ICJS is committed to helping communities and leaders gain the skills, resources, and relationships they need to thrive in our interreligious world. This page offers reflections and opportunities for justice leaders in Baltimore and beyond.
August 23, 2021
I am very privileged that I have always had enough–in fact, much, much more than enough. I come from an upper-middle-class family and although I often feel that I am just getting by on my personal income, I have a strong safety net in my parents, should the need arise. And although I am frustrated with the Christian congregation in which I grew up for not seriously challenging why we have such economic disparity in our country, I am grateful that they at least exposed me to the existence of disparity.
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July 23, 2021
Justice Leader Fellow Marvin Mitchell reflects on key takeaways from the Fellowship.
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July 12, 2021
If the directive is to “Love yourself and your community and take care of strangers, both visiting and residing,” it seems that restorative justice would be the order of the day to ensure that all people could actively contribute to the spiritual well-being of the nation. Once they are made whole, there will be no reason for America to hold prejudice, I promise.
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July 11, 2021
Justice Leader Fellow Darriel Harris reflects on key takeaways from the Fellowship.
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July 8, 2021
Justice Leader Fellow Sterling McKinley reflects on key takeaways from the Fellowship.
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July 5, 2021
Justice Leader Fellow Candace Chance reflects on key takeaways from the Fellowship.
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July 2, 2021
Despite the appearance, today I stand reinvigorated and inspired by the new social activism model created by the Institute for Islamic, Christian, and Jewish Studies (ICJS). At the Institute, the language of the scriptures is studied to address economic justice—or the lack thereof—in impoverished communities, promote wealth-sharing and wealth-building, and usher in an age of economic justice and empowerment for today’s generation and the generations that follow.
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January 28, 2021
In this unique time of relative isolation, yet still inundated with the all too-familiar refrains of the calls to stand up, be present, be heard, I am struggling....Perhaps this reflection, this confession, really, will lift my haze, break down my walls, and reawaken the refrain of my childhood—tzedek, tzedek, tirdof (justice, justice, shall you pursue).
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December 15, 2020
Sher Afgan Tareen writes, "Over the course of the Justice Leaders’ Fellowship, I gained a richer understanding of how water shapes scriptural writings. The close reading of the verses in the Christian Book of Revelation, for instance, helped me understand that its author was as intuitively aware of the importance of water to cities as are urban designers and architects."
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August 5, 2020
Sher Afgan Tareen writes, "Over the course of the Justice Leaders’ Fellowship, I gained a richer understanding of how water shapes scriptural writings. The close reading of the verses in the Christian Book of Revelation, for instance, helped me understand that its author was as intuitively aware of the importance of water to cities as are urban designers and architects."
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August 3, 2020
Psychiatrist Rascha Dughly writes about how explorations within the Justice Leaders' Fellowship renewed her dedication to mercy and brought a responsibility to establish justice to the forefront of her mind, being aware, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic "of just how much this affected...daily decisions and interactions with staff, colleagues and, most importantly...patients."
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July 23, 2020
Justice Leader Fellow Sara Zisow-McClean discusses accepting human limitations even in interpreting direct religious experience, asserting that this "is one of the fundamental disagreements that our religious wars are built upon."
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