Wendy muses about what it means to wave a flag.  How is it that people who storm the capital with the intent to overthrow the government can mount a bayonet on the end of a flag and not have that be incongruous.  How is it that symbols become attached to meanings that are not originally ascribed to them.

Enjoy 

Special thanks to Ken Haines for photography

We are honored to welcome Alexie Torres as our first guest on Creating Common Sky:Conversations in a fractured world. This is the first part of a two part interview.

Alexie is a nationally recognized leader in social and environmental justice. She has a vast wealth of experience and many potent stories to share. She is a national voice on issues of faith, community organizing, and the sacred work of social justice.

Alexie is the founder of Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice (YMPJ) working with young people on issues ranging from education to policing and environmental justice. The mission being to prepare young people to become prophetic voices for peace and justice. She served as its executive director for 17 years.

She co-founded the Bronx River Alliance  and the  Southern Bronx River Watershed Alliance. The organization cleaned-up abandoned industrial sites, expanded the Bronx River greenway, and developed green infrastructure. Working with community to reclaim and protect the bronx river which had become highly industrialized and was inaccessible to the people in her community. This was a fundamental part of her work as an urban planner, activist for environmental justice, and community organizer, Torres has lived into the full meaning of her given name, Alexie: “Defender of Humankind.”

In 2013, Alexie was awarded the prestigious Loeb Fellowship through Harvard University.

She has served on President Obama’s White House advisory council on faith based and neighborhood partnerships. The council aimed to reduce poverty and inequality and create opportunity for all.

She is the Managing Director of Jubilee Gift, board member of Fr. Richard Rohr’s Center for Action and Contemplation.

Currently she co-created the Soul of the Movement Fund to connect healers and wisdom keepers to social movements.She has been named one of "50 Visionaries Changing Our World.” By Utne Reader

A mother of two, Torres has inspired a new generation of young leaders dedicated to promoting peace and justice in their communities. Her vision for change has led her to effect positive change within public spaces and marginalized communities.

Please join us in conversation with this powerful grassroots activist and defender of humankind.

One of the stories that Alexie shares is about her family who lived in the mountains in Puerto Rico and the sense of belonging to one another.  "My Grandfather would eat only from around the edges of his plate, when asked why he would always say that if someone came to the door hungry he wanted to be able to offer them food that had not touched his mouth."

"That is one of those stories in my life that formed for me that sense that we belong to one another, we must care for one another, and love one another and be prepared to do that even for the stranger who might show up at our door."

"Saint Augustine says the virtue of poverty is generosity"

"If I can not live into the fullness of my humanity and the dignity of my humanity, then I can not live into the fullness of my divinity. And that is what we are meant to be."

 "Get to know people. I always say I don't know what your politics are when you first show up at my door. I just know you as a human being in my neighborhood, as my neighbor."