AFSC Midwest Digest Highlights of Recent Work from Around the Region June 20, 2015
Arresting hate in our culture AFSC shares these thoughts and resources in response to this weeks tragedy in Charleston, South Carolina.
DC briefing packs the house On June 2, the No Way to Treat a Child campaign, led by AFSC, held a Congressional briefing to call attention to Israels widespread de-tention and abuse of Palestinian children. US Representative Keith Ellison provided the welcome to the standing-room-only event, including staffers from over 30 Congressional offices. Media links are here. For more on ways to mark the first anniversary of Israels attack on Gaza last summer, please contact AFSCs intern Ruby Mascai-Goren.
Lots for peace in St. Louis A garden can do a lot of things. Youth Undoing Institutional Racism (YUIR) with AFSC in St. Louis are beginning a gardening project with some ambitious goals. Read more about their work for an end to the school-to-prison pipeline.
Pushing for a just wage in Kansas City Head west on I-70 and youll find young people involved with AFSCs Social Change Institute agitating for a hike in the minimum wage in Kansas City. A local TV station gives this account.
Youth organizers step back to move forward Kaija Carter and Melissa Pacheco from Iowa joined other AFSC youth from around the country for a spring gathering at the Highlander Center in Tennessee. In these audio interviews, Kaija and Melissa talk about their experiences and suggest how others can be good allies in movements for justice.
Dayton takes steps for peace, global awareness Migwe Kimemia is a busy guy. The Kenya native and director of AFSCs Peace and Trade Justice Program in Dayton recently participated in the annual Peace Bridge Walk and a Global Awareness Service Project. A recent profile of Migwe is here.
Helping prisoners get ready for parole AFSCs staff in Michigan continue to provide parole readiness work-shops throughout the state. Natalie Holbrook recently spoke at the Detroit Hispanic Development Corporation. Pete Martel shared at a Building the Movement for Sentencing and Parole Reform event, and Ron Simpson-Bey appeared at the University of Michigan's Detroit Center for Prison Creative Arts Project's Prison Resource Sharing.
Palestinian American teenager Tariq Abu Khdeir is joined by his mother, Suha Abu Khdeir, and Jennifer Bing and Brant Rosen of AFSC.
Community gardeners in St. Louis
Migwe Kimemia speaks on global awareness.
The 20th Annual Exhibition of Art by Michigan Prisoners will run through June 26 at the UM-Detroit Center.
http://www.afsc.org/story/arresting-hate-throughout-our-culturehttp://www.nowaytotreatachild.org/http://www.nowaytotreatachild.org/mediamailto:[email protected]://www.afsc.org/story/planting-seeds-change-st-louishttp://fox4kc.com/2015/06/17/young-adults-speak-out-about-raising-the-minimum-wage-in-kc/http://www.afsc.org/audio/afsc-youth-organizers-step-back-move-forwardhttp://www.afsc.org/audio/youth-gathering-offers-support-latina-organizer-des-moineshttp://www.afsc.org/story/afsc-participates-2015-peace-bridge-walk-daytonhttp://www.afsc.org/story/afsc-engages-dayton-youth-global-awareness-service-projectshttp://www.afsc.org/story/afsc-engages-dayton-youth-global-awareness-service-projectshttp://www.afsc.org/friends/called-god-interview-migwe-kimemia
Giving thanks for AFSCs help One of the delights of working in the Des Moines office is meeting immigrants and refugees from around the world. Their stories are often heart-wrenching, but their spirts are strong and their gratitude for AFSCs legal services program is heartfelt. Listen here as Ruth and Doris from Liberia express their thanks to Jody Mashek, who directs this effort.
Art with a purpose Raul Vazquez embodies the creativity and risk-taking of AFSC staff in Chicago. "Nothing good will ever happen if you don't leave your comfort zone," he says. Hear more from Raul about how art informs his work. Over the next year, Chicago will receive a boost from Actress Bartlett, who will be expanding the Social Business Artist Project through a Schweitzer Fellowship. New art exhibit begins tour All of Us or None: Responses and Resistance to Militarism is AFSCs newest nationally touring art exhibition. The collection includes over 30 posters that comment on the ways that militarism affects our lives at the personal, local and global levels as well as alternatives to these systems. Check out the exhibition online and contact Mary Zerkel for more information. Immigrant youth in Iowa tell their stories Omar Ordaz, Carina Gonzalez and David Calderon all have a story to tell about their experiences as immigrants. Check out their entries in AFSC Iowas recent youth video scholarship program. If you want justice, pick up the phoneor a guitar The major reason for opposition to Fast Track isn't because of trade or jobs, according to Greg Coleridge with AFSC in North-east Ohio. It's principally about democracy. Take action and learn more by checking out AFSCs weekly podcast. Gregs colleague, Leah Davis, plays in 11 After, a band featured on page 20 of this Akron magazine. Resisting budget cuts, connecting with Friends Brant Rosen, Regional Director for AFSCs Midwest Region, recently joined with other faith leaders to oppose dramatic cuts in Medicaid and human services in Illinois. Brant and other AFSC staff will be visiting Quaker yearly meetings throughout the summer; his letter to Friends is here. Bits and peaces AFSCs work organizing taxi workers in Chicago faces challenges from a number of fronts, including UberX. Read more here. Iowa native and Indiana Moral Mondays activist Jeff Kisling writes about his work doing Quaker outreach here. The Twin Cities Freedom School is set for August 11-14. Contact Sharon Goens-Bradley for more information.
