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MOSES is formally affiliated with WISDOM, a statewide social justice organization. As part of the WISDOM network in Wisconsin, MOSES is fully invested in WISDOM’s actions.
ORUCC is Forming a MOSES Core Team
The Racial Justice Mission Team has received brief reports on the goals and activities of MOSES since ORUCC became an official member in 2022. Last month RJMT agreed to create a MOSES Core Team, which will initially meet quarterly for one hour. We are happy to report that six people have indicated willingness to participate thus far. The team will dig deeper into learning about the work of MOSES. Ultimately, the team will advise active MOSES participants on questions of MOSES advocacy work to provide an ORUCC perspective.
Pam Oliver, as ORUCC’s representative to the MOSES Leadership Board, and Barbie Jackson, who also attends the board meetings, will receive WISDOM training in May about how to support effective Core Teams within our congregation. They hope this will assist in developing a deeper engagement in this important work within the ORUCC community. Watch for scheduling in future announcements.
MOSES & WISDOM Update on Prison Lockdowns
Last month WISDOM requested all affiliates throughout the state to issue a statement calling for an end to the Prison Lockdowns. In response, MOSES delivered this press release to 34 media outlets in the Dane County area. It states in part:
“As Governor Evers looks for a new Corrections Secretary, he needs to make clear that the first priority must be to close GBCI and WCI. The Administration has the authority to do this. About 5,000 people in Wisconsin prisons are there because of a crimeless revocation — they broke a rule of supervision or parole, but did not commit a new crime. The Department of Corrections has complete discretion over whether or not such people are sent to prison. Other states have drastically reduced their prison populations just by cutting back on crimeless revocations — even Wisconsin reduced its prison numbers significantly during COVID in this way. There are fewer than 2,000 people imprisoned in GBCI and WCI combined. Just a 40% reduction in crimeless revocations would enable Wisconsin to completely depopulate both of these prisons.”
WISDOM Executive Committee Message Calls for Immediate, Permanent Ceasefire
WISDOM’s Executive Committee issued this statement to all members of its statewide network. It states in part:
“Normally, as the WISDOM Executive Committee we do not get involved in issues of foreign policy, where we have no expertise. Regarding the current enormous loss of life and humanitarian nightmare in Gaza, we feel a need to make an exception. . . In the same way that the decades of unjust treatment of Palestinians cannot justify many of the actions of October 7, the actions of October 7 cannot justify the brutal bombardment and starvation of people in Gaza in the subsequent five months. There must be an immediate and permanent ceasefire.”
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