The American Friends Service Committee is a Quaker organization that includes people of various faiths committed to social justice, peace and humanitarian service.
Our Bay Area office houses our 67 Suenos, Healing Justice, and Economic Activism programs.
Operating as usual
Sign the petition: The Department of Justice MUST act to end police brutality
Sign the petition: The Department of Justice MUST act to end police brutality. Take action here: https://actionnetwork.org/forms/sign-the-petition-the-department-of-justice-must-act-to-end-police-brutality
Our most updated information here! The top 5 things you need to know about DACA right now also available in Chinese, French, Haitian Creole, Portuguese, Tagalog and Vietnamese:
https://unitedwedream.org/2021/07/guidance-for-daca-recipients-and-legal-practitioners-frequently-asked-questions/
4 things you should know about changes to DACA
Hundreds of thousands of young people who came to the U.S. as children face uncertainty about their futures. It's long past time for Congress to provide permanent protections for DACA recipients and create a roadmap to citizenship for all immigrants.
Forced displacements and demolitions: A conversation with Sahar Vardi
Sahar Vardi is the Israel Program manager at the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC). Taylor Donaldson is the Summer 2021 Religion, Conflict, and Peace Fellow for AFSC’s Palestine Activism program. They spoke on June 29, 2021. This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Update: Humanitarian response in Gaza
In May, Israeli airstrikes on Gaza killed at least 260 Palestinians, including 66 children. At the height of the attack, over 113,000 people were displaced from their homes, and today more than 8,400 people remain in temporary shelter. All of this occurred as COVID-19 continues to spread throughout....
Stop funding war and militarism—and invest in our communities!
Our taxpayer dollars should be spent on programs that meet the real needs of our communities and address global problems—not on war, immigration enforcement, or prisons.
Interfaith Vigil for Global COVID-19 Vaccine Access - Livestream
Massive data leak reveals Israeli NSO Group's spyware used to target activists, journalists, and political leaders globally | AFSC Under the Mask
Amnesty International | 18 July 2021 News | Jul 20, 2021 Read Amnesty's article on The Pegasus Project that revealed how spyware is being used by repressive governments to target journalists, activists and critics. "The Pegasus Project is a ground-breaking collaboration by more than 80 journalists f...
Federal judge blasts Arizona prison system over inmate health care, orders trial
A federal judge blasted the Arizona Department of Corrections over its handling of inmate health care and tossed out a six-year-old legal settlement.
"We are encouraging the Biden administration to #WelcomeWithDignity. We know that migrating and seeking asylum is a human right, and we want the U.S. to recognize that and treat people accordingly... I’m a person of faith and it’s a blessing to use my faith values to push for social justice."
Peniel Ibe, IIC Co-Chair and Policy Engagement Coordinator at
American Friends Service Committee, reflects on the interfaith movement for #Citizenship4All on the Interfaith Voices' podcast.
Listen here: https://interfaithradio.org/Story_Details/Interfaith_Activists_Push_for_Citizenship_for_All
Timeline Photos
Today, AFSC’s General Secretary Joyce Ajlouny was arrested with more than 70 other women as part of Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival Women’s Moral March on Washington. Prior to her arrest she issued the following statement:
“AFSC is proud to stand with the Poor People’s Campaign and with women and girls across the globe,” said Joyce Ajlouny, General Secretary of the American Friends Service Committee. “Women — disproportionately women of color — bear the brunt of economic deprivation and conflict. And we have also been at the forefront of movements for social change. We must continue to take courageous action until voting rights, equitable wages, and civil and human rights are attained for all.”
#MoralMonday
Accelerating racial justice work among Friends
“What supports the movement of a religious group to deepen their practice toward racial justice? What structures, learning, and interventions can move a body forward toward deeper relational work for repair and systemic change?”
Faith leaders urge Biden, wealthy nations to expand access to COVID-19 vaccines, invest in new production facilities worldwide
WASHINGTON, DC (July 15, 2021) A coalition of faith leaders representing all the major faith traditions will hold a prayer vigil on the National Mall at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday to honor and mourn the more than four million lives lost to COVID-19 and call on wealthy nations to take extraordinary measures....
Sign the petition: The Department of Justice MUST act to end police brutality
Sign the petition: The Department of Justice MUST act to end police brutality. Take action here: https://actionnetwork.org/forms/sign-the-petition-the-department-of-justice-must-act-to-end-police-brutality
Tell Congress: Ensure the economy works for everyone!
We all deserve to live in communities with fully funded social services and just, sustainable economies. As a step toward this goal, President Biden has proposed investing over $4 trillion into infrastructure, child and elder care, housing, education, support for low-income households, and other vit...
