Church Screening of “9500 Liberty” a Step Toward Reconciliation

MoonHowler

Tomorrow will be the first Prince William County screening of the completed film 9500 Liberty.

From 9500 Liberty Press Release:

Woodbridge, VA (October 6, 2009) — Residents of Prince William County are hopeful that a film screening will restart dialogue about an immigration culture war that divided the county in 2007 and 2008. Friday’s 8 PM showing of 9500 Liberty, hosted by St. Paul’s Methodist Church in Woodbridge, will be the first ever presentation of the film with Spanish subtitles. An interpreter will facilitate discussion between residents and county officials following the award-winning documentary.

“Two years later, there remain a lot of hurt feelings, misunderstandings, and mistrust on all sides of this issue,” said Carlos Castro, founder of the Ayuda Business Coalition. “The language barrier is part of that, so hopefully having the immigrant community talk about this film together with police officials and members of the Board of Supervisors will be a significant step toward reconciliation.”

Friday, October 9, 2009 at 8:00 PM
St. Paul’s Methodist Church
1400 G. Street
Woodbridge, VA 22191
Admission: $10

9500 Liberty tracks the fate of the most controversial aspect of Prince William County’s Immigration Resolution, a mandate that required police officers to check the immigration status of anyone they had “probable cause” to suspect was an undocumented immigrant. As racial and political turmoil rose to a fever pitch, the Board of County Supervisors granted emergency funding for the “probable cause” mandate on October 16, 2007, only to repeal it two months into its implementation.

And,

9500 Liberty won the Jury Award for Best Documentary at the Charlotte Film Festival on September 24, then sold out its Washington DC premiere on October 1 turning dozens away. “Over the years, American documentaries have become, increasingly, the better films that I see,” remarked film critic Desson Thomson who hosted the DC event. “Tonight is no exception. And I think what’s most powerful about this film is the people who evolve — who go from a vote that was made under duress and fear, to a vote of principle and courage.”

From Eric Byler email:

I am putting finishing touches on the bilingual version of 9500 Liberty.  Spanish subtitles for the English parts.  English subtitles for the Spanish parts.  It’s like seeing the world in color for the first time!

If you ever want to fully appreciate what happened here in 2007 and 2008, if you care enough to really know, see the film with us Friday night sitting among members of the Spanish speaking community, with members of our county government, and members of our law enforcement community.  I think it will be a cathartic experience to collectively process the events that unfold in the film while in a gathering that is truly representative of our community, with the language barrier cast aside, and shared comprehension for the first time since the whole thing began.  No matter where you stood on the controversy when it all went down, even if you think you’re firmly entrenched on one “side” or the other, I think this experience will bring you closer to understanding where the “other side” is coming from.

Please invite the readers and contributors at AntiBVBL.net to come to our screening.  Many of them are characters in the story, both on screen and off.  There are many in this community who hope and expect that this event will be a step toward healing, truth, and reconciliation.  With everyone’s participation, I think it will be.

PWC Drops Loitering Case Against Four Latino Men

Elena

From the Manassas Journal Messenger today:

Prosecutors in Prince William County have dropped loitering charges against four Hispanic men after the American Civil Liberties Union challenged the case.

The men were arrested in May outside an apartment complex where they lived. The ACLU said the county’s ordinance is used to target Hispanics and that it infringes on First Amendment protections of free assembly.

Commonwealth’s Attorney Paul Ebert said he believes the loitering law is constitutional. But it also requires police to give offenders a warning before an arrest, and that didn’t occur in this case.

The county in recent years has implemented numerous policies to crack down on illegal immigrants. Critics say that has resulted in discrimination against Hispanics.

White House Lawn Littered With Telescopes

MoonHowler

Wednesday night the White House lawn was littered with telescopes and portable planetariums. 150 Washington area students were fortunate enough to spend the evening, which began before sunset, at a star gazing party hosted by the Obamas. Inflated tents had constellations and universes projected onto domed celings. A cavalcade of who’s who in astronomy was also present with ‘stars’ like Sally Ride, John Grunsfeld, Buzz Aldrin along with 2 amateur 15 year old astronomers with some heavy duty discoveries under their belts, just to name a few.

