The Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO) recently shared their presentation to the World Plenary of Friends in South Africa in August 2024.
QUNO-New York is a partnership of the American Friends Service Committee, one of our equity partners, and the Friends World Committee, Section of the Americas.
QUNO-Geneva is a partnership of the Friends World Committee and Britain Yearly Meeting of Friends.
Our tenant Singing City’s fall concert will be here at Friends Center on Sun., 10/27, 3 pm.
Titled “Democracy in Song,” it will feature songs that helped shape U.S. democracy, including songs of protest, from the Civil Rights movement & of gathering/meeting.
Singing City promises a stirring choral performance that brings to life the anthems of the abolitionist/anti-slavery movement, the women’s suffrage movement, the Civil Rights movement, and the peace movement. Each piece tells a story of courage, resilience, and hope. Hear evocative works by composers Melissa Dunphy, Bernice Johnson Reagon, and Zanaida Robles. Their compositions, alongside powerful arrangements of iconic songs, will transport you to pivotal moments in history.
September 17 is National Voter Registration Day and Constitution Day.
The Committee of 70 has lots of election resources for voters in Philadelphia and Pennsylvania: register, find your polling place, learn your rights, and more.
The annual World Quaker Day is the first “Firstday,” or Sunday, of October.
In 2024, World Quaker Day is October 6.
Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC), Section of the Americas, invites Friends to share the epistle, tapestry, & prayer from their World Plenary held in August in South Africa.
There is also information about how Friends have celebrated World Quaker Day in the past at worldquakerday.org. Schedule an event at your Friends meeting or Friends church, and share photos and stories there!
On 9/14/2024 at Friends Center, the National MS Society holds its next Black MS Community Program. Through a combination of content, presentations, and discussions, it will allow Black individuals living with multiple sclerosis to be seen and understood.
Friends Center is proud to host this event. Since 1856, we have been a gathering place and event space for Philadelphia community groups and nonprofit organizations. With our LEED Platinum green renovation and modern video and teleconferencing facilities, we are both historic and up to date. Friends Center is easy to reach by public transit, bike, walking, and car. We are two blocks from City Hall, near the hub of public transit and one block from the Broad Street exit of the Vine Street Expressway (Interstate 676).
Quaker Call to Action invites a national dialogue on the urgent threats to U.S. democracy and what’s at stake. Participants are gravely concerned about the deliberate falsehoods and coordinated efforts currently underway to subvert our democracy. If this politically motivated takeover movement succeeds, any hope of progress on the urgent issues of our time will be lost. They invite Friends and friends of Friends to enter into a national dialogue to discern how best to respond to this urgent challenge.
Friends Center is proud to host this event. Since 1856, we have been a gathering place and event space for Philadelphia community groups and nonprofit organizations, both Quaker and non-Quaker. With our LEED Platinum green renovation and modern video and teleconferencing facilities, we are both historic and up to date. Friends Center is easy to reach by public transit, bike, walking, and car. We are two blocks from City Hall, near the hub of public transit and one block from the Broad Street exit of the Vine Street Expressway (Interstate 676).
Join us for a special screening of the feature-length film about the life and work of George Lakey at Friends Center. Get ready to be inspired by his story and his impact on movements for social justice.
A special treat for those who like to sing Broadway show tunes — come at 7pm for a singalong before the movie begins at 7:30.
Citizen George has been in the works for 3 years and is a feature length film directed by Glenn Holsten. Archival footage, interviews, and animation tell the stories of George’s decades of activism and participation in movements for justice throughout his life. The film shows George’s evolution over time highlighting spiritual inspiration, and the dynamic role of community in enabling activists to face danger and violence, aiding audiences who are highly anxious about today’s crises.
Friends Center is proud to host this event. Since 1856, we have been a gathering place and event space for Philadelphia community groups and nonprofit organizations, both Quaker and non-Quaker. With our LEED Platinum green renovation and modern video and teleconferencing facilities, we are both historic and up to date. Friends Center is easy to reach by public transit, bike, walking, and car. We are two blocks from City Hall, near the hub of public transit and one block from the Broad Street exit of the Vine Street Expressway (Interstate 676).
