THE LINE (THIS IS WHAT POVERTY LOOKS LIKE IN AMERICA) & HAVING OUR SAY (AMERICAN POVERTY AND THE PRESIDENTIAL DEBATES) 8&7SEP12

THIS is the trailer for The Line, a nonpartisan film about what happens to ordinary American families when they cross the poverty line. Click the link to watch the trailer and you will also have the opportunity to tweet Pres Obama and mitt romney and ask them what they are going to do about poverty in America. The film opens 2OCT12.

I want to make sure you got a chance to see this.
We just launched the trailer for Sojourners' new upcoming film The Line, and it’s already taking off across the web and across the country! It’s written and directed by Emmy Award-winning producer Linda Midgett, and chronicles the very real stories of four real people struggling with real poverty in America today.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=RGkqh5x6scw 
You’ll meet a banker in the suburban Midwest who used to earn six-figures a year and now, after the economic collapse, must go to a food bank to feed his three kids; a fisherman on the Gulf Coast of Louisiana who has watched his livelihood and his culture wash away in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and a devastating off-shore oil spill; a blue collar guy in North Carolina who worked hard his whole life but lost his job, became homeless, and started over as a restaurant busboy; and a single mom in Chicago who battles daily to ensure that her son is safe, healthy, and has the opportunity to go to college.
You can watch — and share — the official trailer for The Line, which debuts next month, right HERE.
Thanks,
Jim Wallis
http://thelinemovie.com/

Watch 'The Line': The Most Important Film You'll See This Year
Last week, millions tuned in to watch the Republican National Convention. It was a party for a political party funded by wealthy interests seeking to appeal to middle-class voters in an election year.
This week, millions are tuning  in to watch the Democratic National Convention. It is a party for a political party funded by wealthy interests seeking to appeal to middle-class voters in an election year.
Today, I want to introduce you to a film that just might be the most important thing you watch this week — or this year, for that matter.
Significant things, no doubt, have and will be said about our country during the political conventions. Competing visions for our future will be presented at both events. And there will be a lot of grandstanding, empty promises, half-truths, and deceptions (as their always seem to be in politics).
The media already is obsessing about how many times the word “God” is used in each party’s platform as a measure of faith or religiosity, as if crying “Lord, Lord” and vain repetition has replaced obedience to God’s command to love our neighbors. And yet, it's the actions of each party during the last four years that gives us true insight into who and what is important to them, much more than what gets written down on a party platform or said in speeches during these three-day self-congratulatory celebrations.
Yes, a strong middle class is important for a nation. But I also believe many more people need to be lifted up into economic security.
Matthew 25 doesn’t say, “As you have done to the middle class, you have done to me."
What it records Jesus saying is, “As you have done to the least of these, you have done to me.” Chances are that will never be the central message of political conventions during election years.
But every four years for the last 40 years (even before we were called Sojourners!), our community has done what we can to lift up the issue of poverty during presidential elections. While political party platforms have changed, our commitment to the least of these has not.
So it is with that spirit, this election year, that I am proud to present a new short film called The Line.
Written and directed by Emmy award-winning producer Linda Midgett, it chronicles the very real stories of four real people struggling with real poverty in America today.
You’ll meet a former banker in the suburban Midwest who used to earn six figures a year and now, after the economic collapse, must go to a food bank to feed his three kids; a fisherman on the Gulf Coast of Louisiana who has watched his livelihood and his culture wash away in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and the devastating  BP oil spill; a blue collar guy in North Carolina who worked hard his whole life but lost his job, became homeless, and started over as a restaurant bus boy; and a single mom in Chicago who battles daily to ensure that her son is safe, healthy, and has the opportunity to go to college.
You can watch — and share — the official trailer for The Line, which debuts next month, right HERE.
The idea of the film is simple: People living in and struggling with poverty telling their own stories. They are beautiful, inspiring, challenging, and full of grace.
In a word, their stories are powerful. The kind you never forget. The kind that make you not only feel something, but compel you to do something.
My Sojourners colleagues and I want to share The Line's stories and message with as many people as we can. That's where you come in. We need your help.
The first thing you can do is watch the trailer. As soon as you've seen it, I'm sure you’re going to want to share it with everyone you know.
Next, I invite you to join us. The Line premieres at 8 p.m. (EST) Oct. 2 — the night before the first presidential debate. With your help, I believe we can make sure both candidates understand that they will need to address the issue of poverty during that debate.
But, before we can get there, I need you to help us spread the word. So please, take just a couple of minutes today to watch the trailer and share with everyone you think needs to hear these stories.
And it’s with a lot of gratitude that I get to thank our partner — World Vision —  as well as the generous support from Oxfam America, Bread for the World, and the Christian Community Development Association that made The Line possible.
If you'd like to host a screening of The Line in your town (at your house of worship, a local theater, school, or anywhere else) or find a screening near you, click HERE.
Jim Wallis is the author of Rediscovering Values: A Guide for Economic and Moral Recovery, and CEO of Sojourners. Follow Jim on Twitter @JimWallis.

