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June 2025 Newsletter
Issue #100
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Hate speech and hate crimes continue to be significant concerns in the U.S., with recent data highlighting alarming trends across
many communities.
In 2023, there were 11,862 hate crime incidents, marking the highest number since data collection began in 1992.
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The most common motivation, with 5,900 incidents, was anti-Black or African American bias.
U.S. Department of Justice
There were 2,699 incidents involving religion, with over half (1,832) driven by anti-Jewish bias.
U.S. Department of Justice
1,944 incidents were related to sexual orientation -- marking a 13.9% increase from 2021.
Arab American Institute
There were also 469 incidents regarding gender identity -- the highest annual total since the FBI added this category in 2013.
Arab American Institute
52% of Americans have encountered hate or harassment online -- up from 40% in 2022 -- with significant increases affecting teens and underrepresented groups, including religious, ethnic, and LGBTQ+ communities.
Anti-Defamation League
33% of Americans experienced some form of harassment in the past 12 months –
up from 23% in 2022.
Anti-Defamation League
47% of LGBTQ+ people, 38% of Black/African Americans and 38% of Muslims were harassed online in the past 12 months.
Anti-Defamation League
51% of teens experienced some form of harassment in the past 12 months, compared to 36% in 2022.
Anti-Defamation League
76% of transgender people -- the most targeted demographic group -- have been harassed online, 60% severely.
Anti-Defamation League
It is estimated that approximately 56% of crime victimizations are not reported to police.
Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics
In 2023, documented 8,873 incidents of assault, vandalism, and harassment against Jews -- a 140% increase from 2022.
Anti-Defamation League
There were approximately 1,371 active hate and anti-government groups in the United States last year.
Southern Poverty Law Center
Among the largest hate groups in the U.S. are:
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Proud Boys, with 77 chapters in 25 states.
- Patriot Front, in every state except for Alaska, Hawaii, and Montana
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Folks Front/Folkish Resistance Movement with 10 statewide chapters
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National Socialist Movement with 9 chapters
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League of the South, with 9 statewide chapters
Southern Poverty Law Center
June 18th is the International Day for Countering Hate Speech
For more on Racism, click here.
For more on Religious Intolerance, click here.
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Words Have Power: Countering Hate Speech and Protecting Freedom of Expression
A short video that warns viewers about the potential consequences of hate speech in today’s online age, reflecting on the lessons of the past, while underscoring the value of including communities of diverse backgrounds in multi-stakeholder efforts to counter it and promote peace. Watch now.
For more Public Witness resources, click here.
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The Road to Freedom:
Economics and the Good Society
By Joseph E. Stiglitz. Analyzes America’s current economic system and the political ideology that created it. Argues that “free” markets have delivered a series of crises: the financial crisis, the opioid crisis, and the crisis of inequality. Shows that while a small portion of the population has amassed considerable wealth, wages for most people have stagnated. The author exposes accepted ideas about our political and economic life for what they are: twisted visions that tear at the social fabric while they enrich the
very few.
Proposes a deeper, more humane way to assess freedoms―one that considers with care what to do when one person’s freedom conflicts with another’s. Suggests that we must reimagine our existing economic and legal systems and embrace forms of collective action, including regulation and investment, if we are to create an innovative society in which everyone can flourish. Read more.
For more on Economic Justice, click here.
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Misfits Market
A company dedicated to making affordable, high-quality food more accessible while helping break the cycle of food waste. Works directly with farmers and makers to rescue organic produce and other grocery items that might otherwise go to waste, then delivers them to customers. Benefits farmers, helps prevent food waste, and ultimately helps save the environment. Learn more.
For more on Hunger, click here.
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The Delicious Potential of Rescuing
Wasted Food
A TED Talk featuring Jasmine Crowe-Houston in a conversation with journalist and "TED Radio Hour" host Manoush Zomorodi. She discusses her mission to waste less food with Goodr, a platform that reroutes surplus food to people in need, leading to a nationwide effort to fix the food waste problem. Watch now.
For more on Hunger, click here.
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One Parish, One Prisoner
A resource from Underground Ministries that equips parishes and other faith communities to build supportive pre-release relationships with a person returning to their community from prison. Guides a 7-person team (including the pastor) through a two-year journey of relationship-building, release planning and holistic reentry support together.
Learn more.
For more on the Criminal Justice System,
click here.
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The Strike
A documentary that follows solitary confinement survivors in California who fought to abolish indefinite isolation. The story focuses on the high-security Pelican Bay prison that was designed for mass-scale solitary confinement, often for a decade or more, with little due process. In 2013, 30,000 incarcerated people went on a hunger strike that spread into a feat of unity across California prisons to abolish this form of punishment. Watch the trailer.
For more on the Criminal Justice System,
click here.
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Faith and Racial Justice:
Changing Systems and Structures
An faith-based program from JustFaith Ministries, that invites small groups to formulate their own Christian-rooted responses to racism in their churches, workplaces, and communities. Over 8 weeks, participants learn about key obstacles to racial justice and are provided tools they need to address racism at a systemic level. Each session includes prayer, dialogue, active listening, weekly spiritual practices, and relationship-building. As with all JustFaith programs, participants explore how their faith can inform their response to their learning, as well as discern action steps for working toward justice and equity in their own communities.
Learn more.
For more on Racism, click here.
