Episode #44 With legendary folk singer/songwriter, activist, and artist Joan Baez: “Carry your light into the shit storm!"
This week on “The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast,” I speak with my friend of 35 years, legendary folk singer Joan Baez. She’s a lifelong activist for peace, justice, civil and human rights, and an equally passionate believer in nonviolence. She has released over 30 albums, traveled the world singing for peace for over 60 years, published a great autobiography called “And a Voice to Sing With,” and recently published her first collection of poems, “When you see my mother, ask her to dance.”Joan performed Woodstock, opened Live Aid, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. PBS did a spectacular biography of her which I recommend called “How Sweet the Sound,” and she was featured recently in the Dylan biopic “A Complete Unknown,” brilliantly played by actress Monica Barbaro.I’ve always thought she should be awarded the Nobel peace prize for all the great good she’s done in the world. She was a close friend of Dr. King; arrested for protesting the Vietnam war; went to Hanoi, and was bombed by the US. She has been against all our wars and injustices because she has a lifelong commitment to nonviolence.Listen as Joan reveals how her Quaker parents influenced her early childhood and the effect of living in Baghdad for a year and how a meeting with long time peace activist Ira Sandperl, and later hearing Dr. King speak at her high school, changed her life forever.Joan is surprisingly candid when it comes to sharing her own failings and how meditation has become a crucial part of her daily routine. When I asked her about founding “The Institute for the Study of Nonviolence” in the 1960s, she talked about the one hour requirement of sitting in silence each morning. “Many people had their first acquaintance with nonviolence through that experience of silence,” she says. Her honesty is disarming and reflects how many of us feel today.She also shares personal anecdotes about Dorothy Day, Thomas Merton, Dr. King and her experience with Vaclav Havel and the Czech Republic’s Velvet Revolution. Listen in as she quotes Gandhi and T.S. Elliot when encouraging me and all of us to be activists, and then reads me her new poem, “This Is Not Optimism.”As a fan of Joan Baez since the age of five, I was thrilled when we concluded by reading together her brilliant 1960s essay, “What Would You Do If," a dialogue about the threat of personal assault.Finally, when I ask her for any parting thoughts for our listeners, Joan breaks into song, singing the Civil Rights anthem, “Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around”, guaranteed to give you chills!At 84, Joan Baez is still carrying her “shining light out into the shit storm,” as she puts it, and I feel blessed and grateful to know her even better from this podcast.Please share it with all your folk music loving, peace activist, and nonviolent Jesus following friends, and take heart once more! www.joanbaez.com
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#43 With Sr. Simone Campbell, author, activist, attorney and 2022 recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom on her new book "Hunger for Hope": "I love being on fire!" Part 2 of 2
“To be hopeful Is to touch the pain of the world” This week we hear part 2 of my conversation with Sr. Simone Campbell, one of the strongest voices, organizers, and leaders for social and economic justice in the United States. Sister of Social Service, Sr. Simone is a religious leader, attorney, author and recipient of the 2022 Presidential Medal of Freedom. For 17 years she was executive director of NETWORK, the national Catholic Lobby for Social Justice and the leader of “Nuns on the Bus.” Her healthcare policy work was critical in the passing of the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare. Before that, she spent 18 years working at the Oakland Community Law Center which she founded.I ask her about the section in her newest book, Hunger for Hope, where she writes about the importance of “prophetic imagination.” For Simone, community is the best way to nurture prophetic imagination. She recites Walter Bruggemann’s five characteristics: Long and available memory; Touching the reality of the pain; Living in hope; 4. Effective discourse across generations and cultures; The capacity to sustain long term tension with the dominant culture, and the potential for insight and imagination. She shares with us about the connection between hope and community, and her daily Zen practice which she calls "deep listening": "My practice begins every morning. I have a half hour of Zen sitting, being quiet and opening myself. I call it, ‘Deep listening to the divine.’ There, things can bubble up. I follow this with a half hour of spiritual reading. I have to feel secure in myself to be willing to open myself to other peoples’ points of view. If I'm riled up, I can't do this work, so I need my practice. If we're going to create change, it's required that we understand what’s going on inside us if we want to understand others.” She gives us insights into her religious community that is dedicated to the Holy Spirit and what Pentecost means to her: "I need to be able to listen well enough so that what I might say will touch the other. I love being on fire. It's so exciting.”“Hope,” she concludes, “is critically connected to touching the pain of the world as real. It demands a response.” Listen in and be inspired by this legendary voice of social and economic justice! Visit www.networklobby.orgbeatitudescenter.org
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#42 With Sr. Simone Campbell, author, attorney, leader of "Nuns on the Bus" and recipient of 2022 Presidential Medal of Freedom: "Liar, liar, pants on fire" Part 1 of 2
