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Life Onboard |
LAST UPDATE
July 19, 2005
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| September 8, 2004 |
Empowerment in a Time of War – Jill Strauss |
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| Peace Educator and Activist Jill Strauss |
For educator and activist Jill Strauss, one of the defining characteristics of the world after Septmber
11th is the expanding number of individuals politicized by their experiences with growing discrimination
in the United States. According to Strauss, this phenomenon has spread beyond the traditional circle
of ethnic minorities and is propelling the rapid creation of new social justice groups as well as
shifts in older grass roots organizations. Not limited to only New York City, this powerful new base
of citizens is reaching around the country and the world. Strauss, a Nonviolence Education Coordinator
at The Temple of Understanding, a global interfaith non-governmental organization, sees a need for
programmes to encourage and provide outlets for this powerful movement. |
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| A memorial sign at the former site of the World Trade Center |
Once such group is Desi's Rising Up and Moving (DRUM), an organization that organizes low-income immigrant
communities to fight for racial justice. One of DRUM's project, called Youth Power!, provides training
to young activists in leadership, communication skills and media production. While running a Youth
Power! session, Strauss met one youth who lacked a voice, but was determined to find it. "In
the US, she had three things going against her - she was a Bangladeshi, handicapped and a girl." From
Strauss's point of view, this girl's fight was an example of the power grassroots groups can provide. "She
didn't talk for the first two weeks, she just listened. She started talking about regret over witnessing
injustice and not speaking up. We were very supportive and told her that - unfortunately - there will
be opportunities in the future." |
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| Strauss talking to a Peace Boat audience |
Strauss's own road to activism is one tied to her own firsthand experience. A child of an Argentinian
father and an US mother with Polish-Russian roots, she knows what it is like to be the 'the other.' "I
know what it's like to grow up in a bilingual home. Because of my background and what I understand,
I can be a bridge." Being Jewish also deeply effected her understanding of the complex interplay
between cultural, ethnic and religious identity. In Germany, she felt Jewish all the time, a one-dimensionality
that got to her. Traveling to Israel, however, she was also turned off by what she said was an "only
Jews here" mentality that she felt misrepresented her values. "So I felt I had to speak
for myself. Once I had this direct experience, I couldn't turn away." |
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| Peace Boat sails up the Hudson River towards Manhattan Island |
These experiences lead her to pursue a Masters in Peace Education from Columbia University in New
York City, at the time the only school to offer such a course. Strauss said she often finds herself
explaining what she does to others. "People think it's fluff, so when I talk about what I do,
I'm very specific. I tell them I work in human rights and interfaith education. Peace Education doesn't
really mean anything to people." Although she has been working with Arab-Americans for many years,
after September 11th her connection with those Arab-American group became crucial in dealing with
the sudden "disappearances" of Middle Eastern immigrants. "People and organizations
had to shift their focus to address these disappearances. When that immediate, pressing situation
was over, they kept those relationships and found other reasons to keep working together for social
change. That's how you build a movement."" |
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| An individual's hands-on protest project at Ground Zero |
True to her goal of being a bridge, Strauss has been active in helping Peaceful Tomorrows, a grassroots
peace group formed by 120 families of September 11th victims. She also recently became an anti-bias
facilitator for Anti-Defamation League, an international Jewish human rights organization. "The
Anti-Defamation League doesn't work just for Jews, they work for all people. That's not the case with
all Jewish organizations, some work on the behalf of only Jews. For me, that was a very important
thing." The dramatic shift she sees linking all of these groups is their constructive, long-term
approach. "It's seeing that there are people who don't like us and what we do about that...We're
moving past the band aid, the crisis is over. But discrimination is systematic in America, it isn't
something new, it's an integral part of our identity. In a time of war, one group is always targeted." |
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| Old and young workshop participants working together |
Looking to prepare Peace Boat participants for a New York City teach-in and impart some effective
activism tips, Strauss conducted a series of interactive workshops aimed at connecting leadership
and action. "Whites generally have come understand more that our role is not to speak for others,
but to support people of color to find their own voice and to resolve their problems in a way that
makes sense to them. Which is a very different role for the majority to take." Her workshops
focused on changing the view of communication as having distinct losers and winners to seeking how
to separate interpretation from facts. "It's about seeing both the macro and micro, about what's
happening for you personally and what's happening around you, and how you balance those." Strauss
said her goal is to spark social change by getting people to simply ask more questions. |
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| The audience tries one of Strauss's communication games |
Applying this it reality is the difficulty, one that Strauss acknowledged, pointing out the large
gap between Peace Studies and Peace Education that is not recognized by most people. Peace Studies
is about analyzing, researching and writing essays on what they find, whereas "Peace Education
is about empowering people to make educated decisions and learn ways to act on those decision to positively
impact the world." As for that handicapped girl Strauss worked with? "Here she couldn't
even speak in front of her peers for two weeks and than she was standing up there with an international
group of people and a microphone, telling them what to do for the workshop. For me, the microphone
is a symbol of empowerment. She's an advocate for others now," said Strauss proudly, holding
back tears. |
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Resources
The Temple of Understanding – www.templeofunderstanding.org
Desi's
Rising Up and Moving (DRUM) – www.drumnation.org
Columbia Unviersity Peace Education Masters
Course – www.tc.columbia.edu
Jill Strauss – jill[a]templeofunderstanding.org
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