On January 12, 2022 , Lucian Truscott IV was our guest speaker.The proud member of a distinguished military family and a direct descendent of Thomas Jefferson, he has long staked out iconoclastic territory. Throughout a long career as West Point troublemaker, best selling novelist, screenwriter and award-winning contributor to, among other publications, the Village Voice, Rolling Stone and the New York Times, he has been a loud advocate for church/state separation, soldiers, gays, and the black progeny of his illustrious great-great-great-great grandfather. ROA was excited to have him return to talk about politics from his truly unique perspective. See the video here:
https://youtu.be/DsPDzUAiqbc
https://youtu.be/DsPDzUAiqbc
On June 27, 2021, New York State Attorney General Letitia James was the guest speaker at our annual fundraiser and first in-person meeting since the pandemic began. She stunned us all with her wit and strength. If you missed it, here is a video of the event:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3IinsCq3cs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3IinsCq3cs.
SUOZZI, PELOSI AND ROA
The meeting went on as planned.
Since 2004, Reach Out America, an activist, progressive nonprofit, based in Great Neck, had been holding in person general meetings once a month featuring speakers, often well-known, in politics, academia and the media, covering topics of current interest – voting, constitutional rights, environmentalism, social welfare, and diplomacy. During the pandemic this forum had become virtual.
But that did not dim the interest of membership or the draw of guests of consequence. At 12:30 on Wednesday, March 10, Tom Suozzi, Third District congressman and friend of the organization, was scheduled to address the group. It had been a momentous year and participants were eager to hear his thoughts and have their questions answered.
But it was also a momentous day. The House was set to vote on the final version of President Biden’s important Covid relief package. Nonetheless, Zooming from the Rayburn Room, Congressman Suozzi kept his date with Reach Out America. Viewers felt the palpable excitement of having a pipeline to power, the result of long years of proactive participation in the American democratic process.
The Congressman did have a chance to address the meeting when all of a sudden an aid informed him that he had to leave immediately because the House session was underway. He rushed into the chamber, took the lectern, not realizing that Nancy Pelosi was nearby, poised to speak; Suozzi then took a seat behind her, inadvertently “photo-bombing” the Speaker at a groundbreaking moment.
The image went viral. Newsday’s Rita Ciolli reported how Reach Out America, a small but mighty local organization, played a role in this significant historical footnote; the Congressman’s fealty to a venerable Great Neck group ended up making him center stage at a most significant time. As a result of Ciolli’s reporting, Reach Out America got well-deserved national attention.
Through the years ROA has and continues to make history.
See the video: https://youtu.be/HiU4UbT0Uu8
On December 9, 2020, Reach Out America hosted Katherine Stewart, a prolific author and recognized expert on issues of church and state. If you missed our webinar or would like to see it again, please click on the link.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQ6mkcQumNo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQ6mkcQumNo
On November 11, 2020, Robert Zimmerman, noted political analyst, was the guest speaker at Reach Out America's general meeting. The presentation was timely, informative, and stress reducing. There were some very helpful takeaways for those who find themselves caving to the angst of the post election circus.
Genetta Adams
For our first meeting of the 2020/2021 season, held virtually on September 9 because of the coronavirus, Genetta Adams, editor of The Root, a widely respected online magazine of African American politics and culture, spoke and answered questions about where we are, where we are going and what her publication is saying about our current politics. Click the link and see the entire program.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nbCwc6MCxY&t=8s
For our first meeting of the 2020/2021 season, held virtually on September 9 because of the coronavirus, Genetta Adams, editor of The Root, a widely respected online magazine of African American politics and culture, spoke and answered questions about where we are, where we are going and what her publication is saying about our current politics. Click the link and see the entire program.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nbCwc6MCxY&t=8s
On March 31, 2019, Reach Out America presented a forum on science called "Our Planet Ourselves". These were ROA president Rita Hall's opening remarks:
When I was young, science was religion and panacea. During the post war era we thought scientists would cure our diseases, take us into space, and give us machines to do the rest. The 1964 worlds fair – really a commercial for multinational corporations that was walking distance from my house, promised a previously unimagined future. The general motors exhibit featured cars that looked like rockets and could go as fast. General electric’s “progressland” demonstrated the marvel of nuclear power. The dupont exhibit boasted “better living through chemistry”. We were excited and we were on board! But only a few years later many of us were on anti-vietnam picket lines protesting against companies just like those because now they were wickedly providing vehicles, weaponry and chemistry for war.