Last week I went to the Parkway Central Branch of the Free Library to hear George Lakey in conversation with Varshini Prakash, executive director and co-founder of Sunrise Movement, the youth-led movement to stop climate change.
George was in conversation about his new book, Dancing with History: A Life for Peace and Justice.
Now a member of Central Philadelphia Monthly Meeting, George has been a Quaker nonviolent activist and researcher for over 7 decades! Among many other things, he co-founded Movement for a New Society in the 1970s, Training for Change in the 1990s, and Earth Quaker Action Team in the 2010s.
Oh, and if that wasn’t enough, George often leads a community singalong of Handel’s Messiah in the Cherry Street Room in December. We’ll announce it if and when it returns.
Friends Center is full of inspiring stories like George’s. In the tenant newsletter, we try to lift up a few of them each month. Please let Jennifer Williams know if your organization has news to share!
—Chris Mohr, Executive Director
AROUND FRIENDS CENTER
Y.A. BOOK LAUNCH EVENT AT CPMM Young Adult Adaptation of Robin DiAngelo’s White Fragility Dec 7, 2022 from 6:30pm to 8:30pm Friends Center, 1501 Cherry Street
Join Toni Graves Williamson and Ali Michael for the launch of their Young Adult adaptation of Robin DiAngelo’s bestselling book White Fragility. This event is sponsored by Central Philadelphia Monthly Meeting, Friends Council on Education, and Friends Select School. Tickets are available for free or purchase (copy of the book included) on Eventbrite.
Annual ‘Sleep Out’ raises over $600,000 for local youth homelessness
In the bitter cold on Thursday night into Friday morning, people traded their beds for a sleeping bag and a cardboard box. Participants raised funds for Covenant House’s services for homeless youth.
Get the full scoop here: Via Channel 6/ABC (Early on in the segment, you get a glimpse of our facility manager, John Gibson, moving some supplies!)
This year, AFSC launched Emerging Leaders for Liberation (ELL) to help young people strengthen their social justice and leadership skills. Over eight months, youth get trained on anti-racism, organizing, advocacy, nonviolent direct action, and more. They also develop projects to address systemic issues in their own communities.
“It’s vital that young people understand how much their voices matter and the power they have to create change. We need to continue investing in their leadership for a better future for everyone,” says Mariana Martinez, ELL program director.
The inaugural cohort of ELL participants includes 30 young people from 15 states. Many have worked with local AFSC programs or are part of Quaker meetings or colleges.
CPMM AUTHOR EVENT The Library Committee warmly invites you to hear CPMM member Steve Davison talk about and read from 3 of his books of poetry on Saturday, Dec. 3, from 11 a.m. – 12 noon (via Zoom).
The Road to Continental Heart: Befriending and Defending the Spirit of North America — A coffee-table-style book featuring poems he wrote once a week for a friend who walked across the country with a group environmental activists; Continental Heart — A meditation on our relationship with the land we live in and an appeal for a more spiritual culture of place; Dancing Mockingbird — A collection of nature poems.
CLICK HERE to join in on the poetry and discussion!
Come join Global Writes to learn the fundamentals of game design with the integration of a variety of technology tools to plan and create board and video games that can be used to teach content-based themes in the classroom. Their Skin in the Game process utilizes game design and concepts in Science, Technology, Reading, Engineering, Art, and Math (STREAM) to engage participants in advanced, interdisciplinary learning. Please have on hand a computer that can support Chrome browser as well as some plain paper and pencil.
This fall, small groups of ANNA singers took to the streets to sing, hoping the current cultural climate would bend toward justice. We are pleased to present a full choir concert in person and broadcast online. In this concert, we sing to remind ourselves that when we connect and collaborate, our power is much more than when we move through the world alone. Together, People Have the Power.
October Tenant Newsletter: Renovation & Parking Updates, Famous African American Quaker, FCNL is Hiring
Issue 75, October 2021
DIRECTOR’S NOTE
Greetings and best wishes for fall!
