Resources for Doing

Recognizing Racism, Seeking Truth: a Friends Journal article by Inga Erickson of Herndon Meeting (VA). The author uses a quote in her meeting that appears in BYM’s Faith and Practice, and learns later that it is a demeaning and racist characterization ot the famous speech of Sojourner Truth. The article is about the truth of what she discovers, and her struggle to own and face the error that she — and Quaker ancestors and contemporaries — accepted.

Contemplation and Social Action:  a 90-minute video of two black professors on contemplative practice and anti-racism.  Topics include ubuntu, nonduality, loving kindness meditation, and the dangers of spiritual bypassing.

Epistle from Friends of Color who gathered for a Pre-Retreat before the Friends General Conference Gathering this summer (a Word document).  The epistle focuses on their own experiences in their monthly meetings, and closes with a set of queries for us all to consider.

Baltimore Yearly Meeting’s Call to Action, urging us to “Be practical, but be urgent.  As local Meetings, as individuals and as part of BYM, please work with impacted people in each community” in various levels and kinds of advocacy.

American Friends Service Committee’s public statement on racial justice.

Resources for Accountability and Action for Black Lives:A constantly updated list of actions to take to hold public officials accountable, to donate to organizations and bail funds, plus resources for protestors.

Reparations:  “How I Can Offer Reparations in Direct Proportion to My White Privilege,” by Chris Moore-Backman, a 2017 article in YES magazine.

Reparations:  From Here to Equality, by William A. Darity and A. Kirsten Mullen – a solid explication of the whys and goals of reparations, along comprehensive exploration into the math involved.

Justice in June:  Do something.  Every day.  Even if it only takes 10 minutes.  This scaled list offers a wide range of things to do and study, scaled by the amount of time we can commit to each day.  (Written for June… usable in any month, right?)

Support Memorial Funds for the families of people killed recently by police (excerpts from a much longer list compiled by BYM’s Nikki Richards and Khalila Lomax):

• George Floyd Memorial Fund (a fund created by George’s brother to support his family as they go through this tragedy)
• George Floyd Memorial Fund (a second fund created by George’s sister to support her family as they go through this tragedy)
• Ahmaud Arbery Memorial Fund (a fund created to support Ahmaud’s immediate family as they go through this tragedy)
• Breonna Taylor Memorial Fund (a fund created to support Breonna’s immediate family as they go through this tragedy)
• Tony McDade Memorial Fund (a fund created to support Tony’s immediate family as they go through this tragedy)

Join, follow and support local groups (local excerpts from a much longer list compiled by BYM’s Nikki Richards and Khalila Lomax):

• Black Lives Matter: Get involved with your local BLM chapter in solidarity with the movement
• Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ): Get involved with your local SURJ chapter; SURJ is a white caucus organizing group in solidarity with racial justice and working to undermine White Supremacy
• Freedom Fighters DC: Get involved with DC Freedom Fighters, a group involved in organizing the Washington, DC protests
• NAACP Local Branch: Get involved with your NAACP local branch; please note that the best way to get involved here as a white person is through financial contributions and taking the lead on their action item suggestions.

Resources for Learning More

Friends Journal’s antiracist reading list for young people.

National Museum of African American History and Culture has created a web portal, “Talking About Race,” offering a wide range of resources supporting eight foundational topics.  Check out their opening questions (e.g. “when did you first learn about race?”) and their definition of anti-racism, which begins:”Being antiracist results from a conscious decision to make frequent, consistent, equitable choices daily…”  There’s a lot to explore here.

The Black Quaker Project – an outreach and inreach ministry of Wellesley Friends Meeting, offers a new Anti-Violence Resource Guide for Quakers Confronting Systemic Violence.  Click here to connect with a message from Harold (Hal) Weaver, founder of the BlackQuaker Project, with his cogent reflections on the Quaker peace testimony,  and information on Black Fire, African American Quakers on Spirituality and Human Rights, a compilation of  “the voices of 18 remarkable individuals who spoke and wrote as African Americans from within the Quaker community.”

