The 2024 Black Quaker Lives Matter Film Festival & Forum "The Bayard Rustin Legacy Forum"

Current Activities 01 Retrospective Justice in Healing Historical Injustice and Ills: Reparations Defined as “an attempt to administer justice years after the commission of a severe injustice or series of injustices,” we advocate that Quakerism adopt Retrospective Justice as a model for healing historical injustice. Our ministry is providing education on this call to action through e-newsletters, publications, and collaborative lecture-presentations with Friend Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge, a leader in South Africa’s anti-apartheid movement, the African National Congress, and transnational organizations. 02 Collaborating with the United Nations, Quakers, and human-rights activists in activities commemorating the UN International Decade for People of African Descent (2015-2024) and the UN International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. 03 PAUL ROBESON AND BAYARD RUSTIN ADVOCACY: Restoring Paul Robeson and Bayard Rustin to their rightful places in history, including the presentation given at 2019 Friends Association on Higher Education conference, titled Truth and An African American Quaker Activist Scholar: Africana Studies, Paul Robeson, and Bayard Rustin. 04 MEMOIRS AND OTHER PUBLICATIONS: Writing and lecturing on memoirs, "Black Fire: An African American Quaker Seeker-Activist in a White-Supremacist Culture." Vol. II of projected 3-part BLACK FIRE trilogy, with a focus on confronting white supremacy. Updating Cold War historiography manuscript, "Soviet Training and Research Programs for Africa" for publication as MENTAL DECOLONIZATION AND THE COLD WAR: AFRICAN STUDENT ELITES IN THE USSR, in keeping with Quaker testimonies. Revising and updating 2008 Weed Lecture publication, "Facing Unbearable Truths." 05 HONORS: Judith Weller Harvey Quaker Scholar, Guilford College, and Cadbury Scholar, Pendle Hill, 2019. Associate, Hutchins Center for African and African-American Research at Harvard University. Associate, Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard University. 06 ADVOCACY AND COLLABORATIONS: Continuing advocacy and collaborations with domestic and international Quaker and non-Quaker units and individuals working for Truth, Community, Equality, Peace, and Justice. Specifically includes Friends in East Africa, Latin America, Palestine/Israel, and Asia; the Third World Coalition of the American Friends Service Committee; Alaskan Friends Conference; Friends World Committee for Consultation; the Cuban Quaker Peace Institute; et al. 07 TRANSLATION INTO SPANISH: Postponed: Translating into Spanish, “Black Fire: African American Quakers on Spirituality and Human Rights,” 2011, the first publication in the Black Fire trilogy.

COLLABORATION AND ADVOCACY Promoting greater USA Quaker cooperation and collaboration with African and Cuban Quakers, including a major effort to collaborate with Kenyan Quakers in dealing with systemic economic violence and other manifestations of systemic violence often not recognized as violence: poverty, youth unemployment, racism, sexism, homophobia, ageism, and classism. Participating in the governance of a variety of regional, national, and international Quaker organizations and facilitating the participation of people of color in Quaker governance and staff.

