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8th Annual Rabbi Marshall T. Meyer Risk-Taker Awards Wednesday, November 10, 2004 6pm Reception, 7:00pm Program SEIU Local 32BJ 101 Avenue of the Americas, New York Honored: Tami Gold, Juan González, Amy Goodman, Naomi Klein, Richie Pérez (in memoriam) & Art Spiegelman
In an era when the government tells people to "watch what they say" and Pentagon press releases pass for news, JFREJ honored
VOICES OF DISSENT IN CHILLING TIMES: artists and journalists whose words and images keep us informed, awakened, and inspired to pursue justice. 2004 Honorees
As co-host of Democracy Now! Juan González brings a rich and distinguished background in advocacy journalism to this vital program. An accomplished print journalist as well, González is a staff columnist at New York's Daily News and the author of three books, including Fallout: The Environmental Consequences of the World Trade Center Collapse (New Press, 2002). A founding member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, and its president from 2002-04, González is also a professor at Brooklyn College.
Richie Pérez (1944-2004) was a life-long activist for human rights and social justice who inspired countless New Yorkers with his expansive vision and taught untold activists invaluable lessons in both nuts-and-bolts politics and the driving force of love in t he movement. A former Young Lord and co-founder of the Justice Committee/National Congress for Puerto Rican Rights, Pérez was a tireless crusader on such issues as open admissions, police accountability, education, and peace. Mentor, comrade, and passionat e revolutionary, he was a champion of communities of color and a builder of coalitions across all racial and ethnic communities.
Martha Laureano-Pérez Martha Laureano-Pérez & Esther Kaplan
force in establishing the importance of comic books and graphic novels as powerful literary forms. His own work - the latest is In the Shadow of No Towers, a searing and sharply satirical response to the tragedy of 9-11 - combines dazzling formal complexity with direct emotion and fearless engagement of controversial issues. A pioneer of the underground comix movement, Spiegelman started the legendary avant-garde comics magazine RAW with his wife, Françoise Mouly, and currently edits Little Lit, a series of comic anthologies for children. His masterful, two-volume work, Maus, based on his parents' experiences as Holocaust survivors, was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1992.
Memorial Honoree
Rabbi Marshall T. Meyer, rabbi of Congregation B'nai Jeshurun in New York City, was a fighter for social justice who spoke out against the military dictatorship in Argentina, fought for Israeli-Palestinian peace and opposed racism, homophobia, and economic inequality wherever he encountered them. (Jacobo Timerman dedicated Prisoner Without a Name, Cell Without a Number to him.) He was a man of energy, vision and commitment who was willing to put acceptance and safety at risk to struggle for a better world. Teacher, comrade, friend, rabbi, Marshall was an inspiration for JFREJ, for countless others, and for generations of activists to come.
For more information on the upcoming 2005 Rabbi Marshall T. Meyer Risk Taker Awards click here For Background information on Rabbi Marshall T. Meyer click here To learn more about past honorees click here
Jews For Racial & Economic Justice - 135 W. 29th St. #600 New York, NY 10001 |
Marshall Meyer Awards Rabbi
Marshall T. Meyer
Board & Staff at 10th Anniv. of Mensches in the
Trenches 1930-1993 When Rabbi Marshall T. Meyer hosted one of the earliest planning meetings of Jews for Racial & Economic Justice at his home in 1990, he offered more than a space to gather. He lent his energy, his wisdom, his nitty-gritty activism, his powerful sense of urgency, his vision, his colossal sense of commitment, his willingness to put acceptance and safety at risk to fight for what is just. These qualities radiated from Marshall in all his endeavors. Over some eight years, he turned a moribund New York synagogue into a thriving community where a traditional, joyous religious practice is infused with the pursuit of social justice. For 25 years before that in Argentina, he not only founded a synagogue and Latin Americas first rabbinical seminary, but courageously spoke out against the military dictatorship. (Jacobo Timerman dedicated Prisoner Without a Name, Cell Without a Number to him.) Marshall was a monumental figure, lecturing and receiving humanitarian awards all over the world. Yet he remained a warm, approachable, available rabbi to rely on in the most trying of times. Marshalls mentor had been Abraham Joshua Heschel, the visionary rabbi who marched with Martin Luther King, Jr. and wrote some of Judaisms most passionate, poetic essays about prayer and spiritual search. Marshall built on Heschels legacy, despite increasing retreats into tribalism and acrimony among so many of his colleagues. He fought for Israeli-Palestinian peace, the defeat of racism and homophobia, the eradication of poverty and many other causes, often in the face of vicious rebukes from those who advocate a more insular and chauvinistic Judaism or America. Teacher, comrade, friend, rabbi, Marshall has been an inspiration for JFREJ and for countless others, and will be for generations of activists to come. JFREJ established the Rabbi Marshall T. Meyer Risk-Taker Award in 1995 to honor those who have taken extraordinary risks in the pursuit of justice. Click below to see past honorees: |
Maker of videos and films that address urgent social justice issues, Tami Gold's most recent documentary Every Mother's Son (with co-director Kelly Anderson), follows the efforts of three mothers as they try to get justice for their sons who were killed by NYC police officers. Winner of the Audience Choice Award at the Tribeca Film Festival this summer, it was broadcast on PBS in August. Gold's other films include Making A Killing: Phillip Morris, Kraft and Global Tobacco Addiction (2000), Another Brother (1999), Out At Work: Lesbians and Gay Men On the Job (1997) and Juggling Gender (1997). Gold is a professor at Hunter College. 
Broadcast journalist Amy Goodman is the founder, host and executive producer of Pacifica Radio's hard-hitting daily news show, 
Well-known for her international best-seller, No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies, Naomi Klein is an independent journalist providing analytical coverage and enterprising reporting on war, globalization, and worldwide movements of resistance. Her recent film, The Take, tells the inspiring story of new forms of direct democracy in Argentina. Klein's articles have appeared in numerous publications and she writes an internationally syndicated column for The Globe and Mail (Canada) and The Nation (US). 
Cartoonist, artist, and comic historian Art Spiegelman, has been a seismic 