The Waging Peace Podcast

Igniting Change: The Inspiring Father-Daughter Duo Empowering the Next Generation

• Diana Oestreich • Season 2 • Episode 5

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Read a book by a teenage author lately?

You will now!

Zion Lester is a teenage author who wrote a children's book with Big Ideas about homelessness. "Zion Learns to See" is her newest book co-written with her Dad Dr. Terence Lester, Found of Love Beyond Walls.  An organization raising awareness and advocacy for those experiencing poverty and homelessness.

This episode we learn from  Zion, a young author who, alongside her father, Dr. Terence Lester, is making strides in awareness and advocacy for our neighbors experiencing homelessness.

Zion shares her journey from observing her father's dedication to spearheading initiatives in her school, in second grade!

The power of storytelling and the unique lens through which children view the world can lead to profound community impact.

The heart of our discussion beats to the rhythm of kindness, compassion, and justice—values that Zion practices through her advocacy work. This dynamic duo celebrates  power of family bonds in inspiring  change-makers and influencing our next generation to wage peace and make our world more just, connected and equal.

As we wrap up, we celebrate Zion's literary feat with her book, "Zion Learns to See," and encourage our audience to support her passion to change how we see ordinary people experiencing homelessness. Parents, grab a tissue because you are going to witness the most impactful words we can tell our kids, "I See You".

Support a Teen Author with a big message: buy her book HERE.

Find out more about Love Beyond Walls

Follow Zion @ZionJoyLester

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Speaker 1:

Welcome to the Waging Peace podcast. This is a historic moment because I love peacemakers and I love kids and I get to have my first ever student on the podcast. I told her that she's my first person, I think, under 30. She looked wowed, so welcome, zion.

Speaker 2:

I'm so happy to have you here, so good to be here. This is my dad everyone.

Speaker 3:

I'm Dr Terrence Lester. I'm just grateful to be here to lift up Zion's voice and just hear her heart about the things that she cares about.

Speaker 1:

Well, dr Terrence Lester is coming to us from DC right now with a historic case, and would you mind giving us two shakes on what's going on right now, because it is completely important and dovetailing with what Zion wrote her book about?

Speaker 3:

Yeah, so today, early this morning, there was a case heard it's called Grant Pass versus Johnson right here at the Supreme Court and it's a case surrounding homelessness and whether criminalizing those who are poor and unhoused, those without an address, is unconstitutional. And that happened in Grant Pass, oregon, and so they ruled on the local level that it was unconstitutional to criminalize people who don't have anywhere to go, and the city appealed and it made its way all the way to the Supreme Court. And so this morning we had tons of advocates and activists gathering around and I got a chance to just listen, in that you know people just standing up for, you know, housing rights.

Speaker 1:

I think it's such a awesome thing to get a chance to be a voice and stand with your neighbors who also happen to be experiencing homelessness. Zion, can you tell us a little bit about your book and about why you wanted to write it?

Speaker 2:

Well, the book is from a kind of like a personal story of mine, kind of from me and my dad's relationship, and it goes back to when I was in the second grade and I always would see my dad go downtown. He would bring me with him to work and his job kind of was to serve those who are unhoused and give them the resources that they needed, which is what his organization is about Love Beyond Walls. That focuses on raising awareness for those living in poverty or who are experiencing homelessness, and I was just so inspired by seeing my dad's work. So one day I decided in the second grade that I was going to come to my teacher and tell her that I wanted to start a campaign to raise money to make an awareness of homelessness myself.

Speaker 2:

So that's what I did, and we ended up raising about how much that it's like 52 worth of change, but the whole school got involved yeah, and it was just like a really powerful story and we kind of wanted to share that through the book and have that as the message so it can teach anyone of age I know it's a children's book, but really anyone of age that they can help in any kind of way to serve their communities.

