Welcome to the third month of the Social Justice Challenge. This month’s focus is on Domestic Violence and Child Abuse. A HUGE subject matter and sadly, one you won’t have any trouble finding any books, fiction or non-fiction, that address this awful plague. Take some time and look around the page set up with book, media and website recommendations. Decide what you’d like to read, watch or learn about this month. If you have more recommendations for us, let us know. Stay tuned here on the blog as I’ll be featuring a few posts about this topic.
Let’s start out this month with asking a few questions to get your mind thinking. Feel free to answer these questions or your own free thoughts on your blog (leave your post url in the Mr. Linky below) or here in the comments.
- What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of domestic violence and child abuse?
- What does domestic violence and child abuse mean to you personally?
- What is your current knowledge of domestic violence and child abuse?
- Are you aware of the resources available for men, women and children who find themselves in domestic violence and child abuse situations?
- Have you chosen a book or resource to read for this month?
- Take some time and think about what potential action steps you could take. (I’ll have a post dedicated to this shortly).
I look forward to hearing your responses and finding out what books you’ll be reading.
Well, February has come and gone. (Sorry I’m late with this post.) There were some tough books this month! I had a very difficult time finding any fiction (or even narrative nonfiction) that addressed the issue of water.
Just because the month is over, though, doesn’t mean the issue has disappeared. March 22 is World Water Day, as designated by the UN.
Here’s a look at this month’s reviews.
On the issue of water:
Marjorie @ PaperTigers talked about Ryan and Jimmy: And the Well in Africa that Brought Them Together by Herb Shoveller and One Well: The Story of Water on Earth by Rochelle Strauss and illustrated by Rosemary Woods and reviewed them, as well.
Jenn @ That Just Happened reviewed Water Wars: Privitization, Pollution, and Profit by Vandana Shiva.
Margot @ Joyfully Retired reviewed Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond (Volume 1 and 2) by Brad Lancaster
Fiona @ A Reader’s Random Ramblings attempted Blue Covenant: The Global Water Crisis and the Coming Battle for the Right to Water by Maude Barlow.
Erin @ Filling My Patch of Sky reviewed Blue Covenant: The Global Water Crisis and the Coming Battle for the Right to Water by Maude Barlow.
Wendy @ Caribou’s Mom reviewed the movie Sahara, based on Clive Cussler’s book.
Michelle @ Michelle’s Masterful Musings reviewed sci-fi classic Dune by Frank Herbert.
Colleen @ Books in the City interacted with the Water : H2O = Life online resource.
On the issue of religious freedom:
Amy @ Amy Reads reviewed Shine, Coconut Moon by Neesha Meminger
Jenny @ Books, Just Books reviewed Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay.
Zee @ Notes from the North reviewed Freedom in Exile, an autobiography of the Dalai Lama.
Colleen @ Books in the City reviewed Nine Parts of Desire by Geraldine Brooks.
February 1st, 2010 · 3 Comments
Please add permalinks to your reviews on the books, articles, blog posts you read or movies you view for the month of February. A roundup of all reviews will be posted at the end of the month. Thanks for your participation in the Social Justice Challenge!
February 1st, 2010 · 8 Comments
Welcome to the second month of the 2010 Social Justice Challenge! This month’s focus is Water.
Below I’ve listed a few questions that you can answer either on your own blog (and leave a link in this Mister Linky) or in the comments here. We’re all in this world together, so let’s see what we can learn from simply listening to each other!
- What is the first thought that comes to your mind when you think of Water as a social justice issue?
- What, if any, exposure have you personally had to a water shortage?
- What potential action steps can you think of that relate to this month’s theme of Water?
I’m looking forward to reading all of your responses, and to a great month!
February 1st, 2010 · 4 Comments
Here’s a quick look at this month’s reviews. Don’t worry if you haven’t posted your review yet, we’ll do this round-ups every once in awhile. Thanks for a great month everyone! I’m passing things on to Hannah for February. (she’ll do a much better job!)