Wellesley Friends Meeting: July 2020 The BlackQuaker Project presents at Wellesley Thursdays LEARN MORE Here In July 2020 Dr. Harold D. Weaver, Jr. and the Black Quaker Project staff presented a report on their ongoing research to Wellesley Friends Meeting. This is a recording of our presentation: BLACK LIVES MATTER! -- Ground-breaking activities and research. (Q&A begins at 33:15)

Race, Systemic Violence, and Retrospective Justice: An African American Quaker Scholar-Activist Challenges Conventional Narratives By Harold D. Weaver, Jr. We are extremely excited to announce our new Pendle Hill pamphlet, “Race, Systemic Violence, and Retrospective Justice: An African American Quaker Scholar-Activist Challenges Conventional Narratives." This pamphlet is now available online at the Pendle Hill Bookstore! Click Here to Order our Pamphlet at Pendle Hill! Our unjust world is maintained by misinformation and disinformation in the media, formal education, scholarship, and political discourse. Dr. Weaver lays out steps and queries to guide Friends and others to begin confronting these concerns in the wider world. This pamphlet addresses the following topics: Understanding the difference between individual racism and institutional or systemic racism. Using active anti-violence to confront systemic violence, rather than passive non-violence. Implementing a plan of retrospective justice to address the legacy of chattel slavery in the Religious Society of Friends and the United States; and calling for a robust justice testimony to begin this process. Forms of Structural Violence MID SEASON SALE SAVE UP TO 50% SHOP NOW Inspired by the work of Palestinian Friend, Quaker Leader, and Human Rights Activist Jean Zaru. Occupied with Nonviolence: A Palestinian Woman Speaks by Jean Zaru (2008)

We are proud to announce the 2023 Black Quaker Lives Matter Film Festival & Forum, a groundbreaking exploration of Black Friends who made a difference throughout both USA and world history. From 4 February to 8 April, we will hold screenings, dedicated to Quakers of Color, every other Saturday at 1:00 PM Eastern Time over Zoom Webinar. Our 2023 Festival-Forum & How To Register! Register for our remaining events BELOW Our Distinguished Honorees Our honorees range from 20th century trailblazing Friends of African Descent back to early Quakers of Color who are too often forgotten. Some of their stories will challenge Friends to consider what defines a Quaker, as we examine the lives of extraordinary people of color who were Friends in all but name, and ask ourselves what may have prevented or deterred them from joining the Religious Society of Friends. We will conclude with a special celebration of the momentous 125th birthday of beleaguered leader Paul Robeson, a descendant of over 200 years of USA and British Quakers. Click on the images below to learn about the lives and achievements of this year’s distinguished honorees. Interview with Bill Sutherland Honoring Bill Sutherland (1918-2010): nonviolence advocate, AFSC collaborator, imprisoned conscientious objector, friend and active supporter of African liberation and freedom fighters. Featuring a discussion between Joyce Ajlouny (AFSC General Secretary), Keith Harvey (AFSC NE Regional Director), and Dr. Matthew Meyer, co-author with Bill Sutherland of Guns and Gandhi in Africa: Pan-African Insights on Nonviolence, Armed Struggle and Liberation (2001) The Prep School Negro Honoring Joan Countryman (b. 1945): first African American graduate of Germantown Friends School, longtime teacher and administrator in Friends’ schools, former head of Lincoln School and co-founder of the Oprah Winfrey Leadership School for Girls in South Africa. Featuring a discussion between the honoree, the film’s director-producer André Robert Lee, and Westtown School teacher-graduate Mauricio Torres (video recorded). Sisters in Freedom Honoring Sarah Mapps Douglass (1806-1882): prolific educator, author, fierce abolitionist, and ancestor of Paul Robeson Featuring a discussion between eminent historian Dr. Emma Lapsansky-Werner and author Joyce Mosley, a Mapps-Douglass descendant. Benjamin Banneker: The Man Who Loved the Stars Honoring Benjamin Banneker (1731-1806): almanac publisher, astronomer, petitioner to Thomas Jefferson for African American abolition, and faithful Attender of Quaker Meeting