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by Madeline Schaefer
On March 26, I watched Facebook turn red as friend after friend switched their profile picture to a red and pink equal sign, a graphic first posted by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) in support of gay marriage during the Supreme Court’s ruling over the fate of California’s Proposition 8.
What followed on my newsfeed was not a string of peaceful “likes” and affirmative comments, but rather intense debate among liberals and progressives about the...
Note: Tory Smith is an intern working for AFSC’s Wage Peace and Israel/Palestine programs. He is a Quaker. He presented this piece as part of a panel of faith-based activists at the Justice Conference hosted in Philadelphia in February.
In this post Tory explores the ways in which pacifism can be carried dogmatically without an authentic connection with the people most marginalized by a particular situation. He also explores how knowing a person’s story changes what you see, and that single incidents of violence are understood differently when you understand the structural violence...
by Lucy Duncan
“No more hurting people. Peace.” - Martin Richard, 8, killed at the Boston Marathon bombings
The blast sends shock waves
Waves of fear, of anger, of confusion
Waves of caring, of love, of tenderness
Images of the explosions and of the bleeding cut to the heart
Who could do such a thing?
The day after the bombings,...
Note: Today, tax day, Paul Sheldon, a Quaker peace activist, posted on Facebook that he has for several years underpaid his federal income taxes as a witness against war. I invited him to send us the letter he includes when he files his taxes and he sent it to me to be published here. The amount he excludes from his tax check in modest, $25, but he always includes a letter and feels that this witness is a small, but meaningful step, in opposing war. He invites others to join him in this witness, as led. - Lucy
by Paul Sheldon
For decades I have refused to pay a...
“People can be transformed by being open and human. We believe that people have a need to be heard, but how they are heard really matters – if they take the risk of telling their story, it needs to make a difference.” – Denise Altvater
On March 1 and 2 more than 100 of us gathered at Friends Center in Philadelphia for the AFSC Corporation Meeting. For two days, Quakers and AFSC staff worshipped together, engaged in business, and learned ways to work in partnership for peace and justice. A strong spirit of mutual respect and common cause drew us together as Friends and staff...
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Lucy Duncan is AFSC’s Friends Liaison. She has been a storyteller for almost 20 years and in n the past five years has begun working with Quaker meetings to help Friends to tell stories of spiritual experience. Lucy is a member of Goshen Friends Meeting of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting. She lives at Friends Southwestern Burial Ground in the caretaker's house with her husband, the caretaker, and her 10-year-old son.
Madeline Schaefer is the Friends Relations Fellow at AFSC. She grew up in Philadelphia, surrounded by Quakers of all shapes and sizes. After searching for stories and adventure in distant, cooler climes, she returned home only to find the richest ones right in her backyard. Madeline lives with five lovely people in West Philadelphia, and is involved with Quakers throughout the Philadelphia region.
