Mission & Values
Thomas Merton Center Mission and Values
Updated by the TMC board of
Directors October, 2021
The Thomas Merton Center works to build and support collaborative movements that empower marginalized populations to advance collective liberation from oppressive systems
Organizational values
We value:
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Prioritizing support for local, black-led anti-racist work and the methods chosen by marginalized communities to obtain justice.
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Addressing the ongoing harm of colonialism and imperialism by our US government and corporations, around the world and within the so-called United States
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Developing an intersectional understanding of the root causes of injustices.
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Engaging in anti-racist, anti-oppression, equitable and non-violent ways of working with each other and with others without policing how marginalized people work towards their own liberation or by supporting repression of their movements for justice.
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Focusing on addressing the injustices that lead to protests instead of reinforcing repression of oppressed people by publicly denouncing property damage that may result.
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Standing in solidarity with and being accountable to marginalized communities and the organizations that represent them.
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Supporting environmental justice and sustainability.
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Ensuring accessibility for every interested participant.
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Restorative justice practices to resolve conflict within our community.
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Supporting community efforts to divest from reliance on the police, prisons, and military.
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Advocating for workers' rights and labor justice.
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Advocating for immigrant justice by supporting immigrant leaders and their organizations.
Acknowledgments
Acknowledging Our Role as an Organization with a Primarily White Membership
Statement from the Thomas Merton Center, October, 2021
Since our founding in 1972, the Thomas Merton Center has always been a social justice organization composed of a primarily white membership. We see this as highly significant in a society structured around the power dynamics of white supremacy.
The Thomas Merton Center commits to:
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Awareness that regardless of past anti-racism experience, all white people will do racist things sometimes. Anti-racism is an ongoing practice, not a permanent state of being, and all white people have room to keep growing.
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Calling each other “in” when warranted and working toward reconciliation and repair that centers on the people impacted.
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Offering regular opportunities for white membership to learn together about white supremacy.
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Seeking out accountable relationships with BIPOC communities and the organizations that represent them. We will regularly evaluate how having a primarily white membership affects all aspects of our work and our role in communities and justice movements.
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Leveraging the privilege and access within our membership to support BIPOC work towards justice.
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Organizing resources and information to counter challenges created by white opposition to justice movements.
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Determining which movements to support based on our stated values; we respect that other groups may hold different values.
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Prioritizing support for local, BIPOC-led, anti-racist work.
Address
1256 Franklin Ave,
Pittsburgh, PA 15221