Introduction of Amy Goodman

December 6, 2003  St Peter Claver Church, West Baltimore, Maryland

Frida Berrigan introduces Amy Goodman who is speaking at a Clarification of Thought, organized by Viva House Catholic Worker, and Jonah House on the first year memorial of Philip Berrigan. 

I could spend my five minutes up here listing all the dozens of awards Amy Goodman has received, or laboriously recounting her impressive curriculum vitae.

I could tell you what school she went to, and what her favorite color- or vegetable-is…

And while each accolade is well earned, and we are all burning to know what her favorite color is- and if she likes broccoli- This is not the tack I will take in my introduction.

Listening to Amy Goodman 's Democracy Now is listening to hope, listening to the heartbeat of political activism, listening to peace and justice being built.

And why is that? How can two hour of radio each day have that kind of impact- especially when the political landscape is so bleak? When things are so bad?

The answer is simple.

My Dad used to say: “hope is where your ass is.”

In a more church friendly language- Hope depends on where you are standing. Hope depends on who you're standing next to, who (and what) you are standing for.

And one can't think of Amy Goodman without thinking of where she stands, who she stands with, and who she stands for.

She stands with the people of East Timor, literally standing where they stood, suffering some piece of what they suffered at the hands of the Indonesian military, a military backed by the United States .

She stands with the people of Nigeria, witnessing and bringing home the story of the oppression indigenous Nigerians endure at the hands of the Chevron oil company, recounting too the story of the resistance they mounted.

She stands with people protesting in the streets throughout this country, in Miami and Fort Benning , in London and Paris , in San Salvador and Cancun .

She stands with political prisoners, Lori Berenson , Mumia Abu Jamal, Leonard Peltier .

She stands with the Plowshares community- people like Ardeth and Carol and Jackie, and Phil Berrigan. She stands with Jonah House and with our family.

And where she stands makes her so much more than a reporter, so much more than one who observes and reports. Where she stands distinguishes her from all those “reporters” who hide behind some notion of “objectivity,” who filter information through the rose colored glasses of corporate america .

Amy Goodman does not pretend to be objective. She is a partisan, a truth-teller, a truth-reporter. She has a perspective.

During the World Economic Forum in New York City , Amy Goodman snuck into a fancy event where reporters aren't suppose to ask hard questions.

But she did, chatting with Nicholas Platt, a former U.S. ambassador to the Philippines ; she asked if he thought that U.S. military and political support of Indonesia was a good idea, given that its military killed tens of thousands in East Timor .

Platt asked "What ax are you grinding right here?"

To which she responded: "I survived a massacre in East Timor .”

He might has well have said, “Who do you stand with?” He got his answer.

Amy Goodman does not pretend to be awed by power. She asks hard questions, tells hard truths. She brings the voices of people in the streets into the corridors of power. She brings the cries of those affected by war to the doorsteps of the war makers.

But, she does not do it alone. She is mentoring a new generation of irreverent, courageous, justice journalists. She has a dedicated team of people who work extremely hard to put out “the exception to the rulers.” She is supported by thousands- I want to say millions- of people around the country and the world.

As the daughter of Phil Berrigan it seems important for me to make this point. My father was called a moral giant and the conscience of a generation (by judges, not friends), and all sorts of labels and praises he would shrink away from. He knew better than anyone else, that nothing he did- no matter how courageous or bold or principled- happened without community. Nothing happened without that support.

Hope depends on where you stand, and Amy Goodman stands with the peacemakers, the risk takers, those standing up to big corporations and against big lies.

Hope depends on where you stand, and a year ago Amy Goodman stood with our family and community as Phil Berrigan died. She stood not as a reporter, not as a member of the press, but as a friend, as a part of this community.

We are so grateful for her friendship, for her truth telling, for her hope increasing work.

Please help me welcome Amy Goodman .