Celebrate Juneteenth!

WISCONSIN FAITH VOICES FOR JUSTICE:
MOVING FROM CHARITY TO JUSTICE

June 17, 2022
News and Events

CELEBRATE JUNETEENTH!

This weekend we commemorate the holiday of Juneteenth, also known as Freedom Day, Jubilee Day, Liberation Day, and Emancipation Day. It was on this day in 1865 that General George Granger of the Union Army marched into Galveston, Texas and announced the Emancipation Proclamation.

Although the Proclamation had been issued more than two years earlier, it was not until this day that it was officially in force throughout the now-reunited country. President Joseph Biden officially made Juneteenth a federal holiday on June 17, 2021.

Today, Juneteenth is celebrated with picnics, parades, speeches, lectures, good food and good music. Events are taking place this weekend all over Wisconsin. We encourage you to participate in the Juneteenth observance near you.

As we celebrate, though, please keep in mind that true liberation will not be complete until all barriers to voting have been eliminated, until the slavery of mass incarceration has been eradicated, until the effects of redlining that are still felt today in the lack of generational wealth and the gross disparities in health between African American and white communities have been reversed. So as part of our celebration, let us pledge to make the promise of liberation real for all Americans of all races and ethnicities, all faiths, all genders, regardless of country of origin.

We look forward to continuing this work with you!

Watch Our Tenth Annual Celebration!

On June 9, 2022, we celebrated our tenth Annual Celebration.

THANK YOU for helping us over these ten years to work toward a more just and equitable society.

Because of you we are lifting the voices of those who are underserved and marginalized. Because of you we are addressing some of the most critical threats to our state including racial justice , immigrant and worker’s rights and voting rights. Because of you we are upholding the dignity of all human beings.

We presented our Voice for Justice Awards to three amazing champions for justice and heard from each of them about their important and inspiring work:

Judge Derek Mosley, Presiding Judge, Milwaukee Municipal Court, for his outstanding work on behalf of at-risk youth in Milwaukee

Rev. Dr. Marcus Allen , pastor of Mt. Zion Baptist Church and president of the African American Council of Churches in Madison, for his outstanding leadership in fighting for equity, justice, and civil rights.

Rev. Karen Hagen, retiring pastor at Tippecanoe Presbyterian Church in Milwaukee, an incredible activist on behalf of the hungry and unhoused in Milwaukee, and a tremendous bridge builder between faith communities.

Please help support this important work. Give as generously as you can at: https://www.wisconsinfaithvoicesforjustice.org/donate.html

We are deeply grateful to all of you, our supporters, our activists, our volunteers, and all who put their faith into action to bring justice into the world!

Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice's Vision for the Future:

On June 9, WFVJ celebrated our tenth anniversary of fighting faithfully for justice. In this new video, Executive Director Rabbi Bonnie Margulis tells us her vision for the future of our state. What would Wisconsin look like if all our goals were met, if everyone had a safe and comfortable place to live, if everyone had enough to eat, if we all could exercise our right to vote without barriers, if racism, misogyny, Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, anti-LGBTQ+, white supremacy were all a thing of the past? Let's dream together!

WI Interfaith Voter Engagement Campaign
Town Hall on the January 6 Hearings

The nation is watching as the January 6th hearings unfold, demonstrating the fragility of our democracy and the corruption at the highest levels of government. Please join the Wisconsin Interfaith Voter Engagement Campaign on June 27 at 7:00pm as we hear from Professor David Canon, Professor of American Politics at UW-Madison. Professor Canon will help us put what we are learning into context, understand the ramifications, and look to the implications for safeguarding future elections. To receive the zoom link, please email info@interfaithvotewi.org.

Join the Fast Action Interfaith Response (FAIR) Team

Thanks to the generosity of our friends at First Baptist Church in Madison, we now have the capability to send you action alerts and announcements via text message. If you would like to sign up for this service, please click here. We promise not to flood your phone with messages!

Volunteer Opportunity -
WFVJ is Seeking a Treasurer

Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice is seeking a volunteer Treasurer to join our Board. The ideal candidate will be a CPA with experience working with non-profit accounting, or a willingness to learn. Duties include managing bi-monthly payroll, filing quarterly federal and state reports, preparing the annual 990 and WI State reporting, preparing annual W-2s and 1099s, and preparing monthly statements of account for the board of directors. Familiarity with Quickbooks Online a plus. Time commitment is approximately 2 hours/month, plus time needed to prepare annual tax filings.

If interested, or to learn more, please contact WFVJ Executive Director
Rabbi Bonnie Margulis at wifaithvoices4justice@gmail.com or 608-513-7121.

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