Published:
Monday, October 21, 2013
The ACLU of Washington has many wonderful interns who assist with our work. We would like you to meet some of them.
When asked why he is interning with the ACLU, Nathan Hards spoke of “putting knowledge into action.” He is interested in racial and class inequality, and graduated from Western Washington University in Political Science, focusing on race and public policy for contemporary African Americans. His final project focused on social class issues, as he found that significant issues in our country increasingly arise from divisions of class. His professor for that project just happens to be a close friend of an ACLU-WA Board member and recommended that Nate start here.
Like many recent graduates, Nate is not exactly sure what he wants to do with his life long-term, but for now he wants to get involved in grass-roots advocacy at the local level. He wants to try to “taste everything” to figure out what he is most interested in and where he can most help to change injustice. He worries that “we are less willing to help each other out in this day and age” as group membership, values, and religion have faded in this country. So we tend to associate only with others in our geographical and social strata, and this leaves society more divided.
As a Legal Intake Counselor here at the ACLU, Nate helps to process letters and phone calls of people seeking help with individual problems. When the ACLU can’t directly help someone, it is Nate’s job to direct them to an organization that can. He finds the work hard but satisfying, and after a month is already becoming familiar with the resources that Washington has to offer. He is also learning about a variety of issues, as he also works on projects such as secular-religious hospital mergers when researching and editing help is needed.
While not at the ACLU, Nate walks his yellow lab and works at a restaurant in Snohomish. And he attends as many concerts as he can, particularly if they are Indian hip-hop; he recommends we all go check out artists Sam Lachow and Theophilus London.
