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Michigan to launch story site of people’s experiences in prison
The AFSC Michigan Criminal Justice Program invites you to join them in launching Let Me Tell You: Every Sentence has a Story! Hear directly from people who have lived the reality of long sentences—and those who love people serving long sentences. We are building power from the ground up to address harm in our communities through liberation strategies. Long punishment does NOT make us safer.
Hear stories of how individuals survive, cope, and even thrive through long imprisonment and punishment. Celebrate our full humanity together! Gain tools for how to facilitate powerful heart-change work in your larger networks and communities. See Facebook for more on this June 24 event. Check out Instagram for a preview of these stories.
Twin Cities hosts four-part Know Your Rights series
Police raids and no-knock warrants were the subjects of a recent Twin Cities/YUIR series available for watching on Instagram. Presented in partnership with the Minneapolis Legal Rights Center, the series’ intent is to keep everyone safe. A special young person gave his firsthand experience of his encounter with a police raid. Stay tuned for an upcoming Know Your Rights: Train the Trainer opportunity.
AFSC celebrates Joshua Saleem’s decade of service
Since 2012, Joshua Saleem has directed AFSC’s work in St. Louis, supporting young people in peer mediation efforts and advocating for real student safety. Having now earned a law degree, Joshua will begin a new career soon with the Missouri State Public Defender. With this collection of photos, we thank our friend and colleague for his service and wish him the very best.
McConnell Fellow Alicia Brown at a reparations exhibit in Chicago
Art exhibit looks at police violence and the so-called “War on Terror”
Remaking the Exceptional: Tea, Torture and Reparations from Chicago to Guantanamo is an AFSC-supported exhibit at the DePaul Art Museum. AFSC staff recently led a tour of the powerful art, including pieces by AFSC staff and many works by torture survivors and others who have been impacted. AFSC’s work is well reflected in the exhibit’s focus on collective action. Learn more about Chicago Peacebuilding’s current work, including a Summer Youth Organizing Institute.
Chicagoans rally for justice. Photo: Jennifer Bing
Chicagoans mark Nakba anniversary, call for justice for Shireen Abu Akleh
AFSC joined others in Chicago to mark the 74th anniversary of the Nakba or “catastrophe,” the 1948 destruction of the Palestinian homeland. People also called for justice following the Israeli military’s murder of Shireen Abu Akleh, a Palestinian-American journalist. Learn more about the current work of AFSC’s Palestine Activism Program, and join us for the next No Way to Treat a Child webinar on Tuesday, June 14, at 7 pm CT. The focus will be on sustaining advocacy for Palestinian children’s rights.
Iowans rally for reproductive rights.
Short takes
In light of the leaked draft of the draft US Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, indigenous leaders in Des Moines organized a rally for our Missing and Murdered Relatives and in support of reproductive rights (see photos from Quaker blogger Jeff Kisling and Jon Krieg of AFSC). Take action for reproductive justice….Here’s the latest movement update from AFSC alums at Iowa Migrant Movement for Justice….Quakers gathered at Council House Friends Meeting in Oklahoma last week for the 2022 session of Great Plains Yearly Meeting….General Mills is divesting from Israel following a campaign led by AFSC….Read AFSC’s Annual Report for 2021.
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