Debbie Southorn works for the American Friends Service Committee in Chicago, where she supports community efforts and youth organizing to end policing and reimagine community safety. In 2012, she co-founded the Chicago chapter of Black & Pink, currently serves on the National Committee of the War Resisters League, and is a Board Member of the Chicago Freedom School.  She’s written about policing and white supremacy for outlets including Truthout, In These Times, and The Intercept.   

Learn how to intervene in public instances of racist, anti-Black, anti-Muslim, anti-Trans, anti-Semitic, and other forms of oppressive interpersonal violence and harassment.

Read more about Bystander Intervention

By Coloradans for Immigrants Rights, a project of AFSC

BDS is a nonviolent strategy that is an important tool to exert pressure for change. We'll look at widespread efforts to stop BDS and how we can address common criticisms of this approach and strategy.

Here are supportive resources:

Engaging Critis of BDS: A Tool for activists

Impact of BDS from the BDS National Committee website

If you saw the Nov. 7th White House briefing, you know that President Trump continues to demonize the migrant caravan (which is made up of several groups of travelers, including families with children) and to call for a wall and further militarization of the U.S.-Mexico border. 

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“Underlying the complexities of sanctuary's evolving role within civil society, the sanctuary covenant that gathers us into a people of peoples remains clear and present. Here in the borderlands, we join the generations that stand at Sinai. We hear ourselves called to become a people that hallows the earth — not by ritual or sacrifice, but by fulfilling our task as co-creators of humanity. At every turn we see that humankind has not yet been fully formed into an image of the Holy; many among us are violated.

AFSC grieves the tragic loss of 11 human lives from Saturday’s Tree of Life shooting and its far-reaching impact on Pittsburgh's communities. We also lift up those people injured from violence in the Squirrel Hill shooting and in the early morning shootings in Lincoln-Lemington, along with the hundreds of Pittsburghers impacted by gun violence every year.  

A look at the colonialist and racist roots of the words we use to describe young people – and why that needs to change

At risk. Thugs. Illegals. There are many harmful words that people in power often use to describe communities – especially poor youth of color – around the world. 

Today, young leaders around the world are leading a campaign to build awareness and change those linguistic behaviors.