Three Friends’ Central teachers – Dwight Dunston ’06, Al Vernacchio, and I – spend a few days each summer working (indirectly) for the United States government.
For many years, the Department of State has paid for small groups of young scholars and graduate-level students from select countries to visit the United States for several-week sessions to study our history, and our political and social systems. Locally, the program is overseen by the Dialogue Institute based at Temple University. They have designed a multidisciplinary exploration of the relationship between church and state. Participants wade into difficult discussions about the topics presented, they get to know each other and us, they are encouraged to question their views and preconceptions, and to learn more about our efforts and struggles as a complex, multicultural, multiracial, and religiously pluralistic society.
The students in the program come from countries facing profound political and social challenges. The group we worked with this past summer hailed from Iraq, Lebanon, Egypt, India, and Indonesia. Most were Muslim, representing multiple sects. At least one was Christian and another a self-described religious “skeptic.” But they were all passionately committed to building diverse and tolerant communities.
Dwight Dunston met them at Pendle Hill, and he and his musical partner Brian Jordan, who make up the group City Love, worked with them on some queries:
- What is one obstacle to equality and justice in your country?
- What does it mean to belong?
- What makes/would make you feel respected in your home country?
- How do you/could you show respect for others who are different in your home country?
As Dwight reports, “We also played pieces from our song catalogue that center on diversity, equity, and justice. There was so much open, honest sharing and joy in the space. We also facilitated a song-writing exercise that invited everyone to write a line or two that would be performed during a closing all-group song. It was an amazing experience. There’s so much I learn and so much perspective that I get from the brilliant participants. I think one of the biggest takeaways for me is just remembering that there are amazing folks all over the world striving to create thoughtful, inclusive communities wherever they are.”
Al Vernacchio notes that he and Debra D’Allesandro, “co-presented our session on LGBTQ civil rights in the U.S. Debra is the Director of Public Health Training and Technical Assistance at the Health Federation of Philadelphia, and is also the longtime host of Amazon Country a lesbian/feminist radio show on WXPN.
“Our presentation began with a brief review of historical milestones in US LGBTQ history through the lens of important court cases and events. We stressed the fact that the LGBTQ civil rights movement has been built on the back of both the US racial civil rights and women’s rights movements. The second half of the presentation was about what it’s like to live as an LGBTQ individual in the US (and how the answer to that question varies greatly depending on where you live in the US). Many of the participants had never met an openly LGBTQ person before and had misconceptions, some fears, and lots of questions. ‘Do we have children?’ ‘Is it fair to a child to be raised by same-gender parents,’ and ‘Who is the man and who is the woman?’ in our relationships. Many questions touched on the intersection of religion and sexual orientation.”
The United States Supreme Court upheld the Trump administration’s so-called “Muslim ban” in 2018, but our messy, sprawling society and government are not monolithic. Some doors may close for a time, but others stay open, and people interested in peacefully transforming the world find ways.
My own assignment was to discuss the origins of American democracy and religious pluralism. Because of some scheduling changes, we weren’t able to split the day into a morning and afternoon session as usual, so the students worked with me from 2 pm until 7 pm with just a couple of breaks. I am always amazed at their appetite for the material. Much of my part of the program comes straight out of Friends’ Central’s American history course. The participants had already been introduced to Willam Penn, and with me, they read the opening section of his 1701 Charter of Privileges in which he makes a powerful statement about the centrality of religious freedom and toleration. We also read some Thomas Paine and analyzed sections of the Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776, and we studied the U.S. Constitution, all of which our 11th graders also do.
The students often ask for our email addresses, and some follow up with questions and stay in touch long after the sessions. According to Al, one participant from an earlier group, “a young man from Iraq has gone on to be a fantastic advocate for gender equity in his country and around the region.”
The United States Supreme Court upheld the Trump administration’s so-called “Muslim ban” in 2018, but our messy, sprawling society and government are not monolithic. Some doors may close for a time, but others stay open, and people interested in peacefully transforming the world find ways.
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