Note: This post, a reflection on the immigrant rights march in Boston in 2010, was originally published in 2011 in The Crier, the newsletter of the NEYM Racial, Social, and Economic Justice Committee.

On March 26, I watched Facebook turn red as friend after friend switched their profile picture to a red and pink equal sign, a graphic first posted by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) in support of gay marriage during the Supreme Court’s ruling over the fate of California’s Proposition 8.

Note: Tory Smith is an intern working for AFSC’s Wage Peace and Israel/Palestine programs. He is a Quaker. He presented this piece as part of a panel of faith-based activists at the Justice Conference hosted in Philadelphia in February.

Hector Salamanca, an AFSC Iowa Dreamer and intern, reads a poem written by Michael McConnell to celebrate the creation of AFSC's Midwest Region in 2012. Michael was an AFSC regional director for 23 years until his passing April 7, 2013. AFSC has established the Michael McConnell Youth Internship Fund to help carry on Michael's passion for peace and justice.

Here's the text of the poem: