Documenting Immigration Enforcement as a Tool for Community Self-Defense and Self-Representation

During this workshop we will explore documentation techniques that the US-Mexico Border Program has honed over the course of decades of community self-defense work against inhumane immigration enforcement in the borderlands region. We will provide a historical framework that we use to change the narrative on the current immigration conversation, the strategies employed in building and accompanying community-based organizing, and the tools provided to capture testimonies and video recordings that speak to the human rights abuses rampant in immigration enforcement actions. This workshop will highlight techniques our team has used to document and archive ICE and Customs/Border Patrol misconduct–while telling community-centered stories of resistance. 

*This is a hybrid workshop. It will be offered online on Friday.

Facilitators: 

Benjamin Prado, U.S.-Mexico Border Program Coordinator

Danielle Cosmes, Human Rights Program Associate for the U.S.-Mexico Border Program

From Courtroom to Community: How Greensboro Works to Keep People Housed

Community members, organizers, and AFSC supporters will explore how grassroots power and policy advocacy can transform eviction practices and protect the right to housing. Through lived stories, data insights, and interactive dialogue, we’ll share a replicable model from Greensboro: where volunteers, tenants, and allies are building power to prevent homelessness, expand legal support, and shift public policy. Participants will engage in a participatory activity, such as interactive trivia or a brief role-play based on real eviction court experiences, to deepen understanding of how eviction systems operate and how community action can shift outcomes. Participants will walk away with practical tools for education, advocacy, and sustained collective action they can bring back to their communities.

Facilitators: 

Cecile “CC” Crawford, AFSC North Carolina Program Director

Maliyah Ijames, Court Watch Intern for AFSC North Carolina

Anita Washington, Organizing Committee Member, Court Watcher, and Tenant Organizer

Join the Apartheid-Free Movement: How Quakers are Working Together to End Israeli Apartheid 

In 2023, AFSC launched the Apartheid-Free campaign, asking communities of all types to make a public commitment to work to cut ties with Israeli apartheid. Over the past few years, more than 60 Quaker communities have responded to this call, including nearly 50 Monthly Meetings and two Yearly Meetings. This workshop will highlight the goals of Apartheid-Free as an effective tool for education and discernment around taking action for Palestine and share specific ways Quakers are partnering with the larger Apartheid-Free network. In a time when Palestinians are in dire need of international support and the world is in need of examples of creative non-violent resistance to unchecked power, find out more about how your meeting can partner with Quakers doing this work.

*This is a hybrid workshop. It will be offered online on Saturday.

Facilitators: 

Allison Tanner, National Apartheid-Free Communities Organizer

Samia Abass, Palestine Activism Program Communications & Engagement Coordinator

Climate Justice in a Time of Crisis

Between cuts to clean energy programs, attacks on activists, and a fossil fuel-obsessed White House, these are challenging times for those concerned about the environment. Yet times of great challenge can also be times of great opportunity, and AFSC is working to take advantage of that opportunity. Attendees of this workshop will learn about both the challenges facing the environmental movement today and about the ways (big and small) that AFSC and friends are pushing back in defense of a healthy planet and a sustainable future. After a review of how different AFSC programs have been thinking about some of these questions, attendees will also be encouraged to share some of their own ideas for a greener tomorrow.

Facilitator: 

Brett Heinz, Global Policy Coordinator for Economic and Climate Justice