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Don't Go:
Stories of Segregation and How to Disrupt It
By Tonika Lewis Johnson & Maria Krysan. A collection of stories and photos that uncover the hidden influence of both subtle and overt “don’t go” messages and the segregation they perpetuate in Chicago & other cities across the US. Told by everyday people, they paint a picture of life in a segregated city. One by one, the storytellers upend pessimism with candid, deeply personal, humorous, and heartbreaking tales, and with novel ideas for simple actions that can serve as antidotes to both racism and “place-ism.” By inviting readers into the lives of regular people who have ignored the warning to stay away from “don’t go” neighborhoods or who already live there, illuminates the consequences of racial segregation and disinvestment as well as the inevitable rewards of coming together. Read more.
For more on Racism, click here.
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A Greek Tragedy: One Day, a Deadly Shipwreck, and the Human Cost of the Refugee Crisis
By Jeanne Carstensen. Tells the story of the refugee shipwreck on October 28, 2015, off the coast of the Greek island of Lesvos. Based on nearly a decade of research, interviews, and investigation, captures many of the details of the dramatic twenty-four hour ordeal. Includes the recollections of the refugees’ lives before they left their homes and a full account of the rescue efforts of the Greek islanders and volunteers rushing to help, even as their government and the European Union (EU) failed to act. Showcases the extraordinary heroism of ordinary people in extreme circumstances and challenges readers to confront their collective humanity. It is a testament of our times and a compassionate depiction of the lengths to which a person will go to save another human being. Read more.
For more on Refugees, click here.
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There Is No Place for Us:
Working and Homeless in America
By Brian Goldstone. Through the stories of five Atlanta families, exposes a new and troubling trend—the dramatic rise of the working homeless in cities across America. Shows that skyrocketing rents, low wages, and a lack of tenant rights have produced a growing phenomenon: People with full-time jobs who cannot keep a roof over their head, especially in America’s booming cities, where rapid growth is leading to catastrophic displacement. Reveals the human cost of this crisis, following parents and their kids as they go to sleep in cars, or in squalid extended-stay hotel rooms, and head out to their jobs and schools the next morning. Argues that these are the nation’s hidden homeless—omitted from official statistics, and holds that overflowing shelters and street encampments are only the most visible manifestation of a far more pervasive problem. Highlights the true magnitude, causes, and consequences of the new American homelessness—and that it won’t be solved until housing is treated as a fundamental human right. Read more.
For more on Housing, click here.
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Why Violence is Rising with
Global Temperatures
A TED Talk, features journalist Peter Schwartzstein, who says that climate change doesn't just melt ice caps, it also fuels conflict, corruption and division worldwide. From droughts in Syria to rising seas in Bangladesh, he explores how climate stress escalates existing social instabilities — and underscores why every effort to curb a warming world matters, no matter how small. Watch now.
For more on the Environment, click here.
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What's Left: Three Paths Through the Planetary Crisis
By Malcolm Harris. A guide for collective political action against the climate apocalypse. Argues that just as humans have caused climate change, we hold the power to avert a climate apocalypse, but that will only happen through collective political action. Outlines three strategies—progressive, socialist, and revolutionary—that have any chance of succeeding, but none on their own. Shows how we must combine them into a single pathway: a meta-strategy, one that will ensure we can move forward together rather than squabbling over potential solutions while the world burns. Read more.
For more on the Environment, click here.
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Food & Water Watch
An organization that works to protect food, water, and the climate. Organizes people around the country to build political power and mobilize at the local, state, and federal levels. From banning fracking, to shutting down factory farms, to making sure communities across the country have access to clean water, they fight against greedy corporations and reckless government agencies. Learn more.
For more on Water Access, click here.
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How Teachers Can Help Kids Find Their Political Voices
A TED Talk featuring educator Sydney Chaffee, who says that social justice belongs in our schools. She shows how teaching students to engage in activism helps them build important academic and life skills -- and asks viewers to rethink how we can use education to help kids find their voices. She says that teaching will always be a political act and that we can't be afraid of our students' power. Their power will help them make tomorrow better. Watch now.
For more resources on Politics, click here.
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Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action
Offers the opportunity to explore the meaning and practice of nonviolence from a perspective of deep spiritual reflection, providing a means for witnessing to and resisting all nuclear weapons. Seeks to go to the root of violence and injustice in our world and experience the transforming power of love through nonviolent direct action. Learn more.
For more Peace resources, click here.
| | Important Dates This Month | |
Individuals Honored This Month | |
June 1st
In my empty cell, I experience a growing awareness of the communion of saints -- and of the possibility of a world where the vast chasm of violence and injustice enforced by torture and war is bridged and transformed.
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June 4th
The media seems to think only abortion and gay marriage are religious issues. Poverty is a moral issue, it's a faith issue, it's a religious issue.
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June 8th
If there is no friendship with the poor and no sharing of the life of the poor, then there is no authentic commitment to liberation, because love exists only among equals.
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June 12th
Human greatness does not lie in wealth or power, but in character and goodness.
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June 28th
Even today we don't pay serious attention to the issue of poverty, because the powerful remain relatively untouched by it. Most people distance themselves from the issue by saying that if the poor worked harder, they wouldn't be poor.
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June 30th
Dorothy was killed in El Salvador in 1980 with 3 companions by members of the military for her work with the poor.
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