Speaker 2:

And I also wanted to write this book and collaborate on this with my dad is because I have a passion for writing this with my dad. Is because I have a passion for writing. I've loved writing ever since I was in probably the second grade, because my teachers but my teacher, I believe her name, was Ms Johnson she would always have these poems and like she would give us these like creative things, like to read and creative things to do, and ever since then I've created a passion for writing and just reading. I've always loved poems as well and I will always make mock children's books out of construction paper. And just to hear one day that my dad said that this could really happen, that we could really make a children's book together, just was amazing.

Speaker 1:

I think it's so incredible. And, as a parent, I've got two boys and they are 15 and 17. And you always bring them along. And when they're in elementary school, no matter what you do, they're like cool mom, that's great. Always bring them along. And when they're in elementary school, no matter what you do, they're like cool mom, that's great. And as they get older, you're like if you drag your kids to so many things, you always worry that they will start to hate it. I think your story of seeing what your dad is doing and tagging along I mean, for people who haven't been in second grade for a while, is that seven, yeah?

Speaker 2:

like seven or eight. Okay, that's like crazy young.

Speaker 1:

It gives everybody who's listening a reality check that that seven year old that they see walking around the library at Walmart on the street, that seven year old has a voice and that seven year old can do something that is going to point the way to what we want to actually care about, which is our neighbors who might be experiencing homelessness.

Speaker 1:

As a mom, I'm tearing up when I saw that you guys wrote this book together, because I've only told my kids we should write a book together. Letting kids lead, I think, is such a unique thing that I think our communities need is to let kids lead and learn from them. Right, yes, so yeah, I read in your bio because I was totally a fan. I was like, ooh, a writer and a speaker. Some people, it's easy, but other people you kind of have that moment where you want to do something and you get up the guts. What was that for you?

Speaker 2:

It was definitely a process of building up confidence, kind of learning myself through the process. It was like a highlight as well just working on this book with my dad. It was a great experience, just coming up with ideas, brainstorming, just doing everything with him and just spending more like quality time with him, because he's my best friend.

Speaker 1:

Can you just say that out there for every parent just needs to hear that again. It's possible.

Speaker 3:

Yes.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, he's my best friend. It was the work of building up confidence, because me I'm a very shy and introverted person. When the book kind of caught a lot of people's attention and just hearing different things like, oh, like, even for my friends, like at school, you don't really hear that oh Zion just wrote a book, like it's definitely not normal, but it's been a great experience along the way.

Speaker 1:

Part of the Waging Peace Project is the belief that all of us, ordinary people, that we can activate justice and instant joy right where we live, that we don't have to be super famous or we don't have to be somebody else, that really our neighborhoods are the place that we can step up for our neighbors. Where is somewhere that you see justice happening?

Speaker 2:

I can best answer that by saying I see justice through my dad. Even right now he's in Washington DC for an important cause, trying to raise awareness for those who are experiencing homelessness and poverty. Really, my dad has been raising for these people who are experiencing that. Like my whole life I've been seeing his work my whole life and it's really inspiring to me to get up and see what ways I can serve my community. I see justice through my dad.

Speaker 1:

I love that I always think that justice is what love looks like in public. And for you getting to see what love can look like outside of your friends, outside of your home, and see your dad, dr Terrence Lester. You are wildly inspiring to a whole lot of folks. Thank you for giving that example.

Speaker 3:

Thank you, zion. You know you are my heart and I feel very honored to be your father and to watch you grow. And the way that you talk about things kindness and compassion is very inspiring. And I think to your point. When we look at justice, sometimes we hear that word and feel the weight of it, but justice is the act of kindness. You quoted Dr Cornell West, you know bless him.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, Bless him. You know, and I see justice showing up in the way in which my daughter heart is being shaped towards this cause. Sometimes it just starts with your heart towards this cause. Sometimes it just starts with your heart, and I think after that, clarity comes as to how it's supposed to come out through your hands, and that can be as small as helping someone. I just saw a person help a person access public transportation. Or it could be, you know, you advocating for sanitation for those who are unhoused. Or it could be, as Zion has dreamed about building closets, which is a campaign that we're working on this next school year in underserved schools, so kids who go to school and don't have access to clothing will have access to clothing, whether it be uniforms or their right size shoes or whatever. Justice can be as small as those things. Or it could be something as advocating for policy change in DC.