“Everyone has a piece of the work of justice to do, so what’s yours?” Sr. Simone Campbell asks.This week I speak with Sr. Simone Campbell, one of the strongest voices, organizers, and leaders for social and economic justice in the U.S.A Sister of Social Service, Sr. Simone is a religious leader, attorney, author, and recipient of the 2022 Presidential Medal of Freedom.For 17 years, she was executive director of NETWORK, the national Catholic Lobby for Social Justice and the leader of “Nuns on the Bus.”Her healthcare policy work was critical in the passing of the Affordable Care Act, or “Obamacare.” Before that, she spent 18 years working at the Oakland Community Law Center which she founded.She also has served as the leader of her religious community and now serves on their governing Council. Her two award-winning books are A Nun on the Bus (2014) and Hunger for Hope (2020).In part 1 of this 2 part conversation, I ask her about the growing authoritarianism and fascism under Trump, and her journey to the Oakland law center, to NETWORK, and to organizing for the Affordable Care Act.“We have a two party system, and what we’re experiencing is the end of the Republican party,” she says at the beginning. Now, in this crisis, “we have to learn how to talk to each other and find the best practices to be engaged and talk to each other, and listen to one another. We have a lot of work to do!”She was radicalized with her younger sister in 1965 while watching TV when the children in Birmingham were fire-hosed and attacked by dogs for marching for an end to segregation.“I was horrified but motivated by that. From then on, the gospel and Jesus were always connected with justice. After my sister died of cancer, I picked up her spirit and decided to carry on the journey for justice and have her with me along the way.She shares with us how NETWORK has grown in the more than 50 years since it was established in 1972:"It was founded by Catholic sisters in 1972 to be a network of Catholic sisters around the country to do advocacy for economic justice and environmental issues, to bring the voices of real people to inform pending legislation.”She tells how the work of the sisters became the tipping point to pass the Affordable Care Act, which is under assault right now by the Republicans in the current government shutdown.When asked how she has maintained her work for justice over decades, she tells of her contemplative practice which she calls "deep listening"."With curiosity, deep listening, and sharing stories, we can build community and new connections. The gospels are full of Jesus' curiosity,” she says. “It's the invitation that creates the weaving of community.”Listen in to part one of this conversation and be inspired to carry on the work of justice with Sr. Simone! See: www.networklobby.orgwww.beatitudescenter.org
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#41 John Dear With author, educator and former military Captain Paul Chappell: “The idea that peace is inevitable is dangerous.”
“What if we taught peace as a skill set, as a life-saving literacy, with as much rigor as we teach reading and writing?” asks Paul Chappell This week on “The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast,” I speak with Paul Chappell, an international peace educator and founder of Peace Literacy. A former military captain, he realized that we all need to as well-trained in waging peace as soldiers are in waging war, so he created Peace Literacy to help students and adults from all backgrounds work toward their full potential and a more peaceful world. Paul is the author of a six books: Will War Ever End?; The End of War; Peaceful Revolution; The Art of Waging Peace; The Cosmic Ocean; and Soldiers of Peace. He focuses on three questions: What if people were as well trained in waging peace as soldiers are in waging war? What if people were trained to address root causes of problems rather than symptoms? What if we taught peace as a skill set, as a life-saving literacy, with as much rigor as we teach reading and writing? “Peace Literacy teaches that peace is not merely as a goal, but a practical skill-set – a literacy like reading and writing – that needs to be taught and practiced from pre-K through higher education. “Humans have a natural aversion to hurting and killing others,” he says. “Military history shows us that dehumanization is used to keep the mind from feeling guilty or remorseful. Nonviolence refutes all the stereotypes of dehumanization. We try to help rehumanize people with social interaction, storytelling and art, and nonviolence skills. We offer new curriculums about peace for every grade; skills to teach peace by our example; and how to use one’s culture to create a new culture of peace and nonviolence “People don't know the basic skills of nonviolence that will help them in their daily lives--at work, home, school, with addiction, and every other situation. If we don't teach people peace literacy and nonviolence, then we're actively teaching people the opposite. “The idea that peace is inevitable is dangerous,” he adds. “We have to do something to help push humanity in that direction. Teaching peace is necessary for human survival. The education and practice of nonviolence has to involve a deeper knowing, a deep knowing down to our bones, and that process takes a lot of effort. “I think there are explainable causes for why we're doing what we're doing and that there is a path that can lead us out of that. If we can teach the building blocks of peace to young children, we can help people internalize peace and nonviolence and live the ideals of peace.” Listen in to this true peace educator, and be inspired by his campaign to teach peace! Check out www.peaceliteracy.org beatitudescenter.org
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#41 With international peace educator, former military captain Paul Chappell: "Teaching peace is necessary for human survival".
