Our Mission: We aspire to live into our testimony of equality by recognizing our legacy of racism and working to make a more equitable and just community.
Who we are: This committee was founded at Goose Creek shortly after the killing of George Floyd, on July 15, 2020. It exists under the auspices of the Peace and Social Concerns committee. ¶ The committee has met bi-monthly since its inception, and continues to do so on every other Wednesday at 7:00 pm via zoom. Please feel free to join us! Email dfsud@comcast.net for the zoom link.
Land Acknowledgement Statement: Let us recognize those who were here before us. We honor the Manahoac and Monacan (Mahock) people who were on the land where Goose Creek Meeting House now stands. This land was a trade route as well as seasonal hunting grounds for the Iroquoian, Algonkian, and Siouan language groups. We recognize their legacy.
In the News
Morven Park is proud to launch the 246 Years Project, a social justice initiative dedicated to honoring the millions of enslaved men, women, and children whose names and life stories have been forgotten or, in some cases, withheld from the national narrative: https://www.morvenpark.org/246years/
Learn
Friends of Thomas Balch Library Black History Committee: This website offers information about their work – what the committee is doing and has done in the past.
Going Beyond Land Acknowledgement class offered by Redbud Resource Group. This workshop was offered earlier this fall and attended by Friend Meghan; here is her review: “It was fantastic. It was a 2.5 hour interactive class with great facilitators, an the content was awesome:
- Both facilitators used their own familial and tribal experiences to illustrate the historical violence and land theft, along with the current state of tribal relations with the US gov’t
- We spent time looking at what land acknowledgements are meant to do, and what they leave undone
- We also explored the spectrum of potential actions we can take as non-natives, from perpetuating cultural erasure all the way to impactful action
- Overall, it was a very pro-active environment, with a lot of healthy discussion on how to engage and be an ally to native peoples”
Check out these recent links:
- New Yorker, 19 September, click here for an interesting article about indigenous cuisine. It’s mainly about a Minneapolis chef-owner, but mentions the Mitsitam Native Foods Cafe in DC.
- A Deadly World War II Explosion Sparked Black Soldiers to Fight for Equal Treatment. After the deadliest home-front disaster of the war, African Americans throughout the military took action to transform the nation’s armed forces. Click here to read more at the Smithsonian Magazine online.
- ‘Segregated By Design’. This short film examines the forgotten history of how our federal, state and local governments unconstitutionally segregated every major metropolitan area in America through law and policy. Scroll down for the YouTube link and to find more resources.
Our work includes:
- Created a library of books for adults and children that pertain to issues of white privilege and racism;
- In conjunction with the Archives committee, we created a land acknowledgement statement now posted at our meeting house, in our e-news posts, and on our website;
- Support and try to foster relationship with our neighboring African American church, the Grace Church project;
- Provided information to our meeting through short write ups in our newsletter.
Our continuing goals:
- Provide opportunities for discussion and discernment within our spiritual and wider community;
- Work to become aware of own biases as they impact our decisions, both personally and as a spiritual community;
- Acknowledge the native land upon which our meeting house stands and seek ways to support Indigenous people in our area;
- Seek to engage with diverse people in our wider community, fostering relationship
Resources
McQuire Woods is a consulting group (lobbyist) that focuses on Fair Equitable Housing in Virginia. They did two reports: one on past segregation practices that created unfair housing and the second one (the link above) on what to do about it, what to focus on when creating equitable housing legislation locally or in the state.
Click here to view, “Why I, as a black man, attend KKK rallies” – An encounter with prejudice early in life led black musician Daryl Davis on a quest to determine the source of the hate, leading to how and why he has attended KKK rallies.
The Story Of Access: Stanley Nelson film for Starbucks – Firelight has documented the African American experience through film for over 15 years. That experience includes stories of personal and collective heroism, as well as interpersonal and systemic discrimination.
