The Quaker Coalition for Uprooting Racism is a coalition of six Quaker organizations and Friends who are working together to accelerate the movement for, and capacity to create, racial justice among (and beyond) Friends through the creation of the Quakers Uprooting Racism community of practice program– racial justice changemakers learning and experimenting with actions together.
The QCUR Steering Committee—made up of representatives of the below organizations and Friends—
oversees the care of the Quakers Uprooting Racism community of practice program.
Quaker Coalition for Uprooting Racism Vision, Mission, & Goal
Getting Involved
Financial– This is a huge need of QCUR as we heavily rely on financial support from meetings to carry forward our work
- For more information on donating and/or getting your meeting to help fund this work please reach out to quakersuprootingracism@gmail.com
- Donate directly via FGC’s Giving page– Under ‘Please use my gift to support:’ select ‘Quaker Coalition for Uprooting Racism‘
Join the Racial Justice Quarterly Newsletter-
- This newsletter we will send individually to your email adddress. If you or others in your community would like to receive these newsletters, please visit https://groups.google.com/g/qcur-newsletter and click “Ask to join the group.“
Theory of Change:
We see ourselves as a seed reflecting the Quaker community that is not yet, a thriving beloved and loving community that feels like freedom, where our differences are affirmed rather than eradicated. We understand that it is through circles of influence that this growth and transformation can manifest in community. This expansion is dependent on the interconnected relationships within the Religious Society of Friends and beyond.
Our theory of change is built on these assumptions and suggests:
If…
- We bring together a group of racial justice co-conspirators to deepen relationships, teach and learn skills together, and co-activate systems interventions; and
- We center the voices on the margins of the Religious Society of Friends recognizing they often hold the deepest vision for Quaker community (e.g. BIPOC Friends, young Friends, queer Friends, those who are affiliated with Quaker communities but not members);
Then… we can move the Religious Society of Friends forward in becoming a fully transforming, co-creative community which understands that dismantling white supremacy and creating beloved community is an elemental aspect of our faith.
Quakers Uprooting Racism Program
This 9-month hybrid program seeks to be Spirit-led, made up of a wide representation of the Quaker community, co-creative and focused on developing skills, knowledge and experiences to aid in the dismantling of white supremacy within the Religious Society of Friends and beyond.
The through the 9-month Quaker Uprooting Racism Program the community actively practices…
- Building trusting relationships with one another;
- Collectively naming and developing strategies to dismantle white supremacy and foster root level change (meaningful rather than performative change);
- Skill-building toward change strategies and experimenting with them, bringing learnings from those actions back to the group.
Quaker Uprooting Racism Program Format
Share the below flyer with your meeting!
QCUR statement on Racial Wounding and Racial Justice in Quaker Communities
Every few years there tend to be pain points on a national scale in terms of the impact of white supremacy culture within the US Quaker community. Within the Quaker Coalition for Uprooting Racism, we understand that these issues are the tip of the iceberg for the patterns of oppression that Friends of Color and of other oppressed identities experience regularly. Using a foundation of the White Supremacy Culture work of Tema Okun, this document explores the expressions of white supremacy culture and oppression that are regularly observed in Quaker spaces and suggests ways that we might work toward the beloved community we seek. We can only start to shift these patterns when we grow in our awareness of them and practice these and similar interventions. The arc of the moral universe
only bends when we help bend it.
Quaker Coalition for Uprooting Racism’s:
Catalyzing Communities Newsletter
If you or others in your community would like to receive these newsletters moving forward, please visit https://groups.google.com/g/qcur-newsletter and click “Ask to join the group.”
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Quaker Coalition for Uprooting Racism’s
Catalyzing Communities Newsletter
The Quaker Coalition for Uprooting Racism’s Catalyzing Communities Committee creates pathways of connection for people in Quaker communities (including QCUR alumni and cohort participants) to plug in and feel inspired, supported, and sustained in racial justice and liberation work. We hope this seasonal newsletter of offerings and resources can support that effort.
To add an offering to our newsletter please fill out this submission form.
Fall 2024 Events
Monday, September 9, 7:30-9:00 pm ET
Steve Tamari, a Palestinian-American lifelong Quaker and historian, will examine intersections and contradictions with a faith tradition that strives to balance individual spiritual experience with political activism. It will be streamed live and available as a recording on our YouTube channel, Pendle Hill USA.
