SATURDAY, MAY 7, 2022
Dear John,
This week, we’d like to introduce you to four young people who brought their vision to life through AFSC’s ArteVism Fellowship Program. Fellows combine art and activism to create provocative programming that engages the community in California’s Central Valley. “We want diverse communities to have the resources they need to cultivate positive change,” writes AFSC’s Myrna Martinez Nateras. Read more [link removed] .
Here are this week's picks to inform and support your activism:
Reproductive rights are human rights: [link removed] This week’s news of a leaked draft opinion in a U.S. Supreme Court case addressing the legality of abortion should concern us all. While the case has not yet been decided, its implications could stretch well beyond abortion to other rights and matters of settled law. Thank you to everyone who joined AFSC, Daily Kos, and partners this week in voicing your support for reproductive rights. If you haven’t yet signed on, please add your name today! [link removed]
How to stay safer at a protest: [link removed] Whether you are new to protesting or have been doing it for decades, these tips can help you be safe, prepared, and get your message across!
Take Action: Oppose the destruction of eight Palestinian villages: [link removed] On May 5, the Israeli High Court approved the forced eviction of eight Palestinian communities in the Masafer Yatta area in the south of the West Bank. More than 1,000 residents will be forcibly displaced. This is part of a larger trend. Urge your representatives in Congress to help end Israel’s demolition of Palestinian homes and schools.
Multimedia: Why we work to “Free Them All”: [link removed] Everyone deserves dignity and justice. But in the United States, 1.8 million people are locked away in prisons, jails, and detention centers. AFSC staff members Jordan Garcia, Grace Kindeke, Lewis Webb, and Ophelia Burnett share their perspectives on the many ways these structures harm those they purport to help in this FaceBook Live recap.
ICE made N.J. immigrant detainees disappear, disconnected them from their lawyers: [link removed] “AFSC received panicked phone calls from our clients who described how ICE agents violently woke them up in the early morning hours and threw their belongings in the trash,” writes AFSC’s Jordan Weiner. “They were handcuffed, put on planes, and scattered to detention centers around the country. Our legal and social work teams worked quickly to learn the policies at each of the new facilities, including how to arrange confidential legal calls, contact our client’s ICE officers, and appear at unfamiliar immigration courts.” (NJ.com)
From our archives: [link removed] In 1971, AFSC joined with other religious organizations in a pro-reproductive rights amicus brief in the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court case. Two years earlier, in a 1969 report titled, “Who Shall Live?” AFSC took a clear stance that “no woman should be forced to bear an unwanted child” and supported public funding for elective abortions. The report noted that abortion was readily available to women with money, so that the impact of outlawing abortion fell most heavily on low-income women. Read the full report [link removed] .
Be well and take care
American Friends Service Committee
1501 Cherry Street
Philadelphia, PA 19102
United States
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