Anti-racism update 2.19.25
AR QUIZ
- Do you know how Black History Month began?
EDUCATION
- Scott Fulton and Becky Malke will be leading a discussion group on the book Becoming Kin by Patty Krawec. This is a guidebook of sorts, targeted at those of us who do not identify as Native American. It explores the painful history of our relationship with the Indigenous people of the US and Canada, focusing on stories from the experiences of the author and her family which make the effects of this history come to life. It also explores how we can begin work to move our relationship with both Native Americans and the world around us to one of a healthy “kinship”. A more detailed review of the book can be found here – Books by and about Native Americans – Madison Friends Meeting.
- At the Gathering Forum on Sunday, March 9 at 9:45 am we will be welcoming Prof. Steven Kantrowitz from UW-Madison, who will be presenting his book Citizens of a Stolen Land. This is the fascinating story of how the Ho-Chunk people were forcibly removed from their homelands in Wisconsin, and how their non-violent resistance and the political events of the Reconstruction Era gained them the legal right to return as property-owning members of the community. This book was reviewed recently by Scott Fulton (https://madisonfriends.org/books-by-and-about-native-americans/).
- State of Homelessness: Binding The Beacon. WORT Radio 89.9 had a recent segment about The Beacon (the homeless day shelter here in Madison), capturing both the beauty of the community that can be found there and also the very real struggles of being on the frontlines of the homelessness crisis, highlighting the need for systemic changes. Listen or read here: https://www.wortfm.org/424957-2/. Black people in Dane County are disproportionately likely to be impacted by homelessness. Learn more in the Race to Equity 10 year Economic Well-Being Report.
ACTION
- Personal Exploration Group. A number of folks also indicated an interest in participating in a monthly personal exploration group. Because of travel challenges we are considering creating a virtual group in addition to the existing in-person group. If you might be interested in either of these options, or would like to talk about this further, please contact Shel Gross.
AR QUIZ ANSWER
- Carter G. Woodson was a Black scholar and professor at Harvard who worked for the creation of Black History Month. He first helped establish Negro History and Literature Week in 1924, which was later renamed Negro Achievement Week, Black History Week, and eventually Black History Month. Woodson chose February for Black History Week to recognize Abraham Lincoln whose birthday was February February 12th, and Frederick Doulass whose birthday was February 14th. Dr. Woodson believed that history was made by the people, not simply or primarily by great individuals. He envisioned the study and celebration of the Negro as a race, not simply as the producers of a great man. And Lincoln, however great, had not freed the slaves—the Union Army, including hundreds of thousands of black soldiers and sailors, had done that. Rather than focusing on two men, the black community, he believed, should focus on the countless black men and women who had contributed to the advance of human civilization. He once told an audience of Hampton Institute students, “We are going back to that beautiful history and it is going to inspire us to greater achievements.” In the 1960s momentum built from the one week celebration until Black History Month was ultimately recognized beginning in 1976. https://naacp.org/find-resources/history-explained/civil-rights-leaders/carter-g-woodson
YOUR PEACE, SOCIAL AND EARTH CONCERNS ANTI-RACISM SUBCOMMITTEE