Seth

As this post is reaching you, I am taking a train from Northampton, MA after a book reading and signing event in Amherst. I was able to introduce Life of Libby to the community in which Libby’s son and daughter-in-law live—both inspiring activists in their own right.

But today I want to introduce you to Seth Lieberman. I met with Seth before the election to talk about his work with Quiet Clean Philly and the Germantown Jewish Centre’s Refugee Immigrant Justice Initiative. In our conversation, Seth talks about why both of these topics call to him and how he approaches his work. Seth also runs a consulting business called Leadership Breakthroughs, which focuses on working in academic medicine to create more collaborative, engaging, and respectful academic departments.

We spoke at a more hopeful moment in time, yet as I listened again to our conversation, everything is still just as relevant. Our conversation embraces creating community and explores how action can be motivated by love and beauty.

Phasing Out Gas-Powered Leaf Blowers

The purpose of Quiet Clean Philly is to phase out gas-powered leaf blowers in Philadelphia. As Seth noted, gas-powered leaf blowers have been called the “dirtiest machines allowed by U.S. law.” They negatively impact the environment, the health of landscape workers who use them, and people in the community.

While QCP is focused on local action, it is one of many organizations around the country working on this issue. There have already been many successes in phasing out gas-powered leaf blowers, including Washington, DC; Montgomery County, Maryland; Seattle; the whole state of California; townships in NJ; Burlington, VT; DC… and many more. These are incredible wins!

Considering that using a gas-powered leaf blower for one hour is equivalent to driving a car for hundreds of miles, these local efforts are significantly decreasing carbon emissions. Seth knows it will happen for Philly, too.

An Innovative Solution

Many city residents who do their own lawn care have already been changing over to electric powered machines. The challenge is finding residential contractors who use electric lawn care equipment (and less toxic/organic treatments). Options exist for large institutions, like universities, but not for just a standard household.

One possible solution is that some participants in QCP may start up their own landscaping company! They are in the process of seeking out investors to prove that you can make a living with less toxic alternatives.

Changing policy is important but it’s also important to have an ecosystem of businesses who can support the shift.

Creating Community

When they started, QCP was focused on driving results. They immediately wanted to get city council members to say yes to policy changes. Now, Seth said he’s come to believe they are creating community and “it’s not just about changing policy but changing ourselves.”

For people who live in a dense city, it means cultivating consideration of each other, changing what it means to be a neighbor or a citizen, and thinking differently about the earth. Many people see their lawn as the “outside carpet” that we can do what we want with. Yet it is also part of the earth, where water flows and pollinators fly oblivious of property lines.

Seth’s thinking was inspired in part by the late, great Rabbi Ellen Bernstein. As they talked about making changes at Germantown Jewish Centre, like installing solar panels and phasing out gas-powered leaf blowers, Ellen said, “If that’s all we do we’ve failed.” That’s because if we’re only focused on driving results, we can only sustain so far. Instead, Seth thinks about how to sustain a sense of love for the earth and its inhabitants.

Every meeting starts with a reflection on the experience of interacting with nature and each other, sitting on a porch or under a tree, seeing people smiling when it’s nice outside and quiet. It’s nourishing and motivating.

Refugee Immigrant Justice

Seth also co-founded the Germantown Jewish Centre’s Refugee Immigrant Justice Initiative with Joyce Lieberman (who is not a relative even though they share a last name).

When they created the group, they wanted to do three things:

1. Affect policy through meetings with policymakers

2. Direct service to immigrants and refugees

3. Participate in protest

Seth was mostly involved in the policy. They helped train Jewish congregants who were constituents of the 6 U.S. House representatives for the Philly Metro area. Each constituent talked with their member of the House about why this issue is important to them personally and what policy changes were needed. From a policy perspective, they actively opposed the Muslim ban and the practice of family separation. Personally—as a Jewish-based group—most could think of a parent or grandparent who survived because they came to America; and often they were not treated well when they did. Seth can see his grandparents in today’s refugees, even if they have very different stories.

The group also sponsored immigrant families which involved helping them to get housing, find employment, improve their English, and generally get on their feet.

Finally, they joined protests that other groups organized at the ICE office. As Seth put it, “We need to demand that people have the right to at least apply for asylum and make their case.”

Prior to the election, the Refugee Immigrant Justice Initiative was gearing up for any outcome. They were preparing to challenge the promised deportations under a Trump administration or some of the inhumane policies continued under the Biden administration if Harris were elected.

This approach is so important because we often believe that getting our candidate elected means we have achieved our goal. But we haven’t. The right candidate makes a solution easier, but it still requires speaking up no matter who is in office. Unfortunately, we will be facing a steeper uphill battle with the coming administration.

Policy vs. Culture

Seth sees a major challenge on the immigration front being that our public sphere is looking for scapegoats. As with Quiet Clean Philly, we can’t just win on policy, we need to win in the sphere of culture. In a conversation with Congresswoman Susan Wild who represents Lehigh Valley, Wild talked about how people think of her district as “lily white” but that a huge number of immigrants now live there. She said that it’s more dynamic, the food is better, and it’s a more interesting place to live. In this political climate, it’s a win to have a U.S. Congressperson say that.

Final Thoughts on Activism

Seth described himself as having “different seasons and times when my energy is higher for some issues or others” and trying to honor that. Coming from a place of “this is the right thing for me to be doing right now gives us a clarity and an authority to speak out.”

I found Seth’s heart-forward, community focused, and self-honoring approach to activism really inspiring. I hope you did as well.