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Quaker Coalition for Uprooting Racism: Anti-Racist Power-Mapping Workshop
Reposted from Pendle Hill:
Quaker Coalition for Uprooting Racism (QCUR) invites you to participate in a half-day of community organizing to resist the current rise of fascism in the U.S. on Saturday, May 10th, 1-5pm ET via Zoom. We encourage Quaker organizations, schools, committees, and meetings to make themselves hubs so people can gather in person to Zoom together.
This workshop will have time for worship, connecting with each other, and learning how to use power mapping as a tool for resistance and anti-racist change-making. Power-mapping is an interactive, strategic tool for identifying and analyzing where and how power is being held and used around a specific issue. It allows groups to develop effective strategies for leveraging power to make constructive, anti-racist change.
After learning how to use power mapping, there will be time for groups to work together in community, with coaching and support available from QCUR. We will also have a break-out rooms available for those attending solo who want to work with others or for geographically spread out groups. To grow our web and form mutual support, QCUR can connect with groups of Friends working on similar issues after the workshop.
Friends can register for the worshop online or call Pendle Hill for more information at 610-566-4507, ext. 137.
Prices Reduced! Chanting and Song Writing Workshop March 28-30th
Bernard Winter shares this announcement:
Come make a joyful noise March 28 and 29 with gifted singer-songwriter, chant maker and workshop leader Michael Stillwater. Ticket prices have recently been reduced for the ChantWave community song event on Friday, March 28. Michael is a gifted singer songwriter and has written hundreds of beautiful chants that are easy to sing and fun to harmonize with. Gary Malkin has collaborated with Michael on his Graceful Passages project and is a talented pianist and composer in his own right. Come to sing or just to listen!
And for those who want to explore creating their own soul song, Saturday's workshop, Song Sanctuary, will be a wonderful opportunity to explore musical improvisation and expression in a supportive group setting.
Plus there is a generous discount available, whether you're purchasing tickets for ChantWave, Song Sanctuary or both.
Links to buy tickets:
https://www.tickettailor.com/events/innerharmony/1527588
https://www.tickettailor.com/events/innerharmony/1527640
When you check out, just use the following coupon codes:
ChantWave - COMCHANT
Song Sanctuary - COMSS
Bundle (ChantWave and Song Sanctuary tickets) - COMBUN
You can get complete details on the attached flier or clicking on the links above. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to Sandra Winter at treeheartnyc@gmail.com.
Special Music Weekend in Manhattan March 28-30th
Bernard Winter shares this announcement:
Hello Morningside Friends,
I am writing to let you know that my wife, Sandra Winter, is organizing a very special weekend, March 28th-30th and I hope you will be available to join us for all or part of the weekend.
For the last several years, Sandra has been studying with singer-songwriter, filmmaker and transformational teacher Michael Stillwater. Michael's interfaith chants and healing songs are enjoyed worldwide in singing circles, gatherings, churches and communities.
Now Michael will be coming to New York City at the end of March and facilitating a weekend featuring a 'Chant Wave' evening of spiritual chants and a half-day Song Sanctuary, an experiential workshop on musical healing and creativity. Michael will also be the guest speaker at Unity of New York on Sunday, March 30, and will be offering an Honoring Ceremony after the service, which will be happening from 2-4:30PM.
All events will be happening at St. Michael's Church, 225 West 99th Street in Manhattan.
You can find full details and register to participate using this link: https://innerharmony.com/events/
I hope you can join us for one or all the heart-opening events in March.
Peace,
Bernard Winter
Injunction Granted!
New York Yearly Meeting shares this news:
A federal judge granted an injunction in response to the lawsuit brought by a several Quaker groups (including New York Yearly Meeting), a Sikh Temple, and a Baptist Fellowship. The lawsuit sought to reverse the recent decision allowing ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) operations to take place inside houses of worship without a warrant. The injunction granted by the judge is narrow, only extending to the specific religious congregations in the lawsuit.
The monthly meetings in NYYM are now protected from unwarranted ICE actions in or near their worship spaces. We hope that the Freedom of Religion rights of all faiths will soon be equally respected.