West Region News July 2021
Featuring news about greater dignity for women incarcerated in Arizona, work with indigenous farmers in New Mexico to adapt a coldframe for the summer months, and a vigil held for Sebastian Francisco, a farmworker who died during the excessive heat in Oregon.
Breaking Open Cages, From the Ground Up: Spotlighting local campaigns to end detention
After Years of ICE Detention, Maura, a Transgender Woman, is Free
While we celebrate Maura’s freedom and resilience, the work is not done until all trans people are released from ICE custody
Timeline Photos
In response to the risk posed by #COVID19, many governments initiated tracking and surveillance initiatives to monitor the spread. But what happens if states decide to keep measures in place after the threat is gone? AFSC's #UnderTheMask explores this at afsc.org/SurveillanceUTM
Timeline Photos
Through the work of communities and advocates, we can #EndMigrantDetention. Join this conversation tomorrow (July 14) about ongoing efforts to shut down detention centers, #FreeThemAll, and end funding for detention practices. Register here: https://bit.ly/2VvnzHk
#nowaytotreatachild Webinar July 2021
Join the #nowaytotreatachild webinar on July 13 for updates on congressional advocacy to end Israeli military detention of Palestinian children.
End solitary confinement
Israeli authorities routinely detain Palestinian children in solitary confinement solely for interrogation purposes, a practice that amounts to torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment, as documented by Defense for Children International - Palestine.
Prisons Have a Health Care Issue — And It Starts at the Top, Critics Say
When coronavirus hit federal prisons, the top officials had no health care experience.
Safer alternatives to calling 911
Last summer, the streets across the United States were filled with millions of people marching for Black lives and calling for defunding the police. In Chicago, it was a summer of protest—and also a clear reckoning with the failed policies of a city that spends $4.7 million per day on policing but...
Last but not least, join us in welcoming Paulina Rodriguez Ruiz to the second cohort of the PVI ArteVism Fellowship Program.
Paulina Rodríguez Ruiz is a 24-year-old q***r woman of color, who was born in Santiago Tangamandapio, Michoacán, Mexico. Originally a molecular biology and physiology major at California State University, Long Beach, she switched her major to journalism and then public relations because of her desire to work with and build community.
During her time in higher education, Paulina became heavily involved in cultural organizations that centered around Latinx students. Following graduation, she worked in environmental justice for the Climate Action Corps, advocating for healthy food access in low-income communities.
Paulina’s life goal is to improve the lives and living conditions of immigrant communities and
QTPOC (q***r, trans, people of color) in the Valley by reconnecting them to their cultural traditions, ultimately using art as a way to build resiliency and conscience. Her dream is to create cultural spaces that are intentional spaces of joy and healing.
#artevism #CentralValley
Museums, Monuments and Commemorations
Book presentation with Author, Robin Maria DeLugan presented in partnership with Fresno County Public Library and Community Alliance Newspaper,--------------...
International IDEA has created the Global Monitor of COVID-19's impact on Democracy and Human Rights, a “one-stop-shop” tool to explore the human rights implications of measures adopted by governments in the context of the #COVID19 crisis. Learn more here from this tool's inclusion in the #UnderTheMask project's resources here: https://bit.ly/3htYIwh
We also welcome Immanuel Hargrove to the second cohort of the PVI ArteVism Fellowship Program!
Immanual Hargrave, who is African American and Japanese American, is originally from the Bay Area, but has spent his life moving every couple of years. He is currently the associate project lead at the Anti-Racism Project at the Hmong Culture Center in Merced, where he is in charge of communicating with local leaders, institutions, and policy makers about the current climate of hate crimes towards Asian Americans and how to create policy change within our institutions.
Immanual volunteers at “Improve Your Tomorrow,” where he mentors young men of color, helping them to attain higher education and overcome the adversities of college life. He also volunteers at CASA as a court appointed special advocate to help mentor children who are in the foster care system. He helped plan and lead the Merced Unity Rally in an effort to address the unjust hate crimes against local Asian communities since the arrival of the pandemic.
Immanual is passionate about helping to improve his community through advocacy and civic engagement. He loves to cook and write poetry, and prioritizes helping others and treating everyone he meets with respect.
#artevism #CentralValley
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Oakland, CA
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East Bay Interfaith Immigration Coalition (EB
1814 Franklin StResources for Oakland's Active Retirees
388 19th StUnited Democratic Campaign - Oakland, CA
1721 BroadwayBAOBOB - Bay Area Organization of Black Owned
1721 Broadway, Ste 201
Arroyo Viejo Recreation Center
7701 Krause Ave
Tassafaronga Recreation Center
975 85th Ave
Alameda County Registrar of Voters
1225 Fallon St, Rm G-1
League of Women Voters Bay Area
PO Box 22516
Alameda County Pool of Consumer Champions
2000 Embarcadero
Eastmont Garden of Hope Project
6955 Foothill Blvd