When I opened my mailbox last night, I found an envelope with a card in it from the Friends Meeting of Washington (FMW). It was a thank you card signed by several meeting members for my getting arrested on July 13 at an interfaith civil disobedience action with Reverend William Barber in defense of universal healthcare. As a new sojourner at FMW, I was deeply touched by the meeting’s support for this action.

Steve Chase is a member of Putney Friends Meeting in Vermont and the author of "Letters to a Fellow Seeker: A Short Introduction to the Quaker Way," as well as the Pendle Hill Pamphlets, "Revelation and Revolution: Answering the Call to Radical Faithfulness" and "Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions? A Quaker Zionist Rethinks Palestinian Rights." Steve is currently the Manager of Academic Initiatives for the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict in Washington, DC.

After a five-year campaign, Providence, Rhode Island passed one of the country's most progressive ordinances on policing. 

Linda was only a high school senior when the Providence City Council appointed her to a working group charged with finalizing language for the proposed “Community Safety Act”—an ordinance to hold police accountable and reduce racial profiling in Providence. 

A bill called the Israel Anti-Boycott Act is gaining traction in the Senate. The bill—sponsored by 29 Republicans and 14 Democrats—would make supporting the international boycott against Israel a felony punishable by up to a $1 million fine and 20 years in prison. Here’s what we’re reading to learn more: 

Last July, my six housemates and I finally finished hauling all our furniture off the enormous moving truck and sat down in the cross-breeze of two fans to hash out who lived in what room in our rented Victorian rowhouse in West Philadelphia.  

The AFSC Michigan Criminal Justice Program held focus groups to collect the stories of men and women who served long time in Michigan’s prisons and are now out in the community, doing well and contributing to society.

Young leaders from around the world share their experiences. 

By Cristina Rosa Tono

Last month, 13 youth leaders from the U.S. and around the world took part in AFSC’s fifth annual Human Rights Summit in Washington, D.C. The summit was organized by Jean-Louis Peta Ikambana, AFSC director of Peace and Economic Justice, and led by program graduates Alex Garrison and Jodie Geddes.