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Area Office of the Carolinas 529-D Guilford College Rd

Greensboro, NC 27410

336-854-0633

afsc.org/Greensboro

facebook.com/afscnc

youtube.com/afscnc

September 2014 Newsletter Editor: Tim Leisman

Summer Intern Reflections, AFSC on Mike Brown, Guilford College and AFSC History, and more!

Our country has a long history of community-led movements in our united struggle for an ideal democracy. Throughout this history Greensboro has been the site of many of our nation’s social justice movements, from the sit-ins of the ‘60s to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of the early 2000s. These grassroots mobilizations have embodied the core

themes of our democratic process by allowing citizens to use their constitutional power to enact social and structural changes in our society. The struggle continues with the policing of communities of color. For many in Greensboro, trust in the police department is at an all-time low due to a lack of transparency from the Greensboro Police Department and little communication with or accountability to the communities in which they operate. These concerns have been held by many in Greensboro for more than four decades, and have now taken shape in the form of an “Interim Citizens Police Review Committee” (ICPRC) alongside the Beloved Community Center’s “Police Accountability, Community Safety, and Healing Initiative”. These grassroots initiatives have led the way for other cities around the nation to call for local reforms to policing and democracy in our communities, particularly communities of color. On August 7, the ICPRC met at Genesis Baptist Church in Greensboro to foster community dialogue and input. The

committee members shared the results of a report they have been compiling on recent cases of police abuse and lack of accountability in Greensboro. These cases include the arrest of an elderly woman and her partner who were stalled in the woman’s parked car while she suffered a diabetic episode, the case of a young Black man dragged from his car and tased, and the arrest of several young female college students at a graduation party. The community deserves answers in these cases as to why people were treated unjustly. With the resignation of Police Chief Kenneth Miller, partners in this initiative see an important opportunity to move forward. While the police and the city have a process in place to handle complaints, it is all internal within the Greensboro Police Department’s Internal Review Department and the City Government, and the final say belongs to the police chief. We believe that police cannot effectively police themselves, and citizens are working to empower the ICPRC with subpoena power, the power to force the police to provide records of arrests and complaint reviews. This legal tool would enable the committee to provide better accountability and ensure that the voice of the citizens is heard during complaint reviews. This campaign is ongoing and community meetings are being held to build support for the police accountability initiative. To see more details and get involved, please visit: www.belovedcommunitycenter.org - Co-written by David Allen, Volunteer/ Youth Coordinator at the Beloved Community Center, and Tim Leisman, AFSC Intern.

Greensboro Residents Urge Police Accountability

Community members at the Aug. 7 meeting with the ICPRC

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Reflections from Summer Interns

Working at AFSC this summer has been an incredibly fulfilling experience. Not only have I improved on my existing communications skills and learned new ones, but I have also gained a deeper understanding of AFSC's work both internationally and in North Carolina. I know I will continue to be involved. —Tim Leisman, Communications Intern

As a result of all of the programs I participated in at AFSC, I grew significantly as a student, intern, and individual… I have learned the importance of listening to and understanding each and every person’s story…. I have realized the power I possess individually to help the entire world. —Carrie Shropshire, Guilford College Principled Problem Solving Intern

At the end of August, AFSC of the Carolinas said goodbye to our four fabulous interns following a great summer. Our interns made enormous contributions to our local work, through editing our newsletter, managing our social media engagement, staffing two summer camps, facilitating groups of young people, creating digital stories, and much more. Check out what they had to say about their experiences:

It is impossible to find the right words to capture my experience with AFSC. What I do know is that I was privileged to have worked in an enriching environment working with and for the community. All the work I was a part of not only made a difference in our community, but furthermore, made me a better person. Above all AFSC represented peace and love through their stands in all social issues, and even within the work environment. —Kelly Morales, UNC-Greensboro Intern

My internship with AFSC has brought me closer to my community. From lobbying for the first time in Raleigh to participating in two amazing summer camps, I feel connected to spaces and people for which I would not have otherwise. The other AFSC interns, along with Lori and Toni, have become my friends and collaborators. —Amelya Black, Digital Storytelling Intern