Featuring a discussion with Banneker descendant-researchers of African and European descent: Gwen Marable, Dr. Rachel Webster, and Pamela Williams. The Proud Valley Honoring Quaker descendant Paul Robeson, the “beleaguered leader” and “artist as revolutionary,” groundbreaking recording, film, theatrical, and music star. Featuring a discussion between Robeson scholars Dr. Gerald Horne, Dr. Charles Musser, and Dr. Harold D. Weaver. Saturday, 4 February 2023: Interview with Bill Sutherland (1999) – Liberation & Non-Violence in Africa & USA Saturday, 18 February 2023: The Prep School Negro (2012) –Joan Countryman & African Americans in Quaker Schools Saturday, 4 March 2023: Sisters in Freedom (2018) – Sarah Mapps Douglass & Women in the Abolition Struggle Against Slavery. Saturday, 18 March 2023: Benjamin Banneker: The Man Who Loved The Stars (1981) - Early African American Scholar-Activist Saturday, 8 April 2023: Paul Robeson: Tribute to an Artist (1978) and The Proud Valley (1940) – Celebrating Paul Robeson’s 125th Birthday Honoring Bill Sutherland (1918-2010): nonviolence advocate, veteran AFSC employee, imprisoned conscientious objector, friend and active supporter of African liberation and freedom fighters. Featuring a discussion between Joyce Ajlouny (AFSC General Secretary), Keith Harvey (AFSC NE Regional Director), and Dr. Matthew Meyer, co-author with Bill Sutherland of Guns and Gandhi in Africa: Pan-African Insights on Nonviolence, Armed Struggle and Liberation (2001) Honoring Joan Countryman (b. 1945): first African American graduate of Germantown Friends School, longtime teacher and administrator in Friends’ schools, former head of Lincoln School and co-founder of the Oprah Winfrey Leadership School for Girls in South Africa. Featuring a discussion between the honoree, the film’s director-producer André Robert Lee, and Westtown School teacher-graduate Mauricio Torres (video recorded). Honoring Sarah Mapps Douglass (1806-1882): prolific educator, author, committed abolitionist, and ancestor of Paul Robeson. Featuring a discussion between eminent historian Dr. Emma Lapsansky-Werner and author Joyce Mosley, a Bustill-Mapps descendant. Honoring Benjamin Banneker (1731-1806): almanac publisher, astronomer, petitioner to Thomas Jefferson for African American abolition, and faithful Attender of Quaker Meeting. Featuring a discussion with Banneker descendant-researchers of African and European descent: Gwen Marable, Dr. Rachel Webster, and Pamela Williams. Honoring Quaker descendant Paul Robeson, the “beleaguered leader” and “artist as revolutionary,” groundbreaking recording, film, theatrical, and music star. Featuring a discussion between Robeson scholars Dr. Gerald Horne, Dr. Charles Musser, and Dr. Harold D. Weaver. Our SPECIAL Guest Experts We will reflect on each film with a post-screening dialogue and audience Q & A with eminent scholar-activists, writers, & historians, some of whom are descendants of our honorees. Learn more about our guest experts by clicking on their photos below. Bill Sutherland (1918 - 2 Jan 2010) Bill Sutherland (1918 - 2 Jan 2010), a long term AFSC leader, was important in the African and African American liberation movements. As a non-violence leader, he aided Ghanaian Founding PM Kwame Nkrumah and political leader Komla Gbedemah. He served Tanzanian founding President Julius Nyerere & liberation movement/leaders in southern Africa. With co-author Dr. Matthew Meyer, he wrote Guns & Gandhi in Africa: Pan-African Insights on Nonviolence, Armed Struggle, & Liberation In Africa (2001). Joan Countryman (b. 6 Mar 1940) Joan Countryman (b. 6 Mar 1940) grew up in the Germantown section of Philadelphia and was the first African-American graduate of Germantown Friends School in 1958. Her career in education included serving as a teacher and administrator in Friends schools, as the Head of Lincoln School in Providence, RI, as the Interim Head of The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy in South Africa, and as the Interim Head of the Atlanta Girls’ School. She has been a member of Germantown Monthly Meeting since 1958. Sarah Mapps Douglas Sarah Mapps Douglass (9 Sept 1806 - 8 Sept 1882) was a prolific abolitionist, educator, and author featured in numerous anti-slavery journals. She was especially interested in educating young Black women about their bodies. She