NJ families affected by U.S. immigration policies bring their stories to Washington, D.C.
Ruthie Jablonsky and Diana Levy
As coverage of the RNC and DNC conventions takes over our TVs and Facebook newsfeeds, we couldn't help but notice that coverage of violence directed at people outside the U.S. and Europe has once again fallen out of the media spotlight - despite major attacks in Istanbul, Dhaka, Baghdad, and Medina over the past three weeks. Here are three ways that peace and justice advocates can jump start the conversation.
As I spent some days off in my home country during the past Easter holidays in March, news of the bombings in Brussels and Lahore hit. Shortly after, already back in Jerusalem, I woke up with the news that the first group of refugees in Europe were being sent back to Turkey. Since then, hundreds have been killed in bombings and more violence in Istanbul, Baghdad, Dhaka, Medina, and today in Nice.
By Milca Kouame
Milca Kouame is a 16-year-old high school student who was born and raised in Newark, New Jersey. Her parents migrated to the U.S. from the Ivory Coast in the 1990s. Her father was deported when Milca was seven years old, and she has not seen him since.
This week, Milca joins other young people and advocates on an AFSC-sponsored trip to Washington, D.C., where they will share their stories with members of Congress as they call for humane and compassionate immigration reform.
Institutional racism is at the core of the brutal violence we all witnessed last week. Here are six ways that anyone can use messaging to advance racial justice.
This week, police officers shot and killed two Black men, Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Philando Castile in Falcon Heights, Minnesota. In 2016 alone, police have killed 566 people in the United States.
News outlets cover extremist groups like ISIS as either crazy or cunning, and sometimes both. Why does this matter? Because it makes military intervention seem like best response, when we know that violence doesn't work in the long run.
AFSC Iowa's Immigrant Voice Program gives young people the chance to tell their stories in their own way.
I was honored to be part of the awards ceremony for this year's Youth Video Contest, held by AFSC Iowa's Immigrant Voice Program.
In June, 2016 the Presbyterian Church USA and the Unitarian Universalists conferences met, considered, and passed resolutions/overtures related to Israel and Palestine, moving forward the work of church divestment from Israeli occupation. AFSC staff Jennifer Bing reflects here on her experience in Portland, Oregon with the Presbyterian Church sessions.