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 One-Time Gift 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.
Summer 2024 Events
Roots of Injustice, Seeds of Change: Towards Right Relationship with Native Peoples, Friends’ Peace Teams
June 23, 4-6 PM ET
Interactive Zoom workshop, appropriate for high school students and adults.
2024 High Level Political Forum Side Event Featuring Dwight L. Wilson Keynote, Quaker Earthcare Witness (QEW) UN Working Group
July 11, 1:30 PM ET
In recognition of the United Nations International Decade for People of African Descent (2015-2024) and the International Decade for Action on Water for Sustainable Development (2018-2028), this side event will include discussion on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
A Call for Researchers on Quaker Indian Boarding Schools, Friends’ Peace Teams
July 15, 7:30-9:30 PM ET
The Quaker Indigenous Boarding Schools Research Network (QIBS) is a group of volunteer researchers who are gathering information about Quaker-operated and Quaker-influenced boarding schools, inviting researchers to join them.
Faiths for Climate Reparations, Woodbrooke
July 18 and August 12, 2-3:30 PM ET
This two-part learning experience explores the links between climate justice and reparations, and what this could mean within faith circles.
My Soul Looks Back and Wonders: An Introduction to Black Liberation Theology, Woodbrooke
Thursdays, July 18 – August 15
Learn about Black Theology through the work of influential Black liberation theologian James Cone.
World Plenary Meeting, Friends World Committee for Consultation
August 5-12, 2024
The FWCC World Plenary Meeting is a meeting for representatives from all four FWCC Sections to undertake FWCC business, surrounded by worship and fellowship with Friends from around the world. It will meet in South Africa and online, exploring themes of Ubuntu and Community, Healing Historic and Continuing Injustice, and Care for Creation.
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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. We encourage you to consult this resource as you prepare for summer annual sessions!Written Document (also attached)
Pendle Hill First Monday Lecture Recording
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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, 1 PM ET; Wednesdays biweekly, 8 PM ET; third Sunday of each month, 8 PM ET.)
Worship Sharing for People of Color (Wednesdays biweekly, 8 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)
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
Meetings for Worship
QVS Worship with Attention to Gaza, Tuesdays & Thursdays at noon ET
AFSC Worship with Attention to Peace in Palestine & Israel, Thursdays at 5:30 pm ET
AFSC Weekly Action Hour for Ceasefire, Fridays at noon ET