Dear John,

Throughout our history, AFSC has supported communities building peace and challenging injustice worldwide. Our efforts would not be possible without your support.

We invite you to explore stories from our past and present. We look at how we make change through community organizing, building bridges, research, and advocacy. This story is featured in the next issue of Quaker Action magazine, free with any donation to AFSC.

Here are this week's picks to inform and support your activism:

Michigan expands maternal and post-partum health care for people in prison: After advocacy by AFSC and partners, Michigan announced it will limit its use of restraints on pregnant people. It will also allow parents more time with newborns, expand access to birth plans, and more. Prison “conditions are harsh, and they’re not meant for anyone and especially someone who is pregnant,” says AFSC’s Natalie Holbrook. (Michigan Advance)

Boycott Pillsbury this holiday season and beyond: Do you know where General Mills makes many of its Pillsbury products? An illegal Israeli settlement in the occupied Palestinian territory. Tell General Mills to stop manufacturing on stolen land. And as you get ready for the holidays, make sure Pillsbury products aren’t on your shopping list!

Advocates sue federal agencies over migrant children’s possible exposure to toxic chemicals: Earthjustice has filed a lawsuit, on behalf of AFSC, for more information on the migrant child detention center in Homestead, Florida. For years, we have called attention to environmental hazards at the site. Now we want federal agencies to respond to requests submitted over two years ago under the Freedom of Information Act.

AFSC denounces Israel’s “terrorism” designation for human rights organizations: On Oct. 19, the Israeli Ministry of Defense issued a military order declaring key Palestinian human rights groups “terrorist organizations.” AFSC condemns this political attack against human rights defenders and Palestinian civil society. Take action: Tell Congress to oppose the order and calls for its immediate reversal!

Remembering Palestinians killed in the attacks on Gaza: It’s been nearly six months since Israeli airstrikes claimed the lives of 258 people in Gaza. Palestinian activist Rosana Thompson reflects on how memory and grief is a form of resistance.

The circuitous connections between the Korean War and the ‘war on terror’: Twenty years after 9/11, Bush’s “axis of evil” speech still epitomizes flawed policy on North Korea. It also perpetuates forever war, writes AFSC’s Daniel Jasper. (NK News)

Riding a bicycle and giving peace a chance, in honor of the brother she lost to war: Lynn Salvo, 72, has bicycled hundreds of thousands of miles across the United States in the shape of a peace sign. These trips have earned her Guinness World records—while raising funds for AFSC. (Washington Post)