View a moving video about the event, featuring interviews with participants, at the bottom of this article.
For four days in August, in western Massachusetts, members of the RFC community participated in our fourth Family Gathering. Staff and Board members along with several young adults (“peer leaders”) who are current or former beneficiaries, hosted 12 families from around the country whose children are current grantees. This powerful event was made possible in part by a generous grant from the Fineshriber Family Foundation.
Over the course of the Gathering, children and their activist parents spent time together in dialogue, finding support, having some laughs, and forming bonds. The event allowed children to meet peers whose lives have also been impacted by their parents’ targeting, and it gave the adults an opportunity to process together their struggles as both parents and activists. It created a space for emotionally rejuvenating and politically validating conversations with others in similar circumstances. Arts-oriented workshops, swimming, games and cultural activities further enriched the experience for participants.
We were honored to have the opportunity to get to know so many of the beneficiary families whose voices we’ve heard over the phone and stories we’ve read on paper, but most of whom we’d never met in person. It was inspiring to listen to all the accounts of what participants have faced as well as to see adults and children let go, have fun and make some new friends. Although these families came from diverse backgrounds, and their activism ranged from anti-war to animal rights to anti-torture, people found common ground and solidarity.
A father confided in us how much it meant to him for his son to meet other children whose parents are activists, and whose families remain strong and committed to one another as well as their organizing, despite the targeting they’ve experienced. Seeing the children bond and witnessing moments like hearing a mother from a small town in Maine tell a mother from a large city in the South that her son was welcome to visit any time, were moving experiences. One teen later recounted, “…my favorite part of the Gathering was connecting with my peers with similar experiences…Thank you all for making so much possible through your grants and this Gathering.”
Gatherings (like RFC grants) are intended to combat the isolation that targeted activists and their families too often experience by showing them they are not alone. This Family Gathering offered just this solace to the attendees. As one parent wrote afterwards, “…It allowed me to share feelings and experiences that previously I could not share, with others who have been through (or are going through) similar experiences. I really love and appreciate what you do for all these folks.”
