AUGUST 2019
We've Got Some Good News to Share!
Time to Celebrate Our Achievements
 PDF Grantees Make an Impact in their Communities
“Between reports of mass ICE raids and continued separations at the border, we are experiencing times of incredible fear, anger, and sadness,” says PDF grantee, Nobody Leaves Mid-Hudson. “This makes it all the more important to savor our victories, reflect on the advances we’ve made to keep families together, and continue building our forces!”
 
For the moment, the citizenship question on the 2020 census has been blocked, something Nobody Leaves worked hard to defeat. At the state level, they’ve won life-changing legislation that will impact close to a million undocumented New Yorkers. At the local level, they’ve launched municipal ID programs used by 1,835 people already.
 
They restored access to driver’s licenses to undocumented New Yorkers. This victory will change the lives of 100,000 undocumented immigrants in the Hudson Valley — who will finally be able to drive safely to work, to run errands and to pick their kids up from school.
 
They have been preparing their communities to protect each other, educating immigrants and allies through Know Your Rights trainings and canvassing. “The impact is already tangible,” they report. They confirmed multiple reports of Hudson Valley residents refusing to open their doors for ICE and avoiding arrest. “This is a huge testament to the power of knowing our rights and we look forward to preventing many more deportations through this public education. Thank you for being a part of this fight with us, Peace Development Fund.”
Finding the Words
Asian LGBTQ Youth Speak Across Barriers
PDF grantee, Third World Newsreel, premiered a film this summer that began as a short project of the TWN Production Workshop and developed into a 17 minute documentary at the Asian American International Film Festival. "Unspoken" by Patrick G. Lee explores the challenges of talking with immigrant parents about queerness, gender identity and sexuality. In the film, six LGBTQ Asian Americans read coming out letters that they wrote to their parents, sharing what they would say if they didn’t face language, generational, and cultural barriers in communicating with their migrant families. The interviewees hail from across the Asian diaspora—from Sri Lanka and Myanmar to China and South Korea.
 
Third World Newsreel received a Donor Advised Fund grant from the Peace Development Fund for its Media Training program. “We are very grateful to PDF and your donor for their support which helped make this project come to life and helped to nurture Patrick into an active, progressive filmmaker.”

"Unspoken" is available for free streaming on YouTube and Vimeo.
Upcoming Events
Put These on Your Calendar for this Fall
PDF at the People's Pint 
Thursday, September 12
5 p.m. to 9 p.m.
24 Federal St, Greenfield, MA
The People's Pint in Greenfield, MA is hosting a fundraiser for PDF and our Pioneer Valley Community Advised Fund. Come learn about how to join PDF's Pioneer Valley Community Advised Fund while enjoying local food and drinks. The People's Pint is a family-friendly brewpub serving housemade drafts, sodas and traditional locally-sourced pub fare.
 
What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Stronger: Lessons from The Sustainability Project
Monday, October 21
6:30 p.m.
PDF Center for Peace and Justice, 44 North Prospect St, Amherst, MA
From embracing organizational change to avoiding magical thinking, PDF trainers offer nine ways to build sustainability into your non-profit organization.
 
Mindful Travel in an Unequal World
Friday, November 1
7:00 p.m.
Odyssey Bookshop, 9 College Street, South Hadley, MA
Dr. Anu Taranath will be speaking about her newly published book, Beyond Guilt Trips: Mindful Travel in an Unequal World .  While travel abroad to non-western countries can provide much-needed perspective, it can also be deeply unsettling, confusing and discomforting. Travelers can find themselves unsure about how to think or speak about the differences in race or culture they find, even though these differences might have fueled their desire to travel in the first place. Storyteller and University of Washington professor, Anu Taranath, begins at home, unpacking our baggage about who we are, where we come from, and how much we have.
Thank you for your support.