AFSC Midwest Digest

Some Highlights of Work from Around the Region — September 30, 2016

Piecing together a dream in Chicago Immigrant youth active with AFSC in Chicago are building on their summer training by giving interviews to a student journalist, starting a scholarship fund for undocumented students, demonstrating at the local ICE office against unjust detentions and building a pro-immigration mosaic that will hopefully be displayed in a very visible public location. “This is a way to change the talk about immigra-tion,” says Darlene Gramigna, who directs the program. She adds that several of the young people will be joining other AFSC staff and volunteers at SOA Watch in Nogales, Arizona October 7-10. Dismantling institutional racism: From St. Paul…. AFSC staff in the Twin Cities recently helped the St. Paul Federation of Teachers secure $150,000 each for restorative justice programs in six pilot schools. Sharon Goens-Bradley shares about that win and shares experiences from FGC and the most recent AFSC Freedom School, held at the Twin Cities Friends Meeting, in this update. ...to St. Louis A friend of mine has a t-shirt that says it well: “Life—be in it.” AFSC’s work in St. Louis is engaging youth in ways that help them be active in creating a better community and better world. In this update about the program’s work, Joshua Saleem shares what young people are saying and doing about dismantling the school-to-prison pipeline and growing healthy food for their neighbors. Resisting the militarization of police Should local police look and act like the military? For generations, Americans have said no, but that’s changed. Despite harassment, Debbie Southorn of AFSC in Chicago is working with a coalition to #StopITOA — the Illinois Tactical Officers Association. AFSC’s work exposing Chicago’s bloated police budget has been quoted in CounterPunch and Crain’s Chicago Business. Check out #DemilitarizeChi on Twitter for more on a recent training. Chicago taxidrivers thank AFSC for a decade of support It’s a long way from Gaza to Chicago, but Fayez Khozindar has seen AFSC’s practical expression of Quaker values at work in both places. In the most recent newsletter of the United Taxidrivers Community Council (UTCC), Fayez thanks AFSC for ten years of support in the struggle for justice for cabdrivers in Chicago. AFSC wishes UTCC all the best as it continues its journey as an independent organization.

Immigrant youth in Chicago protest unjust

detentions outside the local ICE office.

Youth involved in the AFSC Freedom School in St.

Louis (photo: Jennifer Mansfield)

Visit #StopITOA for more information on resisting

police militarization.

At right, Fayez Khozindar demonstrates against lease over-

charges, one of the injustices cabbies face in Chicago.

What the (Bleep) Happened to Hip-Hop?

On October 8-9, AFSC in Northeast Ohio will hold an educational forum and artists’ showcase with this provocative title. It’s part of a public education campaign that seeks to raise awareness about the dangerous power corporations wield over the Hip-Hop industry and society in general. AFSC is co-sponsoring this with Hip Hop Congress and Move to Amend, which have been organizing these events nationwide. For more on AFSC’s work, check out Greg Coleridge’s latest podcast.

Lifting up African voices in Ohio Under the direction of Migwe Kimemia, AFSC’s Dayton office is developing a statewide community and student engagement strategy for lifting African immigrant voices for the implementa-tion of the New African Immigrant Commission in Ohio. AFSC is also organizing African Diaspora Dialogue forums in Dayton, Cincinnati and Columbus; policy advocacy workshops for the Dayton African Coalition; and campus organizing and student leadership workshops for African student leaders at the University of Cincinnati and Wright State University. Iowans celebrate peacemaking—past and present Peace and justice supporters gathered in Des Moines recently for three events. Rabbi Brant Rosen, AFSC Midwest Regional Direc-tor, spoke at a clergy/laity luncheon about the No Way to Treat a Child campaign and joined AFSC staffers Katie Huerter and Jody Mashek for an evening panel discussion following the screening of Detaining Dreams. A community celebration of peacemaking offered a space for AFSC and community partners to thank each other for years of good work. AFSC’s peacebuilding program ends in Iowa with its final event—a speaking tour by Col. Lawrence Wilkerson on climate change. AFSC to deepen its immigrant rights work in Iowa Help us find strong candidates for a new Immigrant Rights Program Director position in Des Moines—the application dead-line is October 15. This person will work closely with organizing director Sandra Sanchez and legal services director Jody Mashek. Sandra will speak at Iowa State University on October 5 with Karen Yarena on “DACA—Making Dreams Come True.” Former legal services administrative assistant Kenia Calderon, recently honored by the Iowa International Center, blogs about “17 Things Undocumented College Students Need to Know.” Michigan program updates On September 28, AFSC’s Criminal Justice Program held another training for its Good Neighbor Project. On October 1, the Conditions of Confinement Group of the Michigan Collaborative to End Mass Incarceration will host a meeting for people who vol-unteer in prisons in Michigan. To volunteer with AFSC, contact Natalie Holbrook at 734.761.8283 or nholbrook@afsc.org.

