The 50+ member organizations of the NYS Community Equity Agenda, representing hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers statewide, made the following statement responding to the Trump Administration’s assault on the Consumer and Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)—and...
WESPAC Foundation supports the work of the Anti-Racist Alliance which is the lead group in Westchester that explores the ongoing harm of institutionalized and systemic racism in our country today. We have honest discussions in a mixed group of how white privilege impacts both people of color and white folk in Westchester County in the form of excessive police force, access to quality education, employment and housing and many other areas. We listen to the range of experience that people of color have to endure in a society that continues to disproportionately benefit white people . For more information, visit antiracistalliance.com
The Forgotten Occupation: Jim Crow goes to Haiti
Filmmaker Alain Martin frames the forgotten history of his country’s brutal occupation at the hands of the United States as an epistolary that finds him penning a letter to his deceased grandfather about the subject. He confesses to Brunel Martin, the grandfather in...
A Land for All Presentation at WESPAC
We had a wonderful evening at WESPAC last night with Professor Oren Yiftachel who presented A Land for All. A Land for All is a shared movement of Israelis and Palestinians who believe that the way towards peace, security and stability for all passes through two...
They Called me a Lioness
Librarians and Archivists with Palestine is proud to announce They Called Me a Lioness: A Palestinian Girl’s Fight for Freedom by Ahed Tamimi and Dena Takruri as our pick for the 2025 “One Book, Many Communities” international reading campaign! In this memoir, Ahed...
From Social Workers Against Solitary Confinement
The documentary The Strike will premiere on PBS Independent Lens on Monday, February 3rd (next week!). It will be available for free streaming on the PBS YouTube channel starting on February 3rd, and it will be available on PBS Independent Lens, PBS YouTube, and PBS...
Rev. John Collins has passed away
Dear all, I have received the very sad news from Sheila of the passing of our great and compassionate leader, Rev. John Collins. He passed away peacefully in his sleep last night at the age of 95. The family will be planning a memorial service for him later this...
Take Another Look at Second Look
NYLJ: In the New Year, Take Another Look at Second Look The author writes "For nearly as long as I have been a judge, I have firmly believed in the importance of what I call demystifying the judiciary — that is, helping the public understand what judges do, how they...
Public Statement by The Westchester Coalition for Police Reform in Response to the Death of Robert Brooks
We are deeply disturbed by the recent video showing the horrific beating of Robert Brooks by corrections officers, medical staff, and state employees which caused his death. This violent act is not only unacceptable, but also inhumane and barbaric. Robert Brooks, a...
Better Oversight Needed at Youth Detention Facilities in NYS
Better Oversight Needed at Juvenile Justice Facilities The New York State Office of Children and Family Services is not adequately overseeing juvenile justice facilities outside New York City to ensure they meet State regulations for the health and safety of the youth...
The Children of Gaza
12-year-old Dunia lost her leg in an Israeli airstrike that killed her whole family. We filmed this video with Dunia during the seven-day truce, and yesterday an Israeli tank-fired shell killed her while she was recovering in Naser Hospital in Khan Younis....
WESPAC on Facebook
November 19th marks the tragic police killing of Mr. Kenneth Chamberlain, Sr. Kenneth his son will open up the community forum with welcoming words and thoughts on this current moment:Please save the date and help us share widely!Our current slate of confirmed panelists includes: - Deputy Commissioner of Public Safety for the City of White Plains Joseph Castelli (Commissioner Hardy is already committed to another panel that evening)- Peekskill Police Chief Adam Renwick - Omar Lopez (Deputy Mayor and CCRB Chairman, Ossining) - Dennis Adams (CCRB Chairman, Peekskill) - Jay Buckiewicz (Secretary CCRB, Peekskill)Invited but not yet confirmed - City of Yonkers Public Safety Commissioner and Westchester County Public Safety CommissionerWe will have light refreshments from 6pm to 6:15pm and then we will head to the auditorium: @followers
WESPAC Foundation has secured the screening rights to make the documentary Who Killed Alex Odeh? available to our community for one day. This film is deeply personal to me. I was a high school student here in Westchester County at Horace Greeley when Alex Odeh, a Palestinian American civil rights leader and regional director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, was assassinated by a bomb planted at his office in Santa Ana, California, on October 11, 1985. I remember how deeply disturbing it was to learn of his murder, and I remain profoundly shaken by the fact that, more than four decades later, no one has been brought to justice. Even more troubling is the history of suspects who were able to leave the United States without facing prosecution. For me, Alex Odeh’s murder came to symbolize something that Palestinians have experienced for generations: a devastating sense that those who take Palestinian lives can do so with impunity. That failure of accountability has continued to haunt our people, culminating in the mass killing and destruction we have witnessed in Gaza over these past several years. When violence against Palestinians goes unpunished, it sends a dangerous message that Palestinian lives are somehow less worthy of protection, dignity, and justice. I hope our WESPAC community will take the time to watch this important film with me on December 2nd at 7pm at WESPAC, reflect on the decades of injustice it exposes, and recommit ourselves to the principle that every human life is sacred and that justice must never depend on one’s nationality, ethnicity, or identity.Wednesday, December 2nd at 7pm at WESPAC77 Tarrytown Road, Suite 2WWhite Plains, NY 10607
Come out on Sunday and support the Yonkers Sanctuary Movement!