Search Results

RELATED PROJECTS The China-Africa-Russia Project This project studies and facilitates training and education programs between African countries on the one hand and China, Russia, and USA on the other hand. The BlackFilm Project The BlackFilm Project is an independent, transnational, non-profit cultural and educational organization dedicated to using film and other visual media and moving images to foster understanding, respect, and appreciation of the people, cultures, and societies of Africa and the African Diaspora, past and present. To carry our mission, we are committed to developing and implementing programs and festivals at universities, schools, museums, libraries, and other non-theatrical venues in the Americas, in Europe, in Asia, and in Africa. We are interested in improving the quality of Film, African American, African-Diasporic, Transnational, and Educational Studies throughout the world, both for the general public and for specialized, university audiences. Worldwide Collaborators and Clients as Lecturer, Programmer, Curator, and Consultant ​ Harvard University Yale University Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), New York University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Madison Ohio State University University of Redlands, CA College of the Atlantic, Bar Harbor, ME Weber State University, Utah University of Chicago University of Washington, Seattle University of Pennsylvania Temple University Howard University Virginia Union University Clarke-Atlanta University Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA Denver International Film Festival University of Colorado - Denver University of Denver DePaw Univeristy Princeton University Haverford College, PA Rutgers University, New Brunswick Rutgers University, Newark Rutgers University, Camden Goddard College, VT Talladeega College, AL Vorhees College, SC Harvard Film Archive Bowdoin College, ME Boston University Vermont International Film Festival New Orleans International Film Festival Black Film Festival, Newark, NJ USA ​ Beijing Film Academy Beijing University Zhejiang Radio and TV University Sichuan University Guangzhou Foreign Studies University National Chiao Tung University (National Jiao Tong University), Taiwan Xi-an Quijiang Film and TV Investment (Group) Ltd., Xian American Studies Association annual meetings, Guangzhou and Kunming Beijing USA College of English, "Beijing USA Film Festival" Beijing Foreign Languages and Culture University Beijing Foreign Studies University Zhejiang Normal University GREATER CHINA ​ United Nations, New York UNESCO, Paris University of Liverpool, UK University of Muenster, Germany University of Paris VIII-Vicennes/St. Denis, France McGill University, Canada Amiens International Film Festival, France Festival des 3 Continents, Nantes, France Zanzibar International Film Festival, Tanzania FESPACO (Pan-African Film Festival), Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso Carthage International Film Festival, Tunisia African Film Festival, Montreal, Canada Laval University, Quebec City, Canada Commenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia University of Montreal, Canada University of Toronto, Canada McMasters University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada TADIA International Conference on the African Presence in Asia, Goa, India University of Dakar, Senegal Sir Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada Dapper Museum, Paris Afro-Caribbean Festival, Veracruz, Mexico African Film Festival, Carlow, Ireland Nordic Art School, Kokolo, Finland Polytechnic University, Finland European Committee on African American Research (CAAR), UK and Germany Quai Branly Museum, Paris Various universities in Turkey, Germany University of Innsbruck, Austria European American Studies Association, University of Graz, Austria Festival Afro-Caribeno, Veracruz, Mexico CIDOC (Ivan Illich), Cuernavaca. Mexico 50th Anniversary Conference, First World Festival of Black Arts, Dakar, Senegal INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS AND EUROPE, AFRICA, ASIA, and THE AMERICAS: ​ Paul Robeson House Story Paul Robeson House Story - Dr. Harold Weaver 00:00 / 00:00

Dr. Harold (Hal) Weaver Photo courtesy of John Meyer. Dr. Harold (Hal) D. Weaver is an Associate at Harvard University’s Hutchins Center for African and African American Research, and the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies. Hal spent his earliest days on a small Black college campus in Savannah, GA, later moving to Pennsylvania and attending Westtown School and Haverford College. From his early experience in Communist Moscow as a member of an official USSR-USA young adult exchange group, Hal has been a lifelong cultural ambassador. He has traveled the world breaking down barriers and building bridges between cultures, often using film as the medium through The BlackFilm Project and the China-Africa-Russia Project. A pioneer in Africana studies, he founded and chaired the Africana Studies Department at Rutgers. Last fall, Hal continued his mission to correct Cold War historiography by delivering lectures in Moscow, the UK, and Istanbul, on Paul Robeson, African decolonization, African students in the USSR, and his own transnational experiences in cultural diplomacy. He has procured the following honors throughout his academic career: 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. Hal continues to break down barriers within the Religious Society of Friends, too, with his ministry, The BlackQuaker Project, one of the fruits of which was the publication of Black Fire: African-American Quakers on Spirituality and Human Rights (2011), which Hal edited with Paul Kriese and Stephen W. Angell. A member of Wellesley Friends Meeting, Hal is active locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally among Quakers. He has served in governance roles with the Quaker United Nations Office, the American Friends Service Committee, Pendle Hill, Cambridge Friends School, and the Friends World Committee for Consultation.

