My belated introduction

This is my belated introduction post to the intern blog.

I joined FCNL at the beginning of September, along with all of the other new interns, and I have been quietly settling in to my job as assistant to the Executive Secretary, Joe Volk. After about one month here, I can confidently say that I've already learned a great deal and I'm having a great time.

I spent last summer in DC through the University of California Washington, D.C. program (UCDC). UCDC gives University of California students the chance to come to DC and live here (in a beautiful building steps from the White House) for a quarter while taking classes and interning for the organization of their choice. I interned for Representative Alcee Hastings (FL), and was just absolutely blown away by how much I loved DC.

My internship in Rep. Hastings' office was one of the most positive experiences of my college career. I had fantastic opportunities while interning: I attended hearings, briefings, and committee markups; I wrote constituent response letters about animal rights, the Americans with Dissabilities Act, and the foreclosure crisis; I even got to help draft a floor statement. For someone like me who loves politics and the political process, I was in paradise. At the end of the summer, I knew that I wanted to come back to DC after I graduated from UC Davis.

One of the things I loved most about the city was the abundance of culture right at my fingertips and at no cost. I spent hours with my friends in the Smithsonian museums, the US Botanic Gardens, the National Gallery of Art, and all of the various monuments that can be enjoyed by everyone for free.

Hopefully, in the coming months, I will be able to blog about some of my favorite museums in DC and exhibits that I think would be worth checking out.

-Lacey

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Why history's important - some thoughts from the National Parks

As any fellow History major might attest, we are pretty familiar with Ken Burns films. In reality, this is where a lot of Americans get their average dose of history and personally, I'm ok with that. What has caused me to write about Ken Burns' films on this intern blog however, has to do with the airing last night of the first installment of his new series, The National Parks: America's Best Idea.

Having traveled this summer to more than seven of the National Parks I feel an even stronger connection to these places of wide open space and natural beauty.

While there are certainly many wounds associated with these parks that are often left out of the history books, I must say that I'm glad to live in a country that, while the idea may not have been popular in the 1800s, has now preserved huge areas of this country. I'm also glad that this film includes the voices of those often left out of the picture of American life.

I hope you get the chance to check out some or all of the films in this series, and I urge everyone, history major or not, to consider how these decisions were made, the people who made them, and the people who were affected both positively and negatively by the creation of these parks. What we do now does live on and it's important to take a moment and consider how we got where we are today.

In Peace,

~Rachael

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400,000 Reasons to Care About Detention Reform

From Thursday through Saturday last week, I attended the annual meeting of the Detention Watch Network, a coalition representing more than 150 organizations and individuals working to reform the U.S. immigration detention system. This conference was eye-opening, to say the least. Through workshops, presentations, and lobby visits, we discussed how to best address the issue of detention. As it stands today, the conditions in detention facilities around the country violate basic civil and human rights.

Watch this video to see participants in the conference preparing to lobby their members of Congress on detention issues:

I had the opportunity to speak with a number of former detainees and their families, all of whom had become advocates for detention reform because of their experiences. One former detainee, who was held for five months before receiving asylum, spoke of his inability to communicate with the outside. He had extreme difficulties contacting his family and finding a lawyer to represent him because he arrived in the detention facility with no American money - and the $5 calling cards sold in the facility only gave him 4 minutes of talk time.

Another former detainee talked about how the guards would put him and other detainees into a room together just to watch them fight - he said it felt like being in a lion's den.

The mother of a former detainee described how her son had been taken away by ICE while he was working as a teacher's aide in a kindergarten classroom. In front of the students, an armed ICE unit shackled her son's hands and legs, put him in an unventilated van, and brought him to a detention facility with no windows. He spent the next two years there.

An advocate working with current detainees told the story of the experiences of some of his clients: During Ramadan, these detainees asked for a cup of hot water at the end of the day, so that they could break their fast. The guards said no, and when the detainees voiced their frustration one of the guards threatened to put them in solitary confinement.

Detainees are denied the most basic human and civil rights while in detention - access to adequate health care, food, and water. They are often held in facilities that have no windows, and some go months at a time without seeing sunlight. There are no enforceable standards to ensure that they are protected from abuse. As it stands today, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency has treated detention as the default -- the consequence of this approach to immigration enforcement is that over 400,000 people will be held in detention facilities this year.

