Upcoming Local Worshiping Communities Events

Jean-Louis Peta Ikambana of the American Friends Service Committee DC Office will be speaking in the Community House at 12:30. This talk will be part of the Centennial celebration of AFSC’s establishment. Banners describing the AFSC’s work of the 100 years will be on display. As we celebrate AFSC’s Centennial commitment to opposing injustice and promoting peace with justice, we invite you to come learn about its work in Washington DC. In 2008, at the urging of the AFSC-DC, the District of Columbia was declared a Human Rights City by a City Council Resolution (CER 17-461), the first in the United States. A Human Rights City is a city where human rights (enumerated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights) are learned, known and respected, consistently. Laws and policies undergo citizen review, and are found to be in conformity with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Public budgets are reviewed by citizens and fully support sustainable programs that ensure citizen’s full realization of their humanity. Children are taught and practice human rights as part of their school curricula. All citizens are both aware of and conversant with human rights; able and willing to stand up to protect human rights for themselves and each other ( Shula Koenig, Founder of People Decade for Human Rights Learning (PDHR, www.pdhre.org). AFSC-DC has partnered with DCPS since 2008 to expand human rights learning to our young leaders. Since, DC youths have been using human rights as a framework examine and address social justice issues. In 2016, to celebrate the 67th anniversary of the UDHR, our young leaders wanted to look at progress made by the Human Rights City: Do they view their City as a Human rights City? This group of young people from different neighborhood embarked in a fact-finding project that allowed them to critically look at how D.C. is living up or not to the ideal of a Human Rights City. They presented their finding to City officials urging them to take action for social change.