Going Further to Stand with People of Color

A second load of laundry is on the line after emptying suitcases last night.  I had unpacked slowly, thinking about the four-day gathering with Friends (Quakers) we had just returned from. This year’s North Pacific Yearly Meeting at the University of Puget Sound focused on racism and featured Vanessa Julye , the coordinator of the Ministry on Racism at Friends General Conference.

Vanessa has written extensively about her journey toward eliminating racism in the Religious Society of Friends. In this short video from QuakerSpeak, she talks about Quakers and Racism.

Vanessa is also co-author, with Donna McDaniel, of Fit for Freedom, Not for Justice: Quakers, African Americans, and the Myth of Racial Justice.

I’m still digesting all that Vanessa presented and that we all shared with each other in response to this query:

How can we European-American Quakers go further in standing with all people of color and in sharing the power that has been part of white privilege?

Conversations about the ways European-Americans have benefited from white privilege and white supremacy were tough for me. I need to consider what I heard and to take a close look at how I’m complicit in racism. In the coming weeks, I’ll strive to take more steps to stand with people of color.