endured lifelong racial prejudice and was forced to sit on the segregated back bench in the Arch Street Meeting. She confronted racism wherever she encountered it, even in the Society of Friends. Benjamin Banneker (9 Nov 1731 - 19 Oct 1806) Benjamin Banneker (9 Nov 1731 - 19 Oct 1806) was a peerless astronomer, author, surveyor, and farmer. Born a free man of Senegalese descent, he helped establish the boundaries of Washington D.C. and even petitioned Thomas Jefferson on behalf of enslaved African Americans. He attended Quaker meetings for much of his life. Paul Robeson (9 Apr 1898 - 23 Jan 1976) Paul Robeson (9 Apr 1898 - 23 Jan 1976), the “beleaguered leader,” legendary scholar-activist, athlete, and “artist as revolutionary:” groundbreaking recording, film, theatrical, and musical star. He was a descendant of over 200 years of USA and UK Quakers by way of the Bustill family, including fellow honoree Sarah Mapps Douglass. We will close our festival with a celebration of his 125th birthday. Joyce Ajlouny AFSC General Secretary Joyce Ajlouny has served as the executive head of the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) since September 2017, overseeing the organization’s worldwide efforts for peace and justice. As a Palestinian-American Quaker leader, Joyce has been a seeker of refugee rights, gender equality, and economic aid throughout a long career in international development. She is a member of Ramallah Monthly Meeting and attends several monthly meetings in the USA. Keith B. Harvey Keith B. Harvey is the Director of the Northeast Region of the AFSC since 1992. He has led workshops on non-violence training, Criminal Justice history, and International Debt, sat on the Philadelphia Planning committee for the U.S. Social Forum; and served as both member and chair of the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute Board of Directors. Keith currently sits on the Massachusetts Peace Action Board and works with the MA Poor People's Campaign coordinating committee. Dr. Matt Meyer Dr. Matt Meyer is an internationally noted author, historian, and organizer of over 30 years. His publications include Guns & Gandhi in Africa: Pan-African Insights on Nonviolence, Armed Struggle, & Liberation In Africa (co-authored in 2000 with honoree Bill Sutherland). He is the Senior Research Scholar of UMass Amherst’s Resistance Studies Initiative and currently serves leadership roles with the International Fellowship of Reconciliation (IFOR) and the War Resisters’ International (WRI). Joan Countryman Joan Countryman grew up in the Germantown section of Philadelphia and, in 1958, was the first African-American graduate of Germantown Friends School. Her career in education included serving as a teacher and administrator in Friends schools, as the Head of Lincoln School in Providence, RI, as the Interim Head of The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy in South Africa, and as the Interim Head of the Atlanta Girls’ School. She has been a member of Germantown Monthly Meeting since 1958. André Robert Lee André Robert Lee is an award-winning filmmaker, keynote speaker, consultant, writer, and educator. André has served as a professor of writing at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and teaches Filmmaking at the Germantown Friends School, where he worked to develop a film program for their students. His most recent award-winning film, Virtually Free (2021), tells the story of incarcerated youth in Richmond, Virginia, and is still on the festival route. Dr. Emma Lapsansky Werner Dr. Emma Jones Lapsansky-Werner is an Emerita Professor of History and the Emerita Curator of the Quaker Collection at Haverford College. With Gary Nash and Clayborne Carson, she authored Struggle for Freedom, a college text on African American History. Her current work includes: a history of a Bryn Mawr Quaker family; a study of a Philadelphia multi-cultural intentional community; and a biography of contemporary Quaker Chuck Fager. She is a member of Lansdowne Monthly Meeting in Lansdowne, PA. Joyce Mosley Joyce Mosley, author of Graham’s Gift (2020) has documented her family history of African American and European American Quakers, including the first mayor of Philadelphia. Joyce has presented her family research at genealogy conferences, including the African American Historical