Walter Naegle / Speaking on Bayard Rustin: Quaker Fighter for Social Justice and Democracy / October 27, 2022

Community, News, Social Concerns

Thursday, October 27 at 7:00 pm Chapel Hill Public Library, Room B Walter Naegle was Bayard Rustin’s partner for the last decade of Rustin’s life. Since Rustin’s death, he has worked with activists, scholars, and community groups to educate the public about Rustin’s values and work. In 2013, he accepted Rustin’s posthumous Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama. Sponsored by Peace and Justice and Transition and Support Committees, Chapel Hill Friends Meeting

Action Alert: Urgent Call for Election Workers to Protect North Carolina Democracy – Time is Limited! / October 2022

FCNL, News, Social Concerns, Volunteer

Friends Committee on North Carolina Legislation joins with Quaker Call to Action on the Urgent Call to the Religious Society of Friends to help protect Democracy in North Carolina. Steps YOU can take to help protect democracy in the 2022 election: • Volunteer to work inside a polling place as a local Elections Board worker, or try 2022 Democracy Heroes Form | NCSBE or the State Board of Elections volunteer form HERE. • Volunteer to…

Election Day is Around the Corner / November 8, 2022

Community, News, Social Concerns

We all know how important this midterm election is. We cannot allow a minority of people in our nation to erode decades of progress on civil rights, women’s rights, on addressing climate change, and threaten the foundations of our democracy. It is critical to support candidates and policies that promote justice, that expand our freedoms, and strengthen our democracy. Voting ourselves is not enough, we need to ensure our friends and family are also voting!…

Africans Were Sought and Enslaved for Their Skills / October 20, 2022

Community, News, Social Concerns

If you’ve ever taken an Underground Railroad Tour with former Guilford College Bonner Program Director James Shields, you have probably heard him say that slaveholders were seeking Africans with skills, not just brute strength and stamina. This fact was reinforced when I recently read an article from Wrightsville Beach Magazine about Thalian Hall (a grand old theatre) in Wilmington, NC, after attending a delightful play there. 1855 was the year construction began, and it opened…

White Voices Against Racism Tour / October 22, 2022

Community, News, Social Concerns

October 22nd – 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. – International Civil Rights Center and Museum Thoroughly examine the complex tapestry of American history through the struggle for justice and equality. Participants will witness the restored lunch counter in its original location, plus 13 galleries with vivid photography, artifacts, video re-enactments, and interactive exhibits. The tour will be followed by a brief moment of shared reflections. The best part… these are all FREE to attend! More…

How to Help Refugee Families Right Now / October 2022

Community, News, Social Concerns, Volunteer

• Connect and assist an Afghan family that arrived in August. The husband, a trained civil engineer with eight+ years of experience including working with the U.S. Army is looking for work. If you have any leads and/or would like to see his resume, as well as assist in supporting this family, reach out to Cindy Knull ([email protected]). • A member of the first Afghan family New Garden supported, just over a year ago, needs…

Explore THE QUAKING OF AMERICA with Friends / October 2022

Community, News, Social Concerns

More than a few New Gardeners have read Resmaa Menakem’s My Grandmother’s Hands. Even if you have not, you may find his The Quaking of America , published in 2022, even more compelling, filled with insights on the perils facing our fragile democracy. With practices to confront ‘White Body Supremacy’ and build resilience, the book’s subtitle calls it ‘an embodied guide to navigating our nation’s upheaval and racial reckoning’. It is that and much more,…

Missing Black Lives Matter Sign Reappears / October 11, 2022

Community, News, Social Concerns

The mysterious August disappearance of the Black Lives Matter sign from the yard at New Garden Friends Meeting was resolved on October 11. Members of the landscape maintenance crew for New Garden Cemetery spotted the sign in the woods near the cemetery. They pulled the sign from its hiding place and hauled it to the meetinghouse, where they alerted Valerie Harris, the office manager. The landscapers used a vehicle to transport the bulky sign, which…

Presentation of the Book, by Jonathan Metzl, Dying of Whiteness / Ocober 19, 2022

Community, News, Social Concerns

The North Carolina Fellowship of Friends Anti-Racism Working Group is doing a presentation and discussion of Dying of Whiteness by Jonathan Metzl on Wednesday, October 19 @ 7PM via Zoom. Please come whether you have read the book or not. Patricia Gutzwiller from New Garden Friends Meeting and Mary Nell Smith from First Friends will be doing the presentation and leading the discussion. Here is the Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82097545202?pwd=VkgzYThwekQyenNheThHUStSTlVmdz09