Jerry Elster is the Healing Justice Coordinator for American Friends Service Committee (AFSC). He is also a formerly incarcerated person currently pursuing a MA in forensic psychology. He has worked in the field of Mentoring, Substance Abuse Counseling, Restorative Justice, and Advocacy. He serves on the advisory board for Oakland & the World, a venture to aid formerly incarcerated people and those facing employment challenges to gain cooperative economic advancement by becoming owners of their own businesses.

A few picks from AFSC staff this week:

“Why NATO has become one of the most destructive forces on the planet,” by Vijay Prashad, AlterNet

Learn about the work of Nonviolent Peaceforce, nominated by AFSC for the Nobel Peace Prize.

As a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1947, AFSC is able to nominate a candidate for the peace prize to the Oslo Committee every year.

A few picks from AFSC staff this week:

“A year after Freddie Gray's death, a look at media's coverage of the Baltimore uprising,” by Kenrya Rankin, Colorlines

“As time went by my heart would ache for strange things: the feel of cool grass under my feet, the feel of rain on my face, the smell of my son’s toes… If you were suddenly ripped from your life and put in a concrete box, what would you mourn? What would you ache for?” – Sara (Mariposa) Fonseca and Julia Steele Allen, from “Mariposa and the Saint.”

Rabbi Brant Rosen recounts an experience of co-leading an interfaith Passover and Good Friday service with his friend Bob Thompson. They both reject the concept of redemptive violence and focus instead on healing and hope. - Lucy

Aid organizations must speak out about the political roots of this humanitarian crisis or risk supporting the status quo. 

How would your life be affected if you didn’t have electricity for at least 16 hours each day? That’s the situation in Gaza where power is available for no more than eight hours per day, and residents live with rolling power cuts occurring on a constantly changing schedule.

Nearly a year after protests shut down the city, we're starting to see signs of positive change.

What a difference a year makes. Three-hundred sixty-five days after the arrest and death of Freddie Carlos Gray, we are now remembering, reflecting, still asking, “Has anything changed?”