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JSA/ JSA
AWARDS
JSA AWARDS: Print Version
Chomsky Award - Social
Activist Award
The issue
of giving awards to individuals or groups by JSA was debated
for some time by its members. As an association dedicated
to helping to erase distinctions that are disabling to living
beings, we saw an irony or contradiction in presenting an
award which by definition creates a distinction. Nevertheless,
we wished to recognize those who were and continue to be
a source of inspiration to us, to thank them for blazing
trails where we wish to go. And so we made the decision to
acknowledge those who inspire us through two annual awards.
We see these awards as a public act of gratitude. One of
these awards is in honor of Noam Chomsky and the other is
designed to recognize someone who has dedicated her or his
life to the service of others through social activism.
And
while plaques and paper weights can serve as wonder symbols
of recognition, the members of JSA decided that those who
receive the association’s awards will receive a hand-potted
salad bowl with a notation about the award scratched in on
the bottom. The bowl becomes a reservoir where the friends
we recognize can share food and hospitality with each other
convivially.
THE
NOAM CHOMSKY AWARD
 In 2001 the membership
of JSA made a decision to give an award at the association's
annual conference. This award is called The Noam Chomsky Award
in honor of Noam Chomsky, Professor of Linguistics and Philosophy
at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Members felt
that the work which Noam has done for the past half century
reflects to a large degree the kinds of human rights and human
well-being issues that Justice Studies Association is concerned
about. To those who know Noam Chomsky, it will come as no surprise
to hear that he did not feel very comfortable with the idea
of an award named after him. His modesty pointed to others
who might be more "worthy" but
he, nevertheless, acceded to the association's wish to have
an award named after him.
The Chomsky Award recognizes a person (or in some instances
a group) who exhibits three qualities which have characterized
Noam Chomsky's life and work. The person should be a source
of inspiration to others through her or his commitment to scholarly
and intellectual activities related to justice; the person
should be personally active in the promotion of peace and justice;
and the person should live a life of relative simplicity. However,
the recipients of the Chomsky Award might meet each of these
criteria to varying degrees.
JSA
SOCIAL ACTIVIST AWARD
In 2003, the members of the association decided to add the presentation of a second award to its annual conference schedule called the JSA Social Activist Award. This award recognizes the inspiring efforts of an activist who lives in the city (or its environs) where the annual conference is being held.
The activist might be a person, group, or organization and is selected because she, he, or it has served as a source of inspiration to JSA members through her, his, or its continuing work for justice. The recipients, therefore, not only reflect the values of JSA but also have made a significant contribution to the well-being of their home community.
The annual award is presented to the recipient(s) at the culmination of the Friday morning session of the conference at which are gathered various activists from the host city/town in the JSA Activists Café.
Recipients of Social Activists Award and Site of Conference
2006—Pat Humphries and Sandy Opatow (Emma’s Revolution)—University of California, Berkeley
2005 — Hattie “Mamma Hattie” Harris (Vine-Albany Task Force) and Chris Ducot—University of Hartford
2004—Esther Heffernan (Edgewood College)—Edgewood College, Madison, Wisconsin
2003—Pat Beetle (Upper Hudson Peace Action), Donna DeMaria (Homeless Action Committee), and Alice Green (Center for Law and Justice)—Best Western Inn, Albany, New York
Pat Humphries & Sandy Opatow receive JSA Social Activist Award
Pat Humphries and Sandy Opatow, who comprise Emma’s Revolution, were presented with the JSA Social Activist Award at the 2006 conference held at the University of California, Berkeley. Pat and Sandy were the Friday luncheon keynote speakers/singers. Those who have heard this dynamic duo “keynote” at three previous JSA conferences and at the 2006 American Society of Criminology meeting in Toronto have described their performance as transforming.
Pat and Sandy stand tall among the most renowned songsters of peace and justice in North America, indeed around the globe. They travel the world inspiring action to social justice at the most basic levels of community. fRoots Magazine has described them as "An acoustic, insightful delight in the tradition of Seeger and Guthrie."
The song “If I Give Your Name,” by Sandy and Pat was a Grand Prize Winner (one of 24,000 entries) in the Folk Category of the prestigious John Lennon Songwriting Contest (http://www.jlsc.com). The song sheds light on the silent suffering of family members of undocumented workers lost on 9/11 in the World Trade Center. They sing as well about human rights, the environment, the well-being of women, and the needs of a global community.
