Author: eceesikara

What have I learned about social justice work?

Activism is the keystone of social justice work, but there are so many layers to being a good activist. You have to be patient. You have to be open-minded, motivated, hard-working, sociable, emphatic, and organized. You have to be good at communicating. These are the characteristics I knew I had to have to be a good activist before I started working at Interfaith Worker Justice. I did not, however, have the chance to see if I had them and if not, work on them before.

Sarah, my supervisor, thinks that there are a few skills and qualifications that are important for this job: ability to motivate and persuade people, particularly people of faith to join the fight for worker justice and motivational speaking skills.

I saw my capacity to be a good activist at Interfaith Worker Justice. I acknowledged my weaknesses and strengths.

I acknowledged the power of religion in mobilizing people. I saw the option of having religion and religious people in the action space and the conversations. I saw how significant religion and its message could be.

What kind of impact did I have on IWJ in the time I have been there?

At IWJ, I constantly engaged in conversations about activism with my colleagues and my supervisor. What I believe I added to the conversation is the experience I had in Turkey. Pointing out the differences between the two practices and explaining how and why activism is the way it is now in Turkey was what I brought to the table at IWJ.

This I believe was also important to show and highlight the peculiarity of  practices in the action space in the United States–almost like a reminder to the people with whom I engaged in conversation.

What do I know now that I wished I had known when I started? 

I wish I had known how difficult it would be to travel in Boston using public transportation. I wish I planned better and payed less to UberJ

Boston’s public transportation is neither fast nor easy to manage but planning ahead of time would definitely help.

What advice would I give to someone else who wants to pursue an internship or career in my organization or field?

It will sound cliché but learning and getting the most out of IWJ is up to the person who is working. IWJ provides you with opportunities and it is up to you to get something out of it. My suggestion for the next intern would be solely “do and learn as much as you can!” Educate yourself, go to talk to people, ask questions, read and think about the power dynamics!

On top of preparing intellectually, I would recommend preparing mentally and physically. Be ready not to have a fixed schedule. Be aware that you will not be able to make spontaneous plans. Keep in mind that you will travel a lot to go to meetings and congregations. Thus, organize and schedule your time wisely. Prioritize your health. Know that IWJ prioritizes its workers health.

– Ece Esikara

During the 2 months that I worked at Interfaith Worker Justice, I learnt a lot first-hand about social justice causes.

My supervisor Sarah, my intern colleague Audrey, and I worked as a team to organize. I do not remember learning how to be an activist in any other internship that I have had so for.

I learnt a great deal about networking for the action itself through unions, faith and labor organizations, worker centers, guilds and NGOs. Constantly joining meetings, panels, protests and congregations, I saw the power of networking in activism; strengthening the working people.

I worked in the office. I made phone calls to the activists that were on our list or to the public to inform them about a ballot campaign, a task or a question. I crafted e-mails to invite activists and supporters to our events or to try to find sponsorship for catering and decorating for our annual breakfast. I learnt a great deal about communication.

I worked out of the office collecting signatures for our campaign “Raise Up Massachusetts.” I had a lot of disappointing moments at first, hearing discouraging comments or harsh reactions from people refusing to talk, but I slowly learnt to be more professional and let go of all the negative reactions. I learnt a great deal about canvassing and professionalism in canvassing.

I met with community and religious leaders and union representatives to mobilize and organize for campaigns, events and actions.  I learnt a great deal about community building.

On top learning about the job, I learnt a great deal about myself as well. Once again, I saw that when I love what I am doing, I will give it a lot of attention and do the best I can. Once again, I reminded myself that I hope to be in a politically, fulfilling career to be happy in life.

All these skills Interfaith Worker Justice taught me will be a plus for me for my entire life. If I choose this field as a career option, obviously, I will benefit from these skills. If I do not end up choosing it as a career, however, I will still benefit from these skills in the volunteer jobs I will have.

– Ece Esikara

Founded in 1997, IWJ supports and advocates for a living wage, health care, safer working conditions, rights to organize and bargain, and protection under labor law both for U.S.- born and immigrant workers. IWJ condemns discrimination, harassment, intimidation and retaliation in and out of the work place. Overall, IWJ’s goal is to advance fair and just participation in a global economy that promotes the welfare of both domestic and foreign workers.

IWJ addresses these issues through a network of unions, worker centers, faith and labor organizations, guilds and NGOs that have similar agendas. By organizing congregations for campaigns around these issues, IWJ strengthens the working communities.

Grassroots worker centers, faith-labor allies and other groups in our network support workers and lead their communities and states in shaping policy and advocacy. The network includes more than 60 faith-labor organizations and worker centers across the country.

IWJ accomplishes its goals solely based on its networks. Without action networks IWJ would not be able to unite and mobilize the masses as it does now.

IWJ starts networking by connecting to both individuals that are acquaintances of IWJ members and the organizations that they hear, see or meet at the congregations, actions or panels.

Meeting the faith groups with unions and other labor organizations IWJ sets up a platform for workers of faith to talk and express the injustices committed at work. And the progress comes gradually as workers informs their friends and families and organizations hear more and more about IWJ. – Ece Esikara

I have never seen a religious leader working for the workers before.  I have never heard a talk about religion in a ‘lefty’ space before.

Before coming to Brandeis, as an activist and lefty high schooler, I worked in several organizations including feminist and socialist groups in my hometown of Istanbul, Turkey. The spaces these organizations provided was secular, almost to the extent of anti-religiousness.

Turkish left chose its side long ago between the war of the two major identities of Turkish Politics: seculars over Islamists. It is almost an unspoken rule to have a distance towards religion, particularly Islam, in the left, in Turkey.

Coming to Brandeis University changed my view.

