Community Imperative. Faith-Based communities can lead. THIS FRIDAY MORNING: Fridays in Black August Prayer Service. August 11, 2023

Our Faith-Based community members play a vital role in all aspects within our community for:  equity, inclusion, addressing domestic and gun violence, 21^st Century Slavery and sexual exploitation, recovery\homelessness, water & food insecurity, mental & physical health well-being, disasters, emergency, climate-risk management, sustainability, and other issues in our communities.

The 2019-and long-term on going recovery from the COVID-19 global pandemic brought communities together to address these issues. 

This momentum cannot stop.  We cannot return to business as usual at a time before affected our communities.

BEMA International supports the Samual DeWitt Proctor Conference Inc organization, our faith-based communities, organizations addressing the issues of vulnerable women, girls (Upward African Woman), and other member and affiliated organizations to address community issues locally, regionally, and national. 

“We are One”.

We ask that our members get involved locally.  Continue with the trust, credibility, and integrity that came to light during the global pandemic to address the issues in your community.  Get involved in the policies, decision-making, and other community issues. 

Our next generation leaders, those in elementary, middle, and high school are watching and learning from our actions to be the leaders that they are destined to be.

Get involved.

CDS

Chair\CEO BEMA International

Join us LIVE on FACEBOOK at 8:00 AM CDT/9:00 AM EDT     Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference, Inc. With Vision... By Faith... Through Action       Join Us FRIDAY Morning!     FRIDAYS in BLACK AUGUST PRAYER SERVICE     We are issuing a call to prayer during the month of August!   Join us for A Communal Convening: Black Prophetic Resistance Amid Imperial Peril each Friday morning in August, with Rev. Dr. Valerie Bridgeman, SDPC trustee, dean and vice-president of Academic Affairs at Methodist Theological School in Ohio, and founder of WomanPreach.       The Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference, Inc. (SDPC) is a nonprofit organization and United Nations NGO (Non-Governmental Organization) sharply focused on advancing the mission to nurture, support and mobilize African American faith, civic, corporate and philanthropic leaders to address critical needs of human and social justice within local, national and global communities. Named to honor the late Rev. Dr. Samuel DeWitt Proctor - a global 20th century educator, theologian, and civic leader - the overarching organization’s goals are to strengthen the individual and collective capacity of thought leaders and activists in the academy, church and community through education, advocacy and activism. Founded in 2003, it is a respected network of ecumenical congregations, clergy and lay leaders that embodies the values of academic excellence, transgenerational engagement, and community outreach as evidence of faith and Christian witness.     Statement on Discrimination, Intimidation, and Harassment   Since our inception, the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference (SDPC), Inc. has sought to nurture, sustain, and mobilize the African American faith community – in collaboration with civic, corporate, and philanthropic leaders – to address critical needs of human rights and social justice within local, national, and global communities. As a trusted interdenominational justice organization, it is our priority to be the place and space for ALL- radically inclusive and anchored in love. To that end, SDPC is an organization that has no tolerance for discrimination, abuse, homophobia, all forms of gender-based violence, sexual impropriety, intimidation, or harassment based upon age, citizenship status, diverse-abilities, ethnicity, gender, national origin, race, and sexual orientation. The SDPC adheres to these principles and expectations to respect the rights of others to ensure a safe nonviolent environment of its work and event spaces.     THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT OF THE SAMUEL DEWITT PROCTOR CONFERENCE! PLEASE CLICK HERE TO INVEST IN OUR VISION AND MISSION.     CLICK TO JOIN US IN THE FIGHT FOR FREEDOM!

Charles D. Sharp Chair\CEO     Cornell University Climate Fellow
bEMA International
Washington, D.C.  20020
Cooperation, Collaboration, Communication, Coordination, Community engagement, and  Partnering (C5&P)
A 501 (c) 3 organization Change without sacrifice is an illusion.

 

 

Community Imperative. Get Engaged. Affordable Connectivity Program National Sign-Up Day!

 

Affordable Connectivity Program National Sign-Up Day!

 

The Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference, Inc. (SDPC) is committed to extending the work of healing the land, increasing racial representation and diversifying access to resources as we confront the digital divide. To that end, SDPC is a part of the Black Churches 4 Digital Equity Coalition led by Dr. Fallon Wilson.   Join us in addressing the digital divide in Illinois with the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), an initiative offering free internet service and providing households with $100.00 towards a computer. We are committed to equip congregations and community members within the Proctor network with resources and support needed to get everyone connected to the internet.    Please join Proctor in the National Affordable Connectivity Program Enrollment dates on Saturday, August 12 and Saturday, August 19.   ·    Join us on August 12th for the Bud Billiken Parade - SDPC will have an ACP Day table set up at the Proctor Office (in the historic Defender Building) at 4445 S. King Drive from 10am - 1pm.   ·     Join us on August 19th for National ACP Sign Up Day - SDPC will be signing people up for the program during Peace at the Beach block party hosted by Kenwood Oakland Community Organization at 1199 E. Oakwood Blvd Chicago from 12pm-5pm.   We want your church/institution to be a site engaged in getting folks signed up this Summer! Join us on August 12 and August 19!   Please be in touch with any questions (773) 548-6675 or Tiauna@sdpconference.info.