Indeed on the heels of our science worship we entered a period when laboratory methods and discoveries were questioned and challenged. It seemed that no matter what science appeared to have solved in the way of taming nature, new perils appeared around the corner. We began to more fully understand the ferocious capacity of radioactivity and the atom bomb; advances in medical knowledge achieved through human experimentation on vulnerable populations and medical tragedies resulting from once promising drugs revealed the sometimes shaky ethical foundations of the search for cures. Even the space program lost its seductive mystery. Modern agricultural and food processing methods proved not only brutal to animals, they resulted in products that while longer- lasting and easier to prepare, lacked nutrition or worse. Plastic, once heralded a magical substance, had become a scourge. Technological advances that first filled us with wonder were now making us prey to privacy invasion, device addiction, and even social isolation. Scientist as villain in popular culture stoked these sentiments. The suspicion that arose from scientific missteps real or not has created new threats. Enough of the population now believes vaccines to be monstrous, that we see epidemics of diseases we thought long conquered. And the widespread indifference, lack of political will and disbelief in climate science is putting our very planet in real jeopardy.
We are also poised, in this country anyway, to lose our scientists. The cost of studying science, particularly medicine, is high, the payoff, not so much, so the financial attraction of other fields is pulling bright people away to more lucrative careers. What’s to be done? Should we maintain a healthy skepticism about research methodology and question whether it is undermined by financial incentive? Should we still be vigilant that data is collected in an ethical way and that participants in any study have full knowledge of how their personal information is being gathered and used? Should we continue to call individuals and institutions to task when their goals further an agenda that does not really serve the public? Of course we should. A moral compass is as essential a tool as a microscope or a test tube. But also essential is that we return to a time when we respect scientists not because they are saints or dreamers but because they are skeptics who rely on rigor, replication and proof, not assumption, in short, the scientific method. We must push government to support green technology, sound medical investigation, rigorous protection of our air, food and water, and most importantly education, so our kids will be encouraged to love science and so we can fall in love with it again ourselves.
Today is dedicated to that. We aim to present where we are in terms of human health, species survival and the state of the earth, and also learn where new work is going and future hope lies, and spoiler alert, it is with young people – and maybe even with congress where there are more new members who are scientists than ever before. So thanks for coming and I hope you enjoy the day.
To see a recording of the event made by PATV, click on the link:
https://youtu.be/Shva173a66A
When I was young, science was religion and panacea. During the post war era we thought scientists would cure our diseases, take us into space, and give us machines to do the rest. The 1964 worlds fair – really a commercial for multinational corporations that was walking distance from my house, promised a previously unimagined future. The general motors exhibit featured cars that looked like rockets and could go as fast. General electric’s “progressland” demonstrated the marvel of nuclear power. The dupont exhibit boasted “better living through chemistry”. We were excited and we were on board! But only a few years later many of us were on anti-vietnam picket lines protesting against companies just like those because now they were wickedly providing vehicles, weaponry and chemistry for war.
Indeed on the heels of our science worship we entered a period when laboratory methods and discoveries were questioned and challenged. It seemed that no matter what science appeared to have solved in the way of taming nature, new perils appeared around the corner. We began to more fully understand the ferocious capacity of radioactivity and the atom bomb; advances in medical knowledge achieved through human experimentation on vulnerable populations and medical tragedies resulting from once promising drugs revealed the sometimes shaky ethical foundations of the search for cures. Even the space program lost its seductive mystery. Modern agricultural and food processing methods proved not only brutal to animals, they resulted in products that while longer- lasting and easier to prepare, lacked nutrition or worse. Plastic, once heralded a magical substance, had become a scourge. Technological advances that first filled us with wonder were now making us prey to privacy invasion, device addiction, and even social isolation. Scientist as villain in popular culture stoked these sentiments. The suspicion that arose from scientific missteps real or not has created new threats. Enough of the population now believes vaccines to be monstrous, that we see epidemics of diseases we thought long conquered. And the widespread indifference, lack of political will and disbelief in climate science is putting our very planet in real jeopardy.