With changes in climate, our local autumn season seems to come later than ever. One bonus is that the native plants in the front garden and the courtyard oval are still blooming—and attracting pollinators. The gardens have filled in nicely over the years. I like to see it as a metaphor for the millions of people working in communities for positive change, including the few hundred based here at Friends Center. Through your steady, persistent work, through your showing up again and again, may the systems in which we are embedded also evolve, just like the gardens have grown—even if it’s hard to see the change at any given moment.
Take care and stay safe,
Chris Mohr, Executive Director
AROUND FRIENDS CENTER
Renovation of 1520 Race Street
The renovation of the 1520 Race Street building by Friends Select School began this week, starting with interior demolition.
While most of the work will not have an impact on users of the Friends Center, there will be some temporary changes in the courtyard. The contractor will put fencing and barriers in place to provide a safe distance from the building. This will impact Friends Child Care Center the most, and so we will be in frequent communication with them.
Note that the loading zone is being used by contractors for both Friends Center and Friends Select. The loading zone is only for deliveries, pickups, and dropoffs. There is no tenant parking until further notice. See the updated LOADING ZONE GUIDELINES (right).
We will be in close touch with the contractor, so that we may do our best to alert the Friends Center community to any significant changes before they occur. Our priority is to maintain safety for everyone. Please reach out to Erick Emerick with any concerns and we will do our best to address them.
Benjamin Banneker (1731-1806) was a self-educated African American mathematician, astronomer, surveyor, compiler of almanacs, and writer. He was also a regular attender at Quaker meetings and an abolitionist who gained fame and recognition for his contributions to science and his prescient correspondence on multiple subjects, including race, with key intellectuals of the time. Click link above to read the full article.
On Sept. 9, 1971, over 1200 people incarcerated at the Attica Correctional Facility in New York took control of the prison to demand better living conditions and human rights. After four tense days, law enforcement retook the prison by force, leading to the deaths of at least 43 people. In the 50 years since, organizations like AFSC have been entrenched in the work to advocate with incarcerated people for improvements to the system that respect basic human dignity, as well as the growing movement to #FreeThemAll and abolish the prison system as we know it.
Join AFSC staff from our Healing Justice program as they discuss how our work was catalyzed by the events of the Attica Uprising, and hear from campers from the Liberation Summer Camp, which had a focus on this moment in history. Speakers include Healing Justice program coordinator Lewis Webb, Jr., filmmaker and advocate Kharon Benson, Liberation Camp intern Akira Rose, Joeli Valerio, and others.
Pamela Haines will speak via Zoom on her book of poetry, ALIVE IN THIS WORLD, on October 30th at 11:00 AM.
The collection of poetry is organized into three sections. The first, A HOME WITH THE TREES, explores a relationship with trees with a growing understanding and gratitude. In COMMUTER ENCOUNTERS, intimate contact with strangers on a trolley or bus invites reflection on humanity, connection and justice. In the final section, A HOME WITH THE EARTH, the soil is a medium for meditation on nourishment and how living in small green city spaces can bring big gifts. The poems are a call to pay attention to Life and to not let the world go by unnoticed.
Please log in using the Zoom platform listed below:
…In general… Philadelphia is a “hospitable place for American Muslims, both African American and immigrants,” said Jacob Bender, executive director of CAIR Philadelphia, the Council on American Islamic Relations, a Muslim civil liberties and advocacy group. “Perhaps it’s the city’s Quaker background, opening it to different religious minorities.”…
Bender estimates that close to 200,000 Muslims live in Philadelphia, 80% of whom he identified as African Americans. The Pennsylvania suburbs are home to another 200,000, mostly Arab immigrants and their children….
Another unfortunate aftermath of Sept. 11 was that many young Muslim Americans wanted to disassociate themselves from their religious background, said Ahmet Selim Tekelioglu,education and outreach director for CAIR-Philadelphia.