What is "peace literacy"?Did you know that there is a peace curriculum available to all ages starting K-12? What if we were to teach our children about nonviolence and peace making skills?This week I speak with Paul Chappell, an international peace educator and founder of Peace Literacy. A former military captain, he realized that we all need is to be as well-trained in waging peace as soldiers are in waging war, so he created Peace Literacy to help students and adults from all backgrounds work toward their full potential and a more peaceful world.Paul is the author of a six books: Will War Ever End?; The End of War; Peaceful Revolution; The Art of Waging Peace; The Cosmic Ocean; and Soldiers of Peace.He focuses on three questions:What if people were as well trained in waging peace as soldiers are in waging war?What if people were trained to address root causes of problems rather than symptoms?What if we taught peace as a skill set, as a life-saving literacy, with as much rigor as we teach reading and writing?“Humans have a natural aversion against hurting and killing others,” he says.He explains that history shows us what the military does to keep the mind from feeling guilty or remorseful. And that nonviolence refutes all the stereotypes of dehumanization."{At Peace Literacy} we try to help re-humanize people with social interaction, storytelling and art, and nonviolence skills. We offer new curriculums about peace for every grade; skills to teach peace by our example; and how to use one’s culture to create a new culture of peace and nonviolence."“People don't know the basic skills of nonviolence that will help them in their daily lives--at work, home, school, with addiction, and every other situation. If we don't teach people peace literacy and nonviolence, then we're actively teaching people the opposite."“The idea that peace is inevitable is dangerous,” he adds. “We have to do something to help push humanity in that direction. Teaching peace is necessary for human survival. The education and practice of nonviolence has to involve a deeper knowing, a deep knowing down to our bones, and that process takes a lot of effort."Paul explains why he thinks there are “explainable causes for why we're doing what we're doing and that there is a path that can lead us out of that."How different would our world be if we can teach the building blocks of peace to young children, and help people internalize peace and nonviolence and live the ideals of peace?It is possible and there is a foundation dedicated to teaching peace and nonviolence!Listen in to this true peace educator, and be inspired:Check out www.peaceliteracy.orgbeatitudescenter.org
Was Jesus nonviolent?🎙️ This Monday weekly podcast features thought-provoking, inspiring conversations with some of the greatest visionary leaders in peace and nonviolence in modern history like Martin Sheen (Apocalypse Now, Gandhi), Bryan Stevenson (Just Mercy) , Cornel West (Race Matters), Sister Helen Prejean (Dead Man Walking) , Sr. Joan Chittister, John Fugelsang (Separation of Church and Hate), Rev. Richard Rohr (The Universal Christ), Shane Claiborne (Red Letter Christians), and many, many more!Join Fr. John Dear—priest, author, activist, and Nobel Peace Prize nominee—on The Nonviolent Jesus, a weekly 30-minute podcast that dares to reclaim the radical, active nonviolence of Jesus. Rooted in the wisdom of Gandhi and Dr. King, Fr. John Dear has been arrested and jailed over 80 times in acts of nonviolent civil disobedience against war and nuclear weapons in the tradition of Gandhi and Dr. King.This journey isn’t just about changing the world—it’s about being creative, nonviolent activists and transforming ourselves. We’ll explore how we can:💠 Embody nonviolence—toward ourselves, others, and our communities 💠 Heal from the culture of violence—from war and racism, authoritarianism and genocide, to poverty and environmental destruction 💠 Live with courage, compassion, and universal love Together, we’ll uncover how Jesus' Way of Nonviolence can reshape our lives and awaken a more just, peaceful world.👉Subscribe now to The Nonviolent Jesus - change yourself, change the world.www.beatitudescenter.org
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