Dear Friend,
On April 30, AFSC celebrated 105 years since our founding in 1917. Throughout our history, AFSC has mobilized and represented Friends on the forefront of social change movements, carrying out work that many considered experimental and sometimes taking unpopular stands on controversial issues.
This month, we invite you – and all Friends – to fill out this short, secure, online questionnaire. It will help us build effective communications and work together. Please share it with your meetings, churches, and any Friends you know.
Here are some ways you can engage with AFSC, plus a few updates on our work:
Register for Holy Voices from the Border: Restore Asylum Now (May 12, 7 p.m. ET): This month’s Holy Voices webinar, hosted with the Interfaith Immigration Coalition (IIC), will focus on access to asylum at the southern border. Join us for a discussion with faith leaders and advocates about the impact of recent and upcoming changes to Title 42 and Remain in Mexico (MPP), how faith-based organizations at the border are supporting arriving migrants, and how we can all advocate for a just and welcoming asylum system.
May Palestinian rights webinar (May 17, 12 p.m. ET): This webinar will feature the premiere of a short film that follows Mohammad, Defense for Children International Palestine's field researcher in Gaza, through his work documenting human rights violations against Palestinian children. Mohammad will be joining live to further discuss his work, issues impacting Palestinian children in Gaza such as access to health care and education, and what it's like to raise his own children.
Epistle to Yearly Meetings: This year, we have made some remarkable strides together. AFSC, along with regional partners in the Horn of Africa, are launching a new hub for Africa-based research and advocacy on key migration and peace issues. In the U.S., we have provided immigration organizing workshops with 11,000 people in attendance and legal advocacy that helped release 120 people from immigration detention last year. Learn more what we have been working on and read the full report here.
North Star presentations for Friends: Today over 1.8 million people are locked away in the U.S., more per capita than any other country. But we still have high rates of violence. It’s time to do something different. AFSC has identified seven guideposts on the path toward abolition. Together, they light the way forward, serving as our “North Star.” We invite you to learn more about our “North Star” and engage with AFSC in spirit-led activism. If your meeting is interested in hosting a “North Star” presentation, please contact friends@afsc.org.
Join in an AFSC Meeting for Worship, Witness, and Solidarity: Every two months, we are inviting the entire AFSC community to gather in virtual (Zoom) Quaker worship. This is a time for togetherness, when we can stand together to surpass the turmoil of today and build a world filled with peace and justice. Join this meeting at 3 p.m. ET on May 31 and use this link to join the meeting.
Pledge to divest for immigrant justice: Are you part of an organization, campaign, faith community, or other group that organizes around immigrant justice? We are inviting your group to join us in divesting from the industries that profit from the surveillance, detention, and deportation of immigrants.
Join us for Poor People’s Campaign June 18 mobilization: AFSC is again partnering with the Poor People’s Campaign to mobilize thousands to our nation’s capital this June. AFSC is asking that liaisons consider becoming a bus captain to mobilize a small group of Friends and community members to the event. Contact Jacob Flowers, Regional Director for the U.S. South (jflowers@afsc.org), for more information and to start getting your folks signed up to get on the bus!
And don’t forget to follow AFSC on social media!: Stay up to date on upcoming events and ways to take action by joining us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Thank you for your continued support of AFSC’s work and all that you do in working for a more just and peaceful world!
Blessings,
Sofia Di Pietro
Communications Associate
P.S. You can find more ways to get involved at our updated Friends Engage page.