For more information on their numerous accolades, catalog of CD’s, and bookings look at www.emmasrevolution.com/ they are magicians of the spirit without ever turning a slight of hand or word.
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2007 CHOMSKY AWARD RECIPIENT
Marv Davidov, tireless peace activist . . .
 A tireless peace activist dedicated to fostering nonviolence, equality, and social justice Mark Davidov is perhaps best known as founder of the Honeywell Project, the oldest peace organization in the U.S. confronting war profiteering through civil disobedience. Since the project's founding in 1966, thousands of citizens have participated in peaceful demonstrations against the military industrial complex across the United States. The Honeywell Project has served as a model for grassroots organizations tackling corporate investment everywhere.
Born and raised in a working-class Detroit neighborhood, in 1955 Marv was kicked out of the U.S. Army for performing acts of resistance while fulfilling his enlistment obligation. In 1961 he joined the Freedom Rider Movement and traveled to Mississippi to register Southern blacks to vote. A white Jewish male, he deliberately violated a Jim Crow law by sitting in a "coloreds only" section of a Mississippi Greyhound Bus Station. For this act of solidarity he served 45 days in a Mississippi state prison. Two years later Marv became a member of the Canada-to-Cuba Peace Walk and in 1966 became a draft resistance organizer in opposition to the war in Vietnam.
At 74 Marv teaches nonviolence at St. Thomas University in St. Paul, Minnesota while he continues his activism. In October 2006, he hosted a “Stopping the Merchants of Death” international conference organized by the U.S. chapter of the War Resisters League where activists from around the world gathered to strategize against corporations profiting from war. The conference concluded on October 2, Gandhi’s birthday, with 74 activists risking arrest for nonviolent civil disobedience at Alliant Techsystems, a manufacturer of depleted uranium and cluster bombs. Weeks later, Marv was among those participating in a day of national resistance at the School of the Americas, Fort Benning, GA.
During his half century of non-stop activism Marv has been arrested more than 50 times for nonviolent civil disobedience for which he’s served a total of six months in jail. The late Philip Berrigan called Marv “a firm advocate for non-violent civil disobedience" and Marv’s friend Noam Chomsky says, "I've known Marv for many years. He has committed himself with a kind of dedication that has rarely been matched to reversing the drift toward global destruction, and his work has been extremely effective." With gratitude the members of Justice Studies Association present the 2007 Noam Chomsky Award to Marv Davidov for his continuing inspiration in our struggle for global social justice.
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2006 CHOMSKY AWARD RECIPIENT
Advocate for social justice Medea Benjamin . . .
 A co-founder of the international human rights organization Global Exchange and the high-profile women’s peace group CODEPINK, Medea Benjamin has been a tireless advocate for social justice for more than 20 years. Described as “one of America’s most committed—and most effective—fighters for human rights” by New York Newsday, and called “one of the high profile leaders of the peace movement” by the Los Angeles Times, in June of 2005 Benjamin was one of 1,000 exemplary women from 140 countries nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Since September 11, 2001, Benjamin has been working non-stop to promote a U.S. foreign policy that would respect human rights and gain us allies instead of contributing to violence and undermining our international reputation. In January 2002, Benjamin led a group of Americans who lost loved ones on Sept. 11 to Afghanistan to meet people whose relatives were killed during the U.S. bombing campaign. The journey received so much attention that the U.S. government created a compensation fund for Afghan civilians harmed during the conflict. Benjamin has also led several fact-finding delegations to Iraq and helped establish the Baghdad-based Occupation Watch Center. In January 2005 she organized a trip to the Iraq-Jordan border with parents of fallen US soldiers, to take $650,000 worth of humanitarian aid to refugees from war-torn Fallujah.
During the 1990s, Benjamin focused her efforts on tackling the problem of unfair trade as promoted by the World Trade Organization. Widely credited as the woman who brought Nike to its knees and helped place the issue of sweatshops on the national agenda, Benjamin was a key player in the campaign that won a $20 million settlement from 27 US clothing retailers for the use of sweatshop labor in Saipan. She also pushed Starbucks and other companies to start carrying fair trade coffee.
A former economist and nutritionist with the United Nations and World Health Organization, Benjamin is the author/editor of eight books. She lives in San Francisco with her husband and two daughters.
