Sarah Willie-LeBreton is a sociologist who teaches at Swarthmore College and a member of Providence Monthly Meeting of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting. She lives in Media with her family.

Sarah Willie-LeBreton is a Black Quaker who teaches Sociology at Swarthmore College. This piece connects past and present, self and community, and Spirit and action in an exploration of Black Lives Matter. This is the first installment of a series in honor of Black History Month featuring the writings of contemporary Black Quakers on the subject of Black Lives Matter.

A 12-minute, silent film, shot in color, brings the viewer right into the camps. Camels come and go frequently. Men generally wear long tunics and flowing traditional headdresses that protect them from the sun. Women and children are very shy in front of the camera at first, but soon enjoy showing how they balance large water jugs and bundles on their heads, even while carrying a baby. Most tents appear to be in poor condition and there are long lines for virtually everything, from milk to grain to classrooms.

These are revolutionary times. All over the globe men [sic] are revolting against old systems of exploitation and oppression, and out of the wounds of a frail world, new systems of justice and equality are being born. The shirtless and barefoot people of the land are rising up as never before. The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light. We in the West must support these revolutions....

A 24-minute, color film produced in 1958, presents the position of the conscientious objector to young people facing selective service. Actor Don Murray—a member of the Brethren Church who was a CO during the Korean War—narrates both live-action and illustrated sequences. Murray is able to speak powerfully in the first person, saying, “We are pacifists.” In his on-camera introduction, Murray explains that COs want to do more than just “other service,” rather they seek to find a peaceful way to solve world’s problems.

Denise Altvater is a Passamaquoddy Tribal citizen and coordinator of AFSC's Wabanaki Youth Program in Maine. In 1978, the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) was passed to re-establish tribal authority over Native children, due to high rates of state removal of children. In spite of ICWA’s passing, Native children were placed into foster care at high rates in Maine.

The British Friends had established the Friends Ambulance Unit (FAU) medical transport and relief services during World War I and revived it during the second World War. However, when Nazi occupation of Europe made such operations there impossible for noncombatants, the FAU shifted their attention to China. By 1942, 16 Americans joined 71 British, two Canadian and eight Chinese Quakers serving in the Friends Ambulance Unit in China.

Refaat Alareer is the co-editor of Gaza Unsilenced (2015) and was the editor of (and a contributor to) Gaza Writes Back (2014). A native of Gaza City's Shijaieh neighborhood, he received his M.A. in Comparative Literature from the University College of London (U.K.) and is currently completing his Ph.D. in English Literature at the Universiti Putra Malaysia.

At the turn of last year, Palestinian “mentally unstable” man Isaac Hassan, 26, crossed the Gaza-Egypt border naked, only to be shot dead on the spot by the Egypt army. Hassan is the perfect metaphor for Gaza’s 2015.

And if you think 2014 was the worst year Palestinians in Gaza lived, then you’re probably not that informed about 2015, the worst ever in all possible terms.

Rafah Crossing: