By Cecilia Fiorindo '21
Early in the morning of the 16th of November, a group of eleven ND girls and four faculty members left from Penn Station in order to attend the 2019 Ignatian Family Teach-In for Justice.
For 22 years, the Jesuit family has gathered, first in front of the School of the Americas in Georgia and now in the capital, with the intention to commemorate the Jesuit martyrs of El Salvador (November 16, 1989). What has been a constant throughout these two decades of the Teach-In is the spirit of social justice and solidarity that unites each of the 2000+ participants. This year, I had the fortune of personally participating in this unifying atmosphere.
Throughout the entire weekend, we had the opportunity to listen and interact with people from all across the country and the world. We were inspired by the amazing selection of speakers, which included Georgetown professor Marcia Chatelain Ph.D who discussed racism and the death penalty, S.R Peggy O'Neill S.C who shared moving stories from her 30 years of experience in El Salvador, Father James Martin SJ who talked about the connections between the Church and the LGBT+ community, and countless students of all ages.
We were amazed by dozens of Breakout Sessions regarding environmental justice, immigration, racial injustices, capital punishment, the prison system and much more.
All throughout the Teach-In, we had the chance to feel united for a common cause of justice and radical change with hundreds of students, teachers, and people of faith around us.
The Teach-In's spirit of "Radical Hope, Prophetic Action" then brought us to Capitol Hill to rally with songs and chants, and to discuss with Senators, Congresspeople and their representatives what we all want to see in Immigration Policy and Environmental Legislation.
We left Washington DC with a renewed hopefulness for social justice and a new drive to foster change in our own communities.
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