Four hundred thousand lives. Is this how the United States wants to welcome those seeking refuge? To learn more about detention reform, email rebecca@fcnl.org with your questions or visit http://detentionwatchnetwork.org/.

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Thoughts from Home…

In some way, I think all of us are connected to a place that we feel is home. For me, although I've lived in 5 different states and traveled and lived abroad, home for me will always be nestled between rolling hills at the edge of a beautiful lake in New Hampshire. I know that description might sound idyllic and in some ways, it is a place that inspires thoughts of a simpler life, but the reality is, 'home,' wherever that might be, brings with it the good and the bad.

So here are some thoughts this week from home with a few connections to DC topics:

This week, my father sent an editorial article by Ellen Goodman that was published in a New Hampshire paper, the Concord Monitor. The title of the article caught my attention - "What if Gandhi, Obama did dinner?" This is a good, if somewhat odd question and it stems from President Obama's answer to the question of who would you most like to have dinner with, alive or dead? What struck me most about the article is how much it relates to much of what we talk about & try to do here at FCNL. Why should we treat politics as "combat" rather than as a dialogue? It may sound strange in a world-wide culture that is at least somewhat programmed to think in terms of winners and losers, but in reality, wouldn't we all gain something from getting to know our 'opponents'? This thought could be applied to anything, from politics, to the next door neighbor who happens to be an immigrant. So, who would you invite to dinner?

And on this topic of getting to know people for who they really are, I'll just mention that my mother, who has the extremely difficult job of selling health & life insurance during this current political climate told me this week about a string of experiences she had which led her to the following conclusion - that it's never ok for the price of health insurance to cause people immense distress.

Even if we got all of the most brilliant minds, past & present, together in one place (perhaps around a dinner table) I am not convinced that we would 'solve the world's problems.' I am convinced however, that by getting to know each other's stories we have a better chance of being moved to make change.

So, while it may sound as idyllic as my description of 'home' - I wonder if we might all be moved past the 'combative' nature of a win-lose political system if we truly took the time to know not only the 'issues,' but the people and the stories behind them? It certainly can't hurt.

In peace,

~Rachael

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Should the Redskins change their name?

There has been an effort for some time to get Washington to change the name of its football team from the Redskins to… something else. Anything else. It seems everyone has an opinion about the issue. Some people argue that not only is the name is in honor of Indians, but that Indians feel honored by the name. Others, Indian and non-Indian, hold steady with the assertion that the name is racist and profane, and should be changed. Suzan Harjo has been the figurehead of a lawsuit to try to force the team to change its name. She has been a strong public speaker on the issue, doing interviews and engaging with the public on the issue. Though it is an struggle she takes very seriously, she has managed to maintain a sense of humor (however sardonic) about the thing, as we see in her chat session with ESPN fans:

"JJ: Ever think that instead of promoting equality, this fight of yours will sour people about Indians. People may think that Indians are kind of stupid for trying to change a mascot's name.

Suzan Shown Harjo: The thoughts of those who could be soured over a bid for justice are of little interest to me -- what are they going to do? Get mad and take away the western hemisphere?"

In the most recent development of this effort, the team of litigators has taken the case to the Supreme Court and asked it to step in.

And the struggle continues.

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Crimes Against Humanity

Last Friday I was fortunate to have the opportunity, along with a number of FCNL colleagues, to visit a recently installed interactive exhibit on genocide at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum on the National Mall. It's part of their learning center and it is the first non-Holocaust related exhibition there, but it fits with the organization's commitment to preventing future genocides and crimes against humanity. I was really impressed by this, because it puts the museum out in front saying "hey, we can't stop at remembering the Holocaust--we have to act, so we can keep similar things from happening again."

Whenever I see memorials of the Holocaust (including the one I most recently visited in Jerusalem, Yad VaShem) I become emotionally overwhelmed at what I sense is the historical continuity of such suffering among all the people groups who have been and continue to be systematically oppressed and killed, whether quickly or by slower methods. I think especially about my year experience living in the Palestinian Territories with Palestinians, a distinctive people whose identity is imperiled by a lack of a state and by occupation. As I view the horrific displays of the deliberate Nazi plans to erase the Jewish people entirely, I see signs of people worldwide whose identities are being erased by political, military, or cultural means. Darfur, Rwanda, and Bosnia may have now attained "obvious" genocide status, unarguably awful cases of ethnic-cleansing, but many people around the world suffer in gray, complex political situations that keep their lives in flux and deny them human rights while those in power look away until it is too late.

