The Telos Channel

Is justice possible without reconciliation?

Ainka Jackson was raised in Selma, Alabama around the foot soldiers of the Civil Rights movement. With the memory of Bloody Sunday behind them, these leaders taught Ainka the power of love and nonviolence to transform systems of oppression.

But today, Selma holds a complex legacy of both love and hate. The community continues to face serious obstacles to peace. Despite these immense challenges, Ainka sees an opportunity to build a new reality in her home, where reconciliation raises relationships to a level where justice prevails and persons obtain their full human potential. MLK Jr. calls this reality the Beloved Community, and Ainka is making it possible through her work at the Selma Center for Nonviolence, Truth, and Reconciliation. 

In this episode, Ainka shares her stories of growing up in Selma, and why she believes true justice is not possible until all are free—until together, we’ve built the Beloved Community.

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Learn more about the Selma Center for Nonviolence, Truth, and Reconciliation 

Next week is MLK Jr. Day in the US, and we take some time to remember and discuss King’s impact on our philosophy of peacemaking, especially around the issue of nonviolence—what is it really, and does it require different things from us depending on the power we hold? 

We also discuss the common accusation that Palestinian solidarity is synonymous with antisemitism, after a former Israeli official called Emma Watson, famous for her role in the Harry Potter movies, an antisemite for a recent Instagram post. 

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Resources mentioned:

I Have a Dream Speech, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Letter from a Birmingham Jail, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

The Legacy of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., Sarah Sturm

The Selma Center for Nonviolence, Truth, and Reconciliation

Learn more about the upcoming Peacemaking Pilgrimage to Israel/Palestine

Is it possible to partner for peace with those we could call our “enemies?”

Abigail Disney lost some of her community when she built a relationship with the hero of the “opposite side,” pastor Rob Schenck. But along the way, despite their differences, she found a friend and partner for peace in a place she never expected. She documented Rob's story in the feature-length documentary, The Armor of Light, which went on to win an Emmy Award. 

Abigail has spent her life self-interrogating the stories she finds herself in and advocating for change. She’s asked difficult questions about her family’s history of enslaving human beings. She’s worked to amplify the story of the successful women-led peace movement in Liberia. And now, she’s advocating for a shared future in our own home by reminding us what’s possible when we put aside our expectations and fears, and truly seek relationships with those we least expect to love.

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Resources from this episode:

All Ears with Abigail Disney

Pray the Devil Back to Hell - Documentary film on role of women in the Liberian peace process

The Armor of Light (Emmy Award Winner) - Documentary film on crossing lines of difference over a vision of shared humanity and the future of gun rights in America

How do we remember the most forgotten in the world? 

Humaira’s family fled Afghanistan as refugees when she was a child. But it wasn’t until she was working in Palestine with refugee youth that she began to truly understand her own story as a refugee, and how to center the most overlooked and unheard on the margins of society. 

Then, in August the US pulled out of Afghanistan, the Taliban retook control, and suddenly her people were abandoned. Humaira has been tirelessly advocating for the Afghan people ever since, demanding that the world not abandon the Afghan people to a future robbed of their most basic rights. Humaira reminds us that forgetting those on the margins is a choice—and we have the power to choose instead to center their leadership and advocate for a future full of hope.

Humaira's work represents what it looks like to Center the Leadership of the Marginalized, our fourth Practice of Peacemaking. 

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Resources:

Support Rescue Angels, an organization evacuating Afghan school girls to safety - Donate here

What’s happening in Bethlehem? The birthplace of Jesus, the cradle of the nativity, is closed for another year during the Christmas season. For a city that depends on the tourism and pilgrimage of Christians, the city’s closure for another Advent season is a big hit. But living under Occupation is always full of complications. 

This week, we hear from the former Mayor of Bethlehem (and first woman to ever hold the position), Vera Baboun. She shares more about the challenges of leading one of the most well-known but unvisited cities in the world. But she also shares the hope she has for Bethlehem, and how Americans, especially American Christians, can support the residents of the “little town” this Christmas season. 

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Resources mentioned: 

Learn more about Mayor Vera Baboun

Bright Stars of Bethlehem

Bethlehem Bible College

Peace on Earth album, by Kellie Haddock (follow Kellie on Instagram!)

What does it take to imagine a future better than the one you’ve inherited? 

Angie Thomas grew up in Jackson, Mississippi—one of the most segregated cities in the US. As a kid, she escaped into stories for survival. But in them, she found something more than survival. She found the possibility of a better world.

Inspired by her faith, she writes that better world into existence today in her bestselling young adult novels, like the New York Times best-seller and major motion picture, The Hate U Give, about 16-year old Starr Carter wrestling with the weight of her best friend’s fatal shooting at the hands of a police officer. Angie sees her writing as an opportunity to not just speak honestly about the issues her community faces, but also to inspire hope. That the next generation can grow to build a better world, a world where equity is somehow possible. Angie's work and life are an example of our second principle of peacemaking: Equity. 

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Read The Hate U Give

What do we do when someone else’s truth feels like it contradicts our own? Sarah Perle Benazera lives in this tension everyday in her work facilitating dialogue between Palestinians and Israelis. But she also feels this personally, living in the in-between of her own identity as a French-born, Israeli-Jewish woman with Algerian parents. 

As a storyteller and peace activist, Sarah works to bring light to stories that have been buried, especially in Israel/Palestine. People often ask whether the stories of Palestinians and Israelis can exist in tension. Sarah shows us how our stories don’t have to compete, that there’s somehow enough room for all of them at the table.

Sarah embodies our second Practice of Peacemaking: Hold Competing Truths in Tension.

Read and share the Principles and Practices of Peacemaking

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Negotiations between Iran and the E3 nations have restarted, raising alarms in Israel at the prospect of a nuclear armed Iran. We discuss why this development is important for peacemakers to pay attention to, how the U.S. is involved, and how it might affect the lived realities for Israelis and Palestinians. 

We also discuss the string of court cases recently resolved involving the murder of Ahmaud Arbury and the case of Kyle Rittenhause. We walk through the questions these cases raise about criminal justice, peacemaking, and policy in the U.S. What really is criminal justice, and what can we do about it?

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Resources from the episode:
Undaunted Season 2 Episode 1 | Will Snowden: Transforming the Criminal Legal System

Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson

Equal Justice Initiative

How can we choose peace for others when we’ve lost everything for ourselves? 

Michael Laverty lost his parents as a child. He lost his community when he became a conscientious objector to the apartheid regime in South Africa. And he nearly lost his family in an act of violence that left him scarred for years. 

Yet despite all of this, he committed his life to peace: to undoing systems of injustice, to standing beside the poorest and most broken of the world, and to giving himself away. Through the years, he has worked to help elect Nelson Mandela as President of South Africa and empower young Christians to make active commitments of peace in Australia. But he’s learned along the way that making peace with the world also requires making peace with ourselves.

His healing and peacemaking work is centered by his evangelical Christian faith, which he believes compels him to act on behalf of the most marginalized, as Jesus would. Michael’s life represents our Practice of peacemaking, “Own Our Agency and Responsibility.”

*CW: This episode has references to violence, including sexual assault and traumatic events* 

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It’s pumpkin pie season! We got the US team together this week to discuss all things Thanksgiving. We talked through some of the fun stuff, like our favorite dishes and thoughts on Black Friday shopping, but also opened conversation on where peacemaking might come in this holiday. 

We discussed the purpose of and truth behind the “original Thanksgiving,” and talked through strategies for building relationships across lines of difference—even at the Thanksgiving table.

Happy thanksgiving listeners—we’re thankful for you!

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