Addressing Patterns of Racial Wounding and Racial Justice in Quaker Communities

Members of the Steering Committee of the Quaker Coalition for Uprooting Racism believed they had a responsibility to name the pain from patterns of white supremacy culture and racism that they have experienced, witnessed, and heard throughout the Religious Society of Friends and associated organizations. To that end, they created a guide with examples of harm and interventions towards racial justice. This guide, inspired by the work of Tema Okun and several Quaker institutions, points to the ways that they see white supremacy culture weaving its way into Quaker culture and suggests methods to disrupt it. In this lecture, Lauren Brownlee and Zenaida Peterson will share ways that the guide has been and can be used in Quaker communities.

Leader(s)

Lauren Brownlee (she/her) is Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL)’s inaugural Associate General Secretary for Community and Culture and the leader of the organization’s new Community and Culture team. In this role, she offers strategic support to FCNL’s young adult program, Quaker outreach, human resources, and Friends Place on Capitol Hill. She helps to steward FCNL’s shared anti-racism, anti-bias, justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion commitments. Lauren joins the FCNL staff after serving on FCNL’s General Committee beginning in 2017 and its Executive Committee from 2019-2022. She has also served on the boards of Sandy Spring Friends School, DC Peace Team, the National Farm Worker’s Ministry, the Central Committee for Friends General Conference, and the Program Committee for Quakers Uprooting Racism. Before coming to FCNL, Lauren was the upper school head at Carolina Friends School and, before that, the director of social action at Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart.

Zenaida Peterson (they/them) is a Black and nonbinary F/friend, organizer, artist and seeker. They are learning what it means to live and be kinder through nature connection, writing poems and working for Quaker Voluntary Service as the Boston Coordinator and the Director of Equity and Empowerment. They have both participated and been an associate for Nurturing Faithfulness program and since the beginning of their Quaker journey see their social justice and spiritual work as dependent on each other

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