Apology to Afro-Descendants: Next Steps

Background. In following up to the Apology to Afro-Descendants approved by New York Yearly Meeting at Fall Sessions 2013, the Yearly Meeting's Ministry Coordinating Committee proposed that a series of statements and queries related to next steps toward racial healing be sent to Friends to help us focus our attention on possible next steps. Several meetings have responded to the queries, sending their comments to Ministry Coordinating Committee. You can view background materials on the Apology to Afro-Descendants here.

Joint the discussion—leave a comment. We have published the queries in this forum format so that Friends can continue the discussion online if they wish. Just write your comment in the window below and click Save at the bottom (or Preview and then Save, if you want to see what it will look like first). You're comment will not b published immediately. When you submit your comment, an email notifies the webmaster, who makes sure that the comment is not spam, and then he approves the comment. Note that the webmaster does not normally work on Fridays, Saturdays, or Sundays.

Here are the statements and queries:

  • Week One Statement: The Apology to Afro-Descendants states that we will "strive with Divine assistance to discern what we as Quakers are called to do to bring about justice and reconciliation in our beloved community."
  • Query 1. What does "justice and reconciliation mean to you"?
  • Week Two Statement: The Apology to Afro-Descendants states that we will "strive with Divine assistance to discern what we as Quakers are called to do to bring about justice and reconciliation in our beloved community."
  •  Query 2. What steps do we need to take to be open to racial healing?
  • Week Three Statement: The Apology to Afro-Descendants states that our work will include "challenging our existing racist assumptions."
  • Query 3. How do we crack this seed?
  • Week Four Statement: Some Friends of Color have said that they are not really seen in our Yearly Meeting.
  • Query 4. What can we do to understand this feeling of invisibility and its impact on our community?
  • Week Five Statement: Some Friends of Color have said that they are not really seen in our Yearly Meeting.
  • Query 5. Are we open to seeing all Friends as they are and not as we want them to be?
  • Week Six Statement: Some Friends of Color have said that they are not really seen in our Yearly Meeting.
  • Query 5. How might we share parts of ourselves that we fear may make us vulnerable?