Happy new year and welcome to the winter issue of the AFSC Alumni Newsletter. As an AFSC alum, you are part of our work for peace and justice around the globe. I thank you for your support of AFSC and your dedication to creating a world where the rights and dignity of all are respected.
For decades, AFSC has worked to end the use of the death penalty as well as life and long-term sentences. But last summer, the Trump administration restarted federal executions, carrying out death penalty sentences for the first time in 17 years. You can take action on this issue today. Tell Congress to stop federal executions once and for all and end the death penalty!
With deep appreciation,
Tonya Histand
Alumni Director
Alumni news & notes
In a Seattle Times op-ed, AFSC alum Jonis Davis writes, "As a diverse group of female elders, all U.S. citizens committed to righting the wrongs resulting from a system of white supremacy, we are clear that the legacy of slavery continues to shape and define life in this country. We believe that telling the whole truth about our history would be not only beneficial but essential if we are to fully understand past and present travesties and move forward as a nation."
Vint Deming, who worked for AFSC in Chicago in the 1960s and led workcamps in Kentucky, died on Oct. 30 in Philadelphia.
This spring, longtime AFSC activist Masaru Edmund Nakawatase will serve as a Friend in Residence at Haverford College. The Friend in Residence program brings experienced Quakers to campus for extended interactions with students, staff faculty, and the community to stimulate reflection on the connections between academic pursuits and "letting one's life speak."
On Sept. 7, Dennis Hartzell, who worked in AFSC's Washington, D.C. office, passed away at his home in Florida.
María Jiménez directed AFSC’s Immigration Law Enforcement Monitoring Project from 1987 until 2003 and dedicated her life to advocating for immigrant rights. She died last month in Houston.
Aishah Shadidah Simmons received the Soros Justice Fellowship. Her fellowship will focus on using storytelling to explore survivor-centered ways to disrupt and end childhood and adult sexual violence—without relying on the criminal legal system.
Do you have news to share? Email us today!
Archive dive
As a high schooler, Joan Baez attended a seminar where she heard the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. speak, galvanizing her pacifism. She credits AFSC and her Quaker parents for her activism. “I was eight when [my parents] became Quakers, and the American Friends Service Committee is the active wing of the Quakers,” Joan Baez told BBC Radio. “[The AFSC] go to various places in the world and do good things for numbers of people. When I was fifteen, I was out demonstrating with my dad and mom and family against the bomb shelters. So, that active part, I’m sure, came from the family."
AFSC today
Throughout history, governments have used crisis to introduce measures that would not be accepted otherwise without protest or outrage. In this pandemic, our staff—working in a wide variety of contexts around the world—are seeing how some governments are exploiting the public health crisis to impose dangerous policies that could impact civil society long after the pandemic ends—including restricting people’s right to speak out and nonviolently organize against repression. That’s why AFSC is launching Under the Mask, a project that tracks and analyzes government abuse of power around the world. Under the Mask also supports activists, journalists, and others working to protect our freedoms in this pandemic and beyond. Register today for our Jan. 26 online launch event.
The call to defund the police—and invest in communities—has grown in the wake of nationwide protests for racial justice and continues after the armed insurrection at the Capitol. Here are some messaging tips you can use to talk with others about defunding the police—and build support for alternatives that create community safety for all.
Planned Giving
Kristin Loken first became aware of AFSC in the late 1980s, when she was serving as a foreign service officer with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in Jerusalem. "We worked with several nongovernmental organizations, mostly providing humanitarian assistance,” she says. “AFSC was not allowed to accept any government assistance—they got to do exactly what they thought was right. I appreciated their independence and ability to implement effective programs under especially difficult circumstances."
Kristin became a donor to AFSC, and after her father and his wife died, Kristin turned to AFSC to set up a charitable gift annuity for her sister. "I looked at different options, but with the Quakers, I knew I could trust them," Kristin says. "My sister now has an income stream for the rest of her life, I got a good tax deduction, and AFSC got a donation. All in all, a nice win-win solution."
If you are interested in receiving life income while supporting AFSC, a gift annuity is easy to arrange. Reach out to GiftPlanning@afsc.org or visit us online.
More ways to take action and connect with AFSC
Join General Secretary Joyce Ajlouny and Policy Advocacy Coordinator Tori Bateman for a special call for alumni on March 5 at 3 p.m. ET.
Visit our new "Get Involved" page for action alerts, upcoming events, and more.
Join us every Thursday at 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT for our weekly Facebook Live events. Each week, AFSC staff members share updates on our work and how you can take action with us. Click this link to join the livestream on Thursdays.
Thank you for reading our AFSC Alumni Newsletter! To learn more about our Alumni Network and connect with former friends and colleagues, visit our webpage and Facebook group. You can also email me questions and suggestions.