Speaker 1:

It's so powerful to get to see you both. As a parent, dr Terrence, you're living out your passion and your call and then getting to see how Zion gets to see that and find her voice and what she cares about. What do you want? Most people who may not have your eyeballs and may not be sitting where they can see what does policy change look like? Some people may not be sitting where they can see what does policy change look like? Some people may not have proximity to ordinary people experiencing homelessness. What is the one thing that you're like? Oh, if I could just tell somebody, I'd love them to know this I would definitely say kindness is showing kindness, no matter what.

Speaker 2:

No matter even if you can't see a person. Don't judge a person based off their looks or anything. Don't judge a book by its cover. Just getting to know a person for who they are and not letting the outside things define people. But I also want to let my dad speak on that as well and see what he says.

Speaker 3:

Yeah I think to your point is everybody has a story and everybody's story is worthy of being heard. I like to tell people when I go out and lecture on this subject is that just because a person doesn't have an address does not mean that they're not your neighbor, which is really a powerful thought when you consider MLK's framework. When he says we live in a world house, he's basically communicating that the world is our address and anybody that you're proximate to is your neighbor which is super beautiful and speaks to that tension that people feel.

Speaker 1:

I really do believe that people want to do good but they're not given good invitations, so there's that tension. I know that we're neighbors and I can't really have joy unless my neighbor has what they need to thrive, no matter what. It doesn't feel right. I don't care who you are or your politics it doesn't feel right. That love. I think that we're created to be to each other. Yeah.

Speaker 3:

And the truth of the matter is that we all want to be seen in some way right and I think oftentimes well, we have allowed societal standards to influence the way we dictate worth or define worth. It's kind of normalized to define worth based on extrinsic things like who do you hang out with, who do you associate with? What did you get your degree from? What coffee shop do you go to? How much money do you possess? What is your status? All of those external symbols and my question then becomes if a person doesn't have that, then are they less worthy? And the answer is no. That's why we have to start with the intrinsic worth and value of every single person, because that levels the playing field.

Speaker 3:

And I keep a quote, uh, with me. I keep it with me everywhere I go. It simply says this that everyone is deserving of dignity, no matter how damaged the shell that carries it. That's really valuable once we think about every single person that is breathing breath right now, no matter their social location, has value. That's the message that I see emanating from my daughter, zion. She shows up and she loves people right where they are.

Speaker 1:

I've already learned from her kindness is key. I'm just going to pull that one out. I think it has so much power for us to decide ahead of time who we're going to be. If we're going to be kind, then it's got nothing to do with the person. I'm a nurse.

Speaker 1:

I was also a soldier and a combat medic and one of the things I learned was, once we all put on the same uniform, there was this belonging and it changed how we saw each other. It changed how we treated each other. I've always wondered how do we recreate that reality that we don't need a uniform, we don't have to wear the same thing for us to see that we belong to each other, because that answers the question to so many things that are coming at us. If this is who I am, this is who they are. I cannot deny someone the dignity of thriving housing hope. I really love that.

Speaker 1:

Your book Zion allowed us to see that kids are leading and also kids to know that they are so important in our communities. We are incomplete without them, especially now. We need them because as often as adults are fighting for kids, I have yet to hear a kid say they feel listened to. So thank you for offering that. Once you write a book, you offer that invitation to so many more people. So thank you, zion. As part of our wrap up, I like to ask people there's no wrong answer, zion. Dr Terrence, you think about this too. We're gonna throw you in the mix. What is one of the most impactful things someone has said to you?

