AFSC Midwest Digest
Highlights of Recent Work from Around the Region
October 2, 2014
Iowans are “ready” for all the presidential candidates
An estimated 10,000 people heading to Senator Tom Harkin’s final
steak fry drove slowly by AFSC’s new “Governing Under the
Influence” banners south of Des Moines. View photos here. AFSC’s
Presidential Campaign Project recently added new Iowa staff Josh
Skipworth and Kevin Rutledge; they’ll team up with colleagues in
New Hampshire in a coordinated birddogging effort.
Freedom School comes to St. Louis
Following upon a successful Freedom School in St. Louis, AFSC is
ready to increase the number of young people involved in our
peacebuilding program, providing them with spaces for healing and
helping them identify strategies to build peace in Ferguson. Under
the direction of Peace Education Director Joshua Saleem, AFSC is
creating a Youth Undoing Institutional Racism chapter in the St.
Louis area. Stay tuned for more.
Moral Mondays come to Indiana (and soon to Ohio)
Erin Polley of AFSC worked closely with the NAACP and other groups
for a successful launch of the inclusive Moral Mondays Movement in
Indiana. More about the efforts in this Public News Service story.
Quaker photographer Jeff Kisling shares these photos and video.
Boycott Poster exhibit coming to a town near you!
In September the Boycott Poster art exhibition opened in Chicago at
Uri-Echen Gallery in the West Pilsen neighborhood. An openingnight discussion featured a teacher involved in the Chicago teacher’s
strike and boycott of standardized testing; a filmmaker from Kartemquin films who spoke about a new documentary on the 1963 Chicago teacher’s strike; and a professor who is writing a book on the
Meat Boycotts in the US. Two sets of the exhibit will travel to other
Midwest locations this fall, and a new video is set for release in early
October. For more info, contact [email protected] or visit here.
Iowans raise awareness about corporate influence.
St. Louis youth examine institutional racism.
Rev. William Barber at the Indiana Statehouse
AFSC Chicago Middle East staff headed to San Diego in September to
attend the 13th annual conference of the US Campaign to End the
Israeli Occupation. Shirien continues to provide leadership on the
Steering committee, and Jennifer led a workshop on Child Detention
at this year’s gathering of 350 activists. AFSC welcomes Joleen ErbAbplanalp, a history and religion major from Manchester University
who is interning at AFSC Chicago this fall.
The AFSC Chicago program is happy to help groups participate in the
“Pinwheels for Gaza” project launched this month to remember the
children killed during “Operation Protective Edge.” For more information, check out this link.
From AFSC’s Boycott Poster exhibit
Speaking of posters...a call for submissions
From Ferguson to Gaza, we can see the way that militarism has a direct
impact on the lives of all of us. AFSC is looking for graphic artists, printmakers, street artists, comic artists, and other print-based visual artists
who are interested in creating unique posters for a traveling exhibit.
The deadline is December 15, 2014. More info here.
Iowa Dreamers rock the vote
Claudia Thrane’s work with immigrant youth in Des Moines has
resulted in this creative Spanish-language video urging people to vote
in support of the issues they care about.
Forty years a prisoner
Four days after being released following 40 years of imprisonment in
Michigan, T.J. Spytma describes in this video the parole process and
why AFSC Michigan’s Parole Readiness Workshops are so important.
Taxidrivers in Chicago win on some income issues
AFSC is a community ally of the United Taxidrivers Community Council
in Chicago, and UTCC recently won some income improvement steps
for drivers. More about the success in this Sun-Times article and on
AFSC’s website.
Poster by Jason Zepeda and la
Mina Circle
St. Paul youth explore healthy communities
Seven St. Paul youth ranging in age from 12-16 recently participated in
an 8-day service-learning project designed to educate them about
structural racism through an analysis of healthy communities. To learn
more about their adventures from staffer Sharon Goens-Bradley and
12-year-old Dasheniyah Hall, click here.
Move to Amend finds momentum in Ohio
Northeast Ohio AFSC was the key organizer of recent talks in Akron and
Cleveland by David Cobb, spokesperson of national Move to Amend
(MTA), the multiracial and multigenerational coalition seeking a constitutional amendment to end the constitutional doctrines declaring
"corporations are people" and "money is speech." AFSC coordinates
the Ohio MTA Network of 16 affiliate/partner groups across the state.
Ten communities have now passed either council resolutions or ballot
measures in Ohio. AFSC is working with activists in two other communities who have MTA initiatives on this November's ballot.
Final notes
AFSC’s work with students in Iowa concerned about peace and justice
in the Middle East continues to grow; check out these photos from a
recent vigil….AFSC’s Google Hangout on Iraq and Syria is still timely;
author Phyllis Bennis is worth following on Facebook….To subscribe to
AFSC Kansas City’s weekly e-news, click here….To share your ideas for
future Midwest Digests, please e-mail Jon Krieg. Thanks as always for
your support of AFSC — and for all your work for peace and justice.
A young reader checks out a Maya Angelou classic at Ancestry Books, an African
American-owned store in Minneapolis.
Young people in Iowa are ready to push all
the candidates to work for peace and justice
for Palestine.