At Brandeis I was introduced to a friendly space for all religions. On top of my knowledge of Islam, I learnt more about Judaism. I saw my friends fighting against injustices with their Jewish identity, emphasizing what their religion taught them and highlighting the motto of social justice all the time. It was then I realized how intersectionality was used by the religious people, believers and spirituals for a call to unite and mobilize the masses. I was amazed.

Then I started working at Massachusetts Interfaith Worker Justice. I saw even more how religion could play a role in mobilizing and uniting the people.

I heard Rev. Dr. William Barber and Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis, religious leaders and co-chairs of Poor People’s Campaign, calling all for a moral revival, to fight and confront the enmeshed and inseparable evils of systemic racism and other forms of discrimination, poverty, the war economy, and ecological devastation.

I talked with Sister Tess, an activist and e-board member of Mass IWJ, while she was participating in a huge Raise Up Massachusetts (RUM) rally in Massachusetts State House to demand paid family and medical leave and 15-dollar minimum wage.

Once again, I saw the option of having religion and religious people in the action space and the talk. I saw how religion and its message could mobilize people.

Now, by heart, I want my country and my people to include religion and religious people in the talk. I believe in the power of religion and its message to mobilize people.– Ece Esikara

I started working at Mass Interfaith Worker Justice right after finals week.

On May 9th – my first day at work- I walk to the office wondering anxiously how I am going to start a 9 AM to 5 PM job again. The memories of the administrative work from my previous office jobs come to mind as I am invited in to the office by several people. The office of Mass IWJ looks genuine, I think, as I compare it to my last summer internship in Downtown Boston among huge plazas and professional looking people.

Sarah, my supervisor, comes to greet me and immediately offers to go out to get coffee at somewhere nearby. We walk to a close coffee house and sit. She slowly explains me what IWJ does and each campaign and issue it is working on. There is so much to digest. But as she explains further and further, I do feel that the information starts to sink in.

What/ Who is IWJ? What Does It Address?

Interfaith Worker Justice (IWJ) is a national network that builds collective power by advancing the rights of workers through unions, worker centers, and other expressions of the labor movement and by engaging diverse faith communities and allies in joint action, from grassroots organizing to shaping policy at the local, state and national levels. It welcomes people of good will from every faith tradition who are committed to proclaiming the dignity of every working person and securing the well-being of all working people.

http://www.iwj.org/locations/massachusetts

Founded in 1997, IWJ supports and advocates for a living wage, health care, safer working conditions, rights to organize and bargain, and protection under labor law both for U.S.- born and immigrant workers. IWJ condemns discrimination, harassment, intimidation and retaliation in and out of the work place. Overall, IWJ’s goal is to advance fair and just participation in a global economy that promotes the welfare of both domestic and foreign workers.

How Does It Address These Issues?

IWJ addresses these issues through a network of unions, worker centers, faith and labor organizations, guilds and NGOs that have similar agendas. By organizing congregations for campaigns around these issues, IWJ strengthens the working communities.

Grassroots worker centers, faith-labor allies and other groups in our network support workers and lead their communities and states in shaping policy and advocacy. The network includes more than 60 faith-labor organizations and worker centers across the country.

After explaining what IWJ is and what it does, Sarah talks about some of the campaigns that they have been working on.

Tasks and Campaigns

Raise Up Massachusetts

One of the main campaigns that I will work on is Raise Up Massachusetts (RUM).

Raise Up Massachusetts is a grassroots coalition of community organizations, religious groups, and labor unions committed to building an economy that works for all of us. An economy that invests in families, gives everyone the opportunity to succeed, and creates broadly shared prosperity.

RUM works towards two ballot question: 1) paid family and medical leave, to provide up to sixteen weeks of protected and paid leave to care for a seriously ill or injured family member, to care for a new child, or to meet family needs arising from a family member’s active duty military service and 26 weeks to recover from a worker’s own illness and/ or injury. 2) $15 minimum wage – to increase the $11 minimum wage by $1 each year until it reaches $15 an hour in 2022.

https://www.raiseupma.org/

 The Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival

One of the other campaigns I will work on is The Poor People’s Campaign(PPC). Starting May 13 and ending June 21, PPC will engage in collective action and nonviolent civil disobedience across the United States to combat systematic racism, discrimination, segregation, the war economy, environmental destruction and poverty.

PPC is bringing together people across the country who are organizing to build a broad and deep national moral movement—led by the poor, impacted, clergy and moral agents and reflecting the great moral teachings—to unite our country from the bottom up… to begin to shift the distorted moral narrative of our nation; advance common demands for transformative change; and build power to continue this fight long after June 2018.

https://www.poorpeoplescampaign.org

Labor in the Pulpits/ Bimah/ Minbar/ Meeting Space

Another main event that I will work on is Labor in the Pulpits/ Bimah/ Minbar/ Meeting Space, which is organized by Mass IWJ. The event involves inviting workers to give a speech in a worship space to celebrate low-wage workers in the community, learn about the issues that impact workers most, and encourage conversation around practical solutions for workplace problems.

I learn from Sarah that other than these campaigns and events, I will help organize, mobilize, provide general support and attend actions for the workers’ rights campaigns.

http://www.iwj.org/resources/plan-labor-day-service

How Will I Work to Further Mass IWJ’s Mission?

I learn that I will make phone calls, craft e-mails and meet with community and religious leaders and union representatives to mobilize and organize for campaigns, events and actions. As Sarah tells me that I will spent my time in the field mobilizing and attending actions more than I will spent time in the office, I feel a huge relief. This is not a regular office job!

As Sarah finishes her last words there is one thing that I am sure I want to accomplish this summer:

to get to know the action networks of Massachusetts and to take action against the injustices in the labor world.