CVN July 2008, page 6

ADVENTURES WITH MOM

By Marian June Rose

It was another beautiful Cape Cod day, one to take a trip and travel is what my mom and I did. Mary Vieira Rose has many friends here in Wareham so it was difficult who would go with us to the Cape Verdean Museum Exhibit located in East Providence, Rhode Island. Other attendees have told us how interesting and well organized this Exhibit was and we felt it was time to go and investigate for ourselves.

Doris Baptiste and Mary Paulette both from the Onset area were thrilled to accompany us and represent the Oak Grove Cape Verdean Cultural Center. Mom and I worked diligently in our kitchen earlier preparing cornmeal goofong to be our appreciation gesture to Denise Olivera, their Exhibit coordinator. Finally we were ready and we all piled into my hybrid Prius for the road trip to Rhode Island.

The Cape Verdean Museum Exhibit facility was very easy to find. The address is 1003 Waterman Avenue, East

The Coalition for Social Justice & The Coalition Against Poverty 13th Annual Banquet & Awards

Congressman Barney Frank was the recipient of the Coalition’s 2008 Social Justice Leadership Award. He was also the featured speaker for the 13 Annual Banquet and Awards Ceremony

On Saturday, June 7th 2008 the The Coalition for Social Justice and the Coalition Against Poverty held their 13th Annual Banquet and Awards Ceremony at White’s of Westport. A number of individuals and organizations were recognized for their efforts in fighting for justice and reducing the level of poverty in the geographical area that they serve.

Cecelia Porche is seen here with her boss Bristol County District Attorney Sam Sutter. CVN congratulates Cecelia on her new Community Affairs/ Liaison position. Go Cecelia! Note: Mr. Sutter won a roll of dollars in the Coalition raffle that he donated

Barbara Bemis was at the awards program taking pictures. Here she shows a photo taken of our CVN photographer.

This singer/ guitarist Bill Harley did an excellent job entertaining the large crowd

U.S. Rep. Barney Frank told a partisan Democratic crowd just what they wanted to hear — that they will win in the November presidential election.

The occasion was the 13th annual banquet and awards ceremony of the Coalition for Social Justice and the Coalition Against Poverty at White’s of Westport.

Besides the upcoming national elections, Frank, who represents parts of Fall River and Greater New Bedford, shared his observations on the state of the economy and the energy and housing foreclosure crises. He said he believes Americans are ready for change, particularly in the areas of economics, the environment and ending the war in Iraq. “I don’t think there’s been a worse decision in our history,” he said of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Describing Sen. John McCain as a “weak” Republican candidate, Frank expressed confidence that he would be defeated by Sen. Barack Obama. “I believe we are on the verge of a period of doing more good through government to make this country greater than ever,” Frank told the cheering audience. “I think our time has come.”

He called Sen. Hillary Clinton’s concession and throwing her full support to Obama “very important in the effort to defeat John McCain.”

Frank, who chairs the House Finance Committee,

said Democratic legislators have found it more difficult to work with their counterparts across the aisle because the Republican Party, formerly comprised of more moderates, has been overtaken by the “right wing.” He said Republicans vote with Democrats only when legislation is going to pass or fail easily. However, “when the votes really matter, these are people who give you ice in the winter. They’re not there for you in the summer.”

On the economy, he said, “We’re now in the worst economic situation we’ve had in a long time.” And he claimed the “biggest single cause is inadequate regulation.” “Sensible regulation is good for the market,” he added. “Capitalism is the best system, but when you oversell it, you damage it ... Economic growth is very unfairly distributed.”
Frank said one mistake liberals make is conceding to the right wing on morality issues, claiming the right is “trying to introduce government into our private lives.”

With the war in Iraq, he added, he tells the right wing, “You’re draining resources we need for the quality of life in our country. That’s immoral.”
Calling Sen. Edward M. Kennedy’s medical issue a “terribly sad thing for us,” Frank said he was most impressed at the “depth of anguish expressed at Ted’s illness.”

CSJ and CAP volunteers, staff and progressive community members were honored for their hard work

and dedication the past year in the agencies’ effort to fight the “growing gap between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots,’” said Missy Gilbarg, director of CAP. “Volunteerism is alive and well in southeastern Massachusetts,” she said. “The everyday folks who do extraordinary work in the fight for social justice and against poverty will be recognized.” Mass Equality and Southcoast Equality were recognized for their work on “protecting equal marriage,” she stated.

Also noted was the “Working Families Agenda,” a set of issues that form the focus of the coalition’s legislative work. “Both coalitions have been diligently working in New Bedford, Fall River, Brockton and the Cape to bring about public policy changes that would enable struggling working families to meet their basic needs without the fear of homelessness, lack of health care or inability to find work due to discrimination based on CORI (Criminal Offender Record Information) laws,” Gilbarg said.

Topping the coalitions’ list is the campaign to close corporate tax loopholes, a statewide effort to find fair and equitable sources of money so budget cuts to all of the coalitions’ core services can be minimized. “Both coalitions are striving to close loopholes that enable multinational corporations to unfairly hide income that should be taxed so that needed programs can be funded,” Gilbarg added.
This year’s agenda also includes fighting for safe staffing for nurses in hospitals,

Dr. Robert French (on right) and Tom Pace (on left) of North Star Learning Center were in attendance at the Coalition’s Award ceremony