Dean is OEP’s outreach intern and the online storekeeper for Just Peace Outfitters! “To give you some detail, I have built and currently manage an online store interface through redbubble.com, as well as work with other interns to create social media pages for the store. My day to day usually involves going through our store and making sure everything is in order, working in Canva to create new images and store content. More recently, I have been working with the social media accounts and Tabby (our social media intern), and developing a sticker scavenger hunt for store outreach.”

Youth and Young Adult (YYA) Intern, Laura Hay, has created a survey to explore how OEP can reach youth with peace education opportunities. With your suggestions and thoughts about past, present, and future work pertaining to our Youth and Young Adult Programming, we hope to better create an inclusive and engaging environment for youth leaders for justice and peace. If you have questions about this survey or other OEP YYA related questions feel free to reach out to Laura, email: [email protected]

You can take the survey here.

Two Part-Coversation: Tuesdays August 11th and August 18th at 8:00 PM EST/ 5:00 PM PST

Do you want to be a greater advocate for migrants? 

Living in tight prison-like conditions and being separated from loved ones is not uncommon for those who end up making the journey to the USA border. Given the COVID-19 pandemic spread, the immigration detention system is even more important to discuss. This two-part conversation will cover immigrant detention facilities and connect them to the criminal justice system. Join to become an informed ally! For more information look at the OEP-Migrant Facebook page or email [email protected]

Written by Jennifer Weakland, OEP Prison Justice Organizer Intern

There is currently one week remaining in the 8-week, first-ever Prison Justice Learning Action Community Engagement Program! It has been a wonderful affirmation of individuals coming together to make a community that wants to learn about and put energy towards addressing the injustice plaguing the US prison system. We have read through and discussed in-depth Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow, watched and discussed videos featuring Jeff Rosen, Ruth Wilson Gilmore, Kamau Walton, and Andrea Ritchie on restorative justice systems,and have learned the 6 principles of Kingian Nonviolence. Most recently, the group had an action-focused meeting to brainstorm opportunities to become active participants in prison justice advocacy in our own communities. 

To fully achieve the program goals of community engagement, issue education, and action empowerment, we have participated in a variety of activities. Integral in these activities is the earnest discussion of program material. These discussions allowed us the time to explore ideas, vent our own feelings and share inspiration surrounding prison justice, while also appreciating and supporting each other’s involvement. They also allowed us to learn much more about current, systemic issues facing the prison system, such as racially discriminatory mass incarceration through the War on Drugs, the injustice of biased plea bargain trials, the harms and dehumanization of imprisonment in general, and much more. During some meetings, the group split into breakout rooms for one-t0-one discussions of the material, which made for increased personal connection and in-depth discussion between group members. On one such occasion, group members participated in a casual mock debate, taking turns arguing for and against some of the principles of Kingian Nonviolence in order to prepare for disagreement with those who do not agree with the practice of nonviolence and the goal of prison reform. 

The Read Aloud Project began in April 2020 with the purpose of providing homeschooling resources in peace and justice during the pandemic. It involves members of the community recording videos of themselves reading children’s books about peace, justice, and courage. The response to the project has been amazing and I appreciate everyone who has supported the project by recording videos and viewing them. We have decided to extend the Read Aloud Project indefinitely and are looking at ways to improve it. So, I created a survey to figure out things like if people are interested in lesson plans to accompany the read aloud videos. Here is a link to the survey: http://ow.ly/PPG950Ayx6S. I look forward to receiving your feedback!