and Genealogical Society and the African American Genealogy Group. In 2019, Joyce’s important family research was featured in a WHYY-TV/PBS episode of “Movers and Makers.” Dr. Rachel Webster Dr. Rachel Jamison Webster is the author of the March 2023 book, Benjamin Banneker & Us: Eleven Generations of an American Family, creative nonfiction that explores ancestry, race, gender, & justice in American history as Webster and her DNA cousins discuss racial justice, genealogy, & stories of their ancestors. Rachel is Associate Professor of Creative Writing at Northwestern University, where she has received multiple awards for her design and implementation of anti-racist curricula. Pamela Williams Pamela Williams is an educator in the Burlington School District (VT) with a background in clinical social work & research, including instructional support, counseling, Restorative Practice, mindfulness in education, & coordination of service learning projects at local and international levels. Former faculty at Westtown School, Packer Collegiate Institute, & Stone Ridge School, she has also been an instructor at Bryn Mawr College School of Social Work and the Community College of Vermont. Gwen Marable Gwen Marable, is a retired educator. Her family discovered their relationship to the man known as the country’s first African- American scientist, Benjamin Banneker. Jemima Banneker, Benjamin’s sister, was Marable’s fifth grandmother. Dr. Gerald Horne Dr. Gerald Horne holds the Moores Professorship of History & African American Studies at the University of Houston. He is the author of Paul Robeson: The Artist As Revolutionary (2016) and has researched issues of racism in a variety of relations involving labor, politics, civil rights, international relations, & war. He has written about the film industry. His courses include the Civil Rights Movement, U.S. History through Film, Labor History, & 20th Century African American History. Dr. Charles Musser Dr. Charles Musser teaches Film & Media Studies and American Studies at Yale University. Charlie co-curated a series of Robeson film retrospectives for the Paul Robeson centennial in 1998. He also co-curated the DVD set, Pioneers of African American Cinema, with Jackie Stewart and the catalog, Oscar Micheaux and His Circle, with Pearl Bowser and Jane Gaines. He has published extensively on American early cinema, Robeson, Micheaux, Bill Greaves, and Spike Lee. our director, curator, & HOST Dr. Harold D. Weaver, Alumni Fellow at Harvard University's Hutchins Center for African and African American Research, is the Founding Director of the BlackQuaker Project (BQP). A pioneer in Africana Studies in the early 1970s, Hal founded and chaired the Africana Studies Department at Rutgers University, through which he was able to focus attention on the neglected legacy of the great Rutgers alumnus: Paul Robeson. At Rutgers, Hal taught the first course in the world on Robeson, made an instructional film on Robeson’s life and accomplishments, and, most importantly, initiated the successful action to award Robeson an honorary doctorate in 1973. In celebration of Robeson’s 75th birthday in 1973, Hal organized the first Robeson symposium and the first Robeson film retrospective in the United States. For the past 50 years, Hal has worked to restore Robeson’s legacy to its rightful place in world history, through publications, lectures, films and film retrospectives, and symposia. Changed for life by his exposure to Quakerism at Westtown School and Haverford College, Hal combined his faith and activism into the BQP. He has produced several publications important to Quakers, including Black Fire: African American Quakers on Spirituality and Human Rights (with Paul Kriese and Steve Angell, 2011) through FGC Press and the Pendle Hill pamphlet, Race, Systemic Violence, and Retrospective Justice: An African American Quaker Scholar-Activist Challenges Conventional Narratives (2020). He has served in various Quaker governance roles with QUNO-New York, AFSC Board and International Programs Executive Committee, Pendle Hill, Cambridge Friends School, Friends General Council, and the Friends World Committee for Consultation. In 2022, he was awarded an alumni Lifetime Achievement Award from Haverford College. He is an active member of the Wellesley Friends Meeting, which sponsors his ministry.

