Marsha Hunter—International Liberation Reference Person for Lawyers
Lawyers
From my perspective as a lawyer, the key issue for the world and for the RC Communities is the same: the growing economic divide, both locally and globally.
Corporations and countries use laws to justify and solidify the economic, social, and environmental injustices underlying this divide. Our early isolation, feelings of powerlessness, and frozen needs for “more” permit us to accept oppression and environmental destruction.
We need to combat the creep of injustice into every area of our lives and take a “two-legged stance,” as Harvey Jackins called it: live actively with one foot in RC and the other in the wide world.
How can we do this? We work harder now than we did twenty years ago. We have less time (and/or money) for RC classes, sessions, and workshops; for family, friends, and fun. But we must combat feelings of powerlessness and actively engage, both inside and outside of RC. When we take action, the rewards are evident.
As lawyers, in a middle-class job that supports our economic and social system, we need to confidently take a stand, to do and say what is right, in visible and concrete ways. Our challenge is to hold on to our integrity and prepare at the same time to handle the attacks that will come as a consequence. This will require us to discharge the defeats and discouragements of our early years. We must also reach people’s hearts, in contradiction to the way lawyers are taught to keep everyone at a distance.
How can we push the legal system not to punish but to restore? How can we solve problems cooperatively, with other lawyers and with non-lawyers as our allies? How can we, behind the scenes, use our legal knowledge to help explain laws and systems?
We must show who we are and not hide behind the role of lawyer. And to connect with our allies and opponents, we must see who they are behind their roles. Bringing our values and our whole selves to the job will allow us to enjoy the challenge of lawyering in these times. Fighting alongside others for what we believe will move us all toward healing the injustices of the world.
Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
(Present Time 188, July 2017)