North Dakota has the highest per capita refugee resettlement rate in the United States. A result has been an increase in people of color and Muslims, and a rise in ethnic and religious tensions, harassment and violence. A program to counter this trend has been introduced: Holding “story exchanges” where people from the older North… Read more »
Transforming Initiatives
Wedding Dress Protest in Lebanon
Lebanon has a law that exonerates a rapist if he marries his victim. Many Lebanese women have launched a campaign to raise awareness about the law and then abolish it. In 2016 women wore bandages around their bodies and covered them with wedding dresses in a protest. In 2017 an art exhibition was set up… Read more »
Prison of Peace
Susan Russo was incarcerated in California’s Valley State Prison for Women with a sentence of life with no possibility of parole. But she had a vision for help in making the prison a place of peace. She wrote countless letters to various community mediators until Laurel Kaufer got a letter. She showed it to her… Read more »
Peacemaking in the Streets
Ibn Ali Miller was walking in his neighborhood when a nasty fight broke out between two young men. Rather than walking away or joining the laughing crowd, he intervened and challenged the fighters to act like “men,” to be mature in how they handle their differences. The video went viral. View Video of Miller… Read more »
Jews open their Synagogue for Members of Burned Mosque
When the Victoria Islamic Center burned down in the small Texas town of Victoria, the small Jewish community opened their hearts and their Synagogue to the members of the mosque so they would have a place to gather and pray. The cause of the fire is under federal investigation because of a recent burglary and… Read more »