By Alex Frazier

Recent high school graduate Alex Frazier was a participant in AFSC's Human Rights Learning Project in Washington, D.C. She writes about her experience taking part in successful advocacy efforts for a comprehensive parental and sick leave policy in the District.

I visited my friend on Friday. As I stood on his doorstep I looked at the rosy, streaked sky. Chimney swifts flitted by. He opened the door and let me in. We have been creating for one another sanctuary, a place to ignite our political imagination, to speak our fears and our aspirations, to tell each other stories. We grow stronger together to resist and create.

Lester is a 44-yr old African American male who has been incarcerated for 23 plus years. He is a God-fearing man who is seeking redemption and salvation from a dark and dysfunctional past. He is driven by the determination to have a brighter and flourishing future as a free man, with a career as a writer and business owner.  He would also like to use his past to inform and help the youth, in deterring them from making the mistakes he's made in life. He would like to participate in gang prevention counseling.

My name is Dudley J. Rue III and although my body is incarcerated, by the grace of God my mind is free. Writing provides freedom to me!

Joseph Gerson serves as director of AFSC's Peace and Economic Security Program, based in Cambridge, Mass. He has worked with AFSC since 1976. Read more.

Note: This piece is in a series of stories about spiritual journeys in prison, written by incarcerated people. Read more here and here. 

Fake news has been a hot topic this year, so much so that Politifact wrote an in-depth article discussing it and “post-truth” was chosen as the Oxford Dictionary’s word of the year.

As Congress headed back to their districts for their recess, thousands of angry constituents across the country attended local "town halls" to make their voices heard. Both Democrats and Republicans are facing strong criticisms for their failure to take positive actions to protect human rights and the environment. Here's what we’re reading to learn more:

Watch these videos of furious voters holding Republicans accountable at town halls across America, by Katherine Krueger via Fusion

New executive order doubles down on failed policies that drove crime, violence, and human rights violations in Mexico.

Amid the turbulence of recent weeks, a lot of us have struggled to absorb the portent of all the Trump administration’s actions. Of three executive orders issued by the White House on Feb. 9, for example, most news stories focused on the orders' false claims about crime within the United States, border militarization, and protection of U.S. police.