As people across the country prepare to go to the polls, we take a look at voter suppression, felony disenfranchisement, and voter ID laws. 

Disenfranchised by misinformation: Many Americans are allowed to vote but don't know it, by Victoria Law via Truthout

This is a story about an AFSC project to build social cohesion among Palestinian communities to discuss how best to reach a just and lasting peace.

A Palestinian dress flees from its large wooden box, where it was kept for safekeeping for years, and flies over the sky of Gaza to return to its original owner in Jaffa.

An elderly grandfather wakes up one morning and sees his orange groves in Haifa in full bloom.

Since we last featured the #NoDAPL occupation in What We’re Reading, thousands more have traveled to North Dakota to join the Standing Rock Sioux tribe in the struggle to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline. On Thursday, heavily armed law enforcement attacked the encampment with armored trucks, sound cannons, and bulldozers, arresting over 140 people.

Here’s what we’re reading to learn more:

An interview with the director of the Good Neighbor Project of the AFSC Michigan Criminal Justice Program. 

Can you tell us about your work at AFSC?

From getting clean water to keeping a business open, the blockade is all about "finding ways to survive.”

Two weeks ago I was in Gaza to meet with AFSC’s staff and partners. I’ve been visiting Gaza at least a couple of times each year for most of the last nine years. During that time, I’ve watched the Gaza blockade evolve. 

This week, AFSC announced that it has endorsed the policy platform put forward by the Movement for Black Lives. This powerful platform puts forward a bold vision for racial, economic, and social justice. It is essential reading for anyone interested in these issues, and can be downloaded in booklet form. 

A new report by AFSC in Arizona exposes the growing "Treatment Industrial Complex"

The private prison industry has been in the news lately, and the news hasn’t been good. First the U.S. Department of Justice announced its plan to end its contracts with for-profit prison companies.

Emily Verdugo is the program coordinator for AFSC's Arizona office. An Arizona native, Emily grew up in Pinal County, the epicenter of prison privatization in Arizona. Emily served as City Council member for the City of Coolidge and has served on various boards and committees, including the Governor’s Commission on Service and Volunteerism and the Arizona Community Action Association.