St Louis News June 2022

By Jonathan Pulphus

Jun 30, 2022

AFSC St. Louis alum Joshua Saleem is sworn in as an attorney. Missouri Bar / AFSC

As June comes to a close, so too does a legenday bid.

Our AFSC St. Louis Program Director Joshua Saleem no longer serves the organization after 10 years of justice work. Staff got an opportunity to share their farewells in serveral ways. One method was through a KudoBoard which you can add to here.

Words can not describe the many memories, lessons, obstacles, and laughs that the office has journeyed with him in St. Louis. I am happy for the new colleagues he will be making and heartened by the legacy he has set. In a world where social ills persist,

Bro. Saleem was always there for youth, community, and transformation. How he faced injustices, in light of the climate around women's rights and many other issues, has always demanded that we be reminded to have joy as we continue to resist. Included in this letter is a farewell note from Joshua, updates, and the usual items.

Enjoy.

With Love,

Jonathan Pulphus
Program Associate

A FAREWELL NOTE FROM JOSHUA SALEEM
FORMER ST. LOUIS PEACE PROGRAM DIRECTOR

What If...

My mother was an evangelical Christian and my father was a Muslim. Although I never saw them wrestle with their faiths because they divorced, growing up, religious and political debates were on the table just as much as the food was. Especially when my grandmother was alive and on holidays like Christmas and Thanksgiving, I remember debates around political parties, church scandals, and everything in between. Another debate that wasn’t as common but still came up often was who, between Batman and Superman, was the superior superhero. Uncles, aunties, and cousins would make compelling arguments on both sides with no clear winner being declared in the end. What those dinnertime debates sparked for me was a lifelong love of the science fiction and fantasy genre.

What I love about sci-fi and fantasy is that we are free to create and explore seemingly impossible worlds that prompt us to ask, “What if something different than our current reality is possible?” I’d like to believe that the same muscles sci-fi/fantasy fans flex every time we dive into a new book, season of Star Trek, or latest Marvel movie are the same muscles activists and organizers flex when we do social change work. Walidah Imarisha explains this connection more thoroughly in the introduction to Octavia’s Brood: Science Fiction Stories from Social Justice Movements. (I'm grateful to the organizer who recommended this book and would definitely recommend it to you all.) Whether in social justice spaces or sci-fi conventions, we’re all asking, “What if...”

As I prepare for my transition from AFSC this, I’ve been thinking about our youth work over the last 10 years with that framing. With each activity, project, workshop, or campaign we’ve been confronting our current reality and casting a vision of an alternate future asking...

What if we didn’t have to watch our peers’ conflict escalate into violence?
What if there is a better way to respond to student harm that doesn’t include suspension and expulsion?
What if race and racism weren’t immutable facts but could be undone?
What if safety doesn’t mean the presence of security and police?
What if actual safety is the absence of security guards and police in schools?
What if we actually listened to young people instead of tokenizing them?
What if we didn’t have to live in communities with police?
What if school safety had nothing to do with an armed security guard or police officer in school?
What if part of every non-profit's vision and mission was to be so effective that they no longer need to exist in 10-15 years?
What if black lives mattered?
What if school district budgets divested from models that punish and harm students and invested in models that truly support students?
What if city budgets divested from the police and incarcerate model and invested in resources that prevented and reduced community harm?
What if destroying the school-to-prison pipeline wasn’t just a pipe dream?
What if we built institutions that come from, are led by, and are accountable to black and brown communities?
What if we grew our own food to provide for ourselves what others will not?
What if we paid young people for their time instead of expecting them to contribute to this work for free?

I am most grateful for my partner, Taylor, without whom I would not have even applied for the position. She and my family believe in me even as I wrestle with self-doubt. I am grateful for the volunteers, mentors, and AFSC St. Louis staff who have contributed and will continue to contribute to this justice work.

My last day at AFSC is June 13, 2022. I’ll be joining the Missouri State Public Defender’s Office where I’ll continue asking “What if?” in the criminal legal system. I am grateful for the privilege to do this work with some amazing young people in the St. Louis. Visionary fiction legend Octavia Butler said it best when she said, “All that you touch You Change. All that you Change Changes you. The only lasting truth is Change.” I am grateful for this opportunity through the AFSC to touch and change my community here in St. Louis and am blessed to have been changed in the process.

I can always be reached via email: joshuasaleem[at]gmail[dot]com.

YOUTH ADVOCATES FOR HEALING
GO BOWLING AT TROPICANA LANES

Members of YAHL came together to enjoy refreshments and fun at Tropicana Lanes this past Sunday June 26th. All of the youth members did an excellent job bowling. However, our St. Louis Program Associate Jonathan Pulphus ended up taking home the Win. We look forward to connecting more with young people to help bring levity to the work.

AFSC STL HIRES KATIE MCSWAIN

On June 16 AFSC confirmed the appointment of Katie McSwain as our Potts Intern. Katie is a graduate of Kirkwood High School and currently attends Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Her role largely addresses the Youth Advocacy work tied to the Real Student Safety Project. You can reach Katie at stlouis@afsc.org.

YAHL WORK ON ADVOCACY PROJECTS
& ATTEND PUBLIC INFORMATION REQUEST TEACH-IN

Throughout the spring/early summer, our YAHL members have been working on activism projects tied to addressing ills in their communities or schools with an anti-racist lens. Some of the young people have decided to address Security Officers, Nutrition, and Critical Race Theory. More updates are to come on the status of how these projects are going.

Additionally, YAHL members were assigned to complete a questionnaire following a teach-in Bro. Saleem hosted around Public Information Requests. This is a tool to increase transparency and help advocates identify trends within data.