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Mother Keeps Amy Biehl's Voice Alive

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Mother Keeps Amy Biehl's Voice Alive Friday, June 10, 2005 Mother Keeps Amy Biehl's Voice Alive Journal Staff Writer Amy Biehl was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Incited during a political rally earlier in the day, the young black men who pulled her from a car and killed her in South Africa's Guguletu Township saw just another South African white occupier. The four men who were arrested and imprisoned in connection with Biehl's August 1993 death would later learn that the 26-year-old woman was a Fulbright scholar from America who was working in support of their cause. A graduate of Santa Fe High School and Stanford University, Biehl was helping African leaders develop a new constitution and was conducting voter registration drives for the first all-race election that ended apartheid. The convicted killers applied for amnesty with the country's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, headed by Bishop Desmond Tutu, and in July 1997, Amy's parents, Linda and Peter Biehl, went to South Africa to address the commission. Remarkably, they didn't oppose amnesty. "We supported the process," said Linda Biehl during a recent phone conversation from South Africa. "Desmond Tutu told us to speak from our hearts, so our presentation was about Amy and linking arms where we could with the South African people to help them in their next steps toward nation building." Even more astonishing, the Biehls became quite close with two of the convicted men, who now work for the Amy Biehl Foundation Trust in South Africa. Peter Biehl died from colon cancer in 2002 at age 59. He and Linda, his childhood sweetheart, were married 38 years. Linda Biehl, 62, will talk about her continuing work in South Africa and about restorative justice and reconciliation during the 11th annual awards program named for her daughter. The Amy Biehl Youth Spirit Award luncheon will be held June 24 at the Albuquerque Marriott Hotel. Inspired by the work of Amy Biehl, the program honors young people between the ages of 13 and 26 whose volunteer work has helped make positive changes in their communities and beyond. This year, 43 nominees from around New Mexico will be recognized and will receive certificates. One winner and three runners-up will each receive glass sculptures and $1,000 cash prizes. The awards program was established by the nonprofit New Mexico Voices For Children, a statewide organization that fosters the health and well-being of children, youths and families through research, education, organizing and advocacy. Linda Biehl was also the keynote speaker at the first awards program 11 years ago. She now lives in California and travels to South Africa several times a year. "Amy would be very proud of this (awards program)," Biehl said. "She really encouraged people to get their educations and to get involved in things." But Amy also thought social activism should be tempered with "a sense of responsibility" that comes from "knowing the issues and being an informed citizen." The young people nominated for the Amy Biehl Youth Spirit Award, she added, "are those kinds of people with those kinds of values." 'Restorative justice' Despite the violent manner in which Amy died, the Biehl family was not consumed by anger or retribution. "We didn't have a lot of hatred and bitterness to begin with," Linda Biehl said. "The Truth and Reconciliation Commission was established prior to the elections, and we knew that, as did Amy. It was a vehicle to deal with the atrocities of violence committed by all parties. "Unlike the Nuremburg war trials or more vengeful processes, the approach here was restorative justice. So we were prepared for the fact that the young men who had been convicted by the Supreme Court and had been imprisoned would apply for amnesty." By the time the amnesty hearing was held in July 1997, the Biehls had already visited South Africa several times and had a deeper understanding of the people, their way of life and the political and socio-economic realities that led to the violence. That "institutionalized process" of reconciliation led to the young men's release from prison in 1998, and was followed by a "personal reconciliation process," in which they asked for forgiveness from the Biehl family. "It allowed us to meet their parents, their families, to be open to shaking their hands and looking them in the eyes," Biehl said. Two of the men, Easy Nofemela and Ntobeko Peni, became close to the Biehls and now work with the Amy Biehl Foundation Trust in South Africa. "They kind of adopted us as parents," Biehl said. "There is a great respect for elders in their community. And they trusted us." Nofemela, 32, never saw Amy Biehl before that tragic day in August 1993. But he knows that he is now and forever inextricably tied to the legacy of the young woman who smiles at him from photographs hung throughout the building in which he works. "It is a difficult thing to explain or talk about over the telephone," he said. "At that time, we were just committed to liberate the country. She (Amy) represented a settler— the people who came to our country and then colonized and oppressed us." Nofemela, like others of his age, grew up indoctrinated to fight the white oppressors. The ongoing struggle interrupted their formal schooling as they marched chanting the slogans, "Liberation Before Education," and "One Settler, One Bullet." In the years since apartheid ended, Nofemela said, the country has made progress. "We now have proper houses, better jobs. There is no more discrimination. We are all working together." And there is healing, as evidenced by the affection he holds for Linda Biehl. "To me, reconciliation is about two people sitting in the same room, talking to each other, sharing their differences, forgiving each other and loving each other." Programs for kids There is plenty of love to go around in the Amy Biehl Foundation Trust, which supports 8,000 kids age 5-16, enrolled in a host of programs— after- school educational programs, sports, art, music, theater, and community health and outreach programs. Many of these kids "had not been to school before they were 12 or 13," Biehl said, so the foundation's presence is a welcome resource in the crowded, poverty-stricken townships. The townships remain dangerous, although "whites are not necessarily targeted," she said. "But there is violent crime, mostly because of poverty, drug abuse, alcoholism and unemployment. Amy died during a politically violent time. We're trying to address issues that kids are dealing with today to help give them skills, safe places to go and opportunities, so they don't have to resort to violence." Unemployment throughout South Africa hovers around 26 percent. But in some of the poorer townships, unemployment is often more than 70 percent, she said. Despite these conditions, "we came to this country because people asked us to come and see it," Biehl said. "Once we got hooked, we couldn't unhook ourselves. There's something very compelling, very earthy about this place. There's a beat here." If you go WHAT: Amy Biehl Youth Spirit Award luncheon with featured speaker Linda Biehl WHEN: 11:30 a.m. June 24 WHERE: Albuquerque Marriott Hotel, 2101 Louisiana NE HOW MUCH: Tickets are $45 and are available from the Albuquerque office of the sponsoring agency, New Mexico Voices For Children, 2340 Alamo SE, Suite 120, or by calling 244-9505, ext. 10. Upcoming movie The story of Amy Biehl's life, death and legacy will be told in an upcoming film and book. Reese Witherspoon, who attended Amy Biehl's alma mater, Stanford University, is expected to act in the title role, as well as produce the film. A screenplay is being developed by writer Naomi Foner, mother of sibling actors Jake and Maggie Gyllenhaal. The book, which also will focus on South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission and efforts toward restorative justice, is being written by Linda Biehl, Amy's mother, in conjunction with a professional writer. Linda Biehl said some of the proceeds from the film and the book will help to financially sustain the Amy Biehl Foundation Trust in South Africa, which needs about $50,000 monthly to operate its programs. .
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