Some picks from AFSC staff this week:
Dark Money Under Fire as Election 2016 Heats Up via Common Dreams
While Democratic candidates are lining up to denounce the huge influence that dark money is having on politics in the U.S., a new report says that...

Some picks from AFSC staff this week:

Dark Money Under Fire as Election 2016 Heats Up via Common Dreams
While Democratic candidates are lining up to denounce the huge influence that dark money is having on politics in the U.S., a new report says that 2016 presidential candidates are relying on such secret contributions “like never before.”

Ella Taught Me: Shattering the Myth of the Leaderless Movement via Colorlines
Who gets to tell the story? This is a question implicit in the work I do as a historian. But the question I have been wrestling with lately is more immediate: Who gets to shape the narrative, define the history-makers, and capture the words and images of the current black-led, anti-state violence movement evolving in the United States right now?

U.S. Deports Tens Of Thousands Each Year For Minor Drug Crimes, Human Rights Watch Says via Huffington Post
Tens of thousands of people are deported each year for minor drug offenses, even if they served their time long ago, because of draconian U.S. drug laws, according to a report released Tuesday by the international advocacy group Human Rights Watch.

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What some of AFSC’s staff are reading this week:

  • [web] From Brooklyn to Palestine: A thank you note to Palestinian and Middle Eastern sisters who re-educated me on my world view
    AFSC U.S. South Region Kamau Franklin writes for Mondoweiss on the Middle Eastern women who politicized him

  • [book] The Icarus Deception by Seth Godin
    Assistant General Secretary of Integration and Impact, Renata Cobbs-Fletcher says: “[It’s a] a book about why and how being an artist is truly about how one lives their professional and personal lives, regardless of vocation. From the book: ‘Art is not a gene or a specific talent. It’s an attitude, available to anyone who has a vison that others don’t, and the guts to do something about it…’ Amen!

  • [web] US Weapons Exporters Lead World in War Profiteering
    Wage Peace Campaign Coordinator Mary Zerkel says:
    "President Obama recently requested the largest Pentagon budget in history. And he asked Congress to retroactively approve and support ongoing U.S. military actionin Syria by approving a new Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF). These actions only move us further down the path we’ve been on for years—toward disinvestment in our communities and investment in military solutions no matter what the human and economic costs.”