Havana, Cuba | March 2017 Returning to Cuba for the first time since 1988, Hal was in Havana to discuss collaboration between his Quaker ministry, The BlackQuaker Project, and both the Cuban Quaker Peace Center and the Martin Luther King, Jr., Center, both in Havana. The first: to draw upon Quaker testimonies of Truth, Equality, Peace, and Justice to offer workshops to Cubans on the lives of Afro-Cubans, including the impact of slavery in colonial Cuba and on contemporary Cuba and the second: to discuss translating and publishing in Spanish our collective anthology, BLACK FIRE: AFRICAN AMERICAN QUAKERS ON SPIRITUALITY AND HUMAN RIGHTS (edited with Paul Kriese, Steve Angell, and Anne Steere Nash.) We are still hoping to reach an agreement with both organizations. Hal did not know what to expect in a Havana he had not experienced in 28 years, previously there in roles as transnational actor using film and tourism to aid international understanding and peace. Fidel, who had hosted a reception that Hal attended with other guests at the 1985 New Latin American Cinema Festival, was no longer there. However, Hal was happy to find that several of the major ideals and accomplishments of the Revolution seemed to be still functioning: the most comprehensive, free universal health-care system--and purportedly the best-- in the Americas; the Cuban Film Institute, which pioneered, in the 1970’s, the international truth-telling movement in films about the nature of chattel slavery in the Americas, in contrast to Hollywood’s romanticizing this exploitative phenomenon; and a free education system that has produced the highest literacy rate in the Americas. Disappointing: witnessing in the tourism industry, in particular, the return of the color bias prominent before 1960. Reuniting with Afro-Cubans in film and scholarship was a highlight of this 10-day sojourn, complementing the meetings exploring collaboration, allowing a slightly better understanding of Cuba, domestically and internationally. A big surprise: encountering at the Quaker Meeting in Havana students and administrators visiting from Westtown School, our Alma Mater.

OUR CURRENT PROJECTS Education Collaboration and Advocacy SELECTED PAST PROJECTS Presentations celebrating the 100th anniversary of Bayard Rustin's birth and initiating action to restore Bayard's name -- removed in the McCarty era -- to the important ASFC publication on which he played an important role: Speak Truth to Power . Weed Lecture and publication: Facing Unbearable Truths (2009) Film-lecture programs and reports at Monthly and Yearly meeting sessions, and international gathering of Quakers and non-Quakers: the United Nations, Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Americas. Courses at Pendle Hill: "Lift Every Voice and Sing: Paul Robeson and Bayard Rustin" and "Black Fire: African American Quakers on Spirituality and Human Rights"

Haverford Alumni Award | May 2022 New England Yearly Meeting | August 2020 Judith Weller Harvey Quaker Scholar at Guilford College | October 2019 Workshop/Roundtable Discussion at New England Yearly Meeting | August 2018 Moscow | October 2017 Havana, Cuba | March 2017 Paris | Musee Quai Branly | Spring 2016 Jordan Center at NYU | November 2020 Wellesley Friends Meeting | July 2020 Pendle Hill Quaker Center | May 2018 Istanbul | November 2017 Preston, UK | October 2017 United Nations | September 2014 Finland | September 2008

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.

