Today is Saturday, November 8. Today the Hindu faith begin to celebrate Diwali, a five day festival of lights representing the start of the Hindu New Year. Diwali celebrates the victory of good over evil, light over darkness. Monday, November 10 the Baha’i faith commemorate the Birth of the Bab, a co-founder. Tuesday, November 11 is Veteran’s Day, a day honoring military veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces. Tuesday, November 11 the Baha’i faith commemorate the Birth of Baha’u’llah, a co-founder. Friday, November 14 is World Diabetes Day. November is Native American Heritage month, a time to celebrate the rich cultures and traditions, and histories of Native Americans and Alaska Natives.
Quote of the week: “Live your truth. When you live your truth nobody can use your truth against you.” Charlamagne tha God, born Lenard McKelvey, is a media personality, author and producer.
Special Quote of the week: “(God) help me to not make the same mistakes again but to make new and interesting ones.” – author Sandra Katz
Featured civil rights activist/abolitionist/pioneer: Charlamagne tha God, born Lenard McKelvey, is a media personality, author and producer.
Charlamagne tha God – Wikipedia
Attention; New Half Day ERG program: Below you will find a link to a 90 second video message from the CEO of a private company in the Rochester area introducing an ERG Exploring Racism Group special half-day seminar on Thursday, January 15. Please talk to and share with friends, colleagues and relatives requesting that they consider attendance. https://drive.google.com/file/d/11aGqFQKLakBFEkpdLWnMQUvlY0wTw5Cq/view?usp=sharing
To register, use this link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd3og5iNzdUz9qoG2e45FRliVE9l1WfEMR70DVVbGTRJW41Mw/viewform?usp=header
EVENTS
1. Sr. Barbara Staropoli, SSJ invites you to join weekly Saturday Vigils, where from 12 noon to 1pm, we stand together on various corners in Rochester and suburbs with our Black Lives Matter signs. See item #17 below for more information.
2. Concerned about our Democracy? Steve Martin suggests joining the Constitutional Crisis Call, Wednesday, November 12 from noon to 1:00 PM and every Wednesday in front of the Federal Building on State St., Rochester. See below for details.
3. Grequan Carter urges your attendance at the Partners in Restorative Justice (PiRI) ‘Restoring the Soul of Our City’, free symposium in community and restorative practices to be held on Friday, November 14, 2025, 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM at the Rochester Academy of Medicine (1441 East Ave.).
https://www.pirirochester.org/events/symposium
4. Stuart Mitchell encourages all to support the RMM Harvesting Justice fundraiser scheduled for November 20, 2025. The following link will introduce you to the dinner, program and sponsorship opportunities.
https://ruralmigrantministry.org/harvesting-justice-dinner/
5. Laurie Mahoney and Deni Mack share information on an upcoming Human Rights Conference to be held Sunday, December 14, from 3:00 PM – 5:00 PM at the Islamic Center of Rochester on Westfall Road. See link below for details.
NEWS, HISTORY & RESOURCES
6. George Yeadon shares this article ‘Closing the Racial Wealth Divide: A Plan to Boost Black Homeownership’.
7. Drew Saur shares this article from the Washington Post, ‘The battle over DEI is messier than ever for companies’.
8. We repeat this article John Engels shared 2 weeks ago. It reveals the stunning lack of diversity among educators who advocate for diversity….
‘Why does it seem like we are all more interested in convincing and repudiating than in examining and reflecting?’
9. From the Medium Daily Digest we share 3 pieces;
a. “The Myth of the “Largest Mass Lynching” in American History“ by William Spivey:
b. “The Real Reason White Parents Claim Black History is Scary“ by Dr. Allison Wiltz: https://readcultured.com/the-real-reason-white-parents-claim-black-history-is-scary-a5de9fc684e
c. “A Phrase Black Americans Are Tired Of“ by Rod T. Faulkner:
https://rodfaulkner.medium.com/a-phrase-black-americans-are-tired-of-5e98b4fe02e8
10. Here is a podcast from Reveal that is worth listening to, ‘America Had a Black President. Then Came the Whitelash’. – https://revealnews.org/podcast/jelani-cobb-trump-obama-trayvon-martin-whitelash/
11. Melanie Russo has plugged ERG programs in the Greater Rochester Chamber’s new Employer Playbook: Your Future Talent Pipeline Edition. The Edition is a call to action for employers to engage with our region’s youth in meaningful ways. It offers practical, ready-to-use ideas for getting involved, from one-day volunteer opportunities to long-term partnerships that create exposure and opportunity for our future workforce.