 

Community Imperative. Get Engaged. Eco-Justice Monthly Check-Ins August 11, 2023

  

Eco-Justice Monthly Check-Ins

 

Community Imperative. Get Engaged. Poll Workers. Register Now in your community. August 11, 2023

 

 

POWER THE POLLS

 

 

The Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference has been invited to partner, again, in the effort to register poll workers in this voting season - here is our unique link: https://www.powerthepolls.org/ProctorPowerthePolls

Opinion: Haiti is on the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe Opinion by Catherine Russell August 5, 2023

 

Opinion: Haiti is on the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe

Opinion by Catherine Russell

Updated 5:42 PM EDT, Sat August 5, 2023

Editor’s Note: Catherine Russell is the executive director of UNICEF and principal advocate on Haiti for the Inter-Agency Standing Committee, a collective body of senior humanitarian leaders. The views expressed in this commentary are her own. View more opinion at CNN. 

CNN — 

The abduction last week of an American nurse and her child near Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, late last month is yet another tragic sign of intensifying insecurity in the country.

Across Haiti, 2 million people, including 1.6 million children and women, live in areas controlled by armed groups where the perpetration of horrific violence has become a daily reality, according to internal United Nations estimates. Children are killed walking outside or recruited to participate in the fighting, kidnappings for ransom are on the rise and rates of sexual and gender-based violence are surging.

Catherine Russell

On my most recent visit to Haiti in June, I met another health care worker who had been kidnapped. Thankfully, she was later released. She told me that it was a daily fear for Haitian nurses, as well as teachers and other professionals who, like the American nurse, remain committed to staying and caring for the most vulnerable.

Included among those most vulnerable is the 11-year-old girl I met at Port-au-Prince’s GHESKIO Center, which provides care for survivors of sexual violence. Late last year, she told me, five men from an armed group abducted her while she was walking outside. Three of them took turns raping her. When I met her, she was about eight months pregnant. Several other women at the center spoke of armed men breaking in, raping them — in one case, in front of her children — and then setting their homes on fire.

Violence is not new to Haiti. But after the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021, armed groups took over the streets and have been terrorizing communities in several parts of the capital ever since. And with much of Port-au-Prince and nearby areas beset by such brutality, Haiti’s ongoing humanitarian crisis could soon become a catastrophe.

Close to half of the country’s population urgently needs humanitarian assistance, including almost 3 million children, according to on-the-ground information collected by our staff. Nearly 5 million people are experiencing acute food insecurity. And in the last year, we have seen an unprecedented 30% increase in the number of severely malnourished children, which we expect to reach around 115,000 over the course of 2023.

Gang violence is tearing Haiti apart. Here’s what to know

The spike in food insecurity and child malnutrition coincides with an ongoing cholera outbreak in which nearly half of the over 52,000 suspected cases are in children under 14. Severely malnourished children are much more likely to die from cholera without urgent treatment. Yet the national health system does not have the capacity to provide adequate care to vulnerable children and families.

To put the situation in perspective, humanitarian needs in Haiti are greater now than they were in the aftermath of the devastating January 2010 earthquake that left more than 220,000 people dead and over 2 million displaced.

Despite the challenging security threats, our organization remains fully committed to staying and delivering for Haiti’s people. Alongside our partners, we are engaging with community and government leaders to facilitate the safe movement of humanitarian workers and supplies. And we are expanding our response in health, nutrition, child and social protection, education, water, sanitation and hygiene.

But this is not enough to stave off the looming catastrophe. Far more must be done to bring Haiti back from the brink, and we implore governments in the region and beyond to come off the sidelines before it’s too late.

This starts with providing the funds needed to strengthen and sustain the humanitarian response for the next 18 to 24 months. The UN’s $720 million Humanitarian Response Plan for 2023 is barely a quarter funded. We need full funding to get the job done.

But as we tackle the immediate crisis, we must also bear in mind that people need safe and sustainable access to essential services in their communities over the long term. This will only happen if we deepen our engagement with the Haitian government, civil society and community leaders to restore and strengthen the systems that people rely on – such as health care, nutrition services, education, protection, water and sanitation.

For decades, Haiti has seemed to bounce from one crisis to the next — from hurricanes and earthquakes to public health emergencies and political turmoil. We must focus on building the resilience of communities, service delivery systems, and institutions so that they can withstand the range of shocks that Haiti continues to face.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has urged the UN Security Council to quickly authorize the deployment of a non-UN multinational force to assist the Haitian National Police in quelling the violence — a proposal supported by Haiti’s transitional government.

Based on the desperate situation I saw in Haiti, I strongly agree that the security situation must be urgently addressed. Any force, however, should be accompanied by measures to safeguard humanitarian space and protect people at risk. The UN and the international community should also work with the government to strengthen the justice system so that the perpetrators of the violence, as well as those giving material support to armed groups, are held accountable.

The time for a new approach in Haiti is long overdue. The lives and wellbeing of millions of Haitians are at stake. We must respond not with fatigue or resignation, but with renewed commitment to work alongside them in forging a brighter and more hopeful future.