Category: Uncategorized

Doing the work to uproot racism,
Interest Groups and events supporting NPYM’s minute

Members of the NPYM Uprooting Racism Committee have identified interest groups that we believe support work within our yearly meeting to help end systemic racism and become a more welcoming, diverse, and anti-racist faith community.
All are encouraged to attend as many of these groups as you can.

We are also greatly honored by and particularly excited about Oregon State Senator Lew Frederick’s presentation, scheduled for Saturday, July 18, 2020 on zoom from 2:00pm to 3:30pm. Lew is a Multnomah Monthly Meeting Attender, he attended Earlham College, did graduate work at PSU in Urban Studies, and has served 13 years in Oregon’s state legislature where he helps lead the People of Color Caucus.

“We no longer ask to feel safe; we demand that we feel safe in our country, state, city and neighborhoods.” –Oregon State Senator Lew Frederick

[link to NPYM Website for additional information about interest groups]

7/10 Friday

• 6:30-7:30 Starting our anti-racist journey (Karuna Nunyara)
• 8:00-9:00 No way to treat a child (Jonathan Betz-Zall)

7/11 Saturday

• 6:30-7:30 Privilege and White Fragility, (Steven Aldrich)
• 8:00-9:00 “Creating Beloved Community with equality of opportunity, respect, and spiritual well-being for all people.” (Steven Aldrich)

7/17 Friday

• 6:30-7:30 Stories from the Heart/How each of us learned about race (Laurie Childers)
• 8:00-9:00 Starting our anti-racist journey (Karuna Nunyara)

7/18 Saturday

• 2:00-3:30 Lew Frederick presentation
• 6:30-7:30 How and when do we call the cops? (the CAHOOTS model and more)
  (Laurie Childers, Bob Morse, and Jonathan Betz-Zall)
• 8:00-9:00 Nakani Native Program for a Healthy Future (Jonathan Betz-Zall, Jeff Smith, and Ellany Kayce)

7/23 Thursday

• 3:30-4:30 FCNL’s work on the Violence Against Women’s Act, supporting Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (Keri Colfer)
• 3:30-4:30 Engaging with AFSC in the Time of COVID, Repression, and Rebellion (Matthew Leber)

7/24 Friday

• 3:30-4:30 Uprooting Institutionalized Racism: One Year Later : What will we do in the year ahead? What are we doing already? What do we need from NPYM? How do we make this work meaningful and rewarding in ways that keep us engaged? (Steven Aldrich & Jonathan Betz-Zall)

7/25 Saturday

• 3:30-4:30 What is Friends General Conference doing to Support Friends in Becoming an Anti-racist Faith Community? (Vanessa Julye) 

Members of the Quaker Social Concerns Network were very excited to learn that the Sierra Cascades Yearly Meeting of Friends has adopted a very strong Minute for Black Lives.

It begins:
“Sierra-Cascades Yearly Meeting of Friends approves this Minute for Black Lives, noting that
some of us are challenged by the language it uses. Still, we lean into it, knowing that we have
empowered the Equity and Inclusion Committee to be a prophetic voice. Acting as Christ’s
Body to engage in the work of justice will often be uncomfortable for those of us with privilege.

Sierra-Cascades Yearly Meeting of Friends witnesses the current people’s uprising for
police accountability and for racial justice and we take a stand for Black lives. We urge all
Quakers, in our Yearly Meeting and beyond, to do the same in word and action. Neutrality is not
an option if we are to fully embrace our underlying Truth as Friends: to recognize God in all
people.”

Now that most of us have to stay home rather than gather in public, Friends and our friends are finding many ways to connect online. Among other things, we’ve learned that most people have a limited capacity to participate effectively online–too many hours staring at a screen will make anyone crazy!

So the hope here is that this website will serve as a “one stop shop” where Friends can quickly connect with each other and share resources that others have found useful. Being outside of the alphabet soup of existing Friends’ institutions, we can move quickly to publicize current events.

More later!