Weekend Reading
SATURDAY, JULY 11, 2020

Dear John,

Thank you to everyone who has donated to support AFSC’s pandemic relief efforts around the world. Your generosity has made it possible for staff, volunteers, and community partners to respond to rising need in cities across the U.S. as well as in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America. If you have not yet made a gift and it is within your means, please help us meet our new goal of raising $15,000 by July 15 with a gift to AFSC’s Pandemic Relief Fund [link removed] today.

Here are this week’s resources to help you stay informed and support your activism.

Watch the video: Why it’s time to defund the police: [link removed] U.S. cities collectively spend $100 billion a year on policing, while needed investments in education, health care, housing, and other critical programs go unfulfilled, particularly in poor communities and communities of color.

Stories from elders in Gaza: [link removed] Hear from some of the seniors in Gaza who have received face masks, hand sanitizer, cleaning supplies, and other essential virus protection items as part of our pandemic relief response in Palestine, made possible with your support.

Why we support the call to #FreeThemAll: [link removed] No one is served by keeping millions of people locked up in prisons, jails, and detention centers—not in a pandemic, not ever, writes AFSC’s Kristin Kumpf and Lewis Webb, Jr.

Plant nursery workers sick with COVID-19 report dangerous conditions at work: [link removed]-
dade/homestead/article244034017.html In agricultural communities, there is no “true representation of how many people have COVID-19 because of the barriers to getting tested that exist within the farmworker community,” says AFSC’s Guadalupe De La Cruz, who is working to bring more COVID testing, protective gear, and other resources to migrant farmworkers in Florida. (Miami Herald)

To truly demilitarize the police, we need real action from state and local governments: [link removed] In places like Oakland, California, communities have long organized against the police use of militarized gear, which is disproportionately used on people of color, writes AFSC’s John Lindsay-Poland. (Responsible Statecraft)

Israel annexation plan: Why is Gaza missing from the conversation?: [link removed] The mainstream discourse has focused on whether annexation will be bad for Israel—dismissing Palestinians’ wish for a normal life with full rights, writes AFSC’s Jehad Abusalim. (Middle East Eye)

Cutting Pentagon spending: [link removed] Watch AFSC’s policy analyst Tori Bateman discuss advocacy efforts to stop Congress from spending our tax dollars on weapons, war, and police militarization. And join us on Facebook live every Thursday, 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT for more updates from AFSC staff.

How investors are addressing racial injustice: [link removed] In this New York Times story, two firms that use AFSC’s Investigate screening tool—Robasciotti & Philipson and Ethic—share how more people are aligning their investments with their values. Learn more about Investigate [link removed].

Be well and take care

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