In the case of the Palestinians, I find it abhorrent how millions of people can be held hostage by an international 'peace' process that has done nothing to improve life for them since the UN took up the case in 1947--instead freedoms continue to be curtailed and some have embraced violent ideologies. Last week Richard Goldstone published the findings from his UN inquiry into "Operation Cast Lead"--Israel's offensive into Gaza this past winter that left hundreds dead and thousands wounded. While Goldstone has extensive experience in studying other war crimes, he was heavily criticized for his report calling for further investigation which can be summarized as "two wrongs don't make a right." Hamas rockets fired caused damage and sometimes death and injury indiscriminately and the sporadic nature of the launches gave Israelis great fear and caused suffering. However, the Israeli incursion into the tiny Gaza strip after bombarding it for a week from the sky was a devastating blow to the massively over-crowded, under-resourced region, leading to an enormous humanitarian crisis in which aid and workers could not be dispatched quickly. I was in the West Bank, watching the news in stunned horror every day as a mostly unarmed, largely under-15 year old population was being pummeled by mortars, artillery, bullets, and white phosphorus.

While the actions of the Israeli army and Hamas will probably never come up before the Hague, the report generated a pretty substantial buzz and a few, like Israeli commentators Gideon Levy and Bradley Burston, dare to question their complicity in the affair. But the war in Gaza was really only a brief moment of publicity shed on the ongoing grievous situation there and for Palestinians in the West Bank as well, who live lives much diminished by the occupation of their land. Without a state and without an effective government, their humanity comes into question. Who will stand up for them? Who will make sure they do not turn from a vibrant community and culture into a tragic historical relic?

Which humanity is worth saving? The Palestinians are merely one of many examples of those people who fall through the cracks as our grossly inadequate international system of justice languishes.

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All the Small Things

I've been noticing recently how quickly people assume that, because I'm now living in Washington, DC, I must be involved in a powerful national organization working to change policy at the highest of levels. That may be true. It certainly seems that DC symbolizes a certain kind of power. However, I've been learning most recently that our power to effect change does not stem from the position of individual FCNL staff in DC. Our power to effect change is collective.

The small things that we do in our daily lives really do make a difference. Every conversation that you have with your neighbor, on whatever issue you're passionate about, is one instance of awareness-raising that promotes knowledge, tolerance, and action. Every time I talk to my friends about what I'm doing at work, and where the discussion on immigration stands on the Hill, I'm sharing an experience that brings everyone involved to a new level of understanding.

Dialogue is necessarily a two-way street, where in the best of circumstances each person participating in the conversation comes away better for it. This is why I am so excited to hear about all the potluck events that have been going on across the country to discuss comprehensive immigration reform. FCNL has been encouraging communities around the country to host Breaking Bread and Barriers potluck events. These events are opportunities for neighbors to come together to break bread, and break barriers - the barriers that separate us in our daily lives from connecting with one another across our differences, and the barriers that hold immigrants back from integrating fully into U.S. cultures and economies.

FCNL has a new update on the Breaking Bread and Barriers potlucks on our website. This kind of dialogue comes at a critical time, when neighbors can express their thoughts and concerns to each other and their members of Congress, in preparation for what is sure to be a greater debate on immigration reform in the next few months. If you are interested in learning more or organizing one of these events yourself, please see our website.

Enjoy the week, and keep on talking about what makes you passionate!

Peace,

Becca

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It's All About Local Action

This week, I participated in an international conference call between AFSC staff person Anna Crumley-Effinger in Nairobi, the two new program assistants at the Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO), and myself. Anna gave us a terrific overview of AFSC's work in Africa generally and then spoke more specifically about Kenya.

I am particularly interested in Kenya because the Peaceful Prevention of Deadly Conflict Program is releasing a new brief on the 2007 violence there over a disputed presidential election. In 2007, there was an outpouring of international support for peaceful mediation and the violence subsided, leaving an unsteady peace. When I asked Anna how about the Kenyan Friends' reaction to the violence and how they helped to mitigate violence at the individual level I was excited by her response. One way that Friends took action at the local level was by leading listening projects for the masses of angry youth who felt that their concerns were being ignored on the national stage and who often resorted to violence. They also conducted dozens of Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP) workshops and came up with other creative solutions like involving youth in sports in order to divert energy into more productive activity.