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2005 CHOMSKY AWARD RECIPIENT
Folk musician extraordinaire Faith Petric . . .
 Folk
singer and song archivist Faith Petric was presented with
the 2005 Noam Chomsky Award at JSA’s Noam Chomsky Award luncheon
June 4th. Coming all the way from San Francisco, Faith is
a bundle of energy and passionate interpreter of justice
songs for workers, the poor, hoboes who rode the rails, the
environment, women, children, and those in need generally.
Peter Seeger said Faith is "one of the most extraordinary
people in the world." And we found that out.
Having
turned 90 last September (2005) Faith is as spry and fit
as her songs are eternal in their meaning. She has performed
for the past half century at all the major folk festivals
in North America. She is one of the best kept secrets in
the world to people outside the traditional music circuit
so we were honored to present her with an award that our
association holds so dear.
Faith
has challenged the paradigm of justice of the 21st century
through her writings, has been an activist par excellence
for decades, and lives a life of simplicity that we all will
desire to emulate.
Born
on September 13, 1915 in a log cabin on a homestead near
Orofino, Idaho Faith is real pioneer stuff! She remembers
singing in her preacher-father's church at the age of three,
hasn't stopped singing since and has no intention of doing
so. She is that rare being of this time, NOT a singer/songwriter.
As Utah Philips says, "Faith doesn't make up songs,
she harvests them ... these outrageous and wonderful songs,
culled from a bevy of extraordinary minds, represent those
wild, satirical, quirky, offbeat, and endearing traits that
characterize the lady herself."
After
receiving the Chomsky Award Faith performed a good dozen
songs from her wonderful CDs “When Did We Have Sauerkraut?” “Faith’s
Favorites,” and “Sing a Song, Sing Along.” Her
rendition of some of these tunes had some at the luncheon
in stitches and others nearly on the floor from laughter.
Her wit and brilliance of mind in speaking a tradition of
justice for all were as evident as her winning smile. We
are grateful for her presence in this world of ours.
For
more on Faith’s work and recordings and contact information,
check out http://members.aol.com/faithpet/
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2004
CHOMSKY AWARD RECIPIENT
Activist and scholar Edward T. Chambers
 Activist
and scholar Edward T. Chambers was presented with the 2004
Noam Chomsky Award at the association's annual conference
at Edgewood College in Madison, Wisconsin on Saturday, June
5, 2004.
Ed Chambers heads the Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF) in
Chicago, which was founded by Saul Alinsky. The IAF is
the oldest and largest institution for community organizing
in the U.S. For sixty years its mission has been to train
people to take responsibility for solving the problems
of their own communities and to renew the interests of
citizens in public life.
Ed has
taken Alinsky's original vision, refined it, and created
a sophisticated national network of citizens' organizations.
One of IAF's key activities is its 10-day training sessions
for community organizers. For more information on Alinsky
and the IAF, see http://www.progress.org/alinsky.htm.
After
receiving his award and making a presentation to those assembled
at the luncheon, Ed signed copies of his recently published Roots
for Radicals: Organizing for Power, Action, and Justice (Continuum
Publishing, 2003) ISBN 0826474990.
In
Roots for Radicals Chambers says a "radical
is a person who searches for meaning and affirms community."
Publisher's Weekly described the book as encouraging reflection
about public life and ideas; the gap between the world "as
it is" and "as it should be;" self-interest
vs. self-sacrifice and other polarities; and how to create
actions that not only receive momentary press attention but
that are effective. Readers . . . looking for a solid foundation
on which to base political action will find much to think about
within these pages."
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2003
CHOMSKY AWARD RECIPIENT
Indian writer and activist Arundhati Roy
 Indian
writer and activist Arundhati Roy received the association's
2003 Noam Chomsky Award at the association's annual conference
at the Sovereign Hotel in Albany, New York on Saturday, May
31, 2003. Ms. Roy delivered a powerful address at the time
of the award presentation during the Chomsky Award luncheon.
Avid readers will know Ms. Roy from her award-winning book, The
God of Small Things which was published in 1997
and for which she received the Booker McConnell in 1997. Although
Indian authors such as Salman Rushdie and Rohinton Mistry have
been featured in the Booker shortlist and Rushdie's Midnight's
Children won the Booker of Bookers, Roy is the first non-expatriate
Indian author and the first Indian woman to have won this prize.
