February’s Newsletter: The War on Ukraine, Dedicating a Historical Marker, Continuing Sessions And SO MUCH MORE

Issue 77, February 2022

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S NOTE  

Greetings and best wishes for midwinter. We have some wonderful news from the Friends Center community to share with you below.

            Sadly, with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine this week, we also mourn the outbreak of a new “hot war” on the European continent. As I was writing this, a convoy of cars with Ukrainian flags was on its way down 15th Street to a demonstration at City Hall.

            How to respond? I found hope in yesterday’s statement from the American Friends Service Committee, one of Friends Center’s equity partners: “The invasion of Ukraine must be stopped – but U.S. military aid is not the answer.

            Quakers are one of the traditional “peace churches.” As a key founder of Quakerism, George Fox, wrote in 1650, we strive to “live in the virtue of that life and power that takes away the occasion for all wars.” While most of you working at Friends Center are not members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), I know you share this vision for a better, more peaceful world, because of the work you do.

            Let us keep working for that change here at home—to increase every Philadelphian’s access to health, education, housing, and the arts, to end gun violence, to support civil rights—even as we support peace in the wider world, too. And if you’d like to learn more, the Friends Historical Library at Swarthmore College has a list of resources on the Quaker Peace Testimony.

—Chris Mohr, Executive Director  

AROUND FRIENDS CENTER

Wednesday, March 23, 4:00 p.m.

Race Street Meetinghouse

1501 Cherry Street, Philadelphia, PA 19102

This event is free and open to the public, but RSVP is required.

In honor of Women’s History Month, the Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission and Friends Select School cordially invite you to the dedication of an official state historical marker commemorating Anna Elizabeth Dickinson (1842-1932). We will gather at the Race Street Meetinghouse for a dedication ceremony. Following the ceremony, we will walk to Broad and Arch Streets, where we will unveil a marker at the site of a home where Dickinson frequently stayed in the 1870s and 1880s.

EQUITY PARTNER NEWS 

PHILADELPHIA YEARLY MEETING (PYM)

Friends are invited to come together for worship, fellowship, and business! Join our wider Yearly Meeting community for events in Philadelphia, online, and at your home meeting. Details of Continuing Sessions available here.

AMERICAN FRIENDS SERVICE COMMITTEE (AFSC)

On the Issues: Using love to #FreeThemAll this Valentine’s Day – YouTube

CENTRAL PHILADELPHIA MONTHLY MEETING (CPMM)

FYI: Marriage Under the Care of the Meeting

Friends conduct a meeting for marriage—the wedding ceremony—as a meeting for worship. The meeting appoints a clerk for the meeting and the couple chooses two witnesses, who will sign the certificate of marriage. The couple chooses their own vows, in consultation with the committee appointed to arrange the meeting for marriage. In the meeting itself, the couple sits together and their guests and the members of the meeting sit as they would in a normal meeting for worship. The clerk opens the meeting by explaining how things will go, mostly for the benefit of family and friends of the couple, who may not be familiar with our way of worship. The meeting begins with worship. After a time of worship, the clerk invites the couple to exchange vows and rings, and the couple and their witnesses sign the wedding certificate. The certificate is then read aloud. Then worship continues, with spoken messages if persons are so moved. When it seems to the clerk that the meeting is fully gathered and the messages have all been given, she or he closes the meeting and the couple and wedding party withdraw. All present are invited to sign the wedding certificate as witnesses themselves after the meeting.

The process

If you seek to be married after the manner of Friends and under the care of the meeting, contact the committee (clerk-membershipcare@cpmm.org, or 215-241-7260) to get started. The committee will arrange a clearness committee that works much like a clearness committee for membership. It will meet with you and you will talk together until both you and the committee are clear that the marriage should go forward as requested, or not.

If yes, the clearness committee brings a recommendation to Membership Care Committee, and then after committee’s discernment, the committee brings a recommendation to the meeting for business in worship. If the meeting approves, then Membership Care appoints a committee to help you arrange the meeting for marriage.

TENANT NEWS

This past week Rob Marcus, founder of Coaching Corps Racial Equity and Access in Youth Sports Task Force, met with members from the Collaborative, Eric Worley from Philadelphia Youth Basketballand Valencia Peterson from Open Door Abuse Awareness & Prevention, to gain insight on the impact sport has on Philadelphia’s community.

