Making the Most of an Internship in Washington

[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":null,"attributes":{"class":"media-image mt-image-right","typeof":"foaf:Image","style":"","width":"152","height":"201","alt":"JoshHandel.jpg"}}]]Josh Handel is a participant in the RAC's Machon Kaplan summer program for college students. He is a student at Indiana University and an intern at the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.

Disoriented, befuddled, puzzled, disconcerted: These are all feelings and emotions that I have identified with during the initial two weeks of my social justice-oriented internship. Despite this, the Machon Kaplan Program, in addition to my internship with the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (NCADP), has already exposed me to amazing experiences. However, when presented with such a wealth of information along with the many different responsibilities given to a new intern (which have all occurred in such a short time), it's difficult not to feel overwhelmed when trying to my your specific role in D.C.'s activism scene. I hope this blog entry will comfort other likeminded, neurotic interns (I'm telling myself that I am not the only one) who want to get the most out of their internships and feel as though we all can become active practitioners of social justice.

Interning at the NCADP has been, from what I've read in other interns' blog posts, somewhat of an unusual internship experience. Therefore, seeking intern-related catharsis from my peers has not necessarily been obtainable. Since the issue of the legality of the death penalty is not a federal issue and is instead dealt with on a state-by-state basis, different advocacy approaches are taken at the national level. These efforts do not include the customary support of federal legislation or taking exciting trips to the Capital. I found this to be offsetting at first, as I just assumed activities like lobbying would be an everyday part of my internship. After initially adjusting to this, I discovered that the effort to end the death penalty in the United States requires a comprehensive, coordinated state-by-state effort, reinforced by a strong national program. The NCADP provides this by establishing national training to its states affiliates, an intensive assistance program, and also to build up national leadership on the issue of abolition.

Founded in 1976 in response to the Supreme Court's decision to resume executions in the US, the NCADP has been a vital resource to abolishing the death penalty in more than 15 states. This program has proven effective in the recent groundbreaking efforts to reach abolition in New Jersey and New Mexico. Abolishing the death penalty is an issue of importance to the Reform Movement, too: You can fill out the RAC's action alert asking the Senate to put an end to the death penalty. 

When I heard that I would be interning with the NCADP through the Machon Kaplan program, I was extremely excited to be advocating for a tremendous civil liberties issue. But being assigned to work with the development director at the NCADP, who deals with all issues related to funding, has forced me to look at my role in the social justice movement differently. Always being concerned with the activist side of the issue, I could not understand how my researching donors was helping in the fight for this cause. This is where my disconcertion set in: I never realized that the appropriations of funding will always be essential in the pursuit of the abolition of the death penalty in the US as well as to similar nonprofit organizations. It is through this acknowledgement, as I know now, that I am beginning to recognize my role as an activist with the NCADP. Furthermore, it has empowered me and strengthened my efforts as an intern to combat the problems created by the death penalty.

In addition, I thought it would also be helpful to include some suggestions of things we can do, as interns, to better understand our role as advocates of social justice through our respective internships:

• If the work isn't especially gratifying, suggest additional readings on specific topics of interest to you that is also related to the internship experience. It can help pass the time easier.
• Ask to attend a conference or workshop in the D.C. area that relates to your internship. I was able to go to two workshops last week, and it was great to get out of the "Intern Cave" at the NCADP.
• If neither of these suggestions work, the next step (as told to the Machon Kaplan participants by Ellen Teller, Director of the Food Research and Action Center), is to guilt-trip the hell out of your supervisors to make them give you more things to do!