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Background

The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) is pleased to present the I Dream A World campaign. This campaign focuses on how we, as a society, can envision and create a world based on finding solutions to the problems of violence that don't resort to perpetuating a cycle of violence. One of the greatest models we have for envisioning a different kind of world is the example of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

"Violence is immoral because it thrives on hatred rather than love…it creates bitterness in the survivors and brutality in the destroyers… Capital punishment is society’s final assertion that it will not forgive."
- Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Most of the world has abolished the practice of the death penalty. Yet the United States continues to condemn men and women to death.

The use of capital punishment is an example of how we as a nation continue to try to solve social justice issues with the use of violence. The death penalty is a microcosm of the problems society has with violence in general. It is for these reasons that the AFSC has made it a priority to work toward its abolition.

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. rejected the violence of the death penalty, as have many of his family members. To build on his legacy, the AFSC launched the I Dream A World campaign on the January 2002 MLK holiday. We are hoping that communities will continue to organize around Dr. King’s birthday in January and February’s Black History Month, calling on the courageous tradition of organizing within religious and youth communities.

One of the primary elements of the campaign is specific outreach to young people. Additionally we are working with faith communities. Further descriptions of these efforts are outlined on the reverse of this page. Initial outreach for these campaigns occurred throughout 2002 and 2003. We are now working to create a more lasting coalition of faith communities, student organizations, and other groups that will help grow the movement against the death penalty in a sustainable and long-term manner.

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