Reconciliation: A Tale of Two Seas

A very special 15-person book club in Battle Creek, Michigan is using the book club format to discuss hard topics like race. The conversations steer profound, intimate, and personal, and many members testify to how much it has changed them. In addition to having read 68 books, the group also performs social justice work such as donating to the Equal Justice Initiative, rolling bandages for doctors in the DRC, and donating food and goods to local pantries.

Grassroots organizations are helping Palestinians and Israelis to meet and discuss their experiences with each other, often for the first time. Ali Abu Awwad, a Palestinian, co-runs one of these groups with two Israeli settlers. He describes their center is a place where “the enemy is transformed into a neighbor,” a process he says must happen before lasting political solutions to the conflict can be reached.

When the rise of Ebola in West Africa strict protocols when handling those who were dying or had died from the disease, public health officials began working with anthropologists and other social scientists to increase trust and influence people’s willingness to seek treatment. At the center of the success was the social scientist's recommendations for burial services which addressed concerns about first responders disrespecting the dead. Today, these social scientists are providing similar consult for the Covid-19 pandemic.

Students and educators in Nebraska are driving the change to change history curriculum to reflect history that places more emphasis on the narratives on indigenous and marginalized peoples. Students are emphasizing of historically erased narratives by creating social media videos, as well as creating petitions to change curricula in English and history classes.

The Sri Lankan Civil War lasted from 1983 to 2009 and bitterly divided the country into two sides between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. Years later in 2012, a literary program called Write to Reconcile was created by Sri Lankan-Canadian novelist Shyam Selvadurai to use creative writing as a tool to open up dialogue between the two sides that still have misconceptions and prejudices against each other. Many participants in the workshop, which ended in 2017, testify to how much the program changed their perspectives.

Non-profits like Active Change Foundation in London leverage community outreach and personal relationships to intervene on extremist behavior and prevent radical recruitment. But when attempting to partner with the government for resources and funding, they face challenges of credibility, discrimination, and mismanagement. As anti-radicalization efforts are stepped up in the USA, Twin Cities looks to learn from the mistakes and successes of this tricky parity.

A special accelerated education program named Udaan in India offers a chance for girls aged 11-14 from rural areas to quickly complete their primary schooling. The highly interactive and engaging curriculum teaches girls language, math, environmental science, and gender politics. In 2016 the program joined President Obama's "Let Girls Learn" initiative to expand across Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Malawi, Mali, Nepal, Pakistan and Somalia to reach 3 million girls.

Hyper-polarization on an issue hinders progress. The Convergence Center for Policy Resolution uses conflict resolution classes to help opponents across the U.S. find common ground on social issues like education, nourishing food, and health care.

Some Czech communities have taken steps to desegregate their schools, bringing Roma children into majority-Czech schools and closing "special" schools that may provide a lower quality of support. While typically launched as a cost-saving measure, integration efforts have led to improved outcomes for Roma students, such as a larger number enrolling in high school, and have also improved relations between Czech and Roma residents.

Women in Jos, Nigeria formed cross-religious peace networks and vigilante patrols that eliminated conflict deaths between 2014-2023 in their communities, restored inter-faith relationships, and reduced crime through nighttime security operations, though they face ongoing challenges from lack of police support and systemic justice failures.