Our Quaker faith is based on a firm belief in a loving God. We are guided by the understanding that there is that of God in all persons. This leads us to a broad and tender concern to address suffering and oppression in this world and to oppose military solutions to conflict. With these goals in the forefront we work through committees in each Friends Meeting called Peace and Social Concerns. At Durham Friends Meeting this committee is led to educational and advocacy work that focuses on<\/p>\n\n\n
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We work especially closely with the Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL), the Quaker Lobby on Capital Hill and with the Friends Committee on Maine Public Policy.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Social Justice Enrichment Project [2022]<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n As members of the religious Society of Friends (Quakers) we have a deep and abiding concern for social justice and racial equity. Values such as community, equality, and harmony are central to our approach and advocating for social justice in the greater community is an important expression of our values. This project grew out of a series of discussions focused on becoming antiracist in the fall of 2020.<\/p>\n Participating teachers are given a set of children\u2019s books that focus on the development of social justice values in children ages 4-8.\u00a0 Teachers join us in teams from schools in the Durham Friends Meeting catchment area. They are able to use the books to enhance their social studies and language arts curriculum as they chose. Support is provided through periodic meetings with teaching teams and educational sessions focused on child development and creating inclusive anti-bias classrooms.\u00a0 Click here to learn more.<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Peace and Social Concerns Committee will thinking about reparations<\/strong> for the next few months, and we\u2019d like to invite the wider Durham Meeting community to join us.\u00a0 How can we, as a nation, as a state, as an organization begin to make amends for the tremendous injustices done by slavery and colonization? \u00a0What would we want reparations to accomplish? What form might they take? What is enough to address these injustices?<\/p>\n To help us think about these questions we will be posting videos and readings on the website<\/a> over the next 8 weeks. In the fall we will host a conversation to share our reactions to the readings and consider how we might answer the call for reparations. We encourage you to take notes as you read, highlighting important ideas and interesting approaches.\u00a0 [Posted July, 2021]<\/p>\n 21.5.1\u00a0 Lobbying for Social Justice in the State of Maine<\/a> — especially regarding issues affecting indigenous peoples<\/p>\n 21.4.30\u00a0 \u00a0Support Urged for Changes to the Maine Indian Claims Settlement Implementing Act<\/a><\/p>\n Suggestions for Quaker Advocacy from Friends Committee on National Legislation<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n FCNL Action Center<\/a> — updated regularly<\/p>\n FCNL, Lobbying Congress from Home — By Phone<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n FCNL, Communicating with Washington<\/a><\/p>\n 21.9.9\u00a0 Surya Milner, Inhabited: The Story of Malaga Island<\/a>, Bowdoin College News, November 13, 2020<\/p>\n 21.5.21 Nikolas Kristof, If Only There Were a Viral Video of Our Jim Crow Education System<\/a>, New York Times.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n 21.5.13\u00a0 Book launch of Shirley Hager and Mawopiyane, The Gatherings<\/em><\/a> (video).\u00a0 Book info here<\/a>:\u00a0<\/p>\n 21.4.9\u00a0 Rep. Jared Golden, It’s Time to Modernize Maine’s Tribal-State Relations<\/a>, Bangor Daily News<\/em><\/p>\n Materials for the Fall 2020 Peace and Social Concerns discussions can be found<\/span> HERE<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The task of the Meeting’s Peace and Social Concerns Committee is two fold: discernment<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0taking action<\/strong>.\u00a0 <\/em>The process of\u00a0discernment<\/strong>\u00a0consists of:<\/em><\/p>\n As we consider action the Committee seeks to make recommendations to Monthly Meeting for supportive\u00a0action<\/strong>\u00a0on the following:<\/em><\/p>\n The committee seeks to work in cooperation with other committees of the Monthly Meeting, other Monthly Meetings and community groups that work constructively on these issues.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Our Quaker faith is based on a firm belief in a loving God. We are guided by the understanding that there is that of God in all persons. This leads us to a broad and tender concern to address suffering … Continue reading Deep Dive on Reparations [Summer-Fall 2021]<\/span><\/h2>\n
Action Requests: What Peace & Social Concerns Asks You to Do<\/span><\/h2>\n
Recent News and Commentaries of Note<\/span><\/h2>\n
Peace and Social Concerns Committee [from the Meeting Handbook<\/a>]<\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n
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