From left, panelists Jody Mashek, Brant Rosen and

Katie Huerter reflect on the film Detaining Dreams.

Kathleen McQuillen is retiring after more than 22

years of peacebuilding work with AFSC in Iowa.

Kenia Calderon receives a “Passport to Prosperity

Award” from the Iowa International Center.

The Midwest’s Mideast Digest Jennifer Bing’s work with the No Way to Treat a Child cam-paign means she’s no stranger to airports—or the media. A story about her Seattle visit is one example: “As U.S. citizens and taxpayers, she said, we must recognize complicity in the Israeli Occupation and mo-bilize to stop it. ‘Until every sin-gle person here is writing to their legislators every single day, unless we are speaking out against our participation, we are not doing enough.’" Jennifer also wrote about NWTC in Truthout and about ending the blockade against Gaza on AFSC’s blog. Coming up in December is AFSC’s fundraiser with Palestine Legal and Jewish Voice for Peace-Chicago and a speaking tour with Mohammed Omer, a Palestinian journalist from Gaza. Stops will include St. Louis, Indianapolis, and Chicago. Jennifer and all of us in the Mid-west will miss Nawal Musleh (shown at right), who’s completing her AFSC service at the end of September. Indy work motors on Erin Polley is ramping up AFSC’s Palestine-Israel work in Indianapolis. On November 7, AFSC will take part in a panel presentation on “The Houses of Abraham” that will focus on the major sacred “homes” of the Abrahamic religions and what each place means to the faithful of that tradition. The Indiana program is also hiring a new Jane Brown MacLeod intern to focus on Palestine-Israel issues and Islamophobia. Erin’s also been busy helping to defend a former Students for Justice in Palestine organizer against an inflammatory news article. Keeping up to date in Kansas City Ira Harritt shares this update: We are in the process of sending out candidate questionnaires which ask metro area candidates for MO and KS legislative seats to respond to values and narra-tives that arose in our Move the Money Listening Project. Keep a look out for a report on responses from the candidates. We will also conduct our first All Of Us Or None Poster Project sessions soon at Paseo High Academy. AFSC peace interns Hope, Aliyah and Ravyn engage high school youth in speaking out for positive social change. Click here for more information.

Nawal Musleh, at right, has played a key role in

supporting AFSC’s Boycott poster exhibit and the

No Way to Treat a Child campaign.

Aliyah McBride is a senior at UMKC

and a Kansas City Peace Intern for this

school year.

Standing with Standing Rock An AFSC staff delegation, including Midwest staff Margaret Jackson and Sharon Goens-Bradley, recently travelled to North Dakota to be in solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux. Nearly 300 tribes have joined in a courageous, nonviolent action to protect land, water and sacred sites from the con-struction of the Dakota Access pipeline. AFSC volunteer Patti McKee traveled to Standing Rock with Iowa CCI and has led nonviolence trainings for water protectors in Iowa who’ve committed civil disobedience at pipeline construction sites. Bits and Peaces Rich Van Dellen, a former AFSC Corporation member from Rochester, Minnesota, wrote this reflection on International Peace Day….A class in Indiana translated letters from German children thanking Quakers for their support….Lucy Duncan wrote this blog in praise of Colin Kaepernick’s courageous actions. “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color,” Colin says. Your support is key Your support is the reason AFSC has been working for peace and justice for nearly a century. If you would like to make a gift to support the AFSC Midwest Region or a specific program, please click here.

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Red Warrior Camp of Water Protectors near Standing Rock Reservation.

Protest signs and flags hang from a fence near the Dakota Access Pipe-

line (DAPL) construction site.

Check out #NoDAPL for more information.