By guest author Dorothy Walsh
Coming from a middle class family, I had to learn about what Gandhi called the worst kind of violence: poverty.
Men and women on the streets struggling with addictions or homelessness needed someone to hear their stories and not judge them. I found I could offer kindness and compassion without becoming a victim myself.
Working at STEP, a treatment on demand facility with staff members and clients coming out of prison, reinforced my connection to my brothers and sisters.
Over the years, I have taught a mediation course at a local college and organized and developed a volunteer program at the homeless shelter, Rosie’s Place. I also supervised students from nine schools in the Boston area who set forth emboldened in the quest to show that there are alternatives to violence even in an unjust society.
While at the Peace Abbey, I met and greeted peacemakers from all over the world. I had the honor of presenting Rosa Parks with the Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience Award, giving a big hug to Joan Baez, sitting with Maya Angelou, and traveling to South Africa with the Mandela Award. More recently, I participated in giving a Courage of Conscience Award to the Benebikira Sisters of Rwanda (http://engagingpeace.com/?p=1155).
I have found that in every situation someone shows up who can help us find the courage to begin again, to rise above the dark clouds and find the rainbow. This was true even in the closing of the Peace Abbey, a sanctuary of peace not only for me but for countless others.
Before long, I was introduced by friends to storytelling and writing and began telling prison and other stories from my life’s journey. In a world with much violence, we do well to remember the words of Gene Knudsen Hoffman (1919-2010), “An enemy is one whose story we have not heard.”
This story-telling venture led to the “Oneness and Wellness” program I am currently hosting for Dedham Cable TV, sharing the stories of guests who seek to make this world a better place for all.
Dot Walsh, lifelong peace activist
Great series of articles, Dorothy! I too was fortunate to volunteer at Rosie’s Place through my sorority, and it was such a humbling experience. Helping to feed families, even those that didn’t fit into the stereotypical description that I think many of my sisters expected, can really help to drive home what is truly important in the grand scheme of things. Above all, the most heartbreaking was working with the children, who were some of the most polite and grateful people I’ve ever encountered. I may have helped to deflect their hunger for a short time, but they created an insatiable hunger within me to do everything I can to help prevent this “worst kind of violence” to spread any further. Thanks again to you and Kathie!
Thank you so much for sharing your observations and experiences, Gina. It is great knowing that you are a committed recruit on behalf of non-violence and social justice.
I read the January 2002 Interview with Gene Knudsen Hoffman and was struck by the simple but profound sentence, “We can never make peace until we listen to both sides.” Even in families the wisdom of this advice prevails. A parent who frequently favors one child over another when the two are having a dispute can create a sense of unfairness that only intensifies the hostility and makes a bad situation worse. So it is with countries–hostilities can be created through unfair treatment. But in both cases, a wise intervention can lead to positive change.
Gene Knudsen Hoffman’s words at the end of your post really stood out to me; “An enemy is one whose story we have not heard.” This statement immediately draws my mind to those who commit acts of domestic abuse, violence against children, and those who sexually abuse family members, children, or strangers. These actions are no doubt heinous and evoke a cascade of emotions, some of which include hate, anger, and disgust. While feelings of anger and hate are justified and natural, they only perpetuate the violence. I certainly do not want to justify violence and abuse, but statistics show that those who were victimized by abuse are at a substantially higher risk to perpetrate violence against others, whether that be physical, sexual, or psychological (Hines, Malley-Morrison, 2013). Most people would choose to ignore the fact of a perpetual circle of abuse in order to justify their own anger and de-humanize the perpetrator, but chances are, they too were victims. As Gene Hoffman said, their story has not been heard. Identifying the risk factors for abuse is, in my opinion, the best way to stop violence and work toward peace. We cannot help someone or something we do not understand, Therefore it is only logical that perpetrators of violence be heard and understood in order to deduce causation and environmental factors that contributed to who they are, and why they choose to harm others. When looked through the perspective of the perpetrator as once having been a victim, we can almost put aside the anger, and work to aid in prevention, rather than continuing the cycle.