Seminal Books in Activist Theology: Poverty and Poor People’s Organizing

June 13, 2019

Reading and discussing books that help to galvanize faith-based consciousness in movement.

On June 13, 2019, we will continue our Seminal Books Salon Series in which we discuss books that have influenced movements.

This month we will be considering the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival. Our conversation will be led by Joe Paparone, the lead organizer with the Labor-Religion Coalition of NYS. The Coalition seeks to unite faith, labor and community in a statewide movement for social, racial, and economic justice, grounded in our deeply held moral and democratic values. They are a lead organization with the New York State Poor People’s Campaign. Both professionally and in his free time, Joe organizes on issues of healthcare, labor solidarity, criminal justice, and immigrant rights. He will be sharing with us about his two “seminal books,” Raising Expectations and Raising Hell: My Decade Fighting for the Labor Movement and No Shortcuts: Organizing for Power in the New Gilded Age both by Jane F. McAlevey.

Joe is a lifelong New Yorker, growing up in the Mid-Hudson Valley, near New Paltz. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Music Education from the College of Saint Rose in 2004 and a Master of Arts in Global Leadership from Fuller Theological Seminary in 2012. He is currently pursuing ordination with the Mennonite Church, USA.

Joe lives in Albany with his wife Lesley and their dogs, Artax and Nym. He plays tenor and baritone saxophone in two Capital Region bands: Kimono Dragons and Victory Soul Orchestra. In his free time he enjoys finding vegetarian restaurants and exploring the Adirondacks via foot, bike or canoe.

The conversation will be held on at 7PM at the Center and Library for the Bible and Social Justice on the campus of Stony Point Center, 5 Cricketown Road Stony Point, NY and offered over video-conference. If you would like to join the video conference, please visit https://zoom.us/j/7328959083 at that time.

The Seminal Books in Activist Theology Series is sponsored by the Center and Library for the Bible and Social Justice and the Community of Living Traditions at Stony Point Center. This is our last event in the 2018-2019 academic calendar, and we will be resuming our series in September 2019, stay tuned!