Bonnie Kerness
Celebrating 50 years of working for healing justice with AFSC
Bonnie Kerness started her 50-year journey at the American Friends Service Committee as a young tenant organizer in Elizabeth, NJ, where she helped build a citywide coalition to support the right to housing.
Prior to joining AFSC she was an organizer during the civil rights movement in the South, an experience which provided her with a deep anti-racist analysis that drives her work to this day. Bonnie recognized that the carceral system in the United States was in a profound spiritual crisis. Her steady and passionate efforts to dismantle these systems have had local, regional, and national impacts. She helped raised awareness of the human rights violations that occur daily in U.S. prisons, highlighted the humanity of people inside, and ensured that their voices are brought forward as the struggle for change continues.
Photo: AFSC Archives
celebrating 50 years
"Bonnie Kerness is an incredible gift to the universe. I am infinitely grateful for her work, her character, her love, her commitment. I met Bonnie about eight years ago early into my research on art and mass incarceration. She has become a trusted friend, interlocutor, and advisor. Bonnie is so generous with her time and expertise. She is the embodiment of a change maker, of someone who is enacting beloved community."
—Nicole Fleetwood
Author of Marking Time: Art in the Age of Mass Incarceration
Photo: AFSC archives
celebrating 50 years
"Bonnie is a force of nature! It is an
honor anytime I am in the room
with her. She is on my list of heroes,
past and present, and a million
thanks to her now and always. "
—Johanna Foster
Co-founder, (the former) Clinton College Bound Consortium, and Co-facilitator, Monmouth University Academic Exchange in Prison Project (with Eleanor Novek)
Photo: AFSC Archives
celebrating 50 years
"While I reflect on Bonnie’s work
towards healing and justice, I’d
like to lift up her commitment
to young people. I’ve marveled
at her work with the Liberation
Summer campers, interns and
young volunteers. Bonnie has
been and continues to be an
amazing teacher, facilitator,
colleague, and champion to me"
—LEWIS WEBB
Photo: AFSC Archives
celebrating 50 years
"I had the opportunity to work
with Bonnie in the area of healing
justice when I was in the national
AFSC office as well as the Newark,
NJ AFSC office. Hard to believe
she has been at AFSC for 50
years—yet I can’t imagine AFSC
without her. I continue to marvel
and appreciate not just Bonnie’s
passion for the work but her fierce
commitment to each of those
most adversely impacted by the
“justice” system. Congratulations
and thank you Bonnie."
—PAT CLARK
Photo: AFSC New York
Celebrating 50 years
"I was so impressed that I invited
Bonnie and Ojore to speak to my
students at Wesleyan and Yale and
subsequently organized a public
exhibition of Ojore’s collages
at Wesleyan’s Zilkha Gallery.
Bonnie’s work with Ojore is only
the tip of the iceberg. She is an
extraordinary activist who raises
public awareness and gets concrete
results that change lives, laws,
and attitudes. Bonnie Kerness is a
national treasure who embodies
every ideal that makes me proud
to be associated with AFSC."
—RON JENKINS
Professor, Wesleyan University Visiting Professor, Yale Divinity School
Photo: AFSC Archives
celebrating 50 years
"As a radical filmmaker, working
with and knowing Bonnie has
reminded me of the dedication
one needs to continue to move
forward when organizing in this
country. Oftentimes, when the
thought of “giving up” creeps in, I
think back to Bonnie and I’s work
and conversations. Thank you
Bonnie for always believing me
and trusting with telling your story."
—DARYL BROWN
Photo: AFSC Archives
celebrating 50 years
"Bonnie Kerness is a Living Legacy
of Results, of Love & of Service to
others, to improve & progress issues
of humanity in carceral spaces.
Her work will live “far” beyond
her years & our children’s path
has been made better because
of her. We can only try to be the
light she shines upon us all to
truly appreciate her calling."
—CUQUI RIVERA
Latino Action Network, Criminal Justice Reform Chair
Donate to the New Jersey Prison Watch program
Honor Bonnie's life work by supporting the NJ Prison Watch program's ongoing commitment to empowering individuals harmed by criminal justice policies and violence.
Photo: Ester Jove Soligue