Youth Transforming Media (YTM) is a group of teenage girls in Greensboro who participated in AFSC’s Digital Storytelling Program this summer. The group hopes to raise awareness of how youth in society interpret, share, and create media. One of the goals of YTM is to have discussions in the community and

with other young people about media-related issues. Recently they held their first discussion session with 40 teenagers from Teens Taking Action, a peer education and support group sponsored by Planned Parenthood Health Systems. The session began with a short survey about the type of media the teens use in their lives, from listening to the radio and watching television to using Snapchat, Instagram, and Facebook. Next, the YTM youth brought attention to the powerful influence on media by large corporations, showing some clips from the documentaries, Miss Representation and The Mask You Live In. Other videos viewed in the media information session included ones from Youth for Human Rights and the Girl Effect campaign. The young people then participated in an activity that explored facts about self-esteem of young people, woman’s lack of representation in government, and the many effects media has on people in today's world. They also viewed several AFSC digital stories, short powerful films telling people’s own stories in their own words, including one that was created by YTM group member Alondra Rodriguez. These videos sparked conversations around the importance of young people being true to their real identity and sharing their stories. The group agreed that media can be both a positive, transformative force in the world or a destructive force if not used responsibly. Overall, the session was a big success for Youth Transforming Media. The evaluations revealed that the young people learned a lot and greatly appreciated the YTM girls. What a great way to spend a Saturday! — Amelya Black, Digital Storytelling Intern

Youth Transforming Media Community Discussion

YTM members Alondra, Michelle and Ashley

“Who else was I meant to be, if not myself?”

- Alandra Rodriguez, YTM group member

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Many people know that the American Friends Service Committee was formed in 1917 during World War 1, and that its first formal delegation consisted of young men delivering aid to war refugees in Europe. At this time, it was common for young Quaker men who opposed war service to be imprisoned as traitors, although eventually society would come to recognize them as conscientious objectors. The AFSC represented a way that Quakers and others could serve their country but also stay true to their pacifist values. Fewer people will know about a young professor at Guilford College who visited fellow Quakers imprisoned for war resistance in South Carolina. His name was Howard Brinton, a professor of mathematics and Guilford’s Dean at the time. Moved by his visit, Brinton left Guilford in 1919 to join the AFSC, becoming one of the organization’s first publicity secretaries. Soon after, he followed the call to journey to Europe to participate in the direct action distributing food aid in Germany. Howard Brinton met his soon-to-be wife, Anna Cox, in Germany, and they were married upon returning to the

United States. Together they taught at various institutions of higher learning and eventually became Co-Directors of the Pendle Hill Quaker retreat center in Pennsylvania. AFSC volunteers and staff frequently came to Pendle Hill for training and spiritual centering, and the center continues to provide these services today. The relationship between social activism and spiritual practice is especially strong in the Quaker tradition, and Howard Brinton, as a scholar of Quaker mysticism, was a key part of exploring that link in the 20th century. For Howard, the indescribable experience that leads spiritual practitioners away from the sensory world to what some refer to as the Spirit necessarily leads back to the world in a call to ministry, a call to help others and work for social good. He believed that many roads, and each individual journey together, lead to one spirit – the basis for the old saying, “The Light in me answers the Light in you”. He saw this as the foundation of the Quaker Peace testimony, and the source of his calling to peace activism.

We are proud to count Howard Brinton as an inspirational figure, and proud that he touched Guilford College and Greensboro. In his legacy, and that of so many others, we continue to advocate for peace and justice in our communities at home as well as abroad. - Tim Leisman, AFSC Intern

Faith and Action: Profile on Howard Brinton

Alamance County Sheriff on Trial for Racial Profiling On Tuesday, August 19, AFSC staff and interns joined other community partners to observe the trial of Alamance County Sherrif Terry Johnson at the federal courthouse in Winston-Salem. The Sheriff is being charged by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) with unfairly targeting Latinos.