These stories of local action and conflict mitigation give me a lot of faith in the power of non-violent solutions. I sit here at FCNL advocating for huge structural changes in the way that the U.S. government approaches foreign policy, and I sometimes lose sight of the power that non-violence carries. These issues are complicated and weighty, not easily solved, and often intractable and yet focusing on the small moments of conflict mitigation helps me to approach my own work with extra positive energy.

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Some Recent Thoughts...

I am someone who absolutely loves to watch movies. It's sometimes scary, but there are definitely lines from my favorites that just stay stuck in my mind. To me, films can offer a view into an other way of life that I might not get otherwise, and while I won't pretend that all my movie choices are based on important social issues, often times the best films I have watched are not centered on the easiest topics.

Recently I watched a film called "The Visitor," that Rebecca has also written about on the Immigration Blog (see the trailer of the video by visiting the Immigration Blog). This movie did not end all tied up in a nice, neat package and while that might have garnered it more attention from the 'mainstream' media - I think it is this incompleteness that makes the movie so great. It's real and it deals with issues that face real people everyday.

In traveling across the United States this summer and in my travels abroad, I've found that connecting with people about the real things that happen in their everyday lives are how you make the longest lasting friendships and can figure out together how to affect the most change. I wonder if part of my affinity for films that showcase this sort of humanity has to do with a desire to help people connect with each other? Just a thought...

Peace,
~Rachael

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Outsourcing Climate Change

As part of our ongoing introduction to FCNL, we’ve been having “Brown Bag Lunches,” in which one of the lobbyists here gives us an introduction to their area. Today we heard from Devin Helfrich about the Energy and Environment program here at FCNL. Specifically he was talking to us about the Climate Change bill, about which I knew very little.

FCNL did not support the bill that passed the house this summer partially because of its support of offsets as a way to reduce carbon at a global level. With offsets businesses are able to buy coupons that say that something to reduce carbon is being done somewhere in the world; this way these businesses are theoretically helping to reduce carbon in the world (or, offsetting their carbon use) while not actually necessarily changing their practices at all.

There are two major problems FCNL has with this policy. Firstly, it is very hard to verify whether these offsets are real; that is, when a coal plant buys a coupon for X number of trees being planted in Indonesia, to offset part of the carbon they produce in burning coal, it is extremely difficult to verify that real trees were actually planted in Indonesia. In fact, a disturbingly high percentage of offsets that are bought and sold probably aren’t real – which means that nothing is changing in terms of carbon levels (except that they continue to rise).

The second problem Devin mentioned is that these offsets are bought and sold at a global level; therefore if a US business buys carbon offsets, they are probably carbon offsets from somewhere else in the world. This is a problem because under this model, the US infrastructure will not be required to change into a more environmentally friendly one for quite some time. What occurred to me is this: People get so huffy about “outsourcing American jobs.” When transnational corporations move their labor headquarters to Mexico or Taiwan to get cheaper labor, the US loses out on jobs for US people.

Carbon offsets are a way to outsource climate change. Rather than cleaning up US pollution, we’re encouraging carbon reduction in other places. Why don’t people get angry about outsourcing climate change? We should take pride in improving our infrastructure, reducing our pollution, and relying on more sustainable methods of producing and using energy, fertilizing crops, etc, etc – the same way we take pride in our jobs and our work.

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Poem for a rainy day in early autumn

Wild Geese by Mary Oliver

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting--
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.

Today I was startled to read that a quote from Mary Oliver's poem "Wild Geese" found its way into the speech given by VP Joe Biden at the former site of the World Trade Centers in NYC for the eighth anniversary of September 11th. Surprised that this poem I cherished during my college years was immortalized in a patriotic memorial, surprised that a politician would choose Oliver's very personal verse to speak for national sorrow and resolve.

The rediscovery of this verse in my new context as an intern for FCNL in Washington, DC, at an urban office I reach by way of Metro trains, has caused me to ponder my transition a bit more this morning. Fall in the city is upon us as evidenced by the cool breeze and rainy days bringing out coats and umbrellas. Last autumn I was beginning a year in Palestine and the first rain signalled olive harvest and respite from harsh summer conditions with little water. Two years ago I began my last semester in college in central Pennsylvania surrounded by fields of ripe corn and forests of trees in all hues with wild geese migrating overhead.

