By Dennis Shaughnessy
It’s our tenth year for the SEI Newsletter, and we continue to be so impressed with the ideas and writing of our students. We’re grateful for all of the student work that goes into producing each edition of the Newsletter, and especially for Natascha Elbech and Eleanor Patten who are acting as our student editors this semester.
A few thoughts as we begin a new year.
A Hero on Chicago’s South Side
Temperatures in Chicago dropped to more than twenty degrees below zero during the late January “Polar Vortex” phenomenon that hit the midwest. Homeless people on Chicago’s South Side were forcibly moved from their encampment after a propane tank explosion, with nowhere to go to stay warm. Along came a local real estate agent named Candice Payne, who stepped up and booked twenty hotel rooms on her credit card so that these people would have a warm and clean place to stay during this extreme weather event. It wasn’t one of Chicago’s wealthiest people, or biggest companies, that stepped up, but rather a person who decided she couldn’t just stand by and watch people from her community suffer. She challenged others to join her in funding overnight stays for people trapped on the streets. Let’s hope Ms. Payne inspires each of us this year to do our part in relieving the unnecessary suffering of just one person or family here in the richest country on earth.
From CBS News: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/candice-payne-homeless-in-chicago-candice-payne-hotel-rooms-polar-vortex-cold/
The Friendship Bench
People living in extreme poverty suffer from the very same conditions that we all do, including mental illness and depression. Yet few ever receive treatment, as the availability and cost of trained professionals are out of reach. Dr. Dixon Chibanda of Zimbabwe developed a program called “The Friendship Bench”, in which trained volunteer grandmothers sit with people experiencing depression and gently offer guidance and support. The grannies are trained in problem-solving therapy, role-playing and behavior activitation. Studies have demonstrated that this innovative approach to community-based, low-cost mental health therapy actually works. The Friendship Bench is expanding into several other African countries, and all the way to New York City. Dr. Chibanda, who long ago lost a young patient to suicide because she couldn’t afford the bus fare to visit his office, is optimistic that this simple but effective program can scale and make a real difference in the world for poor people suffering from mental illness.
Website: https://www.friendshipbenchzimbabwe.org/
The Friendship Bench at the 2019 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland 
A Kinder Version of Capitalism
The large room at the Harvard Law School was recently overflowing with students and other guests as Congressman Joe Kennedy presented his ideas to an eager audience for a kinder and more “moral” version of capitalism. Perhaps you’ve read that a majority of young people today prefer the ideas of socialism to those of capitalism, reflecting a growing level of disillusionment with the “winner take all” version. The unprecedented levels of inequality and insecurity in our country have left many questioning the sustainability of our current version of extreme capitalism. Kennedy’s plea is for us to return to a more balanced and responsible model of capitalism that looks to include everyone in its benefits regardless of their station in life. A moral version of capitalism would include living wage guaranties and a fairer system of taxation, paid family leave and child care subsidies, enforcement of anti-trust laws and protection of worker rights. The core principle in this model is that capitalism works best when it’s run not only for the benefit of investors but also for workers and communities. With a new Congress and the beginnings of the 2020 campaign, the time is now for new ideas on how to share the benefits and opportunities of capitalism with more of our citizens.
Harvard Law News: https://today.law.harvard.edu/a-call-for-a-kinder-capitalism/
Just Mercy coming to the Big Screen
Perhaps our all-time favorite book to recommend to students and others is “Just Mercy” by Bryan Stevenson. Stevenson is a civil rights activist and lawyer who chronicles his groundbreaking work pursuing criminal justice reform in the midst of an unfair, unjust and all too often racist system. Stevenson’s Equal Justice Initiative is a powerful example of a passionate and life-long commitment to criminal, racial and social justice. Now, his compelling personal story will be make it to the big screen in 2020, starring Michael B. Jordan as Stevenson. I hope that this movie will bring more attention and support to the work of Mr. Stevenson, a modern day combination of the Reverend Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela.
Just Mercy: https://eji.org/just-mercy
Equal Justice Initiative Website: https://eji.org/
Lab Rats!
Another of our favorite books is “Disrupted”, the story of Dan Lyons short tenure at HubSpot. Dan chronicles his story of a unique corporate culture at this Boston tech start-up, using his patented humor (he was a writer for HBO’s “Silicon Valley” series) alongside insights into today’s tech “bro culture”. His latest book, “Lab Rats”, takes a deeper look at this culture and its impact on our society, and includes a chapter on social enterprise and our program here at NU. Dan will be here as a guest speaker on February 28, we encourage you to attend!
Website: http://www.realdanlyons.com/
The Safe Passage Project
2018 was in many ways the year of immigrants and refugees, especially the misconceptions and mistreatment of these desperate people. The Safe Passage Project provides free immigration lawyers to immigrant and refugee children who face deportation. As their motto says “No child should face the immigration process alone.” If you have been touched (and perhaps outraged) by the stories of children held in detention without their parents at the US-Mexico border, perhaps you’ll consider donating (after your due diligence, of course) to the Safe Passage Project or another organization that supports these immigrant and refugee children in 2019.
Website: https://www.safepassageproject.org/