Valencia “Coach V” Peterson, Founder & CEO of ODAAP Open Door Abuse Awareness & Prevention provided unique insight into her organization’s mission and how she uses football to connect with young men. She describes how inequity in access to sports during the pandemic negatively impacted her violence prevention efforts. Coach V also discusses working together with other local leaders and organizations in the Collaborative to overcome these barriers.

Eric Worley, Co-founder & Program Director of Philadelphia Youth Basketball discusses the rich basketball tradition of his organization and the role it plays in building his kids as students, athletes, and positive leaders in the community. While some of the barriers have historically pertained to systemic issues like lack of access to out-of-school programs and recreation centers, his organization, Philadelphia Youth Basketball, and the Collaborative, are educating city leaders on the principles of sports-based youth development and making great strides in growing their support.

Click here to watch their full interviews

Singing City

Winter Concert–Learn to Walk Together

Saturday, March 5, 2022, 7 pm 
Philadelphia Episcopal Cathedral, 13 N. 38th Street, Philadelphia, PA

Tickets available here: https://singingcityboxoffice.wazala.com

Presenting the world premiere of A New Day is Rising by Ethan Haman set to poetry by Philadelphia’s Youth Poet Laureate Cydney Brown

Michael Brown. Trayvon Martin. Oscar Grant. Eric Garner. Kenneth Chamberlain. Amadou Diallo. John Crawford. These African-American men are the subjects of Seven Last Words of the Unarmed, a powerful multi-movement choral work by Atlanta-based composer Joel Thompson. Seven movements represent the last words from seven lost lives. Using the text structure of the Joseph Haydn’s Seven Last Words of Christ, each victim’s last words are set in a different musical style and Thompson incorporates the L’homme armé (The armed man) Renaissance French secular tune throughout.

With works by Moses Hogan, William Dawson, Matthew Emery, Undine Smith Moore, and Jake Runestad.

Art-Reach’s John Orr quoted in Inquirer article 2/25/22:

Arts venues learn to make their spaces welcoming with sensory-friendly shows.
How one theater is making it happen.

            “You see [programming for neuro-diverse audiences] growing. It’s really encouraging to see places embracing it,” said John Orr, Art-Reach’s executive director. He now describes Philadelphia as a leader. “This can rewrite the book on what arts interaction looks like.”

» See full article (paywalled)

IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD

African American Children’s Book Fair

Sat., 2/26/2022, 1-4 pm

The 30th Annual African American Children’s Book Fair – LIVE and IN PERSON will be held at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, 12th Arch Street on Saturday, February 26, 2022, from 1:00 to 4 p.m. Hosted by the African American Children’s Book Project, the book fair is one of the oldest and largest single-day events for children’s books in the country. Games, prizes and promotional giveaways will highlight the afternoon. A wide selection of affordable Black children’s books will be available for purchase.

Surgical mask are required at all times.

There is also a Covid-19 protocol in place.

February’s Newsletter – Going Once, Going twice, Sold! Quaker Traditions, Muslim Ban termination, and Black History

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S NOTE

Today I am excited to announce that Friends Center has entered into an agreement with Friends Select School to buy and renovate the 1520 Race Street, the building on the west side of our courtyard.

Check here for details and updates: https://friendscentercorp.org/1520-race-street/ 

– Chris Mohr, Executive Director


AROUND FRIENDS CENTER

E-WASTE RECYCLING DAY: MARCH 4

SustainabilityDid you get new computers or electronic during the pandemic? Do you have old and obsolete items to dispose of? Come on down and recycle your e-waste!

We will collect items March 1–3 in the loading zone, for pickup some time on March 4.

  • Acceptable: Computers, laptops, monitors, printers, mainframe computers or servers, fax machines, copiers, projectors, wire and cables, modems, phones, computer components and parts, computer peripherals, televisions, radios, UPS equipment, network equipment, video equipment, and batteries.
  • Not acceptable: White goods, kitchen appliances, machinery, old media or software.

Stay tuned for a shredding day soon, too!


EQUITY PARTNER NEWS

PHILADELPHIA YEARLY MEETING (PYM)

Quaker Traditions Series: Part I – Spiritual Practice

The Quaker Traditions Series is a set of articles on the Quaker faith. In his role as Associate Secretary for Religious Life,  Zachary Dutton has listened deeply to Friends in the community. Working with the PYM staff community engagement team he has provided answers to framing questions for this four-part series. The answers are reflective as opposed to definitive.

                The gift of the Quaker faith is that it is one of continuing revelation, so the article speaks to the ‘here and now’ of our faith even as it is tied to, and reflects, our history and tradition. If you have thoughts on these questions, please share them with Zachary – his email is at the end of this article. He is always looking for new ways to be in relationship with our wider Quaker community. Enjoy article here.

