As we approach the Congressional vote on military intervention in Syria, asking what our response can and should be, instead of military intervention, and how the U.S. thinks of its role in the world seems critical.

Reflections on the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington

I have been reflecting on the importance of the National Action to Realize the Dream march on August 24, 2013, in Washington, D.C. It was a huge, very diverse gathering, with people coming from all over the country to be part of an historic event.

Why does it feel that while the movement is still alive, the energy and vision are missing?

Note: Stephen McNeil is Assistant Director for Peace-building Programs in AFSC's West region. On Aug. 25, 2013, after traveling from San Francisco and attending the 50th anniversary March on Washington to Realize the Dream, Stephen helped to organize a public event at Friends Meeting of Washington commemorating the life of Bayard Rustin, one of the march's chief organizers and a committed Quaker. - Madeline

Criminal Justice reform is catching fire in Quaker communities around the country, in large part due to the publication and popularization of Michelle Alexander’s book, “The New Jim Crow.” The facts embedded in every page are undeniable and horrifying, and illustrate a truth that many have known for years, that these injustices are tied directly to this country’s history of slavery. It’s as if the book has finally made it okay for Quakers (and others) to speak up against injustice and to face our country’s past.

Note: Vincent Harding was a close friend of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

Note: Lori Fernald Khamala, program director of AFSC's Project Voice in Greensboro, North Carolina, shares the story of how AFSC partnered with FCNL and local Quakers to advocate for humane immigration reform this month. - Madeline

Even though Quaker organizations often work on the same issues and share the same values, it doesn’t mean we always work together as well as we should. But recently, a local collaboration between AFSC and the Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) netted big gains.

Note: Here is a brief exchange between Vincent Harding, an author of Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech Beyond Vietnam and Professor of Religion and Social Transformation at Illiff School of Theology in Denver, Colo. and Paul Ricketts, a Quaker from Indiana, that occurred during Harding’s book talk on “Hope and History: Why we must Share the Story of the Movement” at the