12. Liz Brown and Elders and Allies requests that you share the attached letter to the governor with your organization and suggest they sign onto to the letter. There are less than 2 months to get the governor to sign the increased oversight of our state’s jails and prisons, passed by the legislature in the last session. Please take a look at the orgs which have already signed on and ask your organization to sign.
13. Here is this week’s Urban League of Rochester – The Interrupter Newsletter
The Interrupter Newsletter – November 6, 2025
14. We share one article from this week’s The Minority Reporter;
a. PRESIDENT MELÉNDEZ INVITES COMMUNITY TO DONATE FOOD FOR THOSE IN NEED
15. Here are two articles from last week’s Beacon:
a. A rising tide of activism
https://rochesterbeacon.com/2025/10/23/a-rising-tide-of-activism/
b. Is a Joseph Avenue arts center finally in sight?
https://rochesterbeacon.com/2025/10/30/is-a-joseph-avenue-arts-center-finally-in-sight/
16. There are 7 articles that deal with Race, Poverty, Hate or Intolerance found in D&C this past week.
a. Parents say incident at Parents say incident at Pittsford school ignored Pittsford school ignored
(Adult monitor touched girl’s hair during lunch).
b. After trial on dad’s death, Brooks Jr. speaks on prison reform, promotes bill prison reform, promotes bill
c. Trump sets refugee ceiling at record-low 7,500 (It appears the priority is white Africaneers).
d. There’s a new website to help searching for affordable housing in NY.
e. Ex-cop found guilty in Massey killing.
f. As DEI ebbs, White men make gains in boardrooms.
g. Trump targets community lenders Trump targets community lenders (Cuts forcing CDFIs to slash services or close)
OPPORTUNITIES: We share opportunities to get involved in addressing some of the communities challenges. Please share any opportunities for employment, assistance, grants, etc. that you are aware of with the community by sending them to “tcmitch1951@gmail.com”.
17. Elders and Allies connected to Free The People ROC. We are a social justice group of seasoned black and white activists who came together after the death of Daniel Prude five years ago. We engage in various projects that connect to issues of racism in Rochester. One of those projects is our Saturday Vigils, where from 12 noon to 1pm, we stand together on various corners in Rochester and suburbs with our Black Lives Matter signs. It is a simple action but we are made aware each week from the responses we get, both positive and negative, that the message is an important reminder to those who drive by. We invite anyone who would like to jon us to contact me for information and for a sign. Contact Sister Barbara Staropoli for the next Saturday Vigil at bstaropolissj@gmail.com
18. The Urban League of Rochester’s Scholarship Program is open. It is not too early to consider and apply. See below for information and application.
https://www.urbanleagueroc.org/scholarships
19. Here is a call for volunteers for the Judicial Observation Project. See flyer below:
SUPPORT BLACK OWNED BUSINESSES:
20. Support the Black Community by supporting their businesses. Please share Black businesses you support and value. A good resource is “Black Owned in Rochester”
Black Owned Businesses Rochester NY Black-Owned In Rochester (blackownedinrochester.com)
21. Need a Multimedia Production Studio for your video or audio productions? Check out EXP Studio.
https://expstudio.org
EXP Studio produced the ERG promotional video for our new Exploring Racism Half Day Session. Check it out below:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/11aGqFQKLakBFEkpdLWnMQUvlY0wTw5Cq/view?usp=sharing
If you have an item to include in the week’s sharing we need to have it by noon on Friday.
Thank you!