The Leading Edge of Indigenous Resilience: Past, Present, and Future, Toward Right Relationship with Native Peoples
Thursday, September 12, 8:30-10:00 pm ET
We are honored to host a conversation about resilience with Austin Nunez, chairman of the San Xavier District of the Tohono O’odham Nation, and other members of his community. They will share experiences from the perspectives of different generations and lay the foundation for the journey of the next seven generations to come
Apartheid-Free Webinar: Medical Apartheid in Palestine, American Friends Service Committee
Tuesday, September 17, 1:00-2:00 pm ET
Join us to hear from Yazid Barhoush and Dr. Alice Rothchild about how Israel has implemented a policy of medical de-development on Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, including Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem.
Resilience in Joy and Rest: Community Nurturing for Black, Brown and People of Color Quakers, Woodbrooke
Wednesdays, October 2, 16, 30, November 20, and December 4
1:00-2:30 pm ET
How can racialised people nurture resilience through rest and joy? In this series of sessions designed for Black, Brown and People of Colour, Sarah will lead a gentle exploration of this question.
The Healing Wisdom of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers, Toward Right Relationship with Native Peoples
Wednesday, October 16, 8:30-10:00 pm ET
Grandmother Mona will share the healing wisdom she has learned from her Native traditions and from her experience with the International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers.
Conversations with Our Children: Anti-Racism, Woodbrooke
Tuesday, October 29, 3:30-4:30 pm (ET)
This session is designed to explore how to engage our children and young people in meaningful discussions about racism and anti-racism.
2024 Hybrid Fall Retreat for Friends of Color, Friends General Conference
November 1-3, 2024
The 2024 Fall Retreat will be a hybrid event with options to participate in person and online. The in-person portion of the retreat will be held at Powell House (524 Pitt Hall Rd, Old Chatham, NY 12136).
Friends’ Decision-Making and Clerking: Participating in Meetings for Business with Joy and Confidence, Pendle Hill (on campus)
November 22-24, 2024
This is an opportunity for both new and experienced clerks of Friends’ meetings and committees to meet and think together about the role of presiding clerk in the spiritual practice of meeting for business. The workshop will address racism in the context of Friends’ decision-making and clerking.
George Fox: An African-American Indigenous Quaker Perspective, Woodbrooke
Saturday, November 23, 1:00-2:30 (ET)
This single live session is part of a series celebrating the 400th birthday of George Fox, in which key speakers assess Fox’s legacy from a variety of positions. In this session Vanessa Julye will offer an African-American Indigenous perspective.
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Addressing Patterns of Racial Wounding and Racial Justice in Quaker Communities
Lauren Brownlee & Zenaida Peterson
Using a foundation of the White Supremacy Culture work of Tema Okun, this document explores the expressions of white supremacy culture and oppression that are regularly observed in Quaker spaces and suggests ways that we might work toward the beloved community we seek. Written Document
Pendle Hill First Monday Lecture Recording
Woolman Hill Anti-Racism Remonstrance
Michael Levi, White Supremacy Culture in My Clerking, Friends Journal (August 1, 2024)
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Ongoing Offerings & Resources
FGC’s Ministry on Racism has been offering ongoing virtual spaces for people of color and white Friends confronting racism to worship and find fellowship.
Worship for People of Color (Wednesdays weekly, 7 PM ET; third Sunday of each month, 7 PM ET.)
BIPOC Women’s Space (First Monday, 3 PM ET and first Thursday, 8 PM ET of each month)
Worship for White Friends Confronting Racism (Thursdays, 8 PM ET; Fridays, 12 PM ET)
Friends Council on Education
Community Conversations on Race
Equity and Justice Resources
Toward Right Relationship with Native Peoples, a program of Friends Peace Teams
Woodbrooke’s Peace and Social Justice Course Offerings
Gaza & Israel
The organizations that make up QCUR are all dedicated to racial justice as a form of peacebuilding and understand the peacebuilding needed in this moment is an extension of QCUR’s work.
AFSC’s Emergency Response Resources
FCNL Resources: The War in Israel-Palestine
AFSC Weekly Action Hour for Ceasefire, Fridays at noon ET
Meetings for Worship
QVS Worship with Attention to Gaza, Tuesdays at noon ET
AFSC Worship with Attention to Peace in Palestine & Israel, Thursdays at 5:30 pm ET