We are also poised, in this country anyway, to lose our scientists. The cost of studying science, particularly medicine, is high, the payoff, not so much, so the financial attraction of other fields is pulling bright people away to more lucrative careers. What’s to be done? Should we maintain a healthy skepticism about research methodology and question whether it is undermined by financial incentive? Should we still be vigilant that data is collected in an ethical way and that participants in any study have full knowledge of how their personal information is being gathered and used? Should we continue to call individuals and institutions to task when their goals further an agenda that does not really serve the public? Of course we should. A moral compass is as essential a tool as a microscope or a test tube. But also essential is that we return to a time when we respect scientists not because they are saints or dreamers but because they are skeptics who rely on rigor, replication and proof, not assumption, in short, the scientific method. We must push government to support green technology, sound medical investigation, rigorous protection of our air, food and water, and most importantly education, so our kids will be encouraged to love science and so we can fall in love with it again ourselves.
Today is dedicated to that. We aim to present where we are in terms of human health, species survival and the state of the earth, and also learn where new work is going and future hope lies, and spoiler alert, it is with young people – and maybe even with congress where there are more new members who are scientists than ever before. So thanks for coming and I hope you enjoy the day.
To see a recording of the event made by PATV, click on the link:
https://youtu.be/Shva173a66A
Shirley Romaine, actress, educator, peace activist, tireless promoter of high culture and unstinting supporter of her local community, died at 96 on April 14, 2019. She was a founding member of Reach Out America and a participant in countless progressive and arts organizations. She was a little giant and her passing will leave a gaping hole in the lives of those who knew her, worked with her and learned from her. She gave right up until the end.
RABBI KLEINBAUM at ROA FEBRUARY MEETING
Our February 13, 2019 meeting featured acclaimed Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum of Congregation Best Simcha Torah. She was startling and we had a wonderful turnout. These were ROA president Rita Hall's opening remarks and beneath them a video of the meeting courtesy PATV. Don't miss a minute!
Daily I wake up conflicted in a constant search for clarity. As the head of a progressive political group I sometimes ask myself whether what we are so sure of is wrong. When a woman accuses a man of harassment or worse we take her at her word because for too long women have not been believed, but what if she is not telling the truth? As free speech absolutists, opposed unequivocally to censorship, how can we not defend defamatory speech also? In our zeal to stand for church state separation we are appalled when pulpits become right wing platforms, but we check our outrage at the door when activist clergy preach politics in their houses of worship.
The thorniest conundrum for me and for many is Israel where my parents found refuge and I was born; years after the family left and immigrated to the US I returned to live and I still have strong ties with the country, nonetheless I agree with much of the justifiable criticism directed at Israeli government policy – as do many israelis. Very troubling though is that among left-wing critics of the Jewish state, anti-Semites find sanctuary. As far back as the 70s Letty Cotton Pogrebin of Ms magazine wrote about the anti-Semitism that was inextricably mixed in with anti-Israel positioning among progressive movements like the fight for women’s liberation. In some of the statements of the leadership of the most recent women’s march, a legitimate anti-Netenyahu government stance and all-to familiar anti-Jewish pronouncements were indistinguishable; as a result many would-be marchers stayed home. Though this is no time to avoid confronting either the abuse of human rights within Israel or the anti-Jewish bigotry within movements we support, this subject is so contentious and troublesome that despite our largely female, mostly Jewish, highly activist membership, ROA has consciously decided to not address this issue at all.
To some questions about seeming contradictions I have ultimately found answers but first I needed to learn that there is a difference between choosing not to participate in something and being prevented from doing so, and that it should never be up to anyone else by statute, sentiment, or statement to limit or judge the rights or choices of others, whether we understand their longings or not. I wondered for example why an LGBTQ person would want to be member of a faith or part of a clergy that does not welcome them. But when I met the producer of “Trembling before God” a documentary about the lonely lives of LGBTQ orthodox Jews and asked him why he and the people in the film have stayed with religious orthodoxy he replied that the bible is a book open to interpretation and as he and his cohorts understand the text, Judaism and god embrace them. They were not conflicted. For them it was all very clear.
Who can lead the rest of us through a path of perplexing choices to escape the thicket of utter confusion? Perhaps philosophers, writers, artists, spiritual leaders with unambiguous moral compasses like our guest today, who is possessed of the kind of clarity that so many seek, few find, and fewer still embody; in the process of living and sharing it every day with her congregants and the wider community, she has gained national and international recognition.
