Dear John,
May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, and this week we highlight Ruth Asawa, an acclaimed Japanese American modernist sculptor and passionate arts education advocate. In 1942, Ruth and her family were forced into internment during World War II. She graduated from the internment camp high school and went to college through a scholarship from the Japanese American Student Relocation Council, a project of AFSC. She went on to create art that would be featured in museums and galleries around the world. Learn more.
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Here are this week's picks to inform and support your activism: |
AFSC stands with Buffalo and all those suffering from racist violence: “On May 14, 10 people were killed and three were injured by a white supremacist at a grocery store in a majority Black neighborhood in Buffalo, New York. Our hearts go out to the victims, their families, and the communities in Buffalo during this time…. These horrifying acts of racist violence compound the ongoing trauma caused by relentless anti-Blackness espoused not only by individuals like the man who carried out this attack, but also in all sectors of the country.” Read the full statement.
Tell Congress and President Biden: End Title 42 and restore the right to claim asylum: U.S. policies should protect the health, safety, and human rights of all who seek refuge. But a policy called Title 42 has kept people from seeking asylum in the U.S. for years. A court order is keeping the Biden administration from ending it. And now some members of Congress want to amend the upcoming COVID-19 relief bill to keep Title 42 in place. Take action today.
People in U.S. don’t support the Gaza blockade. Why won’t Congress take action?: “Palestinians in Gaza have lived for 15 years under an Israeli imposed blockade that has stripped them of their rights and dignity," writes AFSC’s Mike Merryman-Lotze. “The reality is neither ethical nor sustainable.” (Truthout)
Join the Poor People’s Campaign in Washington, D.C. (June 18, in person): Buses are filling up for the Poor People’s and Low-Wage Workers’ Assembly and Moral March on Washington and to the Polls. Learn more.
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