Platforms for Peace & Justice: A Week of Dialogues Honoring International Peace Day
This year IofC USA’s newest program, the Global Alumni Initiative (GAIN) came together to celebrate the UN’s International Peace Day. The theme was Shaping Peace Together and it was the perfect opportunity to invite GAIN’s powerful network of peacebuilders and changemakers to start a dialogue about what that looks like for them.
We spoke to alumni working on grassroots issues in different countries and continents, provoking personal and meaningful discussions. Of course, in the current global climate, all of the conversations were online – but this allowed for even greater sharing of ideas and cultures.
You can catch up on all of the Zoom recordings below:
We asked our alumni what 'togetherness' means to them in this pandemic.
Watch the glimpses below:
The week started with an exploration of Female Power, led by some of GAIN’s powerful women alumni. GAIN Alumni came together from different communities and contexts, from Iraq to Nigeria and from Doha to Afghanistan. They spoke about the importance of allyship between women.
“I believe peace really does start with our own selves and our own communities, we need to make sure the values we are setting up for peace are the same ones we use in our work and family environments.”
Indee Thotawattage spoke about the strong women who had uplifted her and helped to frame her world view. Now she tries to impart the same inspiration to the young people she teachers herself. Mafaz Aldizar supports young people who have been affected by sectarian war in Iraq, empowering her to afford opportunities to other women in turn.
“In Africa, ambition is considered a dirty word, especially when it is connected with women. I try to push the next generation of women – and give them words of encouragement that I didn’t have in the past.”
Providing inspiration to the next generation of GAIN women, the speakers shared the words of wisdom that they would give their younger selves. Soraya from Afghanistan spoke of the importance of imagination. For Soraya, making her imagination as clear as possible has allowed her to stop doubting herself. Mafaz advised her younger self to liberate herself from beauty standards.
The panel discussed the tools they use to care for themselves and make space for themselves in order to keep the energy required to create change, and to continually push forwards in difficult circumstances. Mafaz closed the session with the acknowledgment that her own daughter relies on her and gets her power from her; and this is the inspiration that she needs to keep fighting.
Watch the session below:
The first regional dialogue of the week came with Tuesday’s conversation about Rebuilding Lebanon. A panel of alumni who are young activists and citizens of Beirut spoke about the devastation following the blast, sharing personal recollections about where they were when it happened. They discussed how people are working together, breaking boundaries and crossing borders in order to work towards peace.
Members of IofC from around the globe joined the conversation, expressing their desire to find out how their friends in Lebanon are doing, and to hear firsthand from people about their lived experiences – rather than simply trusting the words of the media.
Maguy Arnous distilled the overwhelming combination of events that Lebanese people have dealt with in the past years. She asked the audience to imagine waking up to find all their life savings were not worth even an eighth of their original worth. Add to that a garbage crisis, an economic crisis, a worldwide pandemic and the threat of foreign occupation. On top of that, an explosion, corruption and incompetency.
The speakers were honest and vulnerable, taking the conversation far beyond media representations of the blast and delving deep into how it felt to be there. Hala Fleihan remembered that, in the moment, she had no feelings - ‘it was just like a white space.’
Despite the evident pain that the speakers shared in their descriptions of August’s explosion, they also displayed the power of citizen action. Myriam Aziz was one of the organizers of such action, coordinating with her sister to rebuild houses and give out food boxes.
“Things the government should have done were done by the youth of Lebanon and other NGO and humanitarian actors. That lack of urgency by the government is what filled me with a fury that still echoes to today.”
Following the blast, Vanessa Basil was pleased to see that Beirut was finally getting attention on a global stage. The dialogue made it clear that this can’t die down when media attention wears out. Myriam advised the audience to support the Lebanese youth and to continue the conversation.
“Young people are really the movers and shakers of the country, right now we all feel so lost from hope. We just want to live, not just survive.”
Watch the session below:
Continuing the dialogue about global power struggles, the next event was all about the Dalit Lives Matter movement. Dalits constitute 19.7% of the population in India, and 12.8% in Nepal. They were described by one audience member as ‘people living in social distancing since forever.’
Rajendra Senchurey kicked off the conversation by exploring how deep rooted this oppression is in Hinduism. Ancient scriptures decree that Dalits should not chant Hindu religious songs, or their tongues should be cut out.