A member of our speaker’s Congregation Beit Simcha Torah, ROA vice president, Great Neck Water Pollution Control Commissioner, Patty Katz, will introduce our honored guest, Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZPfW5OJkQ4
RABBI KLEINBAUM at ROA FEBRUARY MEETING
Our February 13, 2019 meeting featured acclaimed Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum of Congregation Best Simcha Torah. She was startling and we had a wonderful turnout. These were ROA president Rita Hall's opening remarks and beneath them a video of the meeting courtesy PATV. Don't miss a minute!
Daily I wake up conflicted in a constant search for clarity. As the head of a progressive political group I sometimes ask myself whether what we are so sure of is wrong. When a woman accuses a man of harassment or worse we take her at her word because for too long women have not been believed, but what if she is not telling the truth? As free speech absolutists, opposed unequivocally to censorship, how can we not defend defamatory speech also? In our zeal to stand for church state separation we are appalled when pulpits become right wing platforms, but we check our outrage at the door when activist clergy preach politics in their houses of worship.
The thorniest conundrum for me and for many is Israel where my parents found refuge and I was born; years after the family left and immigrated to the US I returned to live and I still have strong ties with the country, nonetheless I agree with much of the justifiable criticism directed at Israeli government policy – as do many israelis. Very troubling though is that among left-wing critics of the Jewish state, anti-Semites find sanctuary. As far back as the 70s Letty Cotton Pogrebin of Ms magazine wrote about the anti-Semitism that was inextricably mixed in with anti-Israel positioning among progressive movements like the fight for women’s liberation. In some of the statements of the leadership of the most recent women’s march, a legitimate anti-Netenyahu government stance and all-to familiar anti-Jewish pronouncements were indistinguishable; as a result many would-be marchers stayed home. Though this is no time to avoid confronting either the abuse of human rights within Israel or the anti-Jewish bigotry within movements we support, this subject is so contentious and troublesome that despite our largely female, mostly Jewish, highly activist membership, ROA has consciously decided to not address this issue at all.
To some questions about seeming contradictions I have ultimately found answers but first I needed to learn that there is a difference between choosing not to participate in something and being prevented from doing so, and that it should never be up to anyone else by statute, sentiment, or statement to limit or judge the rights or choices of others, whether we understand their longings or not. I wondered for example why an LGBTQ person would want to be member of a faith or part of a clergy that does not welcome them. But when I met the producer of “Trembling before God” a documentary about the lonely lives of LGBTQ orthodox Jews and asked him why he and the people in the film have stayed with religious orthodoxy he replied that the bible is a book open to interpretation and as he and his cohorts understand the text, Judaism and god embrace them. They were not conflicted. For them it was all very clear.
Who can lead the rest of us through a path of perplexing choices to escape the thicket of utter confusion? Perhaps philosophers, writers, artists, spiritual leaders with unambiguous moral compasses like our guest today, who is possessed of the kind of clarity that so many seek, few find, and fewer still embody; in the process of living and sharing it every day with her congregants and the wider community, she has gained national and international recognition.
A member of our speaker’s Congregation Beit Simcha Torah, ROA vice president, Great Neck Water Pollution Control Commissioner, Patty Katz, will introduce our honored guest, Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZPfW5OJkQ4
On July 30, 2018, Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest LGBTQ nonprofit, honored Reach Out America for the work we do. It was a wonderful event; Laura Curran, Tom Suozzi and Charles Lavine were there. These were my remarks:
At times, in searching for America, I was asking the wrong questions. When marriage equality first became a front burner issue, I thought, hadn’t we finally arrived at a time when tying the knot was outmoded and unnecessary; why would LGBTQ folks WANT to wed now? I felt the same thing about the army; legions of straight citizens in the recent past had done anything to get OUT of military service, so why, at this point, were gay Americans fighting for the right to openly serve? The answer to both should have been obvious: choosing or trying to avoid participation is entirely different from not being allowed to take part altogether, and in a country supposedly dedicated to equal treatment, no one segment of the population should be excluded from any institution available to everyone else. I had a similarly misguided attitude toward my own organization when I first joined. Our name Reach Out America sounded so right wing and the use of the flag in our material struck me as out of place for a progressive activist group. But ROA president and founder Fran Reid set me straight: why should the right wing alone define patriotism, morality, family, faith, or, for that matter, America?
