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.

Organizer Fatema Ahmad explains how community members took action when a known hate group announced an anti-Muslim march in Raleigh.

When I first heard that ACT for America—the largest Islamophobic group in the country—had planned “anti-Shariah” marches in multiple cities across the U.S., I wondered how it would all play out.

Fatema Ahmad is deputy director at the Muslim Justice League in Boston. She is a former biomedical engineer turned community organizer who is passionate about fighting the criminalization of marginalized communities. As deputy director, she spearheads much of our local organizing and advocacy work as well as leading the national StopCVE coalition calls. Fatema is also heavily involved in the #BosCops collective, where we work with other organizations and individuals on fighting abusive policing in and around Boston.

This week, world leaders are gathering in Hamburg, Germany for the G20 summit, where they face internal tensions and massive protests. Here’s what we’re reading to learn more.

Beneath dramatic G20 clashes, a deep demand for a better world, by Jessica Corbett via Common Dreams

"Knowing better doesn't mean we abandon hope. We will continue to do the necessary work to ensure a world with liberation." 

By Miraf Kebede and Sara Osman

Read part 1 of "Quaker and Transgender," an interview with Elijah Walker, here. 

Elijah Walker grew up in Northeast Arkansas, and moved to Portland two years ago to do Quaker Voluntary Service. He stayed on for a second year, the alumni fellowship. He works at West Hills Friends Church, which is a liberal, semi-programmed meeting in Portland.