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I Dream in your community!

a letter from the I Dream a World
project coordinator

Stemming from our belief that there is that of God in everyone, Quakers and the American Friends Service Committee have a long history of opposition to the death penalty. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. also rejected the death penalty as a violent institution, just as he rejected racism, a prominent characteristic of capital punishment in the United States. Dr. King dreamt of a world that others said was merely a fantasy. He envisioned the "beloved community" where people of all races, classes, and walks of life could coexist in peace.

His vision inspired the I Dream a World campaign. By connecting Dr. King’s teachings on nonviolence with the death penalty, I Dream a World seeks to engage young people in broadening our understanding of peace.

Throughout this year, in honor of Dr. King’s legacy, the American Friends Service Committee is coordinating youth art projects around the country featuring the art and writing of young people expressing their reactions and thoughts on justice, non-violence and capital punishment. Every year local exhibits will display this art and there will be special events around the King Holiday celebrating youth, art and Dr. King.

Students may submit art expressed through poetry, essays, short stories, drawings, paintings, collages, sculptures, music, videos and more. This is an ideal project—large or small—for classes focused on history, visual art, government, religion, English, music and even theater.

We invite and encourage you to participate in I Dream a World within your community this summer and fall.

In peace,

Tonya McClary
I Dream a World
Project Coordinator

Read more: Suggested Activities >

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