We are living in a time of distorted language and confused meaning. The White House says our eyes and ears are unreliable witnesses; it declares old enemies friends, old allies enemies, and the very earth beneath our feet not a secure home but an at-risk profit center. The behavior of the current administration and its supporters, that in earlier even recent times would have been considered unseemly and shocking, is now routinely given a pass. It is so vital that the intention of our country does not get lost in this nonstop upending, that we reclaim truth and protect rights already won that now are on the chopping block. And we need to do this with unambiguous language and a united force. Our democracy and our environment must no longer be for sale to the highest bidder. Women must reclaim hegemony over their bodies. Immigrants must once more be welcomed. People of color must again hope to feel protected not targeted. And consenting adults must not fear a return to bigotry, exclusion and worse because of whom they love. I am so grateful that Human Rights Campaign has chosen to honor our organization – HRC may be bigger and wealthier than ROA and we are likely older, straighter, and more Jewish. But your recognition of us is an affirmation that we have to fight in the run-up to this most important election of our lives in every way every day TOGETHER because this is OUR land. Our army. Our flag. Our husbands. Our wives. Our children. In looking for my country I found the answers to my questions much closer than I expected. As the late, great, gay Jewish poet Allen Ginsburg, speaking of himself, but really to and about us all, wrote: it occurs to me that I am America.
Rita Hall, President, ROA
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On a beautiful spring Sunday in 2018, close to 60 strangers of different nationalities, races, and religions came together at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Shelter Rock to meet, greet and share their cultures with one another at a “melting pot luck” brunch organized by Reach Out America Human Rights Chair Linda Leaf. Assemblyman Anthony D’Urso recounted the story of how his father, an Italian non-Jewish farmer in Italy, saved the lives of Jews during the Nazi occupation of his hometown. Ann Salkind played piano, Soh Young Lee-Segredo hosted and sang, Kris Janvier recited poetry, and, dressed in traditional Korean attire, the New York Pilgrim Missionary Dance Company performed for the assembled. Attendees brought an impressive array of homemade Chinese, Korean, Indian, Pakistani, Dominican, Jewish, African-American, Persian and Italian delicacies. Through food, spoken word, music and dance, diverse members of the community met for the first time and were able to share what they have in common at an event that, though both international and local, represented what America is really all about.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On Sunday, April 15, 2018 almost 60 people crowded into Lola restaurant in Great Neck to attend the Reach Out America annual fundraiser. Nassau County Executive Laura Curran addressed the crowd on the job she had done so far and also what was in the offing in the coming months of her first administration, historic both because she is a Democrat and the first woman to hold the position.
In her remarks she stressed that though she did not run solely as a woman, she recognized the fact that girls find inspiration when they encounter females in positions of power where, not having seen them before, they previously had feared to tread. Present in the audience were an array of local elected officials, past and present, including Ellen Birnbaum, Lee Seeman, Tony D’Urso, Judi Bosworth, Patty Katz, Michele Schimmel and Fran Reid.
Before Curran spoke the Voices of Virtue Choir of Hempstead led by founder Rachel Blackburn sang inspirational songs including gospel and other sacred music from African American culture in general and the black church specifically. At times there was not a dry eye in the house; at others the entire audience joined in foot stomping and hand clapping during the chorus’s more exuberant selections.
ROA president Rita Hall and ROA vice president Patty Katz attended a fundraiser for Wisconsin Senator Tammy Baldwin at the beautiful Chelsea loft of two supporters of the Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest LGBT advocacy organization. Chuck Schumer spoke persuasively on behalf of her 2018 bid for re-election.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PATV program about ROA, with Patty Katz and Rita Hall, produced by local teenagers who also appear.
Click on Link
https://vimeo.com/155893065
PATV ROA Opinion
Rita Hall, President of Reach Out America,gives her opinion in a Public Service Announcement on PATV.
Click on Link
https://vimeo.com/118840324
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reach Out America members came out in force to join 400,000 of their closest friends in Manhattan on January 21, 2017 to show solidarity with the message of the international Women's March.
