While advocating to end “stop and frisk” in New York City, I once asked my son, who was 16 at the time, “Have you ever been stopped by the police?” and he responded, “Yeah, but it’s no big deal, that’s what they do.” My son, like almost all young men of color, have come to accept as normal their broken, diminished status in our society.

More than 50 years ago, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. warned that “a nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.”

Dr. King’s moral equation—spoken at a time when the U.S. was raining bombs and napalm on the people of Vietnam—still applies today. In December 2019, Congress approved more than $738 billion in military spending, and under the Trump administration, tensions with other countries have intensified, raising the potential for conflict.

Hold Israel accountable for killing Palestinian protesters by taking action here.

We are told that the killing of over 60 people in Gaza on May 14th was justified because among the tens of thousands of protesters there were some individuals who may have had violent intent. 

As the U.S. and Israel celebrated the move of the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem on May 14, Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank continued to protest the systematic denial of their rights. As U.S. officials spoke in Jerusalem about how their actions will bring peace, Palestinians were being killed in Gaza.

The House just passed a prison reform bill— but it falls far short of meaningful change. 

By Denise Lee and Lewis Webb, Jr.

This week, the House of Representatives voted overwhelming to pass the FIRST STEP Act, a bipartisan bill that would make extremely limited changes to America’s federal prisons. Over the past decade, support has grown across the political spectrum to address the harm of mass incarceration, with many calling for an end to overly punitive sentences that have swelled prison populations.  

The month of Ramadan unites Muslims all around the world in learning patience and strength in times of adversity while centering ourselves in resilience and hope and surrendering ourselves to God through detachment from worldly desires. 

Muslims around the world are also united through our experiences with systems that continue to demonize all who fit its racialized construction of what it means to be Muslim and the consequences of the “war on terror.” 

An interview with AFSC Communities Against Islamophobia trainers Umaymah Mohammad and Ahmed Abbas

Umaymah Mohammad and Ahmed Abbas work on AFSC’s Communities Against Islamophobia (CAI) project in Indianapolis as recipients of the Jane Brown McLeod Internship. As coordinator of CAI, I’ve been impressed with their work to train allies to recognize and counter anti-Muslim racism.