What We Will Abide

We’re well into Trump’s first hundred days, a period of time in which the new President insisted that he would do away with President Obama’s executive order called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), enacted in 2012. The orders Trump has signed so far indicate that he’s going to attempt to follow through on this promise.What this will mean for 1.5 million young people is as yet unknown.In this episode, DACA beneficiary Audrey Lopez, who was introduced in Waveland: An Introduction, tells her whole story. A legal consultant at Church World Service in Lancaster, PA, she now works primarily with refugee families who are seeking to be reunified. She is a participant in the inVISIBLE Americans project and prevailed as the 2016 Lancaster Story Slam champion. Watch her winning story here. Here’s the article in Lancaster Transplant, a local blog by and for people who are new to the city.http://samschindler.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/WWWA_030_020717.mp3Original music by Ari

The Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline, a Williams Partners natural gas pipeline project (they’re from Tulsa, OK), has been in the works for a while now. The planned project route, though altered now several times, still runs right through the heart of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.The local movement Lancaster Against Pipelines (LAP) has been at the heart of the opposition to the project for almost three years. In recent weeks and months, LAP has held events at two locations along the pipeline route that now feature solid wooden structures. These are The Stand and The Stand II, the first of which will likely be the focal point of an encampment modeled upon Standing Rock in North Dakota. As Williams continues to maneuver and wangle its way into full-fledged production of the pipeline, efforts to build a resistance movement are gaining momentum.I spent a blustery winter afternoon surveying the pipeline route with Robin Maguire, the self-appointed Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline tour guide. Her knowledge of the area, it

There’s a great deal of hypocrisy that permeates the conversation about immigration – but I don’t want to get into that. Instead, three separate people, all of whom I would classify as “Americans,” speak candidly about their experiences connecting with or living as immigrants in the U.S.A.Here I offer a slightly different format, in which I introduce three different people living very different lives: a lawyer, a refugee resettlement director and an immigration consultant. These individuals begin to tell their stories—stories which will be told in full in later episodes of What We Will Abide.Original music by Ari Gold.Original Artwork “Ambered Waves” by Russell Foltz-Smith.http://samschindler.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/WWWA_028_011417.mp3DOWNLOAD this episodeSUBSCRIBE to this podcast See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Chris McDougall is well known for his 2009 book Born to Run, which, among many other things, tells the story of the Tarahumara (Rarámuri), the tribe who (literally) ran away from the Spanish Conquistadors in the 16th century – and never came back. The book features the stories of several colorful characters including the peripatetic runner known as Caballo Blanco, who died in 2012, the podcaster/antelope-chaser Scott Carrier and the effervescent ultra-runner Scott Jurek. For me, it was singularly important because it convinced me to take off my shoes and run barefoot.Ever since seeing him on The Daily Show and then reading the book, I’ve wanted to ask Chris about the irony of embracing barefoot running in the 21st century, when every single technological advancement (and accompanying advertising) seems to implore us to do otherwise. This notion goes beyond athletics; our culture has deliberately forgotten myriad practices that our ancestors employed tens of thousands of years ago. Are

Social critics come in all shapes, sizes and ages.Music by Ton-Taun.http://samschindler.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/WWWA_026_121416.mp3DOWNLOAD this episodeSUBSCRIBE to this podcast See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Jordan Capizzi’s septet Ton-Taun has, in one form or another, been around for a decade. They happily play local gigs and have produced four albums. Their most recent enterprise is an EP entitled Sorry Brian: You’re Derek Now which will be released this weekend by means of a musical theater performance of the same name. The show runs from Dec 2-4 at Tellus360 in Lancaster.Jordan came by the TBA School back in September to discuss being an artist, finding common ground with people you disagree with, and avoiding arguments with his father. He brought along his guitar and gave the inaugural studio music session for What We Will Abide. Surely we will have more.http://samschindler.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/WWWA_025_120116.mp3DOWNLOAD this episodeSUBSCRIBE to this podcast See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

These days “Millennials” take a lot of flak from older generations, but some of them are mature and attentive to the world around them – in ways I certainly never was as a teenager. Identical twins Andrew and Isaac Schlager are self-aware and zealous about matters pertaining to social justice, which they demonstrate in both word and action. As a member of that “older generation,” I see myself as both their teacher and student. In fact, they took my class as high school freshmen. Now, they’re seniors eyeing college. Together we find ourselves working toward a common goal of equality for all, elusive though it may be.Music: “Brother, What Happened?” by Muddy Magnolias from their debut album Broken People. Available on iTunes.http://samschindler.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/WWWA_024_112916.mp3DOWNLOAD this episodeSUBSCRIBE to this podcast See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

