Erin Raffety

Hey New Jersey folks and allies in other states who are concerned about the conditions for immigrants and protests at Delaney Hall: The Hopewell Valley Democratic club just sent out a great email about how to help. In their words:

"Two ways you can help--Donate and Advocate

Organizations you can donate to (links in comments):
Bond fund for arrested protesters
Support for families at Delaney Hall
Commissary fund for detainees
Grocery cards for families of detainees
Immigrant support

You can also donate money to Mercer County's Resistencia En Accion that in addition to general support for migrants has a specific program to advocate for the close of detention centers, including Delaney Hall, and is currently staffing shifts at the Delaney Hall protests.

Advocate for Immigrants:
EDITED: Call your elected officials if you live in another state and ask them to advocate for closing Delaney Hall!

Call our elected officials, thank them for their support of the immigrant community, and urge them to continue the efforts to shut down Delaney Hall.

Governor Mikie Sherrill - (609) 292-6000
Senator Andy Kim
Senator Cory Booker
Representative Bonnie Watson Coleman - (202) 225-5801

Finally, legislation that would impose a tax on private detention facilities intended to establish an Immigrant Protection Fund has been introduced in the Assembly and the state Senate (See A4300 and S3616). For-profit detention centers profit off the custody of individuals, and it is entirely appropriate that a portion of those revenues be redirected to ensure fair treatment, dignity, and due process. By taxing these private entities, New Jersey can sustainably fund vital immigrant legal defense programs without placing an extra burden on everyday taxpayers.

Please contact Assembly Members Anthony Verrelli and Verlina Reynolds-Jackson and Senator Shirley Turner and urge them to support bills A4300 and S3616 respectively.

We recognize all of this is a big ask. Please do what you can and know that whatever you do counts. And feel free to share with friends and family.

In solidarity,
HVDC Immigration Committee"

Just recorded my first video podcast on disabled people and Christian leadership with my wonderful colleague Bailie Gregory! This upcoming podcast series will bring together six guests from the US and the UK to talk about people and in faith community contexts, hosted by me and my fellow researcher Naomi Lawson Jacobs. It's part of research we've been doing on the topic this year, funded by the Calvin Institute for Christian Worship. The podcast series has kindly been funded by The Manchester Metropolitan University's ENGAGE fund. We'll be sharing clips on social media soon and the podcasts will be on YouTube in July and Aug. Find out more about the research here: https://lnkd.in/etEp9Sek

I'm thrilled to be on the ballot for the Democratic Primary as a representative for Voting District 4 in Hopewell for the County Committee (peep my name far right...)!

I've long wanted to get more involved in local politics, so thank you to all of you who have supported my candidacy. I'm thrilled to support the great work of our Hopewell Township Committee: two of our Democratic candidates will be running to re-election in November and they have done great work balancing the budget and keeping taxes low for many years in a row!

The other photo includes information about early voting for all of Mercer County, which runs May 26-31.

YOUR VOTE makes a difference, so please come out and vote early or on June 2 in the primary!

Note: In New Jersey, you must be registered with either party to vote in the primary.

Reflecting on my colleague and friend Lamar Hardwick's incredible legacy, ministry, and advocacy this morning and wanted to share this conversation from 2025 that Lamar, Avery Arden, and I were blessed to have about preaching and neurodivergence: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOyl4U_lAmA

Lamar, your ministry will continue to be a blessing. You are dearly missed.

Preaching & Neurodivergence Join the Bridge for Early Career Preachers for an engaging conversa...

Want to do something to promote democracy from home?

I can't always make it to in person protests due to my family's needs, but this is pretty easy...

I've been writing postcards for years--this organization sends them to you for free, you provide the stamps, and then they provide the messaging and an address list for Democrats in swing states that may be unlikely to vote without some encouragement.

Studies show that mailings like these do make a difference, so please sign up! Bonus: plan to purchase your postcard stamps before July because the price is going up, but the post office will honor old stamps.

And you have months to write them--they need to be sent in October to be effective, right before the election!

secure.ngpvan.com PAID FOR BY PROGRESSIVE TURNOUT PROJECT (WWW.TURNOUTPAC.ORG) AND NOT AUTHORIZED BY ANY CANDIDATE OR CANDIDATE'S COMMITTEE

It was a joy to travel to Davidson College to give the Staley Lecture in Religion this week! I am so grateful to former seminary students, now colleagues and college chaplains, Julia Watkins and Daniel Heath for the invitation. I taught a class, got to reconnect with my former professor Fuji Lozada and college chaplain Rob Spach, as well as meet numerous new colleagues and see the amazing work disabled students are doing on campus.

Here's the link to the lecture for those who may wish to watch, listen, or share it:

Staley Lecture - Toward Justice Lamenting Ableism Repenting Inclusion Centering Disabled Leadership Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

I'll be traveling back to hashtag for the first time in over 15 years to give the Staley Lecture in Religion on Wednesday, April 29 at 7pm EST!

Please join me in the livestream in this attached link or in person to hear me talk about how my personal faith impacts my scholarship. So honored to be speaking back at my alma mater!

Thank you for your support!

Staley Lecture: Rev. Dr. Erin Raffety Staley Lecture: Rev. Dr. Erin Raffety Home Events Staley Lecture: Rev. Dr. Erin Raffety Date/Time April 29 7:00 - 8:00PM Location Knobloch Campus Center Alvarez- Smith 900 Room We welcome Rev. Dr. Erin Raffety as this year’s Staley Lecture speaker. Dr. Raffety is a Davidson College alumna, a Pract...

The paperback of Families We Need is only $9.89 through Rutgers right now! Grab a copy while they're cheap!

Families We Need Families We Need is an ethnography of the temporary, yet transformative relationships between disenfranchised, older foster mothers and disabled, orphaned foster children in China, and the power of these seemingly marginal relationships to confront state power, disrupt intercountry adoption,...

Hi friends and colleagues!

Rutgers press has some backstock of my book, Families We Need, that they can offer for a limited price of only $5/book + shipping with the promo code: rauthor5

Click the link provided and enter the code to order a discount copy:

Families We Need - Rutgers University Press Set in the remote, mountainous Guangxi Autonomous Region and based on ethnographic fieldwork, Families We Need traces the movement of three Chinese foster c...