Despite the cancellation of Thursday night's program due to heavy snow, approximately 100 Friends attended the annual Corporation Meeting of AFSC this past weekend in Center City Philadelphia. Our short time together was filled with powerful workshops, engaging presentations, fruitful business sessions, and many exciting conversations.

Dr. Vanessa Northington Gamble began her research on Dr. Virginia M. Alexander (1899-1949) because she is an unsung hero in the field of medicine. Dr.

Bayard Rustin (1912-1987) was a leader in US social movements for 40 years and maintained a relationship with the Religious Society of Friends throughout his entire life. Rustin was active in the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR), the American Friends Service Committee, the Congress on Racial Equality, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, and the A. Philip Randolph Institute.

The following letter was written by Bayard Rustin in 1943. AFSC is fortunate to have a copy in its archives, which you can find on our website.

Barrington Dunbar was born in British Guyana and educated in the United States. He devoted his life to social work, as the director of settlement houses, camps for refugees, and other such services. He joined 57th Street Meeting in Chicago and later was active with 15th Street Meeting in New York City. Committed to both black liberation and Quakerism, he explained the Black Power movement to European Americans as a need to express rage as a step toward sef-esteem (Black Fire, 125).

This reflection is by Lori Fernald Khamala, AFSC’s Immigrant Rights Program Director in Greensboro, North Carolina, where we seek to build a community which values the human dignity of all residents.

Note: For Black History Month, we will be honoring some of the many Black Quakers who have contributed to the world of Friends and beyond. Barrington Dunbar (1901-1978), like many others, challenged white Friends to take a more active approach in addressing racism and white supremacy. He asked Friends to show their support for the Black Power Movement even though its violent rhetoric often felt alienating to pacifist Friends.

In my previous post, I explored the ways that Quakers and Jews have been historically connected and proposed a deeper spiritual connection between our respective faith traditions. As a rabbi who now works for AFSC, I can say without hesitation that my spiritual life has greatly benefitted from my encounter with Quaker thought and practice. The more I dwell in these two religious communities, the more I am able to discern important parallels between them.