One thing that’s happening these days is that people who are distraught by the election results are banding together. They seem to be setting aside ideological differences which they now agree ultimately led to the election of a president they vehemently reject. A theme that is emerging among these coalescing groups is an urgency to protect one another – to stand up for those who are now thrust into imminent vulnerability. In two different venues, I took part in exercises amongst teenagers and adults who want to address these dangers head on.What We Will Abide #23, “Movement,” is an episode in two parts: The first, a rally populated by students from McCaskey high school and the second, a gathering at the TBA school of adults (and children) who are seeking to mobilize an anti-fear machine.http://samschindler.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/WWWA_023_111716.mp3DOWNLOAD this episodeSUBSCRIBE to this podcast See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Let’s imagine you and I are in an empty room. You approach me and ask, “What happened? What do we do now?”First, I shake my head in derisive disbelief. Then, I put my own crap aside, throw my arms open and give you a big hug and say, “let’s get to work.”http://samschindler.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/WWWA_022_110916.mp3DOWNLOAD this episodeSUBSCRIBE to this podcast See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

I attended Friday afternoon services at the Islamic Community Center of Lancaster, where Shaykh Walead Mosaad gave the weekly sermon (Khutbah) about –what else– the election of 2016. Later, we ask each other, “Now that it’s over, what’s next?”http://samschindler.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/WWWA_021_110816.mp3DOWNLOAD this episodeSUBSCRIBE to this podcast See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In a conversation that includes references to both Pep Guardiola and Eli Manning, old friends finally deal with a nagging problem.Zach Mann returns in a short that serves as an impressionistic version of a protracted dialogue pitting seemingly antagonistic worldviews against one another. But it’s really so much more complicated than that.Music by Bob Fenster.http://samschindler.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/WWWA_020_110716.mp3DOWNLOAD this episodeSUBSCRIBE to this podcast See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Zach Mann and New York City.http://samschindler.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/WWWA_019_110516.mp3DOWNLOAD this episodeSUBSCRIBE to this podcast See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Earl Jones, Friday night at 535 West 52nd Street. Music by Here Inside.http://samschindler.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/WWWA_018_110316.mp3DOWNLOAD this episodeSUBSCRIBE to this podcast See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Anne Kirby is a founding member of The Candy Factory, a coworking space off of Queen St. in Lancaster. Coming from a long line of entrepreneurs, Anne always knew she’d wind up working for herself. But, at the Candy Factory, she is self-employed alongside a slew of potential colleagues and business partners. In tandem with Jason Mundok, Anne is a member of the band Here Inside, whose debut album CoalescE arrives in early 2017. (Photo credit: David Bellard)http://samschindler.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/WWWA_017_103016.mp3DOWNLOAD this episodeSUBSCRIBE to this podcast See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Born in 1940 in the Bronx, my father, Albert Schindler, has led what in many ways is a very good life. He is a professional, a father to two children and, though he might sometimes claim otherwise, a generally happy guy. Since my teenage years, I’ve tried to fully uncover the mark the war left on him. Though not overtly traumatic in ways that it was for many, many veterans of it, what my father saw and experienced during the Vietnam war has still weighed heavily on him. This conversation touches on his year in a war zone, racism in America, and a joke about Jews meeting cannibals.http://samschindler.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/WWWA_016_102016.mp3DOWNLOAD this episodeSUBSCRIBE to this podcast  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

On Saturday, October 1, I attended a Donald Trump rally in Manheim, PA, and asked people why they were so enamored of the candidate.http://samschindler.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/WWWA_015_100916.mp3DOWNLOAD this episodeSUBSCRIBE to this podcast See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Kevin Ressler serves as the Executive Director for Meals on Wheels in Lancaster, but he does a lot more than that. Recently thrust into the role of local spokesperson for the Black Lives Matter movement, Kevin considers matters of personal identity as they relate to his American blackness and Mennonite faith.http://samschindler.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/WWWA_014_100216.mp3DOWNLOAD this episodeSUBSCRIBE to this podcast See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Madison Brown is a seventeen-year-old high school senior who speaks up for herself and countless others through her work in a number of advocacy groups. I taught her back when she was a ninth-grader, but it’s fair to say that, all along, she’s been teaching me. Her older sister Paige, a college student, adds her own insights in this conversation about carving out space for oft-unheard voices.http://samschindler.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/WWWA_013_092216.mp3DOWNLOAD this episode SUBSCRIBE to this podcast See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

A vigil was held in the center of Lancaster city this past Tuesday night. It was meant to demonstrate solidarity with the now well-publicized Standing Rock Sioux oil pipeline protest and spread awareness about Lancaster County’s own fight against a natural gas pipeline. There were “dozens” of people there – at least according to Fox43 news. I talked to a few of them, and tried to feel the momentum of something moving forward.http://samschindler.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/WWWA_012_091516.mp3 Vigil at Penn Square, 9/13/16.       Drum circle at the vigil.                    SUBSCRIBE to this podcast       See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Anniversaries should engender reflection.   http://samschindler.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/WWWA_011_091016.mp3  SUBSCRIBE to this podcast See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.