Read the Press Release from the attorneys representing our group in this lawsuit, Democracy Forward.
Rikers Island and NY State Criminal Legal System Policy Updates
Scott Blumenthal shares:
On Thursday, February 13, Mayor Adams announced that "he is preparing an executive order to allow U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement officers to operate on Rikers Island" (Gothamist). This "significant shift in the city’s sanctuary policies" would allow agents to "assist in criminal investigations, 'in particular those focused on violent criminals and gangs'" (NY Times). Concerned Friends are invited to subscribe to the newsletter of Freedom Agenda, a leading member of the Campaign to Close Rikers, for updates and opportunities to take action.
Meanwhile, Governor Hochul has proposed to "streamline the discovery process…by amending reforms passed in 2019." The Alliance to Protect Kalief's Law is strongly opposed to this proposal, claiming that it will lead "to more wrongful convictions, coerced plea deals, and clogged courts." Concerned Friends can learn more about the 2019 discovery reforms, the law's namesake, Kalief Browder, join the coalition and get other information on the alliance's website.
Upcoming Events About James Baldwin
Following the January 26 meeting of the Racial Justice Study and Action Group, Helen Garay Toppins shared information about two upcoming events highlighting the life and work of James Baldwin:
Turkey Saved My Life - Baldwin in Istanbul, 1961–1971
at the BrooklynPublic Library
December 12, 2024 to March 15, 2025
Central Library, Grand Lobby
Celebrating James Baldwin’s centennial, the exhibition Turkey Saved My Life - Baldwin in Istanbul, 1961–1971 captures an exceptionally fertile period for the incomparable Baldwin, defined by his sojourn to a country that would allow him to gain critical distance from, and new perspectives on, America, particularly its poisonous racism and homophobia. Consisting of sweeping photographs by Turkish photographer Sedat Pakay, one of Baldwin’s close friends, the exhibition provides an intimate travelogue portrait of an understudied yet pivotal time in Baldwin’s life.
More information: https://www.bklynlibrary.org/exhibitions/turkey-saved-my-life
The Tongue & The Lash and A Return to Civic Discourse
at The Town Hall
Feb 18, 2025
7:00 PM
The Town Hall celebrates James Baldwin and the 60th anniversary of the Baldwin/Buckley Cambridge debate with the New York premiere of the chamber opera, THE TONGUE & THE LASH by Damien Sneed, composer/conductor and Karen Chilton, librettist. Making her Town Hall and New York directorial debut, the opera will be directed by world-renowned mezzo-soprano, Denyce Graves-Montgomery.
A Return to Civic Discourse revisiting the “American Dream”: 60 Years Later will include insights from moderator, distinguished novelist/poet and MacArthur Fellow, Edwidge Danticat along with Nicholas Buccola, PhD award-winning author of The Fire Is Upon Us: James Baldwin, William F. Buckley Jr., and the Debate Over Race in America; Dr. Brenda M. Greene, author and literary activist, founder and executive director of the Center for Black Literature at Medgar Evers College of the City University of New York; Matt Brim, PhD, Professor of Queer Studies at the College of Staten Island, author of James Baldwin and the Queer Imagination (2014); and Dr. Frank Leon Roberts, Founding Executive Director of The Baldwin/Hansberry Project, English and Black Studies Professor at Amherst College
More information: https://www.thetownhall.org/event/the-tongue-the-lash-and-a-return-to-civic-discourse
Quakers and the White Privilege Conference
Helen Garay Toppins shares:
Friends General Conference and the White Privilege Conference have been connected since 2011, when FGC sponsored a group discount for Friends to attend. In the past, FGC and local Friends have provided a space at the conference for Quaker worship and worship sharing daily. In addition, local Friends have provided overnight hospitality to out-of-state participants, as well as arranged carpools to and from the hotel each day.
It has been important for Quakers to attend the White Privilege Conference (WPC). Starting with roughly 68 Quakers attending the 2011 retreat, Friends General Conference (FGC) has maintained having roughly 45-500 Quakers attend the conference yearly. After attending the conference, many Quaker attenders uplift in evaluations; the joys WPC gives to connect to people of all ethnicities and ages, the variety of resources given to carry anti-racism forward, and empowerment from the energy that comes from the Conference’s large attendance.
