Race

Michelle Alexander headshot

Michelle Alexander, law school professor and author of The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness

Michelle Alexander, a renowned author, civil rights attorney, and prison-reform advocate, delivered this keynote address on May 26 at “Edges of Justice,” an event held by the American Friends Service Committee in San Francisco. Only three days before, on May 23, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered California to greatly reduce its prison population after ruling that the state’s prison system was so overcrowded that it amounted to “cruel and unusual punishment.”

Civitas at the White House

 Students from Baltimore’s Civitas School, participants in an AFSC Peer Mediation project, visit the White House

Our world views, as well as opportunities that are available, depend on our background.  Definitions of peace, education and equality change according to the experiences of those defining the words. One factor that affects the way we live and relate to each other is race. Although it is not always a primary focus, the American Friends Service

Committee’s commitment to the dignity and worth of each person frequently fosters work on the complicated issues of racism and inequity.