Newtown Quakers to Feature "Next Steps for Racial Justice"

Newtown Quakers to Feature "Next Steps for Racial Justice: A Community Conversation"

Matt Chandler, member of Newtown Quaker Meeting and Clerk (Head) of
its Peace and Justice Committee, will moderate a discussion on "Next Steps for
Racial Justice: A Community Conversation" at the Newtown Quaker Meeting
Adult Class at 9:45 a.m. on Sunday, October 24, at the historic Friends
Meetinghouse, 219 Court Street ( http://newtownfriendsmeeting.org) . Zoom or in person for people vaccinated and wearing masks.

To facilitate the discussion, the Peace and Justice Committee plans
to use the bi-weekly silent vigil in Newtown for racial justice that
Newtown Quaker Meeting has been involved in since June 2020 as the
launching point. Members of the Committee and the Racial Justice
Subcommittee will talk about what the recurring public witness has meant
for them personally and how it has been received by the Newtown
community.

The discussion will also review actions and opportunities with POWER
Bucks, the group supporting an equitable Pennsylvania formula for
funding public schools. Much of the time will be spent in small groups
soliciting responses to queries about the future of the vigils,
opportunities with POWER Bucks, and next steps for fostering racial
justice in general.

Quakers believe there is “that of God in every person and each person
is equal in the eyes of God.” Quakers have wrestled with the issues of
slavery and civil rights since their early beginnings in 1652 England.

In 1688, members of Germantown Friends Meeting in Philadelphia first
recorded their opposition to slavery. And in 1727 in England and in
1774 in America, Quakers became the first religious body to officially
oppose slavery.

More recently, the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC)
sponsored Martin Luther King Jr’s trip to India in 1959 to study the
non-violence of the Gandhi organization. In 1963, Quaker Bayard Rustin
helped organize the March on Washington and Quaker Joan Baez was one of
the singers. The AFSC nominated Martin Luther King, Jr. for the Nobel
Peace Prize which he received in 1964.

The Economic Policy Institute issued a report in 2013 about civil
rights which it called “The Unfinished March.” Newtown Quaker Meeting’s
Peace and Justice Committee believes each of us has a responsibility
and a stake in the Unfinished March for equality and opportunity for
everyone.

Newtown Friends Meeting, co-founded by the Quaker artist and
minister, Edward Hicks, in 1815, holds services every First Day (Sunday)
with classes for children and adults at 9:45 a.m. and Meeting for
Worship at 11:00 a.m. Currently, people attending in person are asked
to be vaccinated and wear masks. Available also on Zoom..