Scaffolded Anti-racism Resources – a list of resources to read (or watch) and consider, depending on where you or your group might be with respect to racial justice and injustice and strategies for change. Includes with links to immediate actions for accountability and actions for Black lives, Document created by: Anna Stamborski, M. Div Candidate (2022) Nikki Zimmermann, M. Div candidate (2021) Bailie Gregory, M. Div, M.S. Ed

The characteristics of white supremacy culture From Dismantling Racism: A Workbook for Social Change Groups, by Kenneth Jones and Tema Okun, ChangeWork, 2001

AORTA anti-oppression Community Agreements – For us to keep in mind when we do talk about these issues in person

From the Management Center in DC:

• On leadership:
  • Supporting Black Staff In Times of Crisis: What Managers and Organizational Leaders Can Do To Support Black Lives (Bryce Celotto)
  • How to Manage Your Team in Times of Political Trauma (Michelle Kim)
  • Leading during traumatic and triggering events
• On allyship and anti-racism:
  • Welcome To The Anti-Racism Movement — Here’s What You’ve Missed (Ijeoma Oluo)
  • An Antiracist Reading List (Ibram X. Kendi)
  • How to Be a Strong White Ally (Maxwell Boise)
  • A Guide to Allyship
  • 20+ Allyship Actions for Asians to Show Up for the Black Community Right Now (Michelle Kim)
  • Detour-Spotting for white anti-racists (joan olsson)
  • 15 ways to strengthen anti-racist practice (Catalyst Project)
• For Black folks:
  • Self-Care Tips for Black People Who Are Struggling With This Very Painful Week
  • 44 Mental Health Resources for Black People Trying to Survive in This Country
  • Liberate Meditation

Books:

The “Scaffolded Anti-Racism Resources” offer this advice for those starting on a journey of learning about the depths, breadth and persistence of racism:

“Understanding and utilizing resources about racial inequality and bias is the first part of this work — educating yourself is important. Reject the desire to ask black folks, indigenous folks or people of color (BIPOC) to explain racism for you. Instead, find resources created by BIPOC to help educate yourself, or offer to financially compensate folks who are educating you! Start reading about concepts like white privilege and racial bias.”

Most, though not all, of these books are offered as lessons from people of color.

Uprooting Racism by Paul Kivel, which BYM’s Growing Diverse Leadership committee asked the whole yearly meeting to read a year ago
Fit for Freedom, Not for Friendship: Quakers, African Americans, and the Myth of Racial Justice By Donna McDaniel and Vanessa Julye

A Quaker Antiracist Reading List: The reading lists includs reviews of each of these books by Friends Journal Staff.  All are for sale through Quaker Books.org

How to be an Antiracist, by Ibram X. Kendi
Between the World and Me, by Ta Nehisi Coates
So You Want to Talk About Race, by Ijeoma Oluo
This Will Be My Undoing: Living at the Intersection of Black, Female, and Feminist in (White) America, by Morgan Jerkins
From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation, by Keeanga‐Yamahtta Taylor
Dear White America: Letter to a New Minority, by Tim Wise
White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk about Racism, by Robin Diangelo
Backlash: What Happens When We Talk Honestly about Racism in America, by George Yancy
White Rage: the Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide, by Carol Anderson
Reconstructing the Gospel: Finding Freedom from Slaveholder Religion, by Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove
America’s Original Sin: Racism, White Privilege, and the Bridge to a New America, by Jim Wallis
Trouble I’ve Seen: Changing the Way the Church Views Racism, by Drew G.I. Hart

More on race and racism in Friends Journal in the past decade. Note in particular the entire January 2019 issue:

• A Focus on Privilege (Jan. 2013 issue)
• “Quakers Respond to the George Zimmerman Verdict,” July 2013
• Experiences of Friends of Color (Oct. 2014 issue)
• “Reflections on Selma,” Feb. 2015
• “Revelation and Revolution,” June/July 2015
• “Waking up in the White Garden,” Oct. 2015
• “Pursuing Justice Requires Boldness,” Sept. 2016
• “The Third Reconstruction,” Sept. 2016
• Race and Anti‐Racism (Mar. 2017 issue)
• “Making Sense of the Starbucks Incident,” Sept. 2018
• A Racially Diverse Society of Friends? (Jan. 2019 issue)
• “Slavery in the Quaker World,” Sept. 2019
• “Noticing Patterns of Oppression and Faithfulness,” Apr. 2020