AVODAH honors Steeg, Cotton at Partners in Justice Brunch
By ALAN SMASON
Avodah, the Jewish Service Corps, held its sixth annual Partners in Justice Brunch on Sunday, April 22 at Temple Sinai. For the second year in a row, the event was housed at a URJ (Reform) house of worship and for the fifth consecutive year two members of the local Jewish community – Pamela Steeg and Deb Cotton – were selected to receive accolades from the organization for their dedication and leadership in promoting social justice in the area.
Avodah national executive director Cheryl Cook speaks on the importance of the Avodah New Orleans House. (Photo by Alan Smason)
The event got underway at 11:00 a.m. with cocktails and food provided for attendees. Music was provided during the early part of the gathering by the Messy Cookers, two of whom are themselves former Avodah members.
Avodah maintains a beit or house in Uptown New Orleans. All of the members live, eat and share their experiences for one year there.
Avodah New Orleans director Dani Levine welcomed attendees to the event and spoke about some of the many volunteers who started their professional careers as volunteers with Avodah and who now work as social justice professionals giving back to the community. She later invited the national executive director, Cheryl Cook, to speak.
Cook noted the the importance of the New Orleans Avodah to the overall structure of the national organization following the devastation that followed the landfall of Hurricane Katrina. “I heard from many, many people of people about how many people came down right after the hurricane to help, to be part of rebuilding and then how many people left,” she reflected. “We stayed and we stayed here not because of me, but because of you. It was because we had an amazing, incredible Jewish community here that really saw the potential of having Avodah here.”
Kara Kuland, a current Avodah Corps member, spoke to the crowd about what her experience has meant to her.
Event co-chairs Tamara Kreinin and Rosalind Hinton introduced Pamela Steeg first. Steeg has been involved in fighting for reproductive rights as the executive director of Planned Parenthood. Steeg was responsible for helping to erect the new building on S. Claiborne Avenue.
“There are people like me who look forward to working with people like you,” Steeg said in speaking about Avodah Corps members.
A special hand-drawn plaque showing “South Claiborne” was presented to Steeg by Levine for her work.
Deb Cotton, a writer and supporter of the Second Line community of performers, was one of the 19 victims of the Mother’s Day shootings two years ago. She has suffered severe injuries, but managed to recover well enough to appear in court to advocate for one of her convicted assailants to not receive life in prison for his actions. “I was not a victim,” she boasted. “I was a survivor.”
Introduced by Simone Levine, executive director of Court Watch NOLA, Cotton spoke about her unique perspective as a member of both the Jewish and African-American communities. Cotton said that the tradition of Jewish commitment to repairing the world was one of the chief drives in her life.
She received her hand-drawn plaque from Levine.