2024 Pendle Hill First-Monday Lecture

Pendle Hill | May 2018 After spending six weeks at Pendle Hill working on his memoirs, Hal presented a talk entitled: "Black Fire: An African American Quaker Seeker-Activist in a White Supremacist Nation." The talk encompassed aspects of Hal's life that will be discussed in his upcoming memoirs, such as his transnational diplomacy, Quaker ministry, academic pursuits and accomplishments, and activism. A recording of his talk is available above, along with the Powerpoint that accompanied his talk. You are encouraged to listen to the quartet of Paul Robeson songs before viewing the presentation. Paul Robeson Song Quartet - 00:00 / 00:00 Slide02 Slide36 1/36

WHAT WE DO The BlackQuaker Project (1) celebrates the lives and contributions of Quakers of Color worldwide and (2) documents and addresses their concerns. It is an outreach and inreach ministry of Wellesley Friends Meeting , guided by the Quaker testimonies of Truth, Peace, Equality, Community and Justice. TRUTH "Do we need a reminder that our name was first the 'Religious Society of Friends of Truth'?" "Non-violence and truth are inseparable and presuppose one another." (Gandhi quoted in Facing Unbearable Truths , 2008) PEACE "We must expand our peace testimony, making it more inclusive, more comprehensive. It is much too narrow, ordinarily encompassing only 'direct violence,' that observable, intentional physical or mental violence unwanted by the victim, whether an individual or a collective (e.g., a nation). The major prevailing violence is 'systemic or institutional violence,' which in reality appears to lead to or to cause or to facilitate 'direct violence,' which is usually what we mean when we use the term 'violence.' However, that is only one minor meaning. Hence, we cannot afford to be merely nonviolent but must be 'anti-violent,' as we are 'anti-war.'" (Weaver, Facing Unbearable Truths , 2008) JUSTICE "Without justice there is no peace; even in the absence of open strife there is no peace, only a manipulated lull in hostilities. Justice has two connotations. One is fairness, righteous dealing, integrity; necessary, but not sufficient conditions for lasting peace. The other, to quote the Oxford English Dictionary, is observance of the divine law; righteousness; the state of being just before God. When the bonding force of love unifies the two dimensions, the temporal and the spiritual, the task of the peacemaker is fulfilled. Truth has been established: true justice reigns." (Adam Curle, True Justice: Quaker peace makers and peace making , quoted in Facing Unbearable Truths , 2008). EQUALITY "Our equality testimony flows inevitably from our belief that there is that of God in every person. If we believe in Equality, we must work for Justice. British Friends remind us: 'Are you alert to the practices throughout the world which discriminates against people on the basis of who or what they are, or because of their beliefs? Bear witness to the humanity of all people, including those who break society's conventions or its laws. Try to discern new growing points in social and economic life. Seek to understand the causes of injustice, social unrest, and fear. Are you working to bring about a just and compassionate society which allows everyone to develop their capacities and fosters the desire to serve?'" (Facing Unbearable Truths , 2008) Why The BlackQuaker Project? Why is The BlackQuaker Project needed at this time in history? While Quakers of Color comprise over half the world's Quaker population, little is known about the lives and achievements of Quakers of Color little is known about the contributions of Quakers of Color to Quakerism and to Quakers Quakers of Color are under-represented in leadership roles and grass-root levels in Quaker organizations worldwide, giving little opportunity to impact decision-making and to express and implement their unique perspectives Quakers of Color and their perspectives seldom represent Quakers and Quaker organizations at meetings and conferences of religious bodies, peacemakers and peace builders, academic societies, and ethnic and racial groups worldwide Quakers--and the world--need constant reminders and evolving 21st century interpretations of Quaker testimonies, values, and principles, including Truth/Integrity, Peace, Equality, Community , and Justice, and their application in witness

EDUCATION Educating Quakers and non-Quakers about the contributions of Kenyan and other African and Afro-descendant Quakers Organizing transnational research-and-publications projects aimed at drawing upon Quaker testimonies to facilitate international peace and understanding, long distorted by media and scholarly misinformation and disinformation: The China-Africa-Russia Project and The BlackFilm Project. Visiting Quaker Meetings and ecumenical conferences to share our book, Black Fire: American Quakers on Spirituality and Human Rights . The NEYM Racial, Social, and Economic Justice Committee is distributing copies to all Meetings in New England. Please contact us to schedule a presentation at your Meeting or conference. CORNELL UNIVERSITY SUMMER INSTITUTE FOR EDUCATORS | 1969 In 1969, Hal helped conceive and served as director of a multi-disciplinary team of educators at Cornell University of an innovative summer institute, funded by the US Office of Education, that recruited racially mixed, mostly African American teams of teachers, school administrators, and school board members. We felt that bringing that group together, rather than taking individuals, would be the most effective way of implementing what they had learned, so they could go back as a team and reinforce what each had learned, at different levels of the instructional organization. These educators were from major urban areas to learn about and then teach, in innovative ways, especially using film, the relationship between Africa and African America. Our inter-disciplinary leadership team was especially interested in recruiting and impacting those school districts which were transitioning--or attempting to transition--to Black community control of the schools, including ridding the schools of Euro-centric curricula, and the desire to have learning and teaching in the hands of members of the Afro-descendent community. PAUL ROBESON VIDEO LECTURE, RUTGERS UNIVERSITY | 1972 Produced by Rutgers University ITV, Professor Weaver wrote and appeared in this video lecture about Paul Robeson as a synthesis in the semester-long introductory course.

