SATURDAY, MARCH 12, 2022
Weekend Reading
Dear John,
Two years ago, many parts of the United States shut down services, schools, and businesses as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic has amplified the injustices of our times in so many ways. While protecting each other from the virus, we also have stood together virtually and in the streets against inequity, police repression, and now militarism and war.
We are inspired by the actions of people around the world standing against oppression, war, and racism. Thank you for joining the call! You are helping offer light and warmth during these trying times.
Here are this week's picks to inform and support your activism:
TODAY (1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT): Join our online film screening of “Alaska On Line: Red Boucher Interviews Mahala Ashley Dickerson”: [link removed] The film honors Mahala Ashley Dickerson (1912-2007), a Quaker legal pioneer and Alaska homesteader. The screening will be followed by a discussion with Johnny Gibbons, life-time law partner of Mahala Dickerson. This event is part of the Black Quaker Lives Matter Film Festival.
Representing immigrants: [link removed] When Harriet fled her home in Guinea, she feared for her life. Despite the danger she faced, Harriet’s application for asylum was denied, and she was placed into deportation proceedings. AFSC’s Immigrant Rights Program in Newark, New Jersey was there to help. More than 2,000 people receive assistance from the program each year. Learn more.
Tell Congress: Diplomacy, not weapons, in Ukraine: [link removed] The invasion of Ukraine must be stopped – but U.S. military aid is not the answer. The U.S. and international community must avoid flooding the region with weapons. Instead we must invest in diplomacy, refugee protection, and humanitarian assistance.
Join our webinar “Gaza in Focus” (Mar. 15, 12 p.m. ET): [link removed] We will hear from human rights defenders in Gaza. And we will discuss recent U.S. opinion polling data on U.S. policy supporting the 16-year-old blockade on Gaza. This webinar is part of AFSC’s No Way To Treat a Child campaign with Defense for Children International-Palestine.
Immigration advocates rally in South Florida to close federal detention centers: [link removed] AFSC’s Miami program called on the Biden administration to shut down Glades County Detention Center as part of a national day of action. “ICE detention is cruel, inhumane and unnecessary under any circumstance, but especially so during a deadly pandemic.” (Miami Herald)
From the archives: [link removed] Civil Rights activist and AFSC staffer James Reeb died March 11, 1965. He was among those severely beaten in Selma, Alabama while advocating for Black voting rights. Read more in a 1990 Friends Journal article honoring his life.
Be well and take care
American Friends Service Committee
1501 Cherry Street
Philadelphia, PA 19102
United States
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