Silence is compliance.
Statement from Manne Favor, JFON Houston Executive Director regarding the death of George Floyd 
 
I can’t breathe!
 
Those three words have become resounding chants in cities across the country, today. But sadly, it is not the first time we are having to hear protesters chant those words. This time the cynosure of the protests is George Flyod, an unarmed African American man killed by police.
Lying under the knees of three Minneapolis police officers, I can’t breathe were his cry for air, while one of the officers pressed his knee on his neck, snuffing life out his body.
I can’t breathe has become a desperate cry for help from many in our country, asphyxiated by the cruelty of injustice, racism and police brutality.
 
Our hearts are broken as we watch injustice live on and in some instances expand its reach and influence in our country. Regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or nationality, everyone standing on United States soil should feel safe and know they will be respected and their constitutional rights upheld.
 

These Books Can Help You Explain Racism and Protests to Your Kids

The conversation about race needs to start early and keep happening.

As protests over the killing of George Floyd (and Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor) spill into a second week, many parents are wondering how to talk about the deaths and unrest with their children. But just as important in the long run, especially for nonblack parents, is how to keep the conversation about race and racism going when we’re not in a moment of national outrage, and to make sure all children see black people as heroes in a wide range of their own stories, and not just as victims of oppression.
 
In this moment, try to address the killings and protests honestly and in an age appropriate way, said Y. Joy Harris-Smith, Ph.D., a lecturer at Princeton Theological Seminary and the co-author of the forthcoming “The ABCs of Diversity: Helping Kids (and Ourselves!) Embrace Our Differences.”
 
You can start having conversations about race in preschool, said Jacqueline Dougé, M.D., a pediatrician and child health advocate based in Maryland — children can internalize racial bias between the ages of 2 and 4, according to an American Academy of Pediatrics article that Dr. Dougé co-wrote.
 

World Refugee Day is Saturday, June 20th!

On June 20, the world commemorates the strength, courage, and resilience of millions of refugees.
Around the world more than 50 million people have fled their homes. Each day thousands more follow.
The Justice For Our Neighbors Asylum Project provides legal representation to asylum-seekers fleeing persecution in their homeland and currently living in the greater Houston area.  Enrolled clients also receive help with practical needs such as finding housing, registering children for school, enrolling in English language classes and accessing various social service and community programs.
 
Funding for this project has been generously given by the United Methodist Committee on Relief.
 

Her Life Wasn’t Fun in the Sun

When most of us think of life in the Caribbean, we imagine  the beautiful beaches and a laid-back way of life.  But for Elisabeth, life was not beautiful.
Elisabeth worked hard at her job and even harder at raising her two children to be honorable, good people.  Elisabeth led by example and often spoke out about the injustice and abuse inflicted on the citizens by the government. 
After a protest, Elisabeth was kidnapped by people working for the top officials in the government.  She was abused, raped and warned if she continued to speak of the horrors that would be unleashed upon her.
 

Meet Alexandra, JFON Houston’s Deportation Defense Legal Assistant

Alexandra grew up proud of the courage and bravery it took for her grandparents to seek asylum in the United States.  She grew up celebrating traditional U.S. holidays as well as those from her parent’s homeland of Nicaragua. 
 
But it was not until she began working in immigration that she fully understood just how difficult it was for her grandparents to immigrate to the United States.
 
 
 

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