Sister Helen Prejean October visit: Part I

Katie D.

October 19, 2010 - 9:34 PM

What a whirlwind of a day.

Sister Helen Prejean, anti-death penalty activist and author of Dead Man Walking, has returned to Eugene and the UO campus for a week-long visit. This series of talks and events is the first in a series of three years, each of which will see Sister Helen returning to our city for continued interactions with the community, youth, and the University of Oregon.

Part of my GTF this year is arranging her visit: creating, advertising, and running events; doing outreach for the UO in the community; and doing everything I can to make sure Sister Helen's Eugene stay is a satisfying one for all involved.

Today was the first day of events for this October visit.

The highlight of the day was a youth empowerment event with Sister Helen. The three-hour program included community building, getting-to-know-you exercises, a presentation and question-and-answer session with Sister Helen, and short dramas invented and acted out by the youth. It was a wonderful event. Sister Helen is an amazingly engaging speaker, and is willing and enthusiastic about meeting new groups, and about communicating her story with youth. The high schoolers and UO facilitators had a good deal of time to ask Sister Helen questions, both about the system of capital punishment in the United States and about Sister Helen's own journey into this work.

I have now heard some live version of Sister Helen's presentation five times. Each time I have been deeply moved, both by her dedication to her cause and by her amazing power of connection with an audience. She is both inspiring and deeply humble. Today what stuck out to me most is the idea of a calling. That one day she was asked to write a letter to an inmate on death row--an inmate who never responded to mail. So she wrote her letter, and he wrote back. Two and a half years later, they met face-to-face for the first time, and her life was completely turned inside out by the humanness of the face before her. She has since worked tirelessly for the abolition of the death penalty. She accompanied that man, Patrick Sonnier, and five others to their executions. She believes profoundly in the dignity of every human being, despite what they have done in the past. And she has acted on this conviction with decades of labor, although she set out on the journey without any idea that she was doing so, and without the experience to be fully "qualified" to do so.

If she can be called to such work, such dedication to the cause of social justice for the "least, the last, and the left-out," then can't we all? This is a dangerous and powerful idea: a challenge she presented to the youth and which I now present to you all. A letter can change a life. A single, unknowing act can lead to a complete transformation. I suppose it's a risk you take every day, a risk that is inherent to the human condition.

But I challenge you to open yourself to this risk, to this calling. Come to one of the events this week, no matter how you feel about the death penalty, and listen to one woman tell her story of struggle and transformation. Be a witness for now. You never know what might come next.

PUBLIC PRESENTATION
Sister Helen will be speaking at the UO Law School in a public presentation and book signing open to all members of the UO and Eugene community. She will discuss her work against the death penalty and will take questions from the audience. All are welcome.

Date: Tuesday, October 19
Time: 7:00 pm
Location: University of Oregon Law School, Room 175

PANEL DISCUSSION: RACE AND THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM

This event will include presentations by several Eugene community members discussing various aspects of the criminal justice system as influenced by race. The Ethnic Studies Department is hosting this event, and should provide a unique window into this complex issue. Other panel members include UO Professors and Eugene community members.

Date: Wednesday, October 20th
Time: 4:00-6:00 pm
Location: Honors College Library: 3rd floor, Chapman Hall

INVITATION TO INTERFAITH GATHERING with Sister Helen

You are invited to an interfaith gathering with Sister Helen Prejean. This evening will include presentations from Sister Helen, anti-death penalty activist and author of Dead Man Walking. She has dedicated her life to a call to work for social justice, and will be joining groups from Eugene's faith community for an evening of conversation and inspiration as we discuss the implications of a social justice calling in the context of spirituality.
Please come prepared for respectful dialogue.

Date: Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Time: 7:00-9:00 pm
Location: Temple Beth Israel at 29th and University: 1175 E. 29th Ave Eugene, OR.