Albuquerque Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)
1600 5th St., NW (PO Box 25462) , Albuquerque, NM 87125-5462
Welcome
Upholding Racial Justice & Equity (URJE)
URJE is a self-created group of AMM members/attenders with a dedication to understanding and erasing racism in ourselves, our Meeting, community, country and world.
Quaker, Racism & Blessed Community
A New Quaker Speak Video
Vanessa Julye, co-author of Fit For Freedom, Not For Friendship: Quakers, African Americans, and the Myth of Racial Justice discusses overcoming racism in the Religious Society of Friends in this newly released Quaker Speak video. To view 5 minute video click HERE
Becoming An Anti-Racism Faith Community
Traces of the Trade - Film Viewing & Discussion
Back by Popular Demand!
Traces of the Trade - A Story from the Deep North (Full version)
Saturday, March 8, 2025 from 1-3:30 PM
First time documentarian, Katrina Browne, makes a troubling discovery - her New England ancestors were the largest slave trading family in U.S. history. She and 9 fellow descendants set off to retrace the Triangle Trade: From Rhode Island to slave forts in Ghana to sugar plantation ruins in Cuba. They uncover the vast complicity of the North in slavery while also stumbling and stretching their way towards greater awareness on issues of race/racism.
Following the October 26th, 2024 Film & Discussion facilitated by Upholding Racial Justice & Equity (URJE) of the ABQ Friends Meeting, members indicated an interest in sharing the film more broadly across faith communities and forming a short-term study group to consider the spiritual, practical, and personal implications of this film's message. This second viewing -- but of the full rather than abridged version -- offers us just this opportunity.
Further information or to RSVP: Email: info@abqfriends.org
Location:
ABQ Friends Meeting House
1600 5th St., NW
Albuquerque, NM
Toward Becoming an Anti-Racist Multicultural Faith Community
In January 2020 Albuquerque Monthly Meeting (AMM) responded to a recommendation by the 2018 Friends General Conference Institutional Assessment on Structural Racism that Quakers answer the following query following any gathering of the community: "How does the work of this gathering further the Meeting's goal of becoming an actively anti-racist faith community?
URJE exists to participate in AMM's collective understanding of what this query means in our community, and to help bring it to fruition. A facilitated gathering in August 2024 helped to address what ABQ Meeting envisions in becoming actively anti-racist.
Additionally, Albuquerque Monthly Meeting provides a unique Native Land Acknowledgement at the beginning of each Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business, acknowledging that the Meeting House stands on unceded lands of Indigenous peoples, formerly home of the Tewa peoples.
See "Our History" for more information on AMM's history and minutes addressing racism/whiteness.
How URJE Meetings Work
At each monthly meeting we share personal challenges and insights on the impacts of systemic racism on our lives, thoughts, feelings, and actions. Participants may request feedback or suggestions from others, or not, without pressure or judgment.
URJE collaborates with the work of the Sanctuary Working Group in its outreach to unhoused neighbors.
We rotate clerking of the monthly gatherings and may provide a salient reading/film for advance review to enrich the group's learning and growth. Click HERE for a copy of our meeting format.
We invite AMM members, attenders and friends to join us. Contact us at: info@abqfriends.org (Zoom links are provided in the weekly listserv).
JOIN URJE 2nd Thursdays
JOIN US FROM 7:00-8:30 PM (IN PERSON OR HYBRID)
We welcome new members. To obtain a link and to RSVP contact: info@abqfriends.org
LET'S LEARN TOGETHER
DOWNLOAD BELOW a copy of the Continuum on Becoming an Anti-Racist Faith Community that helps guide faith communities such as ours as well as a summary of AMM's history on addressing this topic.
Scroll down further for additional resources, including the FGC's weekly gatherings online, and a larger library of articles/videos on these subjects. We will continue to add to this library of anti-racism resources to explore.
We welcome your favorite articles, too. Send them to: info@abqfriends.org attention WSG.
If you missed reviewing the FGC Institutional Assessment, links are provided below:
FGC Institutional Assessment Full Report
FGC Institutional Assessment Executive Summary
confronting white privilege
Quaker Speak Video
All White people benefit from systems of oppression and exploitation simply by living in a culture created in their favor. We spoke with several White Quakers about what it means to acknowledge their privilege, and how that awareness informs their efforts to live in a way that fully honors that of God in all of us. (Quaker Speak Video Season 7)
As Tom Hoopes says, “For Quakers in the early 21st century, to take on this challenge is unbelievably difficult, heartbreaking on a daily basis, and exactly what we need to be doing.”
Weekly worship sharing for friends confronting racism
FGC Worship for White Friends Confronting Racism
The Friends General Conference (FGC) Ministry on Racism hosts a weekly Meeting for Worship for Friends of European Descent confronting racism and white supremacy. It will be held every Thursday evening at 6 PM MDT and Friday at 10 AM MDT. It is in the care of a rotating team of co-facilitators.
FGC requires that all attendees registered to participate. All attendees agree to treat each other with respect. Like at all FGC events, we have a no-harassment policy in place during our time together.
If you are white/of European descent and would like to join, please click HERE to complete a registration form (needed only once) to receive weekly emails about the event.
From an AMM regular participant: "I mark my calendar now by the weekly Worship for White Friends Confronting Racism group. It is a space in which I can consider issues of internalized racism, experiences as a white person in bringing anti-racism consciousness and work to my meeting, and growth in my understanding of the spiritual aspects of this work. I find it discouraging that the number of attendees is small -- with this offering extending to Quakers across the country. It begs the question as to where is everyone else? As one participant said, "We have to find ways to talk with other white people about race!" Join us!"
FGC Worship for Friends of Color
FGC provides weekly virtual worships for People of Color on Zoom. These worships are provided as a place for Friends of Color to come together in community and worship in an environment with Friends who experience marginalization in their lives and Quaker meetings because they are a Person of Color.
Wednesdays midday at 6 PM MDT. There are also monthly meetings for worship, which happen on the third Sunday of each month at 6 PM MDT
Registration is required. Go to:
NEW LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES!
Tema Okun revisits "White Supremacy Culture"
Tema Okun, the author of the landmark paper on the characteristics of White Supremacy Culture, revisits the original article, how it has been misused, and even weaponized, since she wrote it. Included in the following links are:
* An interview with Tema Okun
* Updated article from 2021/Racial Equity principles
* Link to Tema's website: whitesupremacy.culture.info
https://theintercept.com/2023/02/03/deconstructed-tema-okun-white-supremacy/
https://www.whitesupremacyculture.info/racial-equity-principles.html
www.whitesupremacyculture.info
National Museum of African American History and Culture (Smithsonian Institution) Talking About Race
The National Museum of African American History and Culture, part of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., has produced extensive learning modules for any level or type of interest in anti-racist training. This website is another very rich resource for self-guided learning.
https://nmaahc.si.edu/learn/talking-about-race?referringSource=articleShare
Fabulous Self-Study Module - The Stages of Becoming an Anti-Racist
The Whiteness Study Group will soon begin a monthly online discussion based on the stages of becoming an Anti-Racist as identified in the following link. Open it - explore - go at your own pace. Watch for updated information on this new AMM series!