Acting in Faith

Boston Immigrants Rights March 2010

Boston Immigrants Rights March 2010

Note: This post, a reflection on the immigrant rights march in Boston in 2010, was originally published in 2011 in The Crier, the newsletter of the NEYM Racial, Social, and Economic Justice Committee.

Speak Truth to Power Cover

by Madeline Schaefer

On March 26, I watched Facebook turn red as friend after friend switched their profile picture to a red and pink equal sign, a graphic first posted by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) in support of gay marriage during the Supreme Court’s ruling over the fate of California’s Proposition 8.

Palestinian protest, women

Note: Tory Smith is an intern working for AFSC’s Wage Peace and Israel/Palestine programs. He is a Quaker. He presented this piece as part of a panel of faith-based activists at the Justice Conference hosted in Philadelphia in February.

Hearts in Boston by Brian D'Amico

Hearts in Boston by Brian D'Amico

by Lucy Duncan

“No more hurting people. Peace.”                                 -  Martin Richard, 8, killed at the Boston Marathon    bombings

The blast sends shock waves

Waves of fear, of anger, of confusion

Waves of caring, of love, of tenderness

Images of the explosions and of the bleeding cut to the heart

Who could do such a thing?

Paul Sheldon, Lockheed demonstration

Author Paul Sheldon during a Good Friday vigil outside of Lockheed Martin, one of the country's largest war profiteer and nuclear weapons manufacturer.

Note: Today, tax day, Paul Sheldon, a Quaker peace activist, posted on Facebook that he has for several years underpaid his federal income taxes as a witness against war. I invited him to send us the letter he includes when he files his taxes and he sent it to me to be published here. The amount he excludes from his tax check in modest, $25, but he always includes a letter and feels that this witness is a small, but meaningful step, in opposing war. He invites others to join him in this witness, as led. - Lucy

by Paul Sheldon

Corporation Meeting: Denise Altvater and Triphonie Habonimana

Denise Atlvater and Triphonie Habonimana after their Friday night presenation.

“People can be transformed by being open and human. We believe that people have a need to be heard, but how they are heard really matters – if they take the risk of telling their story, it needs to make a difference.” – Denise Altvater

Mary Dyer at Friends Center

Mary Dyer at Friends Center

Note: Sandy Branam, a member of Savannah Monthly Meeting of Southeastern Yearly Meeting, created a painted journal of the 2013 AFSC Corporation Meeting including her trip to Philadelphia and back via the train. She passsed it along to me saying that we could publish it here.  I had a real sense of a gathered meeting as Friends participated in staff presentations, engaged in meeting for business, and came together to learn how AFSC and Friends can partner in Spirit-guided action, and these images capture that spirit. - Lucy

"Families belong together" protest puppet download

Press conference in front of Senator Bennet's office in Denver, Colorado.

What do safe communities really look like? That question has been the focus of many in Denver, Colo., a city that has been home to many immigrants over the past 20 years. For AFSC, the answer can only be found by bringing together immigrants and non-immigrants to work together to ensure the fair treatment of all of the city's residents and work for equal human rights.