Speaker 3:

Well, it happened to me yesterday. I was at a coffee shop here in DC and there was a person who I later found out was unhoused and they were sitting there reading books and studying. This person got my attention and we just started exchanging, you know, like going back and forth, and then this person said I want to buy you a coffee. And I go why would you do that? Let me, you know, buy your coffee. I go why would you do that? Let me, you know, buy your coffee. And he says it will give me an opportunity to feel joy, to be in a position to give. It was a huge reminder that just because a person doesn't have an address does not mean that they can't contribute something. We sat there and we drank coffee. I allowed myself, as I always do, to be seen myself. I think sometimes, when we are serving others, we only want to be the people who are seeing others, right, but a part of that is being vulnerable ourselves.

Speaker 1:

Thank you for sharing that.

Speaker 2:

That's beautiful all right, I just wanted to use my dad again because he's here and again he's my best friend. This impacts me a lot. He often tells me that he sees me. Like he says I see you, which is saying that he sees me trying, he sees me for me. Um, when you tell, like a younger person, that it means a lot because it's saying I'm listening to you, I'm acknowledging you, I respect you, I see your hard work, it's really acknowledging phrase and that really impacts me a lot. It really makes me feel good to be seen not just by people, but by my dad.

Speaker 1:

It's not just younger people who like to hear that. People have said that I kind of well up and cry and I don't even know why, but there's something about someone seeing you which feels so powerful. You cannot defend yourself against that kind of love when someone says I see you, oh my gosh, I'm all in. So the last two questions are what is your superpower?

Speaker 3:

Superpower, I would say discernment or emotional intelligence. When I am proximate to someone, I can discern where they are and offer words of encouragement, and I think society makes us feel like we need to always focus on ourselves. But Henry Nowlin would talk about compassion in ways where he says that compassion is the ability to leave your world to enter into the world of another, to cry with those who cry, weep with those who weep, mourn with those who mourn, and I feel like I embody that through empathy.

Speaker 1:

That's beautiful. More of that in the world. So, zion, what's your superpower? You?

Speaker 2:

just had to go deep. I was going to say something like my superpower is food, or something that's cool.

Speaker 3:

That's cool though.

Speaker 1:

When I ask my kids this, I kind of try things out around the table and because they've introduced me to superpowers in the Marvel universe, I asked them what's your superpower? And they totally went deep. And then when they got around to me, I'm like I can apparate and they're like what I thought we were doing I was like no, I want to time travel, so yours can be whatever you want it to be.

Speaker 2:

So I guess it's food for me, right? He's a foodie. I'm not definitely a foodie.

Speaker 3:

Foodie gives me food, gives me power and stop inboxing me these food items I send them like reels that like are showing like food and stuff, like people showing their food.

Speaker 1:

All right. So last question how do you play?

Speaker 3:

We have these family competitions and we are very competitive.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I hear you, I hear you, I hear you. Well, for me, I don't do soccer, I play soccer. I've been playing soccer for since eighth grade. So I want to say Going on three years. Yeah, going on three years and that's kind of how I play in the world.

Speaker 1:

I do too, but I'm so slow, but I still love soccer. So everybody, this is your book called Zion Learns to See Zion. Where can people buy the book?

Speaker 2:

follow you. People can go to Amazon to buy the book. You can find me at Zion Joy Lester. You can find my dad at I Am Sanctitarian Lester, and you can find my dad at I am Terrence Lester.

Speaker 1:

Everybody buy her book and get it and give it to a teacher for an end of the year gift. They would love it and then also send her some foodie reels on Instagram.

Speaker 3:

Love it.

Speaker 1:

Zion, thank you so much for choosing to do the work to author a book and share it with us and help us learn how to show up for Unhoused Neighbors. Dr Terrence, thank you for making all of us parents feel like you know. Our kids might want to want to do some stuff that we're doing.

Speaker 3:

For sure.

Speaker 1:

Thank you so much for being here with us.

Speaker 3:

Thank you so much for having us. Thank you.

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Diana K Oestreich

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