Charts on Structural Violence Jean Zaru's Chart on Forms of Violence Against Palestinians Occupied with Nonviolence: A Palestinian Woman Speaks by Jean Zaru (2008) Possible Responses Forms of Violence Build multiple nonviolent strategies for resistance and confidence building (e.g., Witness for Peace, international solidarity movements, and international protection forces) Expose and delegitimize the violence of the powerful and the state Advocate ban on arms sales and production Advocate human rights and international law Economic boycott Arms embargo Direct Violence Killing (e.g. targeting civilians, political assassinations) Torture Domestic violence Closure, siege Use of civilians as human shields Imprisonment without charge or trial Expulsions House demolitions Advocate economic rights, water rights, land rights, and ecological sustainability Create jobs Advocate fair trade Advocate right sharing of resources Economic Structural Violence Restrictions by Israel (e.g., road blocks, closure, control of roads, house curfew) Unemployment and impoverishment Economic marginalization and exclusion Exploitation of water, land, people’s work Destruction of civil society and infrastructure No protection Advocate political rights according to international law and UN resolutions Advocate human, water, and land rights Advocate for self-determination Political Structural Violence Military occupation Settlements Denial of self-determination, sovereignty, right of return Closures Siege Encagement Fragmentation Media and education strategies building on authentic witness Dialogue Encounter Participation in decision making Learn about Palestinian history and heritage Cultural Structural Violence Stereotyping of Palestinians, Arabs, women in the media, education, language Anti-Arabism Discrimination of women Imposition of other cultures and their value systems (e.g., patriarchal culture, Western culture) Authoritarianism and glorification of militarism/the violence of the state and direct violence Destruction/shelling of cultural heritage sites, both archeological and architectural Expose the political chauvinism of fundamentalist movements and their stand against women, as well as their religious and political exclusivity Contextual and liberation theology based on nonviolence Work for ecumenism and unity Disassociate ourselves from fundamentalisms Education on Islam (e.g., among Christians) Alternative pilgrimages Religious Structural Violence Language (chosenness) Disunity among the churches Christian Zionism Fundamentalisms Demonization of Islam Negation of Arab and Middle Eastern Christians (e.g., pilgrimages without contact with local Christians, missionary movements) Adherence to international environmental conventions and protocols (e.g., Convention on Combating Desertification, Convention of Conservation of Biodiversity, Kyoto Protocol) Adherence to Geneva Conventions which call for protection of natural resources of Occupied Territories Observe international human rights standards which call for clean water and sanitation Support international environmental organizations working in the Occupied Territories Eco-friendly tourism Support greening campaigns in Occupied Territories Recycle, reuse, reduce Environmental Structural Violence Confiscation and destruction of agricultural land Uprooting of trees Pirating and diversion of water resources Restrictions on water well drilling and water capture Dumping of solid and toxic waste in Occupied Territories Settlement sewage onto village lands Restrictions on movement and settles violence prevent farmers access to their lands Damaged infrastructure leads to public health problems such as no clean water and no refrigeration for vaccines Race, Systemic Violence, and Retrospective Justice: An African-American Quaker Scholar-Activist Challenges Conventional Narratives (2020) by Harold d. weaver, jr. The BlackQuaker Project Chart on Selected Direct and Structural Violence against African Americans Direct Violence • Police brutality • Mass incarceration • Expulsion/eviction from homes • Gang violence • Burning of African American churches Economic Structural Violence • Poverty • Unemployment • Inadequate minimum wage • Urban renewal/razing Black neighborhoods • Lack of municipal resources in Black neighborhoods • Redlining residential areas/housing segregation Political Structural Violence • Voter ID Laws • Mandatory minimum sentencing and three-strike laws • Increased use of death penalty • Voter disenfranchisement for ex-felons • Election days on work days • Restricting vote by mail • Militarization of the police force Cultural Structural Violence Appropriation of African culture into mainstream, white culture Stereotyping of people of color in media Destruction of Afrocentric cultural landmarks Construction of Eurocentric, anti-Black monuments and landmarks Omission from and distortion of African American history in the larger US narrative Religious Structural Violence • Islamophobia Environmental Structural Violence • Lead poisoning in tap water (Flint, MI) • Cancer corridor stretch from New Orleans to Baton Rouge, LA • Dangerous chemicals in older homes (asbestos, lead paint, etc.) • Polluted air in urban areas • Food deserts (no availability of fresh food) Health Structural Violence • Racist medical assumptions and practices • Prescription overpricing • Opioid epidemic • Criminalization of drug use • Linkage of health insurance to employment • Increased maternal health risks Educational Structural Violence School-to-prison pipeline Demand that students behave “white” (school policies against Black natural hair) Over-punishment of Black students Omission of accurate African American history from textbooks Few teachers of color, a lack of role models Uneven funding between school districts Secondary-school counselors who demean students of color and their capabilities Lack of high expectations for students of color Racial isolation of school districts

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

Judith Weller Harvey Quaker Scholar at Guilford College | October 2019 1/3

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.

Recordings of Our 2023 Fora: 4 February 2023 - An Interview with Bill Sutherland (1999) Our inaugural event 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), Keith Harvey (AFSC), and Dr. Matt Meyer. An Interview with Bill Sutherland (1999) is available on the University of Washington in St. Louis website . (please note that this is the full 88 minute interview and not our 30-minute cut with added visuals). ​ ​ ​ 18 February 2023 - Joan Countryman | The Prep School Negro ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Our second event honoring Joan Countryman, 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, Joan Countryman, Emma Bracker, and director André Robert Lee. The Prep School Negro can be purchased on the film’s official website . ​ ​ ​ ​ 4 March 2023 - Sarah Mapps Douglass | Sisters In Freedom ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Our third event 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 Moray-Bustill descendant. Sisters In Freedom is unavailable to screen at this time. ​ ​ ​ ​ 18 March 2023 - Benjamin Banneker: The Man Who Loved The Stars ​ Our fourth event 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. Benjamin Banneker: The Man Who Loved The Stars is available on Youtube . 8 April 2023 - Paul Robeson 125th Birthday Celebration Paul Robeson: Tribute to an Artist and The Proud Valley Our final event celebrating the 125th birthday of the renaissance man, Paul Robeson (1898-1976): scholar and star athlete; screen, stage, and recording star; and linguist and orator and human rights leader. Featuring a discussion with eminent Robeson scholars featuring Dr. Gerald Horne, Dr. Charles Musser, and Dr. Harold D. Weaver. Paul Robeson: Tribute to an Artist is currently available to watch on HBO Max and The Proud Valley can be purchased from the Criterion Collection .

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. 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, 8 April 2023: Paul Robeson: Tribute to an Artist (1978) and The Proud Valley (1940) – Celebrating Paul Robeson’s 125th Birthday 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. Register for our remaining events BELOW 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.