Our Quaker attenders write that from the WPC they bring back new knowledge and energy to the racial justice work of their local Quaker Meeting. Attenders have also highlighted how meaningful it felt for FGC to show its support for anti-oppression work, and that they feel like the White Privilege Conference is a place where they feel empowered by “Quakers coming together in a public ministry around anti-racism.”
NYYM Black Concerns Committee will be offering financial support, if needed, to NYYM members and attenders - details to follow.
For further information, please contact Vanessa Julye or Shaina Robinson.
Information is also available at https://www.theprivilegeinstitute.com/wpc26.
Friends Conference on Religion and Psychology online Feb 7-9
Stephen McDonnell writes:
Dear Friends,
I have been involved with the Friends Conference on Religion and Psychology for over twenty years. FCRP was founded about 80 years ago to explore how Jungian psychology could benefit our practice of religion. Each year FCRP hosts a weekend conference with a plenary speaker and interactive interest groups.
The 46th annual Washington Friends Conference on Religion and Psychology will be held on February 7-9, 2025, online. We will be hosting Kenneth Kovacs, PhD, Diploma candidate (psychoanalyst-in-training) at the C. G. Jung Institute-Zurich, as our plenary speaker on this topic:
Many religious people say, “We are God’s hands.” Carl Jung wrote much about “self-actualization.” How far apart are these concepts, really? Can we gain from exploring both?
Pioneering psychologist Carl Jung was the son of a minister. And although many are aware of how Jung’s consciousness of many religions grew through his lifetime and were discussed in his writings, few have given attention to his ongoing relationship with Christianity. Typical of Jung, however, his views took him, and others, into new and deep dimensions.
Ken Kovacs’ explorations on this material have taken him to the Jung archives in Zurich, Switzerland and elsewhere. Jung’s correspondence with ministers gives light to long-term relationships that included personal visits in which they discussed how the church and the field of psychology might overcome the gap between them.
For more information and to register:
New Immigrants Workshop at MSC - Charlotte Ehrman Bequest put to work!
Bernard Winter writes:
Dear Friends,
I am happy to inform you that immediately after the Charlotte Ehrman bequest was approved to hep new immigrant at the Manhattan School for Children on the Upper West Side, those funds have been put to work!
A workshop entitled “Know Your Rights!” is planned for this coming Thursday, March 14th at 5:30pm to help the new immigrant families understand their legal rights at this crucial time in their lives. Legal counseling will be provided by the Cabrini Immigration Services located in Washington Heights. At this event, a dinner will be served to the families using catering from the Migrant Kitchen.
The Open Arms Committee at MSC is inviting members of the Morningside Meeting to come to this event, see what work is being done, and meet the immigrant families. Volunteer opportunities begin with set up at 4:00 pm and will continue with supporting registration for summer school. Trader Joe gift cards will also be handed out to the families, and that is a direct result of the Charlotte Ehrman bequest. We will need to clean up the event ends at 7:30pm.
If you are interested in attending, or volunteering, please contact the director of the Open Arms Committee, Diana Bartlett, at diana.bartlett@outlook.com
The address of the school is 154 West 93rd Street between Columbus and Amsterdam Avenue.
If you have any questions you can also contact me:<br/> Bernard Winter<br/> 646 623 8167<br/> morningsidetreasurer1624@gmail.com
Black & Pink Pen-Pal Workshop, Sunday, February 18
On Sunday, February 18th, 2024 from 12:45 to 3:30 pm, come learn about Black & Pink NYC’s pen-pal matching program! Black & Pink is an organization our meeting supports that does prison and jail support for queer and HIV+ people. One of their main programs is their pen-pal matching program to connect incarcerated members with people on the outside who are interested in ongoing correspondence. Two organizers will come talk to us about the pen-pal program and other volunteer opportunities with Black & Pink. Then there will be time to either match with a pen-pal and write an introductory letter to them, or those who don’t want a pen-pal right away can write birthday cards to incarcerated members. Please join us and learn more about Black & Pink!