With this new season of my life, and with the reconvening of Congress, "the world offers itself" to my imagination, and I am excited about a fresh start working in 'peace and politics,' trying to bring about positive changes in the lives of people around the US and the world through lobbying. At FCNL I have found a place that shares my values and I look forward to seeing where the year takes us.

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8 Years since 9/11 and War is Still Not the Answer

After a week and a half at FCNL I can honestly say that I am very pleased to be here working on these important issues. I have had very little formal background in peace and conflict resolution so my principal asset currently is a different perspective. I devoted last week to understanding the way the peaceful prevention of deadly conflict program works, how it connects to what others at FCNL are doing, and where it fits into the broader history of FCNL’s mission. As I saturate myself with these new concepts it occurs to me that I will never have a perspective on the program as fresh as the one I now hold and so I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself by sharing a few recurring thoughts on why this program on preventing war is so central to all that FCNL does.

Quakers are known for their commitment to non-violence resistance as demonstrated throughout history. And yet how can a message of non-violence be heard and taken seriously in a militarized world where the U.S armed forces are deployed to every corner of the globe? This is the eternal question with which Quakers worldwide struggle, and FCNL’s response was to provide an alternative to war—the peaceful prevention of deadly conflict. If one does not want to fight wars, one must prevent them—a seemingly simple concept and yet one that FCNL continues to fight hard for on the Hill. It is not easy to grab hold of a program meant to prevent conflict. It doesn’t lend itself easily to action alerts, and the battles that Bridget and I fight will most likely never make the news. And yet, the idea of institutionalizing structures that can support a world without war is so powerful that I am honored to even have the opportunity to try. I look forward to hearing from all of you about how this very important work touches your life. I don’t think that I know what a world without war looks like, but I am hopeful that I might one day.

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Me, a lobbyist?

Having been raised Quaker for the latter half of my life, I had of course heard of FCNL. That said, I didn't really know what it was about until Devin Helfrich started coming to Northern Yearly Meeting and talking to us about FCNL's goals and strategies. This was probably 5 years ago or so. I remember he talked to us about cluster bombs -- about how terrible they are and about how important it was to pass legislation banning their sale and seriously curbing their use.

More than the specific rhetoric about cluster bombs I remember the way he talked about FCNL as an organization. He said that there are lots of small organizations with varied and laudable goals. Some of these organizations get stretched too thin, reaching for change that isn't realistically achievable. Devin said that FCNL considers its long-term goals, and then looks at the legislative opportunities at hand. Then it picks which issues to focus on; it goes for change that it can really make happen. And sticks with it. This stuck with me, this idea of pinpointing the areas in which FCNL, a very small lobby, has a chance of effecting real change and then following through.

As I went through college and started thinking about What Comes After, Devin mentioned the FCNL internship to me. I think I probably laughed -- I couldn't in a million years picture myself lobbying congresspeople. When I was a kid my parents had to make me call my friends for playdates -- I hated calling people on the phone, especially people I wasn't very, very close with (which is most of the world, when it comes down to it). I was very shy and talking to strangers stressed me out. Though I've grown out of that in many ways, the idea of me, a young, inexperienced, just-out-of-college, 5'4" (yes, the height makes a difference) woman trying to convince big important Washington, DC congresspeople that they needed to pay attention to me (and in fact be swayed by the information I brought to them) terrified me. I'll be honest with you, it still kind of does.

So how did I end up applying to FCNL? About a year ago my mom told me that when she has a really big, potentially life-changing decision to make, she thinks about who she wants to be, what life she wants to have, and which option will help her realize that. I want to be someone who not only cares about what goes on in the world, in the news, in congress, but who knows something about how that beast works. I want to be someone who feels empowered to tell my representatives what I think is important for them to tackle. I want to be someone who reads the news on a regular basis not only because I care about it, but because I understand it. And, it turns out, I want to be someone who can say that she talked to congresspeople even though it scared her.

-Inez

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This week . . .