ROA brought a large contingent to join hundreds of thousands of like-minded protesters in New York, and in sister marches across the country on, January 20, 2018, to protest the harassment, the continued state of inequality and in some cases worsened situation of women, here and abroad.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WE PERSIST
On April 29, 2017 from 10am till 4pm, Reach Out America held its women’s forum entitled “We Persist.”
After former New York State Assemblywoman Michelle Schimel started the proceedings with a lively inside look at what it means to be a female legislator in Albany, ROA vice president Patty Katz led the first discussionabout the challenges women face in getting elected; her panelists were feminist activists Liz Abzug and Marie Wilson. The second session, moderated by Sandie Salat, with New York Times staff writer Roni Rabin and single-payer advocate Margaret Flowers, dealt with the healthcare obstacle course women must navigate. Next, peace spokeswoman Cora Weiss, discussed the involvement of women in the search for diplomatic solutions to international conflicts, with Shirley Romaine. And finally, LIU philosophy professor Shaireen Rasheed and Unitarian Universalist pastor Natalie Fenimore talked with Sybil Bank about how women should think about faith in an age of both newfound inclusion and widespread return to traditional practice.
Lunch and a musical interlude rounded out the day.
Here are videos of the forum made by Public Access Television:
PATV-WOMEN AND POLITICS- REACH OUT AMERICA -2017 (6/8)
https://youtu.be/SQl4Ynjy4-g
PATV-WOMEN AND HEALTH - REACH OUT AMERICA -2017 (6/5)
https://youtu.be/YhjSW8twcAI
PATV-WOMEN IN PEACE- REACH OUT AMERICA -2017 (6/12)
https://youtu.be/o2Xp1-y9Kpg
PATV-WOMEN AND RELIGION - REACH OUT AMERICA -2017 (6/1)
https://youtu.be/Im4F2QFETtI
At times, in searching for America, I was asking the wrong questions. When marriage equality first became a front burner issue, I thought, hadn’t we finally arrived at a time when tying the knot was outmoded and unnecessary; why would LGBTQ folks WANT to wed now? I felt the same thing about the army; legions of straight citizens in the recent past had done anything to get OUT of military service, so why, at this point, were gay Americans fighting for the right to openly serve? The answer to both should have been obvious: choosing or trying to avoid participation is entirely different from not being allowed to take part altogether, and in a country supposedly dedicated to equal treatment, no one segment of the population should be excluded from any institution available to everyone else. I had a similarly misguided attitude toward my own organization when I first joined. Our name Reach Out America sounded so right wing and the use of the flag in our material struck me as out of place for a progressive activist group. But ROA president and founder Fran Reid set me straight: why should the right wing alone define patriotism, morality, family, faith, or, for that matter, America?
We are living in a time of distorted language and confused meaning. The White House says our eyes and ears are unreliable witnesses; it declares old enemies friends, old allies enemies, and the very earth beneath our feet not a secure home but an at-risk profit center. The behavior of the current administration and its supporters, that in earlier even recent times would have been considered unseemly and shocking, is now routinely given a pass. It is so vital that the intention of our country does not get lost in this nonstop upending, that we reclaim truth and protect rights already won that now are on the chopping block. And we need to do this with unambiguous language and a united force. Our democracy and our environment must no longer be for sale to the highest bidder. Women must reclaim hegemony over their bodies. Immigrants must once more be welcomed. People of color must again hope to feel protected not targeted. And consenting adults must not fear a return to bigotry, exclusion and worse because of whom they love. I am so grateful that Human Rights Campaign has chosen to honor our organization – HRC may be bigger and wealthier than ROA and we are likely older, straighter, and more Jewish. But your recognition of us is an affirmation that we have to fight in the run-up to this most important election of our lives in every way every day TOGETHER because this is OUR land. Our army. Our flag. Our husbands. Our wives. Our children. In looking for my country I found the answers to my questions much closer than I expected. As the late, great, gay Jewish poet Allen Ginsburg, speaking of himself, but really to and about us all, wrote: it occurs to me that I am America.