HAVING OUR SAY (AMERICAN POVERTY AND THE PRESIDENTIAL DEBATES) 7SEP12

"The great enemy of freedom is the alignment of political power with wealth. This alignment destroys the commonwealth - that is, the natural wealth of localities and the local economies of household, neighborhood, and community - and so destroys democracy, of which the commonwealth is the foundation and practical means.”
- Wendell Berry
from The Art of the Commonplace

 
TAVIS Smiley has long been an advocate for social justice and a moral budget and moral economy. Here he offers a way to make sure our concerns about the number of Americans living in poverty or facing the prospect of falling into poverty are brought up and addressed at the presidential and vice presidential debates. Twitter, if you tweet, the debate moderators and insist they include the plight of America's poor in the debates. From HuffPost....
Now that the conventions are over, time to prepare for the presidential debates. The candidates have homework to do, but so do we.
There are roughly 300 million American citizens. Each one with an equal right to be heard. But four Americans have been given special status. Jim Lehrer, Bob Schieffer, Candy Crowley and Martha Raddatz: the four journalists selected by the Commission on Presidential Debates to moderate the upcoming presidential and vice-presidential debates.
I have the utmost respect for my distinguished broadcast colleagues; they have each earned their way onto the debate stage. That said, I reiterate my deep disappointment with the obvious lack of diversity in this group; a group that could have been and should have been more representative of the most multi-cultural, multi-racial and multi-ethnic America ever. But I have an even greater concern at the moment.
As we move closer to the first debate, October 3, in Denver, Colorado, how do issues that should matter actually get raised in the debate? Case in point: four years ago in the three debates between Senator Barack Obama and Senator John McCain, the word "poor" or "poverty" did not come up one time. Obama didn't raise it, McCain didn't raise it, the moderators never asked about it. By the way, two of those moderators are back on stage this year.
This year, both Governor Romney and President Obama at least mentioned the "P" word in their convention speeches, but neither pledged to make the alleviation of poverty in America a priority. Both continued to address the "middle class" when everybody knows that the new poor are the former middle class. Candidates for high office love sharing personal narratives of overcoming poverty, but can't seem to fully commit themselves to lead in creating a bi-partisan plan that could significantly reduce and eventually eradicate poverty in the richest nation in the world.
So, how do we get the impolite topic of poverty on the agenda for the debates? It's hard to ignore that 1 in 2 Americans is either living in or near poverty. Hard to ignore the 16 million children now living in poverty. Hard to ignore that more Americans are experiencing long-term unemployment than at any time in recorded history. Hard to ignore the growing lines at food pantries. Hard to ignore all the FORECLOSURE yard signs. Hard to ignore all the recent -- and not so recent -- college graduates who can't find work. Hard to ignore the millions of Americans falling through the cracks as government inexplicably draws up the social safety net, diminishing Medicaid, food stamps and other vital social service programs. Hard to ignore the direct link between poverty and joblessness. Hard to ignore.
Yet, I fear that's exactly what may happen if we don't remind the candidates and the moderators that poverty in America ought to be abnormal, not the new normal. So, what to do? I say let the moderators hear from you. I don't know too many of my colleagues who outright refuse to review their mail. It matters to most. And since they're representing US, why not hear from US?
Greg Kaufmann of The Nation magazine has been doing his homework, chronicling potential questions about poverty in America for President Obama and Governor Romney. Sample questions: What is the appropriate role of government in improving the likelihood that an honest day's work earns a living wage? What do you think is most important in securing economic mobility for all children, regardless of the incomes or educational attainment of their parents, and how will you accomplish this? As president, what would you do about America's growing hunger crisis?
So here's your assignment: I'm sure you have a question for Obama and Romney about how to tackle poverty, and you ought to share that with the debate moderators. Here's how:
JIM LEHRER - PBS
twitter.com/NewsHour
newshour@pbs.org
BOB SCHIEFFER - CBS
twitter.com/bobSchieffer
facethenation@cbsnews.com
CANDY CROWLEY - CNN
twitter.com/crowleyCNN
MARTHA RADDATZ - ABC
twitter.com/martharaddatz
Poor people cannot be rendered invisible in this campaign. This time around, let's do our homework and make sure that ALL voices are heard.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tavis-smiley/debate-questions_b_1864091.html?utm_hp_ref=daily-brief?utm_source=DailyBrief&utm_campaign=090712&utm_medium=email&utm_content=BlogEntry&utm_term=Daily%20Brief

