Anti-Racism Update 12.31.25

AR QUIZ

• What is “Watch Night?”

EDUCATION

• As we close out 2025, organizer Kelly Hayes shares must-reads, organizing resources, closing reflections for the year, and a writing exercise that may help you steady yourself and take stock as we move into 2026. Read or listen here: https://organizingmythoughts.org/must-reads-and-some-notes-on-taking-action-and-staying-whole-in-2026/
• Check out this Q&A with Author Tiffany Jewell, author of This Book is Anti-Racist. Tiffany Jewell self-identifies as a Black bi-racial Montessori educator, and is a #1 New York Times bestseller for her book “This Book is Anti-Racist.” https://www.embracingequity.org/post/this-book-is-anti-racist-q-and-a-with-author-tiffany-jewell

ACTION

• Consider a Social Justice New Year’s Resolution. Pick one area to focus such as education, political/support, or stewardship of resources from the Madison Friends Meeting Land Acknowledgement as a possible place to start.

AR QUIZ ANSWER

•  Watch Night or “Freedom Eve” was marked on the night of December 31, 1862. While the Emancipation Proclamation was signed on September 22, 1862, it did not take effect until midnight on the New Year of 1863. Many Black Americans gathered in secret to pray, worship, sing, dance, and ring in freedom. The occasion, known as Watch Night or “Freedom’s Eve,” marks when enslaved African Americans across the country watched and waited for the news of freedom. Today, Watch Night is an annual New Year’s Eve tradition that includes the memory of slavery and freedom, reflections on faith, and celebration of community and strength. https://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stories/historical-legacy-watch-night

YOUR PEACE, SOCIAL JUSTICE AND EARTH CONCERNS COMMITTEE; ANTI RACISM GROUP