Where are you from? “I’m from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.” Oh, I heard about the violence. It must be terrible. (Deep sigh. Tired, forced smile.) “Oh, it’s better now.” Some version of this conversation is annoyingly common here in St. Louis. My barber says the same happens to St. Louisans when outsiders ask them about the violence in their city.
Loyola Academy in Wilmette, IL has become the first Jesuit high school to receive fair trade certification from Fair Trade Campaigns. Loyola is the 17th high school in the U.S. to receive the certification. Fair Trade Campaigns is a grassroots movement whose mission is to empower schools, communities, and universities to buy from companies whose products are created fairly and safely.
For the first time in my life, I was inside a prison. So far, my placement as a Jesuit Volunteer with the Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth had only included long distance communication with these men, primarily through letters and a few phone calls. After two months with the campaign, it was time to make my first visit to a correctional facility.
