AFSC's Humanize Not Militarize youth film festival premieres in Washington, D.C. this weekend. 

This weekend, youth activists and filmmakers from six U.S. cities will convene in Washington, D.C. and Baltimore for the Humanize Not Militarize Youth Film Festival and gathering.

Not since the nineteen sixties have I seen within the U.S. a greater need for, and opportunity to serve with, the Quaker visionary impulse. 

NJ families affected by U.S. immigration policies bring their stories to Washington, D.C. 

Ruthie Jablonsky and Diana Levy

As I spent some days off in my home country during the past Easter holidays in March, news of the bombings in Brussels and Lahore hit. Shortly after, already back in Jerusalem, I woke up with the news that the first group of refugees in Europe were being sent back to Turkey.   Since then, hundreds have been killed in bombings and more violence in Istanbul, Baghdad, Dhaka, Medina, and today in Nice.

By Milca Kouame

Milca Kouame is a 16-year-old high school student who was born and raised in Newark, New Jersey. Her parents migrated to the U.S. from the Ivory Coast in the 1990s. Her father was deported when Milca was seven years old, and she has not seen him since.

This week, Milca joins other young people and advocates on an AFSC-sponsored trip to Washington, D.C., where they will share their stories with members of Congress as they call for humane and compassionate immigration reform.

This week, police officers shot and killed two Black men, Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Philando Castile in Falcon Heights, Minnesota. In 2016 alone, police have killed 566 people in the United States.

AFSC Iowa's Immigrant Voice Program gives young people the chance to tell their stories in their own way.  

I was honored to be part of the awards ceremony for this year's Youth Video Contest, held by AFSC Iowa's Immigrant Voice Program.