So far this week has been a rainy one here in Washington and though it's apparent that there are more people in the city now that Congress is back in session it has not been as crazy as I had expected. So why is this week any different than others you might ask? This Friday marks the 8th Anniversary of 9/11, a date which is now so much a part of our everyday vocabulary that it's hard to remember what it was like when September 11th was just like any other day in the early fall. I'm sure this date conjures up different thoughts and feelings for each person, but for me, it is a yearly reminder of my first day of high school. I can remember seeing a glimpse of a TV screen in a coach's office and thinking to myself, those images can't be real. But, regardless of what facts you do or don't take as true about 9/11, the images of the destruction of that day, and the pain that has followed for millions of people is real.

I say millions of people because when you really think about what 9/11 has led to, the bigger picture is staggering. When simply looking at the cost of the wars that followed that day eight years ago, the numbers are difficult to comprehend: (All stats from AFSC: http://www.countdowntowithdrawal.org/)

130,000 U.S. troops in Iraq and 62,000 in Afghanistan,
A combined total of 5,148 U.S. military personal killed,
And an estimated total of over 1,000,000 Iraqi civilians killed, with unknown and growing figures of Afghan civilians added every day.

These numbers are sobering, and yet it is almost hard to imagine what life would be like without having these figures? I feel very lucky to have grown up in a country where I am free and safe to learn and explore, as many others do not have those benefits. At the same time, I have grown up in a world dominated by talk of terrorism and war - something which I hope will change over time.

I realize that unfortunately, these are current, 'facts of life,' but do they have to be? I'm not suggesting that our world can go back to pre-9/11 days. I do however hold on to hope for peace and understanding.

If there is one thing I have learned from my travels abroad and my contact with cultures different from my own, it is that more often than not, I find myself rethinking what I thought I knew. Just because a person comes from a culture different from my own is no reason for me to fear them - rather, it should be used as an opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of other human beings and their ways of life. Here's a thought/challenge - what if each of us took time everyday to learn something new about people we might normally think of as the 'other'? I would guess it would then be much more difficult to believe the worst of others…. Give it a try!

Peace,
~Rachael

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Immigration, A Border-Crossing Issue

Hello everyone!

I’m Becca, the new FCNL program assistant on immigration, human rights, and civil liberties. I’m thrilled to be a part of FCNL, particularly because I feel so lucky to have found an organization whose principles, priorities, and values resonate so well with my own. Originally, I hail from the Boston area, but I spent the last four years studying migration and development at college in Minnesota. While there, I first learned of FCNL’s work, and felt driven to join this collective of changemakers in DC.

I was fortunate to spend the spring of 2008 in Senegal, where I worked with a local development organization that provides migrants and their families with technical skills, literacy classes, and financial advising. There, I began to perceive just how complex the issue of immigration really is. As John Muir wisely said, “Tug on anything at all and you’ll find it connected to everything else in the universe.” This is certainly true of immigration. I learned to always ask the next question. For instance: Say you ask an immigrant whether he or she sends remittances home to family members. Then, you may ask whether those remittances affect decision-making on which members of the family receive a formal education. Then, you may ask whether education itself is a “push factor” contributing to an individual’s decision to migrate or a “pull factor” giving that person skills and qualifications to find employment in his or her country of origin. All of a sudden, immigration becomes much more than a one-dimensional issue.

Having returned to the United States after that experience, I am now able to carry with me the knowledge that immigration is an issue that crosses borders. While in Senegal I was able to work on immigration from what is primarily a “sending country,” from which immigrants leave for Europe or other destinations. Now, I have the opportunity to work on immigration with FCNL, our constituents, our partners in coalition, and others. The United States, as a country that receives immigrants, faces a related, yet different, set of issues than those of Senegal. I try to maintain an understanding of the complexity and interconnectedness of these issues as I work on components of comprehensive immigration reform such as family reunification, detention standards, and wage-law violations.

I’m looking forward to this year with FCNL as one that will change me at least as much as I effect change on immigration, torture, and other issues that may arise in the next few months. If you want to follow my blog on immigration, “It’s Our Community,” click here. I’ll be posting again soon!

In peace,

Becca

Welcome & some thoughts on first days as an intern at FCNL

Hello Everyone & Welcome back to the Intern Blog!

As one of the eight new interns here at FCNL I thought I would send out a bit of an update on beginning work here... (For more background information on myself and the other interns, please visit our bio pages on the FCNL website.)

