Musings: The Vital Need for Advocacy

We all need to advocate for the higher principles that will aid our nation and our world. But this “advocacy” – what are we actually addressing?

From an Internet search one definition of “advocacy” produced: “the exclusive and mutual representation of clients or a cause in a forum attempting to systematically influence decision making in an unjust or unresponsive system.”

Twenty years ago when I first started my journey in dealing with the challenges of youth violence and teaching forgiveness as a means to get to peace, I really did not have a clue about the importance of advocacy. I was mostly focused in promoting my own work to combat youth violence through the efforts of the Tariq Khamisa Foundation (www.TKF.org) and teaching forgiveness through books and talks at a global level (www.AzimKhamisa.com). When, in 1998, I wrote my first book From Murder to Forgiveness there was not much available in contemporary literature on the subject of forgiveness, as you almost had to go back to the scriptures for the topic. In 2001 no one wanted to listen to my forgiveness message as the country was focused on retaliating in the face of the 911 tragedy.

Today we look back and understand that the worst foreign policy decision we made since World War II was our response to 911. This response of violence destabilized the Middle East and other western economies. In my humble opinion 911 was an incredible opportunity to come together as a planet.

 
Some 90-plus countries lost lives here, with the United States losing the most. In the light of this travesty, our nation could have led with the policy of promoting a unified global approach to fight terrorism. The enemy was not the Middle East countries or Islam or any other religion; the malaise was the extremists in these countries including our own. In the U.S. we have suffered acts of terrorism. Today we are the most violent first-world nation. Many young people in the U.S. are radicalized in becoming gang members, just as many Islamic youth are radicalized to fight for ISIS. Many of these radicalized youth are born and come from Western societies. Similarly, extremists live in every country in the world. Because of all of this, collectively we needed after 911 to come together to implement effective policies and strategies that stopped young people from being radicalized or get involved in senseless violence.

Over the last 20 years I have personally worked diligently at addressing the challenges of youth violence and teaching forgiveness as a strategy to foster peace and to create better relationships with our global brothers and sisters. I have given over a 1,000 school presentations and over 500 keynote talks, teaching the principles of nonviolence with positive responses from audiences. Because of this, I am convinced that these principles of empathy, compassion, forgiveness and peacemaking are not only teachable, but also the world (young and old) are hungry for espousing these principles, in order to foster and live in peace – in their homes, in their communities and in their countries.

What I had not realized is that the work that I’ve accomplished over the last 20 years is really advocacy. Today there are several hundred clinical studies that have validated the benefits of forgiveness, including all the health benefits. Besides my four books, there are countless other books that teach forgiveness as a means to peace, purpose and better health.

Many organizations, especially in the nonprofit world, play very close to the chest and often do not share or advocate for the cause they represent. They perceive they are competing for the limited resources. In the early days, I started that way as well. However, I quickly realized, as I learned of the landscape of programs addressing the prevention and intervention of youth violence, that no one organization (including mine) had the complete solution. However, collectively we do! So advocacy is about cooperation and having the humility that we need to create partnerships and advocate collectively. The goal is to stop youth violence and it really does not matter who gets the credit. If all organizations in this arena collectively advocate and cooperate, the limited resources potentially can become abundant, making our cause a national priority. THINK ABOUT IT – after all – What is more important than saving the life of a child?

To me sincere and authentic advocacy is selfless – the important aspect is not to only promote one’s own work but get behind a cause as depicted in the popular adage: “a rising tide lifts all boats.” While I am not trying to take credit here for spreading forgiveness and the principles of nonviolence in our society, I am saying that as a result of advocacy on the part of many organizations and individuals we have now indeed created a much larger effort to promote the idea of achieving peace through the practice of forgiveness. I am gratified that there are such worthy efforts on this front, many of which arising from dear friends of mine:

• “The Forgiveness Project” started by Marina Cantacuzino.
• Marianne Williamson’s work teaching forgiveness from the perspective of A Course of Miracles.
• Fred Luskin who leads the Stanford University Forgiveness Projects.
• The Fetzer Institute that promotes love and forgiveness.
• Michael Nagler with The Metta Center teaching the principles of nonviolence.
• The Hawaii Forgiveness Project with Roger Epstein.
• Arun Gandhi (the 5th grandson of Mahatma Gandhi) who is a tireless teacher of the Gandhian principles of nonviolence.
• Michael Beckwith, founder of Agape International who is a true spiritual hero of our times impacting the world on these very concepts.
• Documentaries like “The Power of Forgiveness” by Martin Doblmeier, and “Unlikely Friends” by Leslie Neale.

Besides the above, there are many other efforts too long to list them all.

What I have learned is the vital importance of advocacy. In spite of the many efforts listed above and others, we still find ourselves mired in unprecedented violence and terrorism that plagues all global societies. One potential solution can be that every organization, corporation, government agency, nonprofit sector and individuals commits a certain percentage of their time to advocating for peace and nonviolence!

I believe, more so now than ever before, that we need to mobilize the global societies to value the importance of advocacy. It will go a long way in creating a nonviolent and peaceful world! Time, effort, focus, collaboration, partnership and advocacy are what it will take to get there.

You may ask yourself the questions: “How much time am I spending advocating for peace and nonviolence?” “Can my company or organization commit time and resources to advocacy for peace and nonviolence in my community?” “Who else can I engage to promote peace and nonviolence?”

Collectively if we all engage in this effort, I truly believe we can create a peaceful world for our children and grandchildren. It is their right … and our duty.

Thank you – peace and many blessings.