IN CONVERSATION WITH ELIZABETH MILLER BY WYLIE SUYIN CHURCHILL
Could you tell us about peaceful tomorrows’ mission?
PT was founded in February of 2002. The announcement was made at a peace rally, and the founding document was actually signed at one of the un buildings in New York City. PT is composed of family members who lost someone on 9/11. So, in order to be a member of the organisation, you have to have had a direct loss. The founders and the eventual members that joined thereafter all had this same mission in mind: turning our grief into actions for peace. It’s remarkable that in the immediate aftermath of September 2001, a group of people had already joined together and said, “we’re not going to allow for more violence to be carried out in our names”.
Would you ever have pictured yourself ending up at an organization like
PT? Was this a path you knew you would always pursue?
I would say yes. I was always opposed to war from 11 years old. Then in college, I studied Bin Laden’s radicalisation. I did a lot of research that eventually led me to an Arabic major. I studied abroad in Morocco for a month and loved it. I also did a lot of terrorism studies and research. But that experience in Morocco helped me never to fall into the Islamophobic trap that I probably could have. I really loved middle eastern culture. I loved the food, I loved my host family, and I felt like they weren’t that different from my own family. When I was in graduate school, I got a masters in middle eastern studies. I took a prison literature course, and that’s where i started learning a lot more about Guantanamo. I read a former Guantanamo detainee’s diary, Mohamedou Slahi. I emailed his publisher and before I knew it I was on facetime meeting Mohamedou Slahi, actually right outside the Trade Center, because I was working at the museum at the time. I just thought, how full circle. The two of us had experienced such trauma after 9/11, in different ways, but we both came out of it with a friendship and a recognition that peace and forgiveness is always the best path.
What is something about your job that is especially rewarding for you?
Growing up, I felt very disconnected because again, there are so many people who lost someone at 9/11, and there’s not a consensus as to how everyone feels. But I felt so out of place because i really wasn’ t angry or hateful. And I think that’s what ’s so great about PT. A lot of us always say we’re the friends we never asked for. The people within pt make the organisation special because despite what happened to all of us, we push on and sometimes ruffle feathers by promoting peace, and this doesn’ t stop us from doing it. Sometimes it’s a lot harder to lead with peace, and to speak out. I think it’s really special that PT people have done this from so early on, and still do it to this day. I remember my first time in Guantanamo in September 2021. I had written one of my first op-eds right before, and I was reading through the social media comments, and people were accusing me of having Stockholm syndrome because I was talking about my friendship with Mohamedou. It can be disheartening. If I didn’ t have thick skin, that might really eat at me. I know members of the 9/11 community who are big advocates of the death penalty in the 9/11 case. And they get to do that. They lost a loved one, and they get to decide what they want to come out of that. But they should also let me do what I want to do.
What are some ways that we at St Andrews can support PT?
On our birthday this year, February 14th, we are launching ‘Friends of PT ’. Currently what we have is a supporter section for people interested in learning more about PT. You can sign up and receive our newsletter, and if we have a webinar. But on our birthday year, we’re taking that supporter base a step further. We’re creating a ‘Friends of PT’ membership. This will allow individuals to do more concrete hands-on work. A lot of our existing partners and supporters wonder how they can be of help. The ‘friends of’ membership allows you to take on a more active role within the organisation. It’s always good to have a fresh perspective, so i’m really looking forward to involving the supporters and the ‘friends of’. It’s really going to expand our messaging and advocacy work in the coming year.