Doris and her mother, Ruth Mayson, in the lobby of AFSC's office in Des Moines.
A poster from All of Us or None, above, and the Twin Cities Freedom School poster, below
http://www.afsc.org/audio/new-iowans-thank-afsc-helping-them-feel-homehttp://afsc.org/audio/chicago-intern-art-purposehttp://www.schweitzerfellowship.org/news/category/press-releases/2015-16-chicago-schweitzer-fellows-named/http://allofus.afsc.org/mailto:[email protected]://www.afsc.org/video/my-name-omarhttp://www.afsc.org/video/coming-out-shadowshttp://www.afsc.org/video/davids-story-immigrationhttp://afsc.org/audio/neo-afsc-june-19-2015-podcasthttp://www.11aftermusic.com/http://www.thedevilstrip.com/home/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/DevilStrip_Issue6_online.pdfhttp://progressillinois.com/posts/content/2015/06/15/moral-monday-activists-arrested-while-protesting-rauners-proposed-budgethttp://www.afsc.org/sites/afsc.civicactions.net/files/documents/Brant%20Rosen%20letter%20to%20Yearly%20Meetings%202015%20for%20web.pdfhttp://afsc.org/sites/afsc.civicactions.net/files/documents/2015%20March%20UTCC%20newsletter.pdfhttps://kislingjeff.wordpress.com/2015/06/03/quaker-outreach/mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]
Iowans press candidates on corporate influence AFSCs Presidential Campaign Project in New Hampshire and Iowa is pleased to welcome Hector Salamanca back to AFSC. A White House Champion of Change, Hector is engaging volunteers in asking candidates tough questions about how they would end corporate influence in government. Among the volunteers is Linda Garrison, a Friend from Eldora, Iowa. Read more and get involved at GUIs website; heres a link to photos from a recent Bernie Sanders event in Ames, Iowa. The world says no to war Mary Zerkel represented AFSC as the US Coordinator for the Global Day of Action on Military Spending (GDAMS) this year. She writes: Globally, we held 86 actions in 20 countries, making the case that military spending should be reallocated to human needs. Our US coalition held 7 webinars covering various topics to help hun-dreds of activists get ready for their events. A highlight was the AFSC/USAction webinar called "You Get What You Pay For" fea-turing Aura Kanegis and USAction campaign director Cynthia Ward Wikstrom laying out alternative narratives on militarism and security. You can view the recording here. The US coalition produced almost half of the actions worldwide, with 39 events across the country, including youth who attended the IHTD youth leadership training in Washington, DC. The youth wore shirts color-coded to represent the current discretionary budget distribution, with ~60% of the youth in red shirts denoting military spending. With their backs to passersby, the shirts spelled out MILITARY BUDGET SECURITY. Then they turned to face the crowd and the message changed to reveal the things that they think DO equal security: peace, equality, unity, justice, etc. Check out the full report at this link. Thank you! If you would like to make a gift to support the AFSC Midwest Region or a specific program, please click here. Your gift will help support AFSCs work for peace with lasting justice in the region and around the world. Please share this subscription link for the Midwest Digest with anyone you think might like to keep up with AFSCs creative work in the Midwest. And to share your ideas for future Midwest Digests, please e-mail Jon Krieg.
Hector Salamanca, right, joins fellow staffer Kevin Rutledge outside a Bernie Sanders event in Ames, Iowa.
Linda Garrison bird dogs Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson.
Residents of Portage, Minnesota gather on the Global Day of Action on Military Spending to call for cuts in the war budget and support for human needs.
http://www.afsc.org/audio/hector-goes-white-house-champion-changehttp://gui.afsc.org/https://www.flickr.com/photos/afsc-iowa/sets/72157651519500133mailto:[email protected]://www.yammer.com/afsc.org/users/1520930074https://youtu.be/ZDc