Of course,
social and political activists will know Arundhati equally
as well for her longtime interest in quality of life issues.
She has immersed herself in causes such as the anti-nuclear
movement and the Narmada Bachao Andolan. Her two major essays "The
End of Imagination" and "The
Greater Common Good" have drawn attention
and donations to these causes for which she also made significant
monetary contributions herself. Her involvement in these
causes has attracted controversy and criticism from all sides
of the political spectrum.
Her latest
work Power Politics (South End
Press) has just been released and The Cost of
Living (1999; see excerpts from Kirkus
Reviews below) was very well received. Other recent social
justice writing and speaking includes "Shall
we leave it to the experts?: An essay about
writing" (January 14, 2002 Outlook); a speech at the
opening of the Hague Appeal for Peace conference in 1999; "The
Art of Spinning: How Uncle Sam Turns Indian Gold Into Straw;
and criticism of Shekhar Kapur's film about Phoolan Devi 'Bandit
Queen' which led to a court case in 1994.
Ms. Roy was born in 1961 in Bengal and grew up in Kerala. As
the daughter of Mary Roy--the woman whose court case changed
the inheritance laws in favor of women--she was closely
acquainted with the Syrian Christian traditions which feature
prominently in her fiction. She trained as an architect
at the Delhi School of Architecture but became better known
for her complex, scathing film scripts.
She wrote
and starred in "In Which Annie Gives it
Those Ones" and wrote the script for Pradip
Kishen's "Electric Moon". Media
attention came when she spoke out in support of Phoolan Devi
who she felt had been exploited by Shekhar Kapur's film "Bandit
Queen." The controversy escalated into
a court case after which she retired to private life to work
on her first book. She says "a feminist is a woman who
negotiates herself into a position where she has choices…"
We are
grateful to Sawnet (South Asian Women's NETwork), a forum
for those interested in South Asian women's issues, for our
basic facts on Arundhati's life. For more information on
Sawnet, see
http://www.umiacs.umd.edu/users/sawweb/sawnet/index.html.
Comments
on The Cost of Living
from
Kirkus Reviews
In her
first non-fiction work, award winning novelist Roy (The God
of Small Things, 1997) reveals the authoritarian paternalism
of the Indian state that lies behind a mask of benevolence.
To Roy, India with all its fissures and factions is a fictitious
nation created by the state to legitimate itself. Once the
fiction is in place, the state can justify its actions in
the name of the common good no matter how injurious these
actions may be in reality. So it is with India's undertaking
of massive dam and irrigation projects and its successful
detonation of a nuclear bomb, the subjects respectively of
the two essays in this volume.
The second
essay offers the bomb as an example of state arrogance and
foolishness whose potential consequences are obvious and
terrible. In the first essay, which will likely be more revelatory
to American audiences, Roy focuses her attention on the Naramada
valley, home to 325,000 people, mostly of minority tribes.
When the building of a series of huge dams is completed the
valley will flood and all will lose their homes, becoming,
in a bloodless acronym, PAPs: Project Affected Persons. A
whole way of life will end as PAPs are relocated to dismal
camps or end up in urban slums.
Roy
clearly and bitingly demonstrates, however, that it is
not at all clear the project will do what it is supposed
to. It may use more electricity than it generates or destroy
more farmland than it creates, and those who are to receive
drinking water may never have a drop reach them. The Indian
state goes on its haughty way, blithely dismissing all
doubts. Yet the people of the Naramada valley have organized
and resisted, and though the outcome is unclear, this resistance
is what inspires Roy. This resistance, not the state, is
the home of Indian democracy, and she urges the struggle
to continue (royalties from the book are going to the organization
heading this struggle). With eloquent anger and careful
research, Roy expertly captures the faces of both folly
and courage. Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP.
All rights reserved.
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2002
CHOMSKY AWARD RECIPIENTS
Elizabeth McAlister and Daniel Berrigan
At the
annual JSA conference in Portland, Maine, May 30-June 1,
Elizabeth McAlister and Daniel Berrigan were presented with
the association's annual Noam Chomsky Award named after the
distinguished Professor of Linguistics and Philosophy at
MIT. The award was established to recognize persons or groups
who have been a source of inspiration through their commitment
to scholarly activities related to justice; have been personally
active in the promotion of peace and justice; and are dedicated
to a life of simplicity. Both of these individuals meet these
requirements in spades. As many may know, Elizabeth McAlister
is the wife of the late peace activist, Philip Berrigan,
Dan's younger brother. Phil died on December 6, 2002 at Jonah
House.