WHEN: Thursday October 21st, 10am – 3pm and Friday October 22nd from 10am-1:30pmWHERE: We’re going virtual again this year!QUESTIONS?: Contact Jennifer at jennifer@pahealthaccess.org or 267-908-9100 x704
As the only conference of its kind, PHAN brings together health care policy experts, advocates, industry representatives, enrollment assisters, and government leaders to discuss key health policy issues directly affecting the Commonwealth.
This fall, join us as we discuss such critical healthcare issues as: lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic (thus far); the federal and state landscape for healthcare policy; lowering the cost of prescription drugs; health equity & the role of Medicaid; hospital consolidation & the changing healthcare landscape; and much more!
“The Underground Railroad in South Jersey and Its Importance Today”
“Oral history identifies Peter Mott as an agent and conductor for the Underground Railroad, working from his home and Mt. Pisgah A.M.E. Church in present day Lawnside. Freedom seekers would continue their journey north via Evesham, Haddonfield, and Pennsauken. The Lawnside Historical Society has restored Mott’s home for use as a museum of the Underground Railroad and the Lawnside community, the only historically African-American incorporated municipality in the northern USA.: (www.petermotthouse.org)
The new General Secretary will be a courageous Quaker leader with a commitment to justice, peace, and environmental sustainability; to expanding diversity, equity and inclusion within the FCNL community and beyond; and to building and nurturing relationships across political and organizational divides.
We Seek a World Free of War and the Threat of War We seek a Society with Equity and Justice for All We seek Community where Every Person’s Potential Can be Fulfilled We Seek an Earth Restored
For more information, contact DeAnne Butterfield, Clerk, Search Committee gssearch@fcnl.org
The lasting impact of U.S. decisions in the aftermath of 9/11 – By Mary Zerkel
Twenty years ago, on Sept. 11, 2001, the world was shocked at the coordinated attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, resulting in the deaths of nearly 3,000 people.
Expressions of sympathy and grief came from throughout the world. But rather than use the moment to forge global cooperation, the United States embarked on a disastrous course driven by narratives of fear and retribution. Continue reading here.
Quakerism 101 – Quaker Discernment, Decision Making, and the Meeting for Business
Overview
Our second session will explore the Quaker understanding of spiritual discernment and the Quaker processes for making decisions, including the meeting for worship with attention to business and the life of the meeting.
Date: October 24, 1:00-3:00 pm
Zoom: The Zoom link is the same as the link for meeting for worship. The worship meeting will simply be extended.
Facilitators: Barry Scott and Jennifer Walker
TENANT NEWS
The Center For Healing & Justice Through Sport (CHJS)
Launch Tour Recap
Last week The Collaborative partnered with the Center for Healing and Justice Through Sport to introduce their work and vision of CHJS, highlight some of the amazing work happening in Philadelphia, and continue the conversation around how the Philadelphia SBYD community can continue to push our field forward.
The mission of CHJS is to make sport healing for all youth, everywhere, through training, consulting, and movement building. They believe that underneath the fun and camaraderie, sport can be used as a vehicle to provide creative and accessible solutions to some of society’s biggest issues. Click Here to stay up to date with CHJS and their upcoming events!
YOU’RE INVITED!
Join Friends Council on Education for an evening of Light — poetry, music, thought — to uplift and sustain us on this next stretch of the road we are traveling.
We hope that you will join us for this and other activities throughout the year in celebration of Friends Council’s 90th Anniversary!
IN THE (QUAKER) NEIGHBORHOOD
Quaker Speak is a bi-weekly video series that highlights a variety of relevant topics and how they tie into Quakerism.
This particular video touches on the difference between a welcoming space and an inclusive space. Click here to watch!
Quaker Trivia
Four of the five women who convened the 1848 convention on women’s rights at Seneca Falls were Quakers. It is presumed that the reason Quaker women played a large part in the struggle for women’s suffrage was due to the leadership skills acquired throughout two centuries of women’s experience speaking publicly and adopting administrative leadership roles within the Quaker community—opportunities unmatched for women in any other western religion at that time.