AFSC staff has heard from Latino community members for many years that they consider Alamance County to be the most dangerous place to drive in North Carolina. This, they say, is due to being targeted for their skin color, racially profiled by the Alamance Sheriff’s Department. We arrived to the courtroom on the day after the prosecution rested their case, and the defense was beginning to respond and build their own case that the Sheriff is an effective agent who keeps most residents safe. The DOJ relied on several studies while making its case. Dr. John Lamberth, a social psychologist, showed in his study that between 2008-2013, people of Hispanic descent were seven times more likely to be pulled over by the Sheriff’s Department. The criminologist Dr. John MacDonald, in a separate study, found that people of Hispanic descent were also more likely to be searched

and arrested after a traffic stop. At stake in this trial is whether or not the Sheriff’s Department violated the 14th Amendment's Equal Protection Clause, which states that all citizens must be treated equally under the law. We are eager to see how this all plays out. However, no matter what the verdict is, this case has had a profound impact on the lives of Latinos in Alamance County. According to our community partners in the area, there has been a very different attitude from the sheriff’s department towards Latinos recently. Whether that is just due to increased scrutiny during this case, or evidence of a larger shift in policing culture, remains to be seen. - Tim Leisman, AFSC Intern

Photograph of Howard Brinton, date unknown, retrieved from laquaker.blogspot.com.

ICE arrests Lady Liberty in Alamance County, street theater, 2011

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Just four miles east of where Mike Brown was gunned down [in Ferguson, MO], Dred Scott is buried at Calvary Cemetery. The infamous 1857 Dred Scott decision denied Scott his freedom on the basis that African Americans could not be citizens and therefore had no standing to sue in an American court. In the words of then Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, “[African Americans] had no rights which the white man is bound to respect.” The murder of Mike Brown is the latest in a myriad of cases when the reality of Taney’s words has been proven to be true in America. As events continue to unfold in Ferguson, AFSC in St. Louis is presented with a unique opportunity to speak

into this situation. We [AFSC staff] are on the ground with students helping them process the death of one of their peers. In these conversations we lead with listening and provide analysis of the tragedy from their own experience. One of the schools we have partnered with over the past two years is McCluer High School in the Ferguson Florissant School District. We have reached out to teachers there offering support and expressing our desire to facilitate dialogue that will help diffuse tension and again provide an analysis through which students can understand issues of racism and police brutality. We stand with the family of Mike Brown, offering our condolences and deepest sympathy during this time. We want to offer those of you who wish to express written condolences an opportunity to

do so by sending letters to the St. Louis AFSC office. We will get those letters to the family.

This is an excerpt from a longer article by Joshua Saleem (pictured with his children at left), Director of Peace Education at AFSC-St. Louis, “Cry The Beloved Country, Stand with the Beloved.” The full article can be read here: http://tinyurl.com/CryBeloved

Reflections on Ferguson from AFSC St. Louis (Excerpt)

Upcoming Events Sat & Sun, Sept 13-14: AFSC Youth

Community Organizing Training

Tues, Sept. 16, 10am-4pm: HKONJ Summit Retreat, Raleigh, NC

Wed, Sept 17: Immigrant Solidarity Committee of Charlotte

Sun, Sept 21, 12-2pm: Int’l Day of Peace - Peace Festival at First Friends Mtg, Greensboro

Sun, Sept.21, 9 am: “Shared Security” forum, Greeensboro Friendship Friends Mtg

Tues, Sept 23, 6pm: Digital Story screening and Community Forum with State Representatives at Oakwood Forest, Greensboro

Fri, Sept 26: Meeting for those concerned about unaccompanied immigrant children, Congregational UCC, Greensboro

Sat, Sept. 27, 8:30am: First Bhutanese Youth Festival (Power Play Center 2207 Cone Blvd.), Greensboro

Sat, Sept. 27: Guilford College Day of Service

Sun, Oct 5, 3pm: Film screening, From the Back of the Line, and keynote speaker Rausel Arista about experiences in immigration detention, Geeksboro Coffeehouse and Cinema, Greensboro

For information about any of the listed events, please call AFSC: 336-854-0633

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 5, 3:00—5:00PM

Film ~ Speaker ~ Discussion ~ Reception

SPeaker: Rausel arista

On his experiences in immigration detention

Geeksboro Coffeehouse & Cinema 2134 Lawndale Dr. Greensboro, NC 27408

Free / please consider a donation to

Rausel’s legal fund