Pradip Pariyar explored the origins of the #DalitLivesMatter movement, speaking of honour killings in Nepal, and the rape and lynching of a Dalit child. The hashtag is a social movement to create a just society where every Nepali can enjoy life without the fear of persecution.
“Dalits are condemned and persecuted every day in the caste hierarchy.”
Tulsidas Ganvir expanded the conversation to India, touching on the rural reality for Dalits. He spoke of his personal experience where caste has proved a barrier to something as simple as finding an apartment – for half a year he was forced to sleep in his office as a result. Drawing parallels with the Black Lived Matter movement, Tulsi described the system as modern-day slavery in India. However, if a slave knows they are a slave, they can revolt. In the Indian context, the slave doesn’t know that they are a slave.
“We lost our dignity and self-respect in our childhood and we were told by our parents this is how we should be around higher castes.”
What was clear from the speakers’ contexts is that basic resources are not all that people need – dignity needs to be a basic human right too. Nrupuraj Mahananda discussed how often this is stripped from Dalit children even at school age. As a result, 51% of Dalit children drop out of elementary school.
“The caste system is like a house with no ladders. There is no possibility to move from one social class to another, and Dalits are instead forced to believe that they must accept life at their station.”
Watch the session below:
Thursday’s conversation opened to door to explore the synergy between Black Lives Matter & Dalit Lives Matter. The dialogue looked into the power of people – of decentralized collective action and organized protest – and how this has allowed both movements to ripple throughout the world.
Ram Bhagat kicked off the session with a grounding exercise aimed at acknowledging the common struggle of Dalits and Black people, using breath as a form of resistance after George Floyd’s “I can’t breathe” became a rallying call.
“It is the realisation of the collective human dignity that has sparked this solidarity movement that we are seeing now.”
This shared struggle for existence was stressed by Rajendra Senchurey who compared police brutality in the U.S. to the injustices perpetrated on Dalits in Nepal, from custodial deaths to extra judicial killings. He expressed the need for cross- cultural sharing of pains and suffering.
This recognition of a common humanity was shared by Amaha Sellasie . He said that the root of solidarity between different power struggles is a recognition of the different ways that humanity has been denied. By sharing knowledge and resources, it will become more possible to fight these oppressors together.
“People have had trouble breathing long before coronavirus. The old pandemic we’ve faced has been dehumanization in its many forms as it’s taken place within our society. The coronavirus is only the stage upon which the disparities we live under are taking place.”
The speakers discussed the legacy of fighting oppression – both in the U.S. and South Asian context – that paves the way and creates a model of what we must continue to do. We must stand for humanization, we must refuse to buy into the oppressors’ narratives. #BlackLivesMatter #DalitLivesMatter
Watch the session below:
The conversation resonates strongly with Indigenous communities in Australia. GAIN teamed up with Trinity College in Melbourne for a discussion about how the arts can help heal generational trauma and shape new beginnings in line with the theme Healing Our Stories.
Tammy Kingi began with an indigenous blessing, acknowledging the role of indigenous ancestors to all lands, and stressing the need to recognize First Nations people. She spoke about the social issues that she had seen among youth in Australia, from suicides to alcoholism and drug abuse, and linked these social issues to a lack of belonging. Dr. David Anderson Hooker summed up – when you have ancestral stories but you can’t express these within a colonised container, the memories you have get constrained and limited in a way that reproduces the same trauma in a modern context.
“Connecting back to country is an important part of the journey. Understanding your own cultural identity will allow you to understand others’ too.”
The panel spoke about the power of art and creativity to get back in touch with these historical and ancestral rites. Danny Fahey explained that, in his work with homeless youth, logic can be too painful and raw. Exploring the story through drama and art could allow them to express their emotions.
“Art has that power to get away from the logical story into the reality of what you feel, what you are living. I think that’s its power.”
The power of language was exposed – Tammy spoke about how it feels for her that her language is on the UNESCO world endangered language list. Dr. Hooker described how loss of language can lead to a feeling of disconnect – not just from one’s identity and ways of being – but ways of thinking too. Without access to language, you can’t tap into those ways of thinking.
Isaiah Firebrace, the youngest member of the panel at just 20, spoke about how powerful Melbourne’s BLM march has been. It made him think about his own identity as an indigenous person, and the responsibility he has to stand up for his ancestors.
“As an indigenous person I have that struggle – my language is dying out and it isn’t taught anymore. I have struggled with identity - I am only 20 years old and I’m so excited to dive deep into who I am.”
