John Bambrick lives in the newly formed White Rose Catholic Worker on the northside of Chicago. He works as a Youth Minister and is a member of Kairos Chicago, a community of faith, resistance and nonviolence.
Articles by John Bambrick
We are all interconnected
In a number of theology classes, we talked about the unity of all beings and things on the earth. We are all interconnected. As I have sat with this over the last few years, the more I have come to believe this (from a scientific, theological, and social perspective, etc.). Today our group – Witness Against Torture – did a Ghost Walk in the Senate Hart office building. A number of us walked in orange jumpsuits with names of prisoners who have been cleared for release on our backs. We each walked separately on a different floor and wing in a very prayerful and solemn way. We went to “lobby” those in the Senate to help remember these men who have been “cleared for release” and are ready to leave yet remain in Guantánamo.
We put the jumpsuits on once in the building and after about 20 minutes a police officer came running up to me (very out of breath) as I was walking at a Thich Nhat Hanh pace… very slowly and deliberately. He respectfully asked how I was doing and what I was doing here. Then he requested my ID, followed by a number of investigative questions. We weren’t doing anything illegal in our action, but they were checking on us. After I was allowed to continue walking, another person – from the capitol police – wanted to talk to me. As I told him that I was with Witness Against Torture, that I was not protesting or demonstrating, that I was lobbying to help follow the executive order to close Guantánamo and end torture, and that we were completely nonviolent, he responded: “Oh, Witness Against Torture. I know you guys. I’ve seen you for a number of years.” They let me (and our whole group) continue to walk.
Read the rest of this article »
