youth

Police repression and unjust arrests in the Twin Cities related to the Republican National Convention have caused concern among nonviolent organizers.  

Youth Against War and Racism (YAWR), a partner organization of FOR, has asked us to mobilize our members and networks to support the rights of youth to resist militarism in their schools and in our country through a nonviolent student walk-out on the last day of the RNC.  

On Tuesday 9/2, some households in the St. Paul school district received a pre-recorded phone call warning parents that the streets would be unsafe for their children on Thursday, and to please urge their children not to attend the student strike.  

YAWR has called on our support for these solidarity actions: 

It is 5 p.m. in Iran, 8 and 1/2 hours east of New York, and I am sending a first brief report from our civilian diplomacy delegation. It has been an exhausting and invigorating two days, only a few hours of which have actually been spent here in the country.

On Friday evening, March 21st, the Fellowship of Reconciliation's "youth arts & activism" delegation arrived safely in Colombia. The delegation of eight young adult leaders from across the United States will spend eight days traveling in Colombia, meeting with young adult activists in the region working to end war and support the rights of conscientious objectors.

Dearest friends,
Please mark November 10th as an opportunity to make Art, strengthen relationships and co-conspire for a better tomorrow.

Come join the Fellowship of Reconciliation, Youth Against War and Racism and Iraq Veterans Against the War in plotting for:
-truth in military recruiting,
-demilitarized youth culture,
-career, educational and creative community opportunities,
-generational economic justice and more!

On Saturday, I attended a “story-building” workshop at the Social Forum, sponsored by smartMeme and the Ruckus Society. The two facilitators, Liana Foxvog and Doyle Canning, were both affiliated with smartMeme's Strategy Training and Organizing Resources for Youth (STORY) board – a group with which my colleague Maryrose Dolezal (FOR nonviolence training coordinator) has worked closely.

FOR staff will participate in a number of workshops at the U.S. Social Forum in Atlanta this week. They include:

This Thursday, June 28th, several national staff from the Fellowship of Reconciliation will facilitate a workshop on the topic of grassroots civilian diplomacy at the U.S. Social Forum. Join us from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. at St. Lukes Episcopal Church in downtown Atlanta to learn more about our work to end militarism in the United States, Latin America, and the Middle East.