Note: My friend Niyonu Spann, a Quaker healer who has been a very important teacher to me, posted the below piece on Facebook earlier this week. She graciously gave me permission to re-publish it here. Her reflection offers a sense of the unmediated pain of the George Zimmerman verdict and some sense of the deep need for healing from the disease of racism NOW.

Note: The below minute from Swannanoa Valley Friends Meeting was presented for consideration by the Southern Applachian Yearly Meeting and Association (SAYMA) at its June, 2013 annual gathering. In the coming year each SAYMA monthly meeting will consider the ideas in the minute and whether they are led to take similar action or to affirm this minute.

In the immediate aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombings, Carlos Arredondo made headlines for courageously rushing to save the lives of victims—distinctive in his cowboy hat, he quickly became the iconic hero amid tragedy. As the dust settled, people learned that Carlos was there with his wife, Melida, honoring the memory of their sons—Alex, a soldier who died in the Iraq War and Brian, who struggled with mental health issues after his brother’s death and eventually took his own life.

The Friend of a Friend mentoring program in Baltimore is doing more than providing support for incarcerated men; it is inspiring a movement for serious reform of the criminal justice system, from the inside out. 

Madeline Schaefer sits down with participants as they share stories of the program's success and their own transformation. By learning how to deal with conflict nonviolently, and by connecting with one another, participants are reclaiming their voices and speaking truth to power.

On June 14, 40 young adult Friends from across the country gathrered at Pendle Hill, a Quaker retreat center outside of Philadelphia, to take part in a youth conference on spirit-led activism. The theme of the week was the Quaker testimony of simplicity, and participants explored both the spiritual and the practical meaning of simplicity in the world.

Note: In May of 2013, three AFSC staff including Aarati Kasturirangan, Program Officer for Integration and Impact, went to the Healing and Rebuilding Our Communities (HROC) workshop held at Stony Run Friends Meeting in Baltimore. Aarati attended the workshop to understand firsthand the HROC work she had heard of from AFSC program staff in Burundi. She went to find out if she thought HROC could be useful for other AFSC programs around the world.  - Lucy