Liz
McAlister, Phil Berrigan, and Dan Berrigan are three of
the most influential and inspiring members of the peace
movement in the United States during the 20th century.
Although Phil told us that he does not
"accept awards-under the authority of Jesus & Gandhi"
we mention him because these three contemplative activists
are like three peas in a pod--a hospitable pod that includes
many other members of their communities. We did not include
Phil in the award to respect his wishes but mention him out
of deep affection.
Liz, a
former nun, Phil, a former Josephite priest, and Dan, a Jesuit
priest have been engaged in peace activism, writing, and
speaking about justice for four decades. This has included
creating communities of human concern as well. Liz and Phil,
with other peace activists, founded Jonah House a Christian
resistance community in Baltimore in 1973. This community
is dedicated to embracing the mandates of the Sermon on the
Mount in service to those forced into poverty and to practicing
works of mercy and justice. Part of this work has included
nonviolent civil disobedience against the military policies
and strategies of the United States government.
On September 9, 1980, for example, Phil, Dan, and six others
began the Plowshares movement by entering the General Electric
plant in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania and subsequently hammering
and pouring their own blood on two nose cones of nuclear warheads.
This has been followed by more than 60 Plowshares disarmament
actions by others. This kind of active resistance to U.S. war
machinery and the government that supports it can be traced
to Phil and Dan's acts of civil disobedience in Catonsville,
Maryland in May, 1968 when they and seven friends set afire
Selective Service files in a parking lot outside Draft Board
#33, Catonsville after dousing them with homemade napalm.
Those
interested in finding out more about the activities at Jonah
House may look at the community’s website http://www.jonahhouse.org/
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2001
CHOMSKY AWARD RECIPIENTS
the Editors of Z Magazine and ZNet, Lydia Sargent, Eric
Sargent, and Michael Albert
The 2001 (and first) recipients of the Noam Chomsky Award
were a collective, the Editors of Z Magazine and ZNet,
Lydia Sargent, Eric Sargent, and Michael Albert.
They activists
were selected because, through their unfailing and incessant
efforts, they bring to us each month one of the finest forums
for progressive social thought and commentary around the
globe. Anyone who has worked on a newspaper or magazine knows
the depth of the hecticness that such work engenders. They
described some of their non-stop juggling of responsibilities
in their 10th birthday issue (December 1997):
Since
Eric and his partner had a baby in May, and Eric is the primary
caretaker, we now read in shifts. Lydia and Michael read
the articles in Woods Hole, then drive to Dedham and watch
the baby while Eric reads the articles...Eric drives to Woods
Hole (with the baby). Lydia scans the cartoons while Eric
watches the baby. Lydia watches the baby while Eric loads
the graphics into Ventura and Michael walks to town and brings
back our meals. Meanwhile, we're trying to answer the phone...Eric
then loads up the baby, the baby's stuff, and the dogs (which
takes longer than preparing the entire magazine), and heads
back to the Dedham office where he prepares the mailing list
by entering renewals, new subs, and address changes. Lydia
prepares the cover and sends the issue to the printer in
Liberty, Missouri...
And so
it goes, with colorful permutations, month after month, year
after year as these three Chomsky Award recipients seek to
balance their commitment to work, their families, and significant
others, that is, to social justice.
In addition
to founding Z Magazine, Lydia and Michael are also co-founders
of South End Press. They have also established the Z Media
Institute, a summer school held in Woods Hole each June that
prepares participants to start and run a media project. Eric
also does book fulfillment work on contract for South End
Press.
It was
with great pleasure that we welcomed them to our Friday luncheon
to receive the award and to share their ideas on participatory
economics and democracy generally. Consistent with the tenor
of the award, the recipients did not receive a plaque or
trophy but a piece of handcrafted pottery, a large salad
bowl that Albany potter, Amy Braig, prepared in her studio
at home. The only visible recognition of the award is some
scratched-in work on the bottom of the bowl. Here we have
a container, made by hand, by a local potter, a vehicle through
which the recipients and their families and friends can share
food and celebrate their life together in justice. Just like
Z.
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Justice Studies Association
Social Science/Criminal Justice Department
Mohawk Valley Community College
Utica, NY 13501
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