you can get a FREE PennDOT ID

 * How you can get involved in efforts to educate people about the law

(download PDF flier here) Voter ID Town Hall 
When: Wednesday, July 18, 6:30 p.m. 

Where: Seegers Union, 111-113, Muhlenberg College

2400 Chew St., Allentown

Co-sponsored by:

ACLU of Pennsylvania - Greater Lehigh Valley Chapter, Allentown NAACP, Equality Pennsylvania, Martin Luther & Coretta Scott King Memorial Project of the Lehigh Valley.

For more information call 215-592-1513 x122 or email voterID@aclupa.org.

http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Voter-ID-Town-Hall-meeting-July-18th.html?soid=1000824127197&aid=avADWW4oiYE

Meditation on July 4th by Bruce Hartford

by Bruce Hartford  Sojourner's Blog July 5th 2012

July 4th, 2012. All over the country, we the people celebrate 
Hotdog and Fireworks Day. If we attend some official event
organized by the powers that be, we are treated to an orgy of
flag waving, patriotic bombast, and bloviations on “Liberty” (the
details of which are unspecified). But almost never is there any
reading of the Declaration of Independence that today we
supposedly honor.

It’s no surprise that the ruling elite prefer to ignore the
Declaration because at that document’s core are five fundamental
assertions that they wish to conceal beneath piles of patriotic
blather:

     “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are
     created equal,”

This never meant — then or now — that every individual has the
same talent, ability or character. It does mean that there is no
class of people, no aristocracy, who are inherently superior by
reason of their wealth or birth. And that those at the bottom of
the economic pyramid are not lesser, or sub-human creatures who
deserve lives of drudgery devoid of hope. That there are no “ten”
whose lot in life is deserved toil so that “one” can repose in
leisure and luxury. It also implies that criminals who use their
power and position to rob pension funds and loot the economy
should not be allowed to escape the consequences of their crimes
because they are rich or politically-connected (continued)

Electronic Village: What is Juneteenth?

Electronic Village: What is Juneteenth?: The discussion about the African American flag created by UNIA and Marcus Garvey reminded me of other dates on the calendar that impact Afr...

Change.org|Start an Online Petition »

Martin Luther King's Death: Why 43 Years Later His Work Goes On

Forty-three years to the day after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s slaying, those who fight for social and economic justice still face real threats to their safety and rights, says the NAACP's president. Read more at the Root

Unveiling the Martin Luther & Coretta Scott King Memorial Allentown PA 1/17/2011

Unveiling for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr and Coretta Scott King Memorial scheduled for Monday January 17 1:30pm @ 4th and Union St and Martin Luther King Drive in Allentown PA

The Martin Luther & Coretta Scott King Memorial Project of the Lehigh Valley Inc. will officially unveil the statue and phase one construction of the Dr. Martin Luther King and Coretta Scott King Memorial on Monday, January 17th at 1:30p.m. The event will take place at the traffic triangle on 4th & Union street and Martin Luther King Drive in Allentown PA.  

  

The memorial is expected to be the first and only 'statue memorial' of its kind in the world to commemorate both Dr. King and his wife according to several memorial officials.

The memorial is the dream of the late Harry A. Roberts. A dedication of the newly constructed plaza in the name of Mr. Roberts will be held at the site. The dedication is sponsored by Capital Bluecross. The unveiling and dedication of the newly constructed plaza will follow the Allentown Branch of the NAACP's 31st Annual "Tribute to a King" celebration at 11:00AM at the historic St. James A.M.E. Zion Church located at 4th and Union Streets in Allentown.

The public, all elected officials and the press are invited to attend these two events.
  

The NAACP event celebrates the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King.  This year's theme, "Education - The Great Equalizer", highlights the need for both youth and adults alike to commit themselves to embracing education as the path to improving their quality of life.  The keynote speaker will be Reverend Karen R. Green, Vice President of Student Affairs and Dean of Students at Muhlenberg College.

Phase one of the King memorial is almost completed and the organization is seeking additional community sponsorship to complete the final phase of the memorial site.The organization has launched  its Granite Paver Program to help 

off-set additional cost associated with developing the $600,000 full phased project.

The memorial is being coordinated by the non-profit organization known as the Martin Luther & Coretta Scott King Memorial Project of the Lehigh Valley Inc

Martin Luther & Coretta Scott King Memorial Statue Placement

Time: Friday, January 14 · 8:30am - 11:30am

Where: Location Union & Martin Luther King Drive Allentown PA

View Face Book Event Pger here.

Located next to the Parketts Building and AME Zion Church.

THIS EVENT IS JUST SETTING THE STATUE, NOT UNVEILING IT.

THE UNVEILING CEREMONY IS SCHEDULED FOR Monday JANUARY, 17 2011 1:30pm

By ANDREW GLASS
12/1/10 4:58 AM EST

On this day in 1955, Rosa Parks, an African-American, was arrested and charged with violating a Montgomery, Ala., ordinance that required her to relinquish her bus seat to a white passenger. Her act of defiance sparked a yearlong bus boycott in the segregated city. It helped inspire a crusade that led Congress to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which, among other things, bars discrimination in public accommodations.

Parks’s status as an iconic figure in the civil rights movement began when she was seated in the first row of the rear, which was set aside for blacks. Because the front of the bus was full, the driver demanded that she give up her seat to a white rider. Her failure to do so resulted in a $10 fine, plus an additional $4 in court costs. In 1956, the Supreme Court found the ordinance unconstitutional.

At the time, Parks, a 42-year-old seamstress, served as secretary of the Montgomery chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. She said that she took her action as a private citizen, however, because she was “tired of giving in.”

After her arrest, the Montgomery department store where she worked fired her. Eventually, Parks moved to Detroit, where she found a similar job. From 1965 to 1988, she was a receptionist for Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.).

On Sept. 9, 1996, President Bill Clinton presented Parks with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the executive branch’s highest honor. In 1997, she received a Congressional Gold Medal.

After Parks died on Oct. 24, 2005, her body lay in state in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol, where some 50,000 people viewed the casket. She remains the only nongovernmental American to receive this tribute.

SOURCE: “JOURNEY FROM JIM CROW: THE DESEGREGATION OF SOUTHERN TRANSIT,” BY CATHERINE BARNES (1983)

Read more:

Happy National Philanthropy Day November 15th 2010

Pennsylvania Organization set to launch one of a kind King Memorial in October 2010

The Martin Luther & Coretta Scott King Memorial Project of  Lehigh Valley Inc( Pennsylvania) is set to start construction
(mid October 2010) of the 'first and only Bronze Memorial in the World' dedicated to Dr. King and his wife Coretta. While there are several memorials throughout the country that honor the pair, this will be the first memorial dedicated to the Civil Rights ' First Couple' as a whole.

'Current world issues have made it even more important that we preserve the true legacy of these two great civil and human rights leaders.  Over the generations, the message from the King's has been lost, forgotten and even 'watered down' so to speak, explains Kevin Easterlng, the organizations Executive Director.

The memorials concept founder, the late Harry Roberts of Allentown Pennsylvania, had been working on building a memorial to Dr. King for the last decade. His untimely death in March of 2008 galvanized the local community to continue the project and expand on the idea.  An organization was formed and plans are now in place to commence what the organization calls a 'full assault' in reconnecting the King Legacy.   

The organization has developed a Granite Paver Program for members of the community to support and memorialize family, clergy or other community leaders.