By Aron Rose
From February 27 to March 2, I had the opportunity to fly down to
Washington D.C to join a group of 350 Jewish teenagers from all over the
country to take part in the Religious Action Center’s L’Taken Social Justice
Seminar. I went with a few other students and represented my temple,
Congregation Shalom of Chelmsford MA. The Religious Action Center for Reform
Judaism educates the global community on social and legislative issues,
including civil rights, Israel, LGBT equality, and much more. The purpose of
our seminar was exactly that - to educate young Reform Jewish teenagers from
all over the United States on current social issues, and ways to resolve them.
It was a good experience to simply get the chance to talk to other teenagers
who are also interested about fixing global social issues. I met kids from all
over the country, and they loved hearing about our historical winter
snowmageddon (especially the ones from California and New Mexico)! The people
from Washington state were still upset about the Super Bowl too! One of my
highlights of the seminar included a guest speaker from the National Coalition
for the Homeless named Steve. I was nearly brought to tears. He shared with us
his life story about growing up in Washington D.C, about how he didn't have any
friends because he was the “fat” kid, about how he didn't fit in, and about how
his mother often beat him and told him to get out of her life. His mother
kicked him out of the house days after graduating high school and told him to
never come back, and he was homeless for many years. Instantly he received a
long standing ovation from everyone, and rightly so. To see Steve in good shape
today, now speaking about ending homelessness and hunger worldwide, was an
incredible feeling.
The most exciting part about the seminar was getting the chance to
pick a social issue to write about, and to lobby on Capitol Hill to our own
state officials. I learned from attending the session on disability rights the
astonishing fact that 56 million Americans suffered from some sort of physical
or mental disability, and that there is not enough federal support and
protection for people with disabilities. The 1990 Americans with Disabilities
Act (ADA) was a giant leap towards civil rights for people with disabilities,
but the ADA is not enough, and recent Supreme Court Changes have limited the
protections once offered by the ADA. I worked with another student to write a
lobbying speech about disability rights. We mentioned how people with
disabilities still lag behind the national average in education completed,
employment rates, income, technology access, home-ownership, and voter
participation. This is both a cause and effect of unequal access to
transportation, health care, education, and affordable housing. These issues
factor into the high poverty rate for people with disabilities. In July 2009,
the U.S signed the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities (CRPD). This convention is based on the ADA, and the CRPD marks an
international effort to bring the world closer to equality for people with
disabilities. While the CRPD was signed, it still needs to be ratified by the
Senate in order for the U.S to be part of it. In December 2012, the U.S Senate
voted on CRPD, but the result was 6 votes shy of ratification. We were shocked
and angered by this.
It was a great experience to walk on Capitol Hill on a sunny yet
brisk Monday morning, experiencing what it would be like to go to work in that
environment. We walked into the Russell Senate Office Building, directly across
from the Capitol Building, where all the kids from Massachusetts spoke to advisers to both of our senators, Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren. I was quite
nervous for presenting our speech, but when I realized that this is an
important social issue that needs to be fixed, my nerves went away. We stood 10
feet away from our advisor, and I looked deeply into his eyes to make sure he
got our message. After reading, he reiterated that disability rights is an
important issue, and that Markey will vote for ratification if the CRPD vote
comes up again. After everyone spoke, our group walked over to the Longworth
House Office Building to go inside Congresswoman Niki Tsongas’ cozy office.
Again, we spoke to one of her advisers, and we all read our same speeches.
Similar to what Warren and Markey’s advisers said, Tsongas’ adviser told us
that she is definitely in support of disability rights, and she appreciated us
coming out to lobby for these important issues.
I will never forget the experiences I learned on this amazing
trip. While it was a brief trip, I learned so much about global social issues,
how to come up with solutions, and how to get involved in supporting these
issues (making donations, community education, etc). Not very many teenagers
get to lobby in person to their own state senators and representatives, and I
was so grateful for this opportunity. I know for a fact that I returned home
from this trip with a better perspective and education on global social issues.
I’m glad that every single kid on this trip had a chance lobby about their
social issue on Capitol Hill, and for me to be able to participate in a seminar
of this level, it was an experience I will truly never forget.
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