Amy reviewed The Trouble with Islam by Irshad Manji and The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight by Thom Hartmann.
Margot reviewed In the Presence of My Enemies by Gracia Burnham with Dean Merrill. So did Ronnica.
Wendy reviewed Sacred Hearts< by Sarah Dunant.
Martha reviewed The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. So did Erin, and Hannah.
Jenn reviewed Anil’s Ghost by Michael Odaantje So did Black Sheep.
Heather reviewed The Faith Club by Ranya Idilby, Suzanne Oliver, and Priscilla Warner
Fiona reviewed Nine Parts of Desire by Geraldine Brooks. So did Stark Raving Bibliophile.
Annie reviewed Does My Head Look Big in This? by Randa Abdel-Fattah
ibeeg reviewed Silence by Shusaku Endo
Katrina read Sorrow Mountain by Ani Pachen and Adelaide Donnelly.
Edi reviewed Many Windows: Six kids, five faiths, one community by Rukhsana Khan with Elisa Corbone and Uma krishnaswami.
Sheila reviewed The Mercy Seller by Brenda Ruckman Vantrease.
Rasco reviewed Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosay.
Ah Yuan reviewed A Girl Made of Dust by Nathalie Abi-Ezzi.
Kim of Bookstore People reviewed Night by Elie Wiesel.
January 30th, 2010 · 5 Comments
The most important thing we can do to help ensure that people around the world are not persecuted for their beliefs, for changing their beliefs, or for not believing at all is to make sure that people in the position of power know about violations of these rights. This month’s action steps focus on this idea.
Last week I added a new resource to the resources page, called Forum 18. While Forum 18 is a Christian organization, their work is for the religious freedom of all people. I highly recommend bookmarking their site to stay on top of all the latest news regarding severe threats to religious freedom today.
Suggested Action Steps:
Write to your senator or US representative when you hear about a threat to religious persecution or about the issue in general.
Write to the President or US Department of State.
Write to the US embassies in other countries to share your concerns about religious persecution.
Use your blog as a place to inform others about current threats to religious freedom. Write a post about a situation and then share your feelings on why religious freedom matters.
If you are a Christian and wish to get further involved in helping the persecuted church, Voice of the Martyrs has several ways to take active steps, including writing to prisoners,becoming a voice for the VOM network in your local church, and sending action packs to persecuted Christians in Iraq, Sudan, and Pakistan. You can view a full list of their opportunities on the Voice of the Martyrs website.
Visit the Amnesty International website and find out how you can get involved from your country. Amnesty International makes it possible to send emails and faxes straight from your computer in many cases and has a wealth of information about severe threats to human rights.
**If anyone knows of any similar organizations to Voice of the Martyrs for other religions please let me know and I’ll add them to this list.
January 28th, 2010 · 3 Comments
Did you know January 16th was Religious Freedom Day? Read the letter from President Obama about the purpose of this day.
Additionally, I know I’ve been a poor host this month, and I deeply apologize. Expect an outpouring of posts over the next few days including recommended action steps you can take. Thanks for your patience this month!
This article provides a quick overview of the religious persecution in Myanmar today.
January 11th, 2010 · 5 Comments
When reading through the answers to the opening meme for the month, I saw an expressed interest in learning where about threats to religious freedom today. While freedom is always of a delicate nature, the Independent U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom named, in 2009, the following thirteen countries as being Countries of Particular Concern (places where governments engaged in severe and ongoing violations of religious freeom):
- Burma
- North Korea
- China
- Vietnam
- Eritrea
- Nigeria
- Sudan
- Iran
- Iraq
- Pakistan
- Saudi Arabia
- Turkmenistan
- Uzbekistan
You can read more about the commission’s findings at Voice of America.
January 10th, 2010 · 5 Comments
Please add permalinks to your reviews on the books, articles, blog posts you read or movies you view for the month of January. A round-up of all reviews will be posted at the end of the month. Thanks for your participation in the Social Justice Challenge!
