Sister Ann Keefe “was not a saint, she was better than that. She was human,” said her sister Kathy Keefe to an impressive crowd of 200 people at the newly christened Sister Ann Keefe Post Office at 820 Elmwood in Providence. Sister Ann, a community activist who started or helped to start nearly two dozen organizations in the service of social justice, including the Institute for the Study and Practice of Nonviolence, ¡City Arts! for Youth and AIDS Care Ocean State died earlier this year from brain cancer. She was 62. The post office, located in South Providence, a community that Sister Ann served so passionately during her lifetime, was named in her honor.
US Representative David Cicilline introduced the legislation that began the process of renaming the building in Sister Ann’s honor in February. In the present political climate, said Cicilline, even getting a bill like this passed presented difficulties. Representative James Langevin cosponsored the bill, and Senators Sheldon Whitehouse and Jack Reed pursued the legislation in the Senate. Ultimately, President Barrack Obama signed H.R. 651 into law in May. Thus, the Sister Ann Keefe Post Office became the first US Post Office named for a nun.
Senators Whitehouse and Reed were not at the dedication ceremony, having been called back to Washington to vote on a transportation/infrastructure bill, but Cicilline and Langevin, along with other many elected officials, were eager to put in an appearance at the event, a tribute to Sister Ann’s influence.
The best parts of the dedication ceremony were the tributes from Sister Ann’s family and the community she served. Her biological sister, Mary Blanchet, read a letter to Sister Ann, recalling memories from their lives. Another sister, Kathy Keefe, read a poem from A.A. Milne.
Elijah Matthews read an award winning poem written by his sister, Victoria Matthews about Sister Ann. Elijah was introduced by his mother, Pamela Matthews. Victoria Matthews was at a sorority event out of town. Elijah’s reading of the poem earned a well deserved standing ovation.
The ¡City Arts! Bucket Drummers and the Saint Michael’s Community Choir provided the music.
The nearly 100 people who crammed into Nick-a-Nees on a rainy Sunday afternoon in celebration and remembrance of activist Richard Walton were given quite a show. This was the third annual Red Bandana Awards show.
The awards are granted to those who embody the spirit and work of Richard Walton. This year’s winners were Providence College Professor Eric Hirsch, a “tireless advocate for the poor and homeless” and the Providence Renaissance Hotel workers, who are fighting for “their right to decent working conditions and a living wage.”
The Gnomes, a global folk-fusion band, opened the event with about a half hour of live music before being joined on stage by emcee Bill Harley. Harley gave a short talk about Richard Walton, and read one of Walton’s emails to give a flavor of the man, quoting him as saying, “I’d like life to be a hot hodge-podge of people of all sorts. All ages, all cultures, all colors, all everything.”
Harley then segued into a remembrance of Sister Ann, the amazing “social justice activist” and founder of the Institute for the Study & Practice of Nonviolence who died earlier this year. Harley held a touching moment of silence that lasted about a minute before joking, “I think that’s the longest it’s been quiet at Nick-a-Nees.” Sister Ann was considered for an award, said Harley, but the committee making the decision decided to keep it as an award for the living.
After a song, Harley gave the first award to the Providence Renaissance Hotel workers. Receiving the award were organizer Heather Nichols-Haining and Mirjaam Parada. For many years now the workers at the Renaissance and more recently the Providence Hilton have been battling The Procaccianti Group over wages, workload and the right to organize. Workers at these hotels are getting hurt on the job, and management treats them as disposable. The award recognizes the importance of organized labor and union rights.
Professor Eric Hirsch was then called to the stage to be presented his award. Hirsch, ever the activist, reminded the audience that he’s involved in the Zero: 2016 effort to wipe out veteran homelessness by the end of this year and to wipe out chronic homelessness by the end of 2016. Hirsch asked everyone interested in this effort to go to rihomeless.org to find out what they can do to help.
Hirsch also reminded the audience that the school he teaches at, Providence College, recently had an event to deal with racial profiling and Renaissance Hotel boycott. After Hirsch received his award, the crowd was entertained by the Extraordinary Rendition Band, an appropriate choice, given their appearance in the viral “Joey Quits” video.