Lucky kids who got to attend. The President spoke of Galileo and how his telescope invention allowed all of this to be possible. A NASA astronomer with his home-built telescope announced:

“The Wild Duck Cluster is up,” Hudgins said as reporters toured the telescopes in the afternoon. “It’s an open cluster of stars in the Milky Way in the constellation of Scutum, I believe. It’s beautiful.”

The event was held to capture interest in astronomy and space. Many museums and planetariums around the county participated remotely. Sally Ride informed the crowd that middle schoolers start losing interest in science and hopefully events like these will keep kids on top of science and thinking it is cool.

Good for the Obamas for spearheading an event such as this. The Star Party went beyond the ordinary Easter Egg Roll and might very well inspire a young scientist to move beyond what we have imagined.

This Friday morning NASA will launch a rocket booster and space craft at the moon’s south pole in search of water.

From spaceweather.com :

LUNAR IMPACT: This Friday morning, Oct 9th, at approximately 4:30 am PDT, NASA’s LCROSS spacecraft and its Centaur booster rocket will plunge one after another into a shadowed crater near the Moon’s south pole. The spectacular double-impact will be shown live on NASA TV from the point of view of the LCROSS spacecraft. Meanwhile, impact debris plumes emerging from the crater may be visible through backyard telescopes. North American sky watchers west of the Mississippi river are favored with darkness and good views of the Moon at the time of impact. Visit http://spaceweather.com for observing tips and full coverage.

Watch the impact at 7:30 am Friday morning on NASATV.

Update: Scientists have discovered a huge super ring around Saturn.

The Desert Cross

MoonHowler

Today the Supreme Court heard the case of the Desert Cross. Some background: In 1934, some veterans of WWI got together and erected a cross, made of white metal pipes, in the Mojave Desert. The desert has since become national park land. The cross has been covered up as a result of the court cases. An older couple kept the cross up for the now deceased vets. According to the Washington Post:

In 1934, veterans erected a cross on a rock in a remote part of the Mojave Desert on what is now national park land — and for the next 65 years, pretty much nobody but the odd rattlesnake noticed. But over the past decade, this 6 1/2 -foot-high cross, made from four-inch white metal pipe, has become the subject of no fewer than four acts of Congress, two district court rulings, three appellate court actions — and Wednesday, arguments before the nine justices of the Supreme Court.

The case was heard and gave an opportunity for Justice Anthony Scalia and Attorney Peter Eliasberg of the American Civil Liberties Union to get in the proverbial pissing contest with each other. It went something like this:

“The cross doesn’t honor non-Christians who fought in the war?” the Catholic justice asked with incredulity.

“I believe that’s actually correct,” said Peter Eliasberg of the American Civil Liberties Union, the son and grandson of Jewish war Pveterans.

“Where does it say that?” Scalia demanded to know.

“It doesn’t say that,” Eliasberg admitted, “but a cross is the predominant symbol of Christianity, and it signifies that Jesus is the son of God and died to redeem mankind for our sins.”

This news enraged Scalia. “The cross is the most common symbol of the resting place of the dead,” he declared. “What would you have them erect . . . some conglomerate of a cross, a Star of David, and you know, a Muslim half-moon and star?”

“The cross is the most common symbol of the resting place of Christians,” Eliasberg corrected. “I have been in Jewish cemeteries. There is never a cross on a tombstone of a Jew.”

The audience laughed. “I think that’s an outrageous conclusion,” Scalia hissed

.

I am embarrassed for Justice Scalia. How ….unseemly.

How will the case be settled? Will the cross have to taken down? After all, it is out in the middle of nowhere, erected by men who are now dead; to honor those who died over 80 years ago, in a war barely remembered. Who is it hurting? Does it show state supported religion? What of the crosses on tombstones in federal cemetaries here and abroad?

Solutions have been suggested. One that seems to make the most sense is to give the land the cross is erected on to the Veterans of Foreign Wars and let them put the cross back up. That works. Or we could not worry about a lone cross, honoring soldiers from a century ago. Sometimes we just have to suck it up and not be so ‘correct.’

More background information

Washington Post: Court Wades Shallowly Into Church and State