The Land of Milk and Honey?
Part 1: Serendipity, scarcity, and solidarity
We make a living by what we do, but we make a life by what we give.
- Winston Churchill
Serendipity
There is a magical quality to this city. Much like my home of Chicago, Illinois; Washington D.C. attracts people from all walks of life. From my Uber driver to the Minority Speaker of the House, I have had the chance to catch a glimpse
into people’s life work in rather short and serendipitous moments this week. With the mindset of learning from people’s stories carrying over from last week’s blog, it is my prerogative to thread such events and use the opportunity that this blog provides to make sense of the tapestry of “learnings” I’ve gathered so far.
In classic intern fashion, I am privy to invitations and event postings that my non-profit organization becomes aware of. Three of my fellow EYA Interns and I struck gold this week when we attended what would have been just be a talk by the highly respected Congresswoman, Rosa DeLauro, on her new book, The Least Among Us: Waging the Battle for the Vulnerable”.
As promising as that would have been on its own, one political “shero” became three when Senator Elizabeth Warren AND Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi showed up. One line in particular struck me and has stayed on my mind ever since. Speaking to the importance of government assistance programs that benefit the most vulnerable among us, such as free lunches for school children and nutrition programs for young mothers, Congresswoman DeLauro shared a quote she attributed to the late Robert Kennedy. She shared, “In a land of abundance, hunger is evil”. Both halves of its dichotomy are true of our country....
There is a magical quality to this city. Much like my home of Chicago, Illinois; Washington D.C. attracts people from all walks of life. From my Uber driver to the Minority Speaker of the House, I have had the chance to catch a glimpse
into people’s life work in rather short and serendipitous moments this week. With the mindset of learning from people’s stories carrying over from last week’s blog, it is my prerogative to thread such events and use the opportunity that this blog provides to make sense of the tapestry of “learnings” I’ve gathered so far. In classic intern fashion, I am privy to invitations and event postings that my non-profit organization becomes aware of. Three of my fellow EYA Interns and I struck gold this week when we attended what would have been just be a talk by the highly respected Congresswoman, Rosa DeLauro, on her new book, The Least Among Us: Waging the Battle for the Vulnerable”.
Sincerely,
Nura Esther Zaki
Blog Post #2
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As a 2017 EYA Intern, Nura is working with The Democracy Initiative this Summer in the fields of Grassroots Mobilizing and Communications.
Blog Post #2
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As a 2017 EYA Intern, Nura is working with The Democracy Initiative this Summer in the fields of Grassroots Mobilizing and Communications.
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