News and Commentary
This page displays timely announcements, news reports, and articles written by MOSES members previously published in our newsletters, yearbook, or venues. Signed articles offer information and interpretations to support advocacy, but are not official MOSES positions. Links to official MOSES position statements may be found on this page. The main display shows all items with the most recent first. You can select particular topics, working groups, or types of information to see the articles of one type, with the most recent first. Also see the Publications & Resources page for links to whole newsletters and yearbooks as well as other resources for research.
Organizer’s Corner
by MOSES Publications | Jun 30, 2024 | Information, MOSES activities, Organizer
Organizer’s Corner: Greetings, Everyone! From Community Organizer, James Morgan It is my sincere hope that as I share with you in this moment, that you’ll gain a greater appreciation for having had, at one time or another, an experience of making “it” make sense. The “It” I am referring to has no boundaries, when it comes to how we may act, or our reaction to the situations and circumstances before us. It can and often does involve personal and collective decision-making in our...
Justice System Reform Initiative (JSRI) Activities and Concerns
by MOSES Publications | Jun 30, 2024 | Advocacy, Information, JSRI Justice System Reform Initiatives, MOSES activities
Justice System Reform Initiative (JSRI) Activities and Concerns By Tom and Jan Gilbert, Mary Anglim, and Kathy Luker Dane County has not been actively pursuing reform initiatives that are of interest to us in the past year. This is part of the ebb and flow of county government, but here are some of the reasons for the inactivity: • County Executive Parisi’s announcement in October 2023 that he would retire had an impact on everything in county government. His retirement took effect on...
MMSD Takes Important Steps for Student Literacy
by MOSES Publications | Jun 30, 2024 | Information, RJAC Racial Justice for All Children, Schools
MMSD Takes Important Steps for Student Literacy By Barbie Jackson and Shel Gross, Racial Justice for All Children Task Force (RJAC) Education Advocacy Group The Madison Metropolitan School District (MMSD)’s proposed budget for 2024-’25 contains a very significant statement: In MMSD, we believe reading is a moral imperative for all students. Rooted in our commitment to ensuring all students graduate ready for college, careers, and the community, all students in MMSD will receive high-quality,...
Organizer’s Corner
by MOSES Publications | Apr 30, 2024 | Calls to Action, Information, MOSES activities, Newsletter, Organizer
Greetings, MOSES! From Community Organizer James Morgan Many of my recent experiences in the larger community have caused me to reflect on organizational capacity, recruitment, and leadership. Our goals and mission to establish a platform for collective power-building dictates that, as your organizer, I must reflect on MOSES and its capacity to build externally, as well as internally. Most recently, when I was talking with someone from another organization, our conversation focused on power...
MOSES Reaches In to Visit Black Churches
by MOSES Publications | Apr 30, 2024 | Advocacy, MOSES activities, Newsletter, Racial Equity Team, Racism and Racial Equity
MOSES Reaches In to Visit Black Churches By Saundra Brown, President of MOSES MOSES’s mission statement calls us to build collective power. This guiding principle, which comes directly from our national and statewide organizations, Gamaliel and WISDOM, is based on an understanding that we cannot achieve success without a broad, collaborative base. To achieve our goals, we must build collective power. This requires us to develop organized people and organized money. We cannot close the gaps of...
What’s Happening to Parole in Wisconsin?
by MOSES Publications | Apr 30, 2024 | Advocacy, Newsletter, Prisons
What’s Happening to Parole in Wisconsin? By Sherry Reames The figures on the Parole Commission website show a huge recent drop in the number of paroles being granted. Between 2019 and 2022, an average of 167 individuals a year were released on parole. In 2023 the number plummeted to 37 (or 40, if we count those whose cases were heard in 2023 and added on the website in January and February 2024). The number so far in 2024 (as of April 20) is just one. That is a shocking development,...
Film Review: The 50
by MOSES Publications | Apr 30, 2024 | Life After Prison, Newsletter, Reviews
Film Review: The 50 Is Changing Lives By Margaret Irwin The 50 is the story – set in California – of a unique way to give incarcerated people a second chance: by training them to become addiction counselors. In March, EXPO sponsored a showing of this documentary at the Urban League’s handsome new Black Business Hub on South Park Street. In 2006, the federal government decreed that California must reduce its prison population by 50,000 to relieve overcrowding. At that time, more than...
Middleton Community Church UCC
by MOSES Publications | Apr 30, 2024 | Information, Newsletter, Support MOSES
Featuring a New MOSES Member: Middleton Community Church UCC By Margaret Irwin Middleton Community Church United Church of Christ (referred to hereafter as MCC) was founded in 1936 by 34 people who wanted a Sunday school for children in the area whose families were not members of the existing Lutheran or Catholic congregations. It has been known ever since as “a church home for those who do not have a home,” welcoming people from a variety of religious backgrounds. As the church grew in...
Life After Prison: JustDane’s Returning Prisoner Simulation
by MOSES Publications | Apr 30, 2024 | Information, Life After Prison, Newsletter
Life After Prison: A Few Hours with JustDane’s Returning Prisoner Simulation By Katie Mulligan Walk a mile in someone’s shoes before you render judgment. I had a chance to follow that familiar advice last December. The occasion was a simulation program of what it is like for a person leaving prison and trying to survive in the outside world. JustDane, a criminal-justice organization, offered this program, in which each attendee adopted the persona of a newly released prisoner who struggles to...
Meet MOSES President Saundra Brown
by MOSES Publications | Apr 30, 2024 | Information, MOSES activities, MOSES leadership, Newsletter
Meet MOSES President Saundra Brown By Pam Gates Saundra Brown became MOSES president at the beginning of 2024. She has a strong vision on how to strengthen MOSES and next steps to move it forward. She recently shared her visions and goals with the MOSES newsletter team. Frequent one-on-ones between MOSES members are important! “We’re not communicating with one another enough,” Saundra says. “I want to put an emphasis on one-on-ones. You can’t have too many. Even if you’ve done one with...