Everyone is Welcome
Atlanta Friends Meeting is mindful of the fundamental Quaker
testimonies of equality and integrity.
What draws individuals to the Quaker experience does so without regard
to color, ethnicity or sexual
orientation.
Racism has been a concern of Atlanta Friends Meeting since the 1940s
when the early group of Atlanta Friends found a place to hold
integrated meetings in a segregated city. During the 50s and 60s,
Atlanta Friends were active in working to end segregation. The civil
rights era was followed by a period in which the Meeting as a whole was
not active on the issue of racism except in supporting external
projects. In the 1980s, workshops focusing on personal racism were
held. In the 1990s, committed individuals in the Meeting formed a group
named ORAIIARH (Our Role as Individuals in America's Racial History)
and led business meeting to ask, on a continuing basis, all committees
and groups in the Meeting to prayerfully reflect on whether their
activities contribute toward becoming more welcoming to all, and if
not, what changes are needed. Since then the Meeting has also
established a
Committee on Undoing Racism in Atlanta Friends Meeting. More recently,
Quakers for Racial Equality has been formed to address the goals of
working for racial equality on personal, institutional, and societal
levels. We recognize
the pervasive effects of racism and white privilege on our lives,
communities, and society, and the need for whites as individuals to
take an active role in ending racism.
In more recent years the Atlanta Friends Meeting has also become
more sensitive to the concerns of ending discrimination against, and
defending the civil rights of, persons identifying with lesbian, gay,
bisexual, transgendered and queer communities, and we have established
a support organization to help address LGBTQ issues.
We are committed to having Atlanta
Friends Meeting be a safe and welcoming spiritual home for all.
Quakers for Racial Equality meets
monthly to support anyone with leadings to work for racial equality on
personal, institutional, and societal levels. This includes personal
change to avoid being complicit with racism, making Atlanta Friends
Meeting a more welcoming spiritual home for all, and working for
justice in our communities and society. Regular monthly meetings
are on 4th Sundays at 11:45 in the AFM library, with quarterly meetings
on 1st Sundays at 12:15.
Contact: Bert Skellie.
The Committee on Undoing Racism in
Atlanta Friends Meeting meets jointly with Quakers for Racial
Equality. Its main focus is on changes within Atlanta Friends
Meeting to make it a more inclusive community. The committee offers a
Listening Ear for Concerns about Racism once a month and develops
learning opportunities such as forums.
Contact: Susan Firestone
Friends for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual,
Transgendered and Queer Concerns (FLGBTQC)
is a support organization within the Atlanta Friends Meeting for the
queer community and our allies. We are deeply appreciative of the
support that we have continued to find in this Meeting.
Another visible sign of this support is the small pink triangles or
rainbows (both symbols of LGBTQ identity) that many members and
attenders have chosen to wear on their name tags each Sunday.
Fellowship of Friends of African
Descent
is a national Quaker group to nurture and respond to concerns of
Friends of African Descent within the Religious Society of Friends.
Contact: [email protected] // web site: <https://sites.google.com/site/blackquakers1990/>
(or visit
their Facebook page)
-- For more information, please
see Equality
Testimony