Workshop/Roundtable Discussion at New England Yearly Meeting | August 2018

Current Activities Retrospective Justice in Healing Historical Injustice and Ills: Reparations Defined as “an attempt to administer justice years after the commission of a severe injustice or series of injustices,” we advocate that Quakerism adopt Retrospective Justice as a model for healing historical injustice. Our ministry is providing education on this call to action through e-newsletters, publications, and collaborative lecture-presentations with Friend Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge, a leader in South Africa’s anti-apartheid movement, the African National Congress, and transnational organizations. The Quakers of Color International Archive (QCIA) As a study-and-research collection, our archive documents the oral histories of Quakers of Color worldwide through videotaped interviews and transcriptions. Established in 2019, the QCIA is a partnership with UMass Amherst, Haverford College, and Swarthmore College, currently housed in the W.E.B. Du Bois Library of UMass Amherst. For access to these videotaped interviews and transcriptions of Friends of African, Asian, Middle Eastern, and Latinx descent, please click here . Reforming Quakerism: Developing New Narratives & Models The BlackQuaker Project calls on Friends to take the following steps: Address the inadequacies of the acronym SPICES, which neglects the testimony of justice and constrains our vision of what Quakerism is and what it might be. Move the justice testimony to the front-burner in the Religious Society of Friends. Focus on structural violence–not just direct, visible violence–as we confront today’s domestic and international conflicts. Adopt a model of Retrospective Justice for healing historical injustice. The Black Quaker Lives Matter Film Festival & Forum Since 2021 we have been programming annual virtual screenings and fora to celebrate the lives and contributions of Quakers of African descent. Held over Zoom webinar, these events are free and open to the public with recordings of past installments available to view on our website. Click on the following text if you wish to watch recordings of our 2022 and 2023 events. Publications We remain committed to releasing e-newsletters, pamphlets, and books that give voice to Quakers of Color, both past and present. To subscribe to receive our e-newsletter, click here. To view a full record of all our past e-newsletters click here . To view a selected list of our other publications, click here . Advocacy: Paul Robeson & Bayard Rustin We work to restore Friend Bayard Rustin and Quaker-descendant Paul Robeson–who has been the focus of over 50 years of advocacy and research by Harold D. Weaver, Jr.– to their rightful places in world history. To view Dr. Weaver’s 1973 vintage video-lecture on Robeson, click here . To view our 2024 event, the Bayard Rustin Legacy Forum, click here . Harold D. Weaver & Anne Steere Nash at Guilford College Harold D. Weaver, Jr and Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge deliver a joint orientation on Retrospetive Justice to QUNO-Geneva Staff Collaboration with Quaker Organizations and Beyond We continue to partner with key Quaker and non-Quaker organizations and initiatives, including the American Friends Service Committee, Haverford College, New England Yearly Meeting of Friends (Quakers), the Friends World Committee for Consultation, and the Independent Working Group for the extended United Nations’ International Decade for People of African Descent (2015-2024). Click here to see a full list of our collaborators.