When I first accepted my job at FCNL as a Communications Program Assistant, not only did people wonder what that position was, but they also said, 'what's FCNL?' I would then try to explain that FCNL was a Quaker lobby working in DC to promote issues of social justice, peace, and equality. To me, this seemed like a sufficient answer, but it often resulted in glazed over looks and remarks of, 'oh, that's interesting....'

Now that I have been here at FCNL for a few days and am getting used to sitting at my desk which looks out across the street at the Hart Senate building, I've begun to realize that regardless of how you try to explain the work FCNL does, the reality is that all of us have embarked on a year long journey of learning how our government works and, especially in my case, how best to help people all over the US become active in government. What I mean by this is, how do you help someone half way across the country who feels like their senators and representatives don't have a clue what's really going on feel like they have a voice? This is definitely not an easy question to answer, but the likelihood is great that there will be multiple answers to every question that arises during my time here at FCNL.

While I have had my moments already of feeling overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information I am going to be learning over the course of this year, I'm also excited about the prospect of finding new and interesting ways to reach people all over the country. FCNL already does a huge amount of communications via print media, the website, Action Alerts, and e-news. The organization has also found numerous ways to make contacting your members of Congress as simple and unintimidating as possible, and to me, the latter is one of the most important thing FCNL can do. Although I sometimes fall victim to this myself, there is no reason for anyone in the US, or anywhere in the world for that matter, to be made to feel that they cannot approach an elected official who's job it is to represent them in the government and I hope that through my position here on the Communications team I can help people recognize their collective power to affect positive change.

Each person who works here at FCNL brings a different perspective to the table and I hope that throughout my time here I can remember how valuable this is to helping connect people. We all have stories to tell and in a way, that's what all of this boil down to...

I am certain there will be more to come from myself and the other interns. We hope you're reading, sharing stories, and getting involved!


Peace,
~Rachael

Waging War; Waging Peace

In early January of 2004, I landed by way of C-130 at Mosul International Airport in Mosul, Iraq. At the ripe age of 19, I found myself in a combat zone filled with dangers and curiosities. Days ran the gamut from mind numbing boredom to blood wrenching terror. Some days, it felt like I might not make it; others made that seem a favorable option. My experiences in Iraq led me to question much of what I had grown up believing. I, after a time, began to view the Iraqis not as enemies; rather, I began to see them as dignity worthy human beings. Iraqis had families; Iraqis were mothers, fathers, brothers, sister, aunts and uncles. When an Iraqi was killed, a mother somewhere grieved with the same pain of circumstance my mother would have if my life were taken. It was this humanization of war--of the "enemy"--that changed the way I saw the world.

Standing guard on the perimeter of FOB Fulda, I never could have imagined that I would find myself working for the Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) just six short years later. At present, I oversee the "War Is not the Answer" campaign--which has distributed over a million "War Is Not the Answer" signs all over the country (http://www.warisnottheanswer.com/). The message is simple; the concept is revolutionary. Imagine if the solution to global security and sustainable living issues were not sought on the back of the U.S. military. What kind of world could we create if we prevented conflict diplomatically, rather than engage in devastating wars in which no population of ordinary people ever win?

My desk overlooks the Hart Senate Office Building. I gaze upon this majestic structure. From the outside, the building is calm and serene; yet I know that on the inside, people bustle about, making decisions on plethora of issues. The people who walk the halls of this building and so many others here in Washington, D.C. have the power to shape the world in which we live; they have the means to directly affect our collective daily lives in immeasurable ways. However, there is a catch:

They are accountable to us; now, as much as ever before, they need our polite and persistent voices.

There are many factors which contribute to U.S. foreign policy's centralism on war but an unfortunate few providing practical alternatives. If we are to end the institution of war, we must dedicate ourselves to any extent we may be capable. "War Is Not the Answer" is more than a slogan; it is a statement of purpose. The answer, truly, lies within us. Ultimately, we can simply do better.

Call your members of Congress today (find your member of Congress). Urge them to support the peaceful prevention of deadly conflict (what is PPDC?). Place a "War Is Not the Answer" sign in your yard or on your bumper; engage in the Action Alerts sent by FCNL (free stickers and signs). Donate to FCNL to help further spread the message (donate). Don't be idle; persist in the cause. As Mohandas Gandhi once so eloquently said, "You must be the change you wish to see in the world."

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