It seems like it is time to start a blog to the AFSC-South East New England Program in an effort to help our community stay in touch with events, news and periodic reflections on Peace and Justice activities in our region. Newletters seem to be a thing of the past and, at this point, somewhat beyond our budget, so we are going to try this. Please let us know what you think.
We invite people in South Eastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island to send us information about events we should highlight (either upcoming or recent), articles/books/websites you think we should share, photos of your events or anything else you think others who work for peace and justice in our region should know about.
Tonight I attended the report-back from the group of 10 folks who traveled from Providence (including 3 from Boston) to the national May 29th demonstration in Phoenix Arizona protesting SB1070. Over 100,000 people attended the demonstration from all over the country (though it barely got noticed in the mainstream media). The travelers came back full of enthusiasm, with a sense of embarking on their generation's civil rights struggle.
What many found most exciting about the gathering was that there is growing unity that racial profiling is racial profiling, doesn't matter if you are black or brown or Asian. It's wrong. It's all the same. And we must work together to make sure that it does not get encoded in our laws (and to make laws that explicitly prohibit it). The sense of unity at the rally was powerful. And folks are committed to that unity here in Providence.
T0ward that end, we began creating groups to greet the National Governor's meeting in Boston on July 3rd with a strong presence calling for an end to racial profiling and bills that copy Arizona's SB1070. There also are beginning plans for national demonstrations July 29th (the date the AZ SB1070 is to go into effect). If you are interested in working on any of these projects, please let me know.
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