Rita Hall, President, ROA
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On a beautiful spring Sunday in 2018, close to 60 strangers of different nationalities, races, and religions came together at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Shelter Rock to meet, greet and share their cultures with one another at a “melting pot luck” brunch organized by Reach Out America Human Rights Chair Linda Leaf. Assemblyman Anthony D’Urso recounted the story of how his father, an Italian non-Jewish farmer in Italy, saved the lives of Jews during the Nazi occupation of his hometown. Ann Salkind played piano, Soh Young Lee-Segredo hosted and sang, Kris Janvier recited poetry, and, dressed in traditional Korean attire, the New York Pilgrim Missionary Dance Company performed for the assembled. Attendees brought an impressive array of homemade Chinese, Korean, Indian, Pakistani, Dominican, Jewish, African-American, Persian and Italian delicacies. Through food, spoken word, music and dance, diverse members of the community met for the first time and were able to share what they have in common at an event that, though both international and local, represented what America is really all about.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On Sunday, April 15, 2018 almost 60 people crowded into Lola restaurant in Great Neck to attend the Reach Out America annual fundraiser. Nassau County Executive Laura Curran addressed the crowd on the job she had done so far and also what was in the offing in the coming months of her first administration, historic both because she is a Democrat and the first woman to hold the position.
In her remarks she stressed that though she did not run solely as a woman, she recognized the fact that girls find inspiration when they encounter females in positions of power where, not having seen them before, they previously had feared to tread. Present in the audience were an array of local elected officials, past and present, including Ellen Birnbaum, Lee Seeman, Tony D’Urso, Judi Bosworth, Patty Katz, Michele Schimmel and Fran Reid.
Before Curran spoke the Voices of Virtue Choir of Hempstead led by founder Rachel Blackburn sang inspirational songs including gospel and other sacred music from African American culture in general and the black church specifically. At times there was not a dry eye in the house; at others the entire audience joined in foot stomping and hand clapping during the chorus’s more exuberant selections.
ROA president Rita Hall and ROA vice president Patty Katz attended a fundraiser for Wisconsin Senator Tammy Baldwin at the beautiful Chelsea loft of two supporters of the Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest LGBT advocacy organization. Chuck Schumer spoke persuasively on behalf of her 2018 bid for re-election.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PATV program about ROA, with Patty Katz and Rita Hall, produced by local teenagers who also appear.
Click on Link
https://vimeo.com/155893065
PATV ROA Opinion
Rita Hall, President of Reach Out America,gives her opinion in a Public Service Announcement on PATV.
Click on Link
https://vimeo.com/118840324
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reach Out America members came out in force to join 400,000 of their closest friends in Manhattan on January 21, 2017 to show solidarity with the message of the international Women's March.
ROA brought a large contingent to join hundreds of thousands of like-minded protesters in New York, and in sister marches across the country on, January 20, 2018, to protest the harassment, the continued state of inequality and in some cases worsened situation of women, here and abroad.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WE PERSIST
On April 29, 2017 from 10am till 4pm, Reach Out America held its women’s forum entitled “We Persist.”
After former New York State Assemblywoman Michelle Schimel started the proceedings with a lively inside look at what it means to be a female legislator in Albany, ROA vice president Patty Katz led the first discussionabout the challenges women face in getting elected; her panelists were feminist activists Liz Abzug and Marie Wilson. The second session, moderated by Sandie Salat, with New York Times staff writer Roni Rabin and single-payer advocate Margaret Flowers, dealt with the healthcare obstacle course women must navigate. Next, peace spokeswoman Cora Weiss, discussed the involvement of women in the search for diplomatic solutions to international conflicts, with Shirley Romaine. And finally, LIU philosophy professor Shaireen Rasheed and Unitarian Universalist pastor Natalie Fenimore talked with Sybil Bank about how women should think about faith in an age of both newfound inclusion and widespread return to traditional practice.
Lunch and a musical interlude rounded out the day.
Here are videos of the forum made by Public Access Television:
PATV-WOMEN AND POLITICS- REACH OUT AMERICA -2017 (6/8)
https://youtu.be/SQl4Ynjy4-g
PATV-WOMEN AND HEALTH - REACH OUT AMERICA -2017 (6/5)
https://youtu.be/YhjSW8twcAI
PATV-WOMEN IN PEACE- REACH OUT AMERICA -2017 (6/12)
https://youtu.be/o2Xp1-y9Kpg
PATV-WOMEN AND RELIGION - REACH OUT AMERICA -2017 (6/1)
https://youtu.be/Im4F2QFETtI
