Posted by on March 03, 2021

We are approaching the one-year anniversary of the Covid-19 pandemic shut down in the US. A year ago, colleges began to close campuses and send students home- ending not only their in-person classroom experiences but also campus jobs and many internship opportunities. A month later, OEP began to experience a growth in its internships, doubling the cohort from 10 to 20 interns. We were ready to support students in remote internships, which was the original design for the program.

Throughout the pandemic, interns have contributed to the many offerings OEP has created to connect with constituents in their work for justice and peace. As our Executive Director, Bill Scheurer, says “Interns are involved in everything we do.” In 2020, interns provided daily content on social media developed the #ReadAloud program for children (and adults), assisted with Community Meet Up webinars, facilitated Learning Action Community opportunities including book clubs, webinar series, community connections, and advocacy, supported the Kingian Nonviolence certification cohort, and collected stories for OEP’s JustLeaders campaign.

Our interns are leaders for justice and peace learning and practicing the philosophy and methodology of Kingian Nonviolence. Here’s what they are saying:

“Before I joined OEP I believed that there were only two ways to approach injustice (peacefully and through violence). OEP and my environmental justice work has taught me to see the roots of injustice and seek solutions through nonviolent actions. I have had the opportunity to learn from different communities and share with them Martin Luther King’s methods of nonviolent action to combat current environmental injustices, such as a community in Uganda that had to find a way to stop the creation of a landfill in their community. I am a better person today, with a better understanding and better tools to approach and combat community injustices. "

-- Anna Rodriguez, Kingian Nonviolence Fellow

“I came to OEP seeking a justice-focused internship given my interests in human rights advocacy and peaceful conflict resolution. Previously, I was aware of the struggles facing the justice system in America. However, after becoming the Prison Justice Organizing Intern for OEP, I discovered the depth of the human rights abuses carried out by the justice system in the US. Working with this group has shown me the valuable power of community-building through hearing the different insights of group members and their experiences as practitioners of prison justice.”

-- Jennifer Weakland, 2019-2020 Prison Justice Organizer

“Working on the SRK Campaign at OEP has given me an opportunity to really bring the principles I believe in into practice- principles of nonviolence, justice & peace, and intersectionality. As I work with OEP and SRK I am constantly aware of the ways we need to end not just militarism, but all forms of oppression that uphold the system of violence we live in today.”

-- Kharis Murphy, Stop Recruiting Kids Organizer

On Earth Peace current interns include:

Chelsea Little- Newsletter Editor

Anna Rodriguez- Kingian Nonviolence Fellow

Kharis Murphy- Stop Recruiting Kids Organizer

Tiffany Byers- Communications Fellow

Emma Gaydos- LGBTQ+ Justice Organizer

Laura Hay- Youth and Young Adult Assistant

Skylar Rella- Gender Justice Organizer

Tamera Shaw- Racial Justice Organizer

Shayla Certain- Prison Justice Organizer

Ari Murphy- Online Storekeeper