While recently attending the 2008 Lobby Days for Northern Uganda in Washington, DC with Invisible Children and Resolve Uganda, freshman political studies major Wesley Carter met Northeastern students Kay Beach and Amy Scheffler and Emerson College student Steph Costa. Little did the four students know that their relationship as fellow group members at the conference would evolve into co-founders of the NGO One Beat. However, when Carter returned to Gordon from the conference he was soon in contact with Beach, who was organizing a benefit concert at Northeastern. The four students began planning the concert together, but realizing their own potential, the group abandoned the plans for the concert in exchange for a different goal: the creation of the social justice group One Beat.
One Beat’s goal is to create a support system for social justice groups in the Boston area. Carter expressed that “Even if someone is working with Invisible Children, a huge organization, they can still feel very alone if they, or only a very small group in their community or school, is trying to make an impact. We realize that this can be very discouraging and disheartening.” Thus Carter and his fellow students created One Beat to help groups and individuals find the support they need in the community and “not only encourage them to keep fighting, but provide them with greater resources to make the change they wish to see in the world.” One Beat is about making connections.
Currently the group is involved predominantly in the peace process and reconstruction in Northern Uganda, but their long-term goals are nothing short of ambitious. While they have made contact with several social justice groups in the Boston area, the group hopes to help people be connected not only to national and international efforts, but within their own cities so they are supported within a smaller community. The group is working to become a 501c3 nonprofit and hopes that in the future One Beat will not just be One Beat Boston, but a One Beat Houston, One Beat New York City, etc.
Are you interested in being involved? One Beat is currently hoping to assist the homeless ministry to connect with the Haley House in Boston and Advocates for a Sustainable Future to learn how to compost leftovers from Lane by connecting them with a similar, successful program at Northeastern. Carter invites anyone who is interested in becoming involved with One Beat to get in touch with him. He can be reached at wesley.carter@gordon.edu