 

The Spiritually Viral Hunger Fast (For a Moral Budget) 7APR11

An interesting note, the proponents of tax cuts for the wealthy, subsidies for big oil and the rest of corporate America and increasing the Pentagon budget and so increasing the profits of the military-industrial complex can not, dare not, claim theirs is a moral budget in any definition of the word. That fact alone should give pause to their supporters, and should empower those fasting, praying, and taking other actions promoting a moral budget as well as strengthen the resolve, steel the courage of the decision makers in Washington to pass a moral budget worthy of a nation that has declared itself Christian to the rest of the world. 

The hunger fast for a moral budget has gone spiritually viral. Ten days ago, we announced at the National Press Club that the budget debate had become a moral crisis. Prayer, fasting, and radical action are now required. Sojourners, the Alliance to End Hunger, and Bread for the World spearheaded this effort, but many more organizations, churches, and individuals have joined each day. We now have more than 30,000 participants and are still growing.From large Christian groups such as World Vision and Opportunity International, to secular groups such as Women Thrive Worldwide and the ONE campaign; from labor unions such as the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which represents the poorest workers in the country, to MoveOn.org, involvement in this fast is amazingly broad. Twenty-five members of Congress will join the fast, and this work is now referenced constantly on the House floor. More members continue to join, and they plan to have at least one member fasting every day until Easter by "passing the baton" on to their colleagues.We are keeping the pressure on Congress through emails and phone calls as well as media coverage. CNN, Fox News, PBS, NPR, and many print and online outlets have highlighted the hunger fast. Every story is another opportunity to raise awareness about what is happening in Washington, D.C., and how it will affect the poor across our country and the world. Others are spreading the word by connecting with us on Facebook and Twitter.My favorite thing about these first 10 days of the fast has been the stories. For example, a doctor friend, calling with concerns about my health, said, "Well, I walked into church today and our youth group announced a 30-hour fast for the poor and a moral budget, and said they were inspired by your fast." Also, a Jewish activist joining our water fast told me he was re-reading the biblical story of Esther, who called the people to a public fast to change the king's mind. He spoke about the emotions he felt when he imagined his 2-year-old daughter having the hunger pangs he was now experiencing. Low-income workers from my hometown of Detroit, Michigan came to one of our congressional events to thank us for fasting, and to say they were joining us.Finally, we were given a very generous gift from Christ House, a 24-hour residential medical facility for homeless men and women in Washington, D.C., founded by the Church of the Savior. Gordon Cosby, the 94-year-old founder of the church who now lives at Christ House, told me that the homeless men and women had raised the money themselves. And when Gordon said, "I am praying for you every hour," I felt ready to take on the giants of Washington for another day.The message of the fast gets clearer each day -- fasting tends to focus you, and the message is that a budget is about the choices we make. This fast is not just about cutting spending, but about the values that will determine our priorities and decisions. Should we cut $8.5 billion for low-income housing, or $8.5 billion in mortgage tax deductions for second vacation homes? Should we cut $11.2 billion in early childhood programs for poor kids, or $11.5 billion in tax cuts for millionaires' estates? Should we cut $2.5 billion in home heating assistance in winter months, or $2.5 billion in tax breaks for oil companies and off-shore drilling? This debate isn't about scarcity as much as it is about choices.This battle over a moral budget will be with us for a while, but it is bringing more and more Christians together -- from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops to the Salvation Army, from the National Association of Evangelicals to the National Council of Churches, from Sojourners and Bread for the World to a growing number of other denominations and groups -- a vision and strategy is coalescing to form a "circle of protection" around the most critical and life-saving programs for the poorest and most vulnerable people in our communities.The fast has energized the faith community, poverty and hunger organizations, and secular social change groups, and has helped to spark a broad and united movement for a moral budget. With 17 days left until Easter, we are continuing to create a spiritually empowered community ready to engage in the moral battle for a better budget, a better country, and a better world in the huge political fights that lie ahead. Join the hunger fast for a moral budget, and let's make this fast spiritually viral!Jim Wallis is the author of Rediscovering Values: A Guide for Economic and Moral Recovery, and CEO of Sojourners. He blogs at www.godspolitics.com. Follow Jim on Twitter @JimWallis.

"These critical funds enable millions around the world to have access to food and clean water, the very basics needed for human survival. I am proud to join my colleague, friends, and over 30,000 Americans in this fast to call attention to the drastic cuts being proposed by House Republicans to critical programs and services." - Rep. Rosa DeLauro on why she and other members of Congress are joining the hunger fast for a moral budget. (Source: CNN)