AMERICAN FRIENDS SERVICE COMMITTEE (AFSC)

Biden’s changes to the immigration system explained

Soon after taking office, President Joe Biden began making big changes, including to U.S. immigration policy. These actions work to undo some of the most harmful policies passed by the Trump administration—and lay the groundwork for a more just and humane immigration system.

                We welcome these much-needed changes and the Biden administration’s swift action on these issues. Now we need to keep the momentum up to ensure that the administration continues to support immigrant communities and enact policies that respect the rights and dignity of all people. 

            Here’s where you can find some of the positive changes that Biden has already made and what this means for immigrant communities.

CENTRAL PHILADELPHIA MONTHLY MEETING (CPMM)

About Our Meeting (Church)

Central Philadelphia Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends is a large, urban Quaker meeting, diverse in many ways, and we welcome visitors.

  • We worship by gathering and silently waiting for the Spirit to guide us. Learn more about Quaker worship here.
  • We celebrate diversity and welcome people from all walks of life. We are a welcoming and affirming congregation for LGBTQ people.
  • We are also involved in various activities to further peace and social justice.
  • For more information about our meeting, click About in the menu above.
  • What’s happening: See the Google calendar to the right for meeting activities and click Events in the menu above for highlighted events.

TENANT NEWS

ACE Mentor Program

What can we say? 2020 was…quite the year! We’re happy to report that ACE has come out of it perhaps stronger than ever thanks to an amazing board of directors, staff, and 4,000+ incredible volunteers around the country. Even in the face of a global pandemic, ACE’s strongest resource – our mentors – rallied to ensure that deserving students still had access to the best career guidance program in the country!

Community Ventures

Green Building United recently spoke with Patrick Isaac—a newly elected Board Member of GBU—about his career path, experience in the industry, and interest in sustainability. This is what he had to say!

Gender Justice Fund

From Generocity, 1/20/2021:

Nonprofit leaders, mayor react to executive actions that will be issued by President Biden

We reached out to seven local leaders for a quick comment….

        Farrah Parkes, the executive director of the Gender Justice Fund, said that she was “heartened by the speed with which the Biden administration is moving to address the most pressing issues facing the country and reverse some of the most egregious actions of the former President — particularly those related to immigration.”

        “We are well overdue for a coordinated federal response to the pandemic which has claimed over 400,000 lives in the United States,” Parkes added. “It is also gratifying to see swift action on addressing systemic racism and workplace discrimination as well as climate change.”

Read More »

CAIR welcomes President Biden’s Termination of the Muslim Ban

CAIR-Philadelphia Executive Director Jacob Bender said in a press release: “We commend President Biden for immediately moving to repeal the Muslim and African Bans, which is an important first step toward undoing the anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant policies of the previous administration. It is an important fulfilment of a campaign pledge to the Muslim community and its allies.”

Read the full statement here »

Scattergood Foundation:

Want to build skills to tell the story of your organization’s impact? Join the RISE Partnership’s Readiness component.

Read Scattergood’s piece in Generocity here »  


BLACK HISTORY IS AMERICAN HISTORY:

Remembering Bayard Rustin 1912-1987

Bayard Rustin was a black Civil Rights activist, a close associate of Martin Luther King, and an advocate of gay and lesbian rights, and a Quaker.

                Rustin was born in West Chester, Pennsylvania and was brought up by his grandmother, who had been raised as a Quaker.  He himself became a Quaker in 1936, shortly before moving to New York where he lived most of his adult life.  He was a pacifist and a primary influence in bringing non-violent resistance into the American Civil Rights Movement, much inspired by Gandhi’s approach in India.

                In 1941, he joined the pacifist Fellowship of Reconciliation.  He protested against segregation within the armed forces, and worked with the American Friends Service Committee to protect the property of interned Japanese Americans.

                Despite his membership of the Society of Friends (one of the so-called ‘Historic Peace Churches’), Rustin was jailed in 1944 for his conscientious objection to cooperating with the draft.  While in jail, he organised protests against segregated seating in the dining hall.  In a letter to the prison warden, he wrote:

Both morally and practically, segregation is to me a basic injustice. Since I believe it to be so, I must attempt to remove it. There are three ways in which one can deal with an injustice. (a) One can accept it without protest. (b) One can seek to avoid it. (c) One can resist the injustice non-violently. To accept it is to perpetuate it.

Source: Quakers in the World