The 36th Annual Thomas Merton Award will honor Malik Rahim!

The 2008 award dinner will be on Wednesday, November 12th!
6pm Social Hour
7:20pm Dinner
Circuit Center and Ballroom

The Circuit Center and Ballroom is located at 5 Hot Metal Street, in the IBEW Hall, right on the corner of Hot Metal and Carson Streets. There will be free parking, easy bus access, and a vegetarian (including vegan) dinner catered by the locally renowned Fluted Mushroom.

Reservations: $45 ($26 for students/low-income)
Have a group? We can accommodate tables of 10 people at a time. The cost for a table will be $400. Please RSVP by October 31!

Reserve your space by:
Check (made payable to "Thomas Merton Center" with "TMC Dinner" in the memo line)
Cash (stop into the TMC during regular business hours - Monday through Friday, 9am to 5pm)
Credit Card (either mail us your information or click here.)

To mail in payment: Thomas Merton Center, 5125 Penn Ave. Pittsburgh, PA 15224

Ways to help:
If you can't attend, make a donation! Or buy and sell lots of raffle tickets…someone has to win the prizes: a trip to New York (all expenses paid), a custom-built bike from Free Ride!, and a whole slew of gift certificates & tickets – sports and cultural – for Pittsburgh attractions! Would you like to purchase an ad in our dinner program book? If you have a business, big or small, or just want to honor the Center, buy an ad in the program. Rates are as low as $50 and as high as $500 to become an underwriter. People read those ads and support those who share their beliefs in justice. And you can always offer to help with the dinner. There is enough work for all of us involved in this major event.

Questions? Call 412-361-3022 or e-mail Melissa.

This November 12, the Merton Center will be honoring activist Malik Rahim at the annual Thomas Merton Award ceremony. Malik is a former Black Panther, convicted felon, and a long-time housing and prison activist in the U.S. state of Louisiana. He gained publicity as a community organizer in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

During Hurricane Katrina, Malik stayed to assist the community and has been speaking out about racism and the failures of government exposed by the Katrina disaster. To counter the powerful corporate forces trying to control the rebuilding, Malik has founded Rebuild Green to work with community-based organizations' efforts to advance social justice and environmental sustainability. Malik states that "By focusing on green building technology, renewable energy, mass transit systems, and green community development that empowers local people to take control of their local resources, the rebuilding of New Orleans can take our city from being a symbol of disaster to being a prototype sustainable city of the future."

In July of 2008, Malik filed to run for Louisiana's second congressional district seat of the U.S. House of Representatives as a Green Party candidate.