What to do with my Red Book?

Jail isn’t the most likely place to encounter a kindred spirit, or cross paths with a fellow seeker. But, this morning in the Wake County Jail, I was blessed with a most unexpected friendship.

A few weeks earlier I got a message on my cell phone from a young undocumented immigrant planning a protest at the immigration legislative committee in Raleigh the next day. After speaking with her I agreed to observe the protest and do what I could to represent anyone who was arrested. As a Sheriff from Franklin County was recounting a marijuana seizure, and characterizing immigrants as criminals, the young immigrants stood up during the committee hearing and announced that they are undocumented and unafraid. “We are the face of immigration,” they said. They were brought here as young children. They grew up in the United States. They have both feet firmly in our culture. And yet, if they are stopped for any reason by the police, they could end up deported back to a country they have never known. These kids are tired of living in the shadows, in fear of deportation. They want to be included in the only society they have ever known. And they are willing to risk everything for that dream.

They advocate for immigration reform that would create a pathway to lawful residence for people who have grown up in the United States and do not know their country of birth. DREAM stands for the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors. The DREAM Act is a bill that would create a pathway to legal residence that currently does not exist for undocumented youth in the United States. When a minor is brought into the United States by their parents, their visa is attached to their parents’ visas until the age of eighteen. When undocumented youth who have grown up in the United States turn eighteen they are suddenly placed in a legal situation impossible to remedy on their own. Even joining the military requires legal residence.

The DREAM Act would create a legal pathway by registering undocumented youth with the federal government and allow them to legalize their status by going to college, performing community service, or joining the military. In order to be eligible, the youth would have to have clean criminal records. After completing two years of college, significant community service, or two years in the military, the young person would be eligible to apply for Legal Permanent Residence. Without this kind of reform there is no way to legalize their status. I cannot imagine driving in my town, the only town I know, in fear of a traffic stop that could take me from my family to a country I’ve never known.

These young people are raising attention to this reform effort by courageously coming out of the shadows. It is time for us to bring these young people out of the shadow of fear and embrace them as our own, as important voices in our community.

Three young people were arrested at the legislative building, and two were released fairly quickly. One was detained by ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement).

I began working with a team of two other lawyers to provide representation to these three protesters. Our efforts focused on the young man who was detained, and due to some tremendous organizing by the NC Dream Team, and lawyering by team members he has recently received an immigration bond.

 

So I woke up this morning with a case to continue in Wake County.  For some reason I took along my “Red Book.”  This red book is the Quaker Faith and Practice by the British Yearly Meeting. It was given to me by a British Friend who I met at the 312^th annual meeting of Conservative Quakers in North Carolina. He gave it to me as a token of his friendship, and for schlepping him around everywhere. It became an important source of spiritual practice in my own growth as a Quaker. It is a “best hits” of Quaker writing over four centuries. I don’t know why I picked it up and took it to court to continue a traffic case.

It did not take as long as I expected to continue the case, and I had some extra time. It occurred to me that I should drop by the Wake County Jail and meet my new immigrant protester client. I found my new friend in a solitary cell with a well worn copy of “The Red Badge of Courage.” After some discussion about the legal aspects of his case, our conversation turned in an unexpected direction.   I felt the need to explain why I would represent him for free, and so I told him that I am a Quaker. As a Quaker, I am part of a long line of spiritual seekers who have worked for social justice, equality and community. I said that the immigration issue is the “slavery” of our time.  The Quakers who came before me worked on the underground rail road, and helped slaves to freedom. When people showed up on their door step, my Quaker forbearers risked their own freedom to help the fugitive slaves on the road to freedom. I told him it was an honor to represent him on his road to freedom, and that he inspired me. I could see tears swelling in his eyes, and feel them swelling in my own. I realized all of a sudden how utterly alone he must have been feeling when I showed up, despite the overwhelming loving support outside the jail walls. 

He began to ask some questions about Quakerism, and seemed genuinely interested. He said it came from England, right? And I said yes, there was a seeker in England in the 1600s who was looking for truth from priests, professors, churches and universities. No answers satisfied him, until he came upon the truth that God is within him. There was an “Inward Teacher” and “Inner Christ,” that could show him to truth.  And from this realization, a whole movement arose. Because there is the divine within all people, Quakers refused to engage in violence. We are pacifists. Early Quakers also believed in radical equality between all people, rich and poor, weak and powerful, men and women, black and white. They believed that the individual’s path to truth should be cultivated and tested within a community of seekers. They believed that many human habits, traditions, luxuries, creeds, rituals distracted people from the inner teacher – and so they embraced simplicity in the manner of living and in their worship. They worshiped in shared silence with periodic short messages from the holy silence called “vocal ministry.”  As they experienced the love of God in their hearts, it flowed through their lives into the community in the form of social justice work. Like my new friend, they went to jail for protests for equality and religious freedom. They refused to participate in habits which perpetuated inequality, and were jailed for their refusal.

He seemed intrigued and asked about my “Red Book.” I explained that it was a compilation of Quaker quotes, testimonies, queries. He asked me to read a few, and so I read the following:

Live adventurously. When choices arise, do you take the way that offers the fullest opportunity for the use of your gifts in the service of God and the community? Let your life speak. When decisions have to be made, are you ready to join with others in seeking clearness, asking for God's guidance and offering counsel to one another?

We are called to live 'in the virtue of that life and power that takes away the occasion of all wars'. Do you faithfully maintain our testimony that war and the preparation for war are inconsistent with the spirit of Christ? Search out whatever in your own way of life may contain the seeds of war. Stand firm in our testimony, even when others commit or prepare to commit acts of violence, yet always remember that they too are children of God.

Are you alert to practices here and throughout the world which discriminate against people on the basis of who or what they are or because of their beliefs? Bear witness to the humanity of all people, including those who break society's conventions or its laws. Try to discern new growing points in social and economic life. Seek to understand the causes of injustice, social unrest and fear. Are you working to bring about a just and compassionate society which allows everyone to develop their capacities and fosters the desire to serve?

He said he liked the high ideals expressed by these statements. I agreed that they are beautiful ideas, but it is another matter whether we actually live up to them. Up until then I had been squatting in the floor of the cell, and he invited me to sit on his bunk and talk some more.

I told him that we have no priest or preacher in charge of our Meeting. I explained our Quaker marriage service, where couples take each other in the presence and under the care of Meeting. I explained our practice have having committees to help us find clearness in difficult decisions. And how we are sometimes led by the Spirit to act in the world, and we test these leadings in our community. I told him the story of how I was led to stop wearing a tie in Court as a testimony to simplicity and equality, against the hierarchy of Court.  During one difficult encounter with a judge, the judge threatened to hold me in contempt, but ultimately relented and said, “You may appear as you are.”

And as I said these words, I realized that is all these dreamers wanted. They want to “appear as they are,” undocumented and unafraid, and be accepted into their own community. We suddenly shared an experience of standing up to authority in a risky way – just to be who we are. I told him that when the judge was being critical, I felt protected, held, and guided by the Spirit to respond with words that came from somewhere else. Following a leading for social justice is like riding a wave on the waters of righteousness, and our only task is to be humbly faithful to our small part. All else will be taken care of.  I recognized myself in this young man, a fundamental connection of seekers.

He shared some of the details of his own spiritual path, and expressed a curiosity about learning more about Quakers. He thought it might be a good fit for him.

As our conversation wound down, I offered him my Red Book. He said, “Oh No, I couldn’t.”  But I told him it would give me a great deal of pleasure if he took the book. In fact, I think that is why the Red Book came with me today.