Ben Leiter
A Writer, Student of Black Political Thought and Agent of Anti-Racist Change
Stories of Key Peace & Justice Work
Ben was born in 1984, and for the first few years of his life, he grew up at the Brethren Service Center in New Windsor, Maryland, where On Earth Peace was long headquartered as well as many other service projects of the Church of the Brethren.
He studied peace studies and Spanish at Manchester College, and found On Earth Peace to be a constant source of anti-war education and organizing on campus. After graduating from Manchester, Ben joined the On Earth Peace board of directors and became committed to anti-racist and anti-oppressive institutional change, particularly within historically white majority peace and justice organizations. He learned that oppression not only takes the form of overt, physical violence but can also be the result of embedded and unquestioned norms, habits and symbols that exclude people from full participation and belonging and diminish their--and thus everyone’s full humanity. Currently, his focus at On Earth Peace is as a member of the Anti-Racism Transformation Team. This team is tasked with leading the organization toward becoming a fully multi-cultural, multi-racial anti-racist institution. As a PhD candidate at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, Ben pursues this commitment to an anti-racist world through a dissertation about the importance of anti-racist transformations among white people as a basis for institutional transformations.
In addition to his work at On Earth Peace, he has also worked with the Latin America Working Group.
Read Ben's stories at the key organizations he has been a part of:
| Latin America Working Group | On Earth Peace |
For additional information about Ben's work, read about how On Earth Peace has impacted his work.
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On Earth Peace's Impact on Ben
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Get A Free Sticker of Your Choice
Here is one of Ben's favorite stickers from our "JustPeace Outfitters" online store, which speaks to his long-time involvement in the quest for racial justice.
Anyone who makes a donation to OEP through this "JustPeace Leaders" campaign will receive a free sticker of your choice from our growing gallery of peace and justice stickers in the JPO online store.
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