A monthly conversation about racism and classism, in our lives, MtToby, and wider Quaker circles is ongoing at Mount Toby.  It was greatly helped by a packet of reading materials put together by Adele Smith-Penniman, assembled as she said to be a springboard in the conversation, not an endpoint.  These materials included the following which you can access below:

  • Some of Adele’s random thoughts on race and class which she hopes will be helpful and challenging: Race and Class at Meeting
  • An article that appeared in the January 2013 Friends Journal on the lack of class awareness among many Friends: Blue Collar Welcome
  • A transcript of a powerful talk on Alternative radio by lawyer Michelle Alexander: Incarceration Nation
    Adele recommends that we all read her book, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness
  • Two poems by Naima Penniman, Adele’s daughter and, as Adele acknowledges, her teacher:

Materials added after the initial packet was distributed:


Other valuable materials may be available in the future.