Episode #213: Forging Solidarity Across Conflict
“Our mission is to champion justice and solidarity with people facing disasters around the world: climate disasters, violent conflict… We campaign for U.S. policy to save lives around the world. We do this by bringing together people from all different walks of life around the United States to advocate for policies to save lives,” says Isaac Evans-Frantz, describing the mission of his organization, Action Corps, which is active in 30 states across the U.S.
Action Corps has undertaken a number of successful initiatives. These include the passage of the Yemen War Powers Resolution, which helped end some of the US support for Saudi-led aggression there; and they successfully lobbied Congress to secure the International Monetary Fund’s largest-ever release of Special Drawing Rights to support low- and middle-income countries. Action Corps has also long been involved in advocacy on behalf of ethnic and religious minorities in Myanmar facing persecution by the military. Isaac notes how advocating for similar issues in other countries has informed their Myanmar work. “We have certainly learned from these campaigns and are able to apply some of that knowledge,” he says. In this work, he cites the value of developing relationships with Senatorial staff who are engaged on human rights issues internationally, as well as the overall experience that comes from organizing grassroots campaigns.
Even though Isaac has never actually visited Myanmar, this work hits home in a personal way. “When I was a child, somebody came to my class and spoke about surviving the Holocaust. He had been in a Nazi death camp, he showed us the number on his arm, and he told us horrific stories. I promised myself after that, that if I were ever in a position where I knew about some genocide that was happening… I would do everything that I could to stop that!” So for him, it was only natural that the situation in Myanmar would find a place in his heart.
Jade, a Kachin-American, has been assisting Action Corps’ recent efforts, and joins the conversation. “I was always made aware of the issues that were happening back at home, and I couldn't help but to feel that I had some sort of duty or some sense of responsibility towards the people back in my home country who were [living] under terrible poverty,” she says. Her first experience came with student-led groups, but she yearned for a deeper involvement that could make a lasting difference, and was inspired by how the power of building stronger relationships could propel a movement forward. “These relationships were really powerful in a sense of solidarity, so that we could further advocate for one another's causes and see the larger picture in the world of what we were really advocating for, which is people who are in need all over the world.”
Jade recognizes that living in America affords her enormous privilege compared to those facing violence back in Myanmar. Yet she still feels connected, and she pursues advocacy based on her strong sense of cultural identity… which is not something that everyone in the Burmese diaspora feels. “What we see with a lot of diaspora kids is that we're all struggling with a sense of cultural identity. I remember growing up feeling as if I was never American enough, or I was never Kachin enough. And what does it even mean to be Kachin? Or what does it even mean to be American? What does it mean to be Burmese?” For Jade, seeking to build a strong movement among exiles requires first developing pride in one’s own identity. “And once we have collective identity, I truly believe that collective action can be taken,” she says.
Once this strong, collective identity has been established, Jade hopes that broader connections can be made linking Myanmar’s struggles to the challenges people face in other countries. “Much of the problems that may be existing in Burma are pretty similar to any problem existing elsewhere around the world, whether it's through systemic injustice, police brutality, or racism. All of these issues can definitely be pinpointed, and the intersections can be drawn.” Isaac concurs, noting large democracy protests in San Francisco in opposition to American policymakers’ neglect— and sometimes outright support— of authoritarian regimes abroad. “Any opportunity that we can find to support one another's causes and struggles is so important!” he exclaims. “There's a commonality here, which is when we look at U.S. foreign policy, that it prioritizes geopolitical domination and control, and after that is an interest in commercial relations, and then finally, if it makes the list at all, it's democracy and human rights.”
Beyond advocacy, another important part of their current work is storytelling, putting the facts and figures together in a way that can open hearts and change minds. And for Jade, there should be no doubt what the main focus should now be, which is what’s it been for years: “The real issue, just to be clear, has been the persecution of ethnic minorities for decades! It’s been that from the start, and it continues to be that today, and any other narrative that counters that, or any other note that skews that, or it doesn't match along with those lines, is very inaccurate and misleading.” She notes that there are 300,000 members of the diaspora in the U.S. alone, and believes that their stories and voices should be harnessed so their American neighbors have a better understanding what has been going on in their homeland for far too long. But she admits that, unfortunately, longstanding divisions that have their roots in Burmese history have followed the diaspora overseas, which inhibits the formation a collective voice and narrative. “Because Burma is so divided, it's hard to get this sense of unity. It's hard to get a single narrative that really boils down to the truth. It's not just about one Lady! It's not just about the Rohingya, but it's about everyone, all these ethnic minorities,” she says, explaining that the one factor that ties all these groups together is the decades of oppression they’ve faced at the hands of the Burmese military. However, poor education about this history has limited many Burmese here from seeing how this suffering actually binds them together… which further inhibits this larger narrative in forming. She adds that many Burmese struggle to survive economically in America, causing political advocacy to take a back seat to just making ends meet. Complicating this are cultural norms that emphasize being stoic about one’s inner turmoil and sharing less with outsiders (a topic that Nanda Swe Min explored on a recent podcast episode).
The impact of personal stories should not be underestimated; Isaac remembers US Senators who seemed less interested in engaging on the crisis in Myanmar until they actually met people who had escaped the violence and had harrowing stories to tell. Despite the challenges Jade described related to the fractured nature of the Burmese diaspora, Isaac nonetheless asserts that it played an important role in getting the Burma Act passed (detailed in a recent podcast episode with Michael Haack). “The fact is that people from Burma and the children of people from Burma played a major role in moving legislation through the U.S. Congress, when the people in Congress were paralyzed [by] personal and partisan conflicts,” he says.
Isaac encourages listeners to follow Action Corps’ continued advocacy supporting the democracy movement in Myanmar, and to speak about the crisis with members of one’s community. Being of a younger generation, Jade defaults to the power of social media, inviting people to follow her Instagram account in addition to sharing themselves. She adds that one can probably connect fairly easily with Burmese and/or ethnic diaspora enclaves around the country, and become a real ally to their cause.
“Feel encouraged that there are people out here who are trying to make a difference and that you can too!” Jade says in closing. “No one is ever alone. Our power really does come from coming together and being in solidarity.”