Young Adult Updates

At the inaugural Diaspora Organizer Gathering at Friends Place on Capitol Hill this fall, I spent four transformative days sharing, learning, and connecting with organizers from across the country. They were all there from different diaspora—communities who have been dispersed from their homelands—and activist backgrounds.

Since the Israel-Palestine war began following the deadly attack by Hamas on Oct. 7, we have witnessed a dramatic rise in Islamophobic and antisemitic rhetoric and violence throughout the United States. Hadiya and Odeliya are colleagues and friends at the Friends Committee on National Legislation. Hadiya is a Muslim American and Odeliya is an Israeli Jew. This rising tide of hate is something that they can’t ignore—as individuals or as advocates for peace.

Representing diverse backgrounds—from Egypt to Niger, Bhutan to the Democratic Republic of Congo—these organizers spent four days engaged in deep discussions, advocacy training, and meeting with Hill staff.

Although their term as community organizers ended in May, the commitment of the 2022-2023 Advocacy Corps to supporting Native American issues has not. For ten months, they lobbied for the establishment of the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding Schools.

June is Gun Violence Awareness Month. While the terrible and growing number of high-profile mass shootings continues to make news, these events represent just a fraction of the toll that gun violence extracts. Community-level shootings, acts of intimate partner violence, and suicides comprise most gun violence incidents in this country.

In March, more than 300 young adults converged in Washington, D.C,. (and online) to learn a new strategy for making our communities safer from gun violence: violence interrupter programs.

Sometimes advocating for preventing gun violence can seem challenging and, frankly, a bit lonely. So, the opportunity to spend time with more than 300 young and motivated people who came to Washington, D.C., to lobby for dedicated funding for Community Violence Interrupters was refreshing.

Every day, 321 people are shot in the United States. For decades policymakers have debated how to address the scourge of gun violence, often defaulting to a militarized police response. This solution has repeatedly failed, with sometimes fatal consequences. We need a new way forward, and a promising solution does exist. That’s where FCNL’s network of young adult advocates comes in.