A still image from the documentary The Feeling of Being Watched. The Feeling of Being Watched / AFSC
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Twin Cities youth resist surveillance, build organizing tools
AFSC’s Youth Undoing Institutional Racism group in St. Paul recently hosted a screening of the film The Feeling of Being Watched, followed by a discussion led by local activists featuring the filmmaker Assia Boundaoui. The focus was on CVE and the surveillance of youth of color, immigrants, and those impacted by mass incarceration. AFSC also hosted an “Organizing 101” workshop which asked, among other things, ‘How can we build a comprehensive movement so that our different tactics support the same mission, instead of putting us in conflict with one another?” AFSC is pleased to welcome new intern Ebelin Morales.
Style up with hats from the Muslim Youth Collective (MYC) in Indy
MYC’s “InshaAllah to Liberation” hats are ready for purchase. All caps are $20 each, so let us know if you want to rock some MYC gear and you’ll have yours in no time. (The MYC is supported by AFSC’s Communities Against Islamophobia.)
On July 25, AFSC is joining the Indy 10 Black Lives Matter and IMPD Transparency demanding action and answers from the mayor and police chief regarding recent acts of police violence and potential police misconduct. On July 26, AFSC is co-hosting a Shabbat for All on “Challenging Conversations on Israel/Palestine.”
St. Louis Friend blogs on reproductive rights
Sarah Rose is originally from Maryland and has been attending Quaker Meeting in St. Louis for over a year. She has also been organizing with AFSC St. Louis’ Undoing Racism Core Team over the last year.
“My beliefs demand that I advocate on behalf of those I am in community with, and that I stand for the rights of those around me,” Sarah writes in a recent AFSC blog. “That I stand with those who seek abortion and trust their integrity that it is the right choice for them. That I recognize that the lack of access to safe, affordable abortions disproportionately affects black and brown folk, poor folk, young folk, and folks living in rural areas.”
Youth leaders in Ohio learn about civic engagement
The main goal of a recent AFSC-sponsored Civic Engagement for Systemic Change Workshop was to create awareness and educate youth leaders about their collective power and voices to advocate for equal access to opportunities that would foster their social mobility in Ohio. The workshop was also designed to prepare youth leaders for study tours to the Ohio Governor’s Office of Opportunities for New Americans. The proposed study tours will particularly empower the young people of African descent to pursue their dream career and entrepreneurship training opportunities in Ohio.
Moms Against the Camps occupy Senator’s office demanding action
At the federal building in Des Moines, 100 moms and their kids noisily protested child separation and detention at the US border by occupying the office of US Sen. Joni Ernst and demanding prompt action. As one person said, “We need to ask her, as a mother, would she be happy if her child was locked in a cage?” And while Sen. Ernst agreed to a phone meeting but refused to budge, the moms and kids received wide media attention for their witness, including Ms. Magazine, Now This, WHO-TV, and local video.
Convening in Michigan looks at ending long-term incarceration
Natalie Holbrook, who directs AFSC Michigan’s Criminal Justice program, writes, “We held a beautiful and hard convening on Ending Perpetual Punishment for two days at Wayne State. Folks from around the country met to strategize, share and unify around how we can get more people free from prisons and shift our reliance on punishment for harms in communities to a more holistic set of practices that promote healing and remedy for the acts of violence and harm.” Above, Natalie introduces keynote speaker Marc Mauer of The Sentencing Project.
Stopping Islamophobia
Have you ever been angered by U.S. foreign policy? Grown facial hair? Worshiped at a mosque? If you said “yes” to any of these questions, you might be considered a potential violent extremist by the U.S. government under its racist Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) program. AFSC’s Communities Against Islamophobia project supports Muslim and Arab-led organizing to stop CVE in communities around the U.S. Because CVE programs are essentially surveillance programs, recent iterations of the program have rebranded, using progressive-sounding language to obscure their true intent. Learn more in this article and on this site.
Free Gaza Flotilla caps days of action in Chicago
AFSC joined with Voices for Creative Nonviolence and others to host three days of action last weekend as part of Chicago4Gaza. Events included an educational forum, an action at Boeing’s headquarters protesting their supply of military equipment to Israel, and a colorful flotilla on the Chicago River. Jehad Abusalim of AFSC was interviewed on WBEZ about the protests of the blockade of Gaza and also for this article about how survivors deal with war and occupation.
Bits and Peaces
Brant Rosen, Regional Director of AFSC’s Midwest Region, gave the invocation at a large rally in Chicago protesting detention and deportation. He wrote this piece in Newsweek, was interviewed by Jacobin magazine, and was quoted in the Chicago Tribune….Check out these 8 ways you can defend against ICE raids and share this Know Your Rights toolkit in Spanish and English….Canadian Friend and photographer Larry Tayler took part in AFSC’s “Social Justice and Photography” workshop at the recent FGC Gathering in Iowa. He blogs about his latest project looking at men, violence and vulnerability.
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