Quaker Action Fall 2012

Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) speaks with Upper Big Branch family members.

What really strengthens communities? And what does seeking economic justice look like in the communities where AFSC works?

In this issue of Quaker Action, you will find many stories of how we work with communities struggling for economic security and how we support people in developing their own means to sustain themselves and overcome injustice.

In right relationship

Shan planing in Africa

Shan completes the planing of a plank for a door to be used in the building of a new home in Hatcliffe Extension.
See more pictures of Shan's visit.

General Secretary Shan Cretin discusses how AFSC’s work is influenced by the Quaker idea of “right relationship”—that our well-being is connected with the well-being of others and with the earth.

Organizing community responses to regressive legislation in New Hampshire

Maggie Fogarty at a New Hampshire rally

Image Available on Flickr

Arnie Alpert and Maggie Fogarty have worked relentlessly to not only defend economic rights, but also empower New Hampshire residents to know when and how to take a stand.

Holistic teaching methods benefit children and communities in Myanmar

Monastic school in Myanmar

Image Available on Flickr

Poor children who can’t afford state schools can get a basic education at schools started by Buddhist monasteries

Until recently, the government of Myanmar spent less than 2 percent of its gross domestic product on health and education, so Buddhist monasteries started schools to provide basic secular education to poor children who could not afford the official schools. In 2009, AFSC began working to support civil society efforts to improve livelihoods and educate children.

Budget cuts, healthier communities the focus for Los Angeles students

Lincoln High School Garden

Click photo to view slideshow.

Images available on Flickr

Planting seedlings and clearing beds.

With recent budget cuts, Lincoln High School in East Los Angeles has lost nearly 40 percent of its teachers and seen class sizes nearly double. Its students are organizing to mitigate the effects of the crisis. They asked AFSC to help them build a Peace Garden at their school.

Solidarity messages cross Gaza border

Mural at Lincoln High School Peace Garden

AFSC LIncoln HS Los Angeles mural_ FINAL 2

Image Available on Flickr

The siege and blockade of Gaza has cut off its residents from the outside world for more than five years. So when a call went out asking AFSC staff to send messages of solidarity to colleagues and participants in the Palestine Youth Program, many jumped at the chance.

Changing hearts and minds in Washington, D.C.

AFSC staff member Jessica Roach looks on as Milca Kouame speaks at the White House Domestic Policy Council.

Image Available on Flickr

AFSC’s tradition of bringing constituents to meet face-to-face with lawmakers is providing a beacon of hope for change within a frustrating political climate in Washington, D.C.

What is economic justice?

Rick Wilson

Image Available on Flickr

Rick Wilson gives visiting students a presentation on West Virginia politics, energy policy, and social and economic justice.

In the October issue of Friends Journal, a monthly magazine focused on contemporary Quaker faith and practice, AFSC’s Rick Wilson, coordinator of the West Virginia Economic Justice project, writes about “Economic justice 101”:

What is economic justice? My flip answer is to say that I haven’t really seen any yet but hope to recognize it when I do. It might be easier to define what working for it means.

Reader’s guide: Economics matters

"All Labor Has Dignity" book cover

"All Labor Has Dignity" is in our Economics Matters reader's guide

Image Available on Flickr

Mired in the “economic crisis,” people around the world are calling for just and sustainable economic policies at the local, national, and global levels.

Members of AFSC’s program staff recommend books, magazines, videos, blogs, and other resources to help you understand the complex issues and imagine a more humane economic order.

Martha Gwyn, a lifetime contributor

Martha Gwyn

Martha and her husband, Robert, sightseeing outside of Kingston, Jamaica in 1982.

Born to a Quaker family in an Indiana house that had been a station on the Underground Railroad, Martha Gwyn heard mention of AFSC in her formative years. But her personal involvement really started in the 1940s when she was a student at Earlham College.

“The work camp movement made a big impression on me,” Martha says. “It accomplished things. It made friends. It contributed to a community in nearly every case. It did lots of things.”

From coal to furniture

Man in an Appalachian coal area

One of the hardest-hit industries during the Great Depression of the 1930s was coal mining. World War I provided a boost to the industry, but following that conflict there was a major decline in demand in the 1920s, and many miners found themselves out of work. The AFSC undertook a child-feeding program in the mining districts of Appalachia during this period. The coal mining industry never completely recovered from this downturn, and the 1930s economic collapse made matters even worse.