Friends of Color

This is the temporary location of a page with information about Friends of Color - that is Black and other Quakers not of European descent. If you wish to make additions or corrections to this page, please email me (Peter Blood) at inwardlight1@gmail.com.

AFRICAN AMERICAN QUAKERS:

• Cyrus Bustill (1732-1804)  FGC page  wiki  baker, ancestor of Paul Robeson
• William Boen (1735-1824)  article on his memoir  
  longer excerpt in Encyclopedia of African-American History  
  Inquirer article on wedding re-enactment 
  Article on many Black Quakers (including Boen)  
• Paul Cuffe (1759-1817) Quaker sea captain  FGC profile    wiki
• Jean Toomer (1894-1967)   wiki  poet & novelist, part of Harlem Renaissance 
• Mahala Ashley Dickerson (1912-2007)   article in FJ    wiki  lawyer, philanthropist, Alaskan homesteader
  Quakerspeak article on her
  Mahala Ashley Dickerson was a trailblazer for justice who fought for marginalized people her whole life. A childhood classmate of Rosa Parks, in the 1940s and 1950s she became the first African American female attorney in Alabama, then the second Black woman to practice law in Indiana, and then the first Black attorney in Alaska—where she played a crucial role in the development of the Alaskan Friends community
  Bio on "Blackpast" website Delayed Justice for Sale (Mahala Dickerson's autobiography)
• Ira DeAugustine Reid (1901-1968)  wiki
• Bayard Rustin (1912-87)  Civil Rights organizer  FGC profile   wiki  
  Wash. Post review of a bio of Rustin  
  Profile from Holy Troublemakers & Unconventional Saints
  “Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin” (2002 documentary film)  
  I Must Resist: Bayard Rustin’s Life in Letters 
• Vera Green (1928-82) Anthropologist specializing in Caribbean cultures FGC profile  wiki  
• Niyonu Spann  Quaker singer, founder of Beyond Diversity 101 (anti-racism training program)   
  Training website  music website  Beyond Diversity 101
• Dr. Amanda Kemp  Quaker diversity trainer  website 
  bestselling author of Stop Being Afraid! 5 Steps to Transform your Conversations about Racism, and Say the Wrong Thing
• Dr. Hal Weaver  activist, scholar  Black Quaker Project leader   bio
• Elizabeth (1766-1866) - in Black Fire

OTHER FRIENDS OF COLOR:

• Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge (b. 1952): Anti-Apartheid Activist and South African Politician.
  Wiki  Quakers of Color archive Pt 1   Quakers of Color archive interview Pt 2   
  Quakers in the World
  2012 TV show episode of “I Am a Woman: Leap of Faith”
• Jean Zaru  Palestinian Quaker, head of Ramallah Friends Sch many years 
  FOC archive interview   Brief bio   about her book
  bio on AFSC website: https://www.afsc.org/story/jean-zaru    
  video message sent to New England YM annual sessions in 2019 
• Emma Condori Mamani  Bolivian Quaker. She is of Indigenous background. Active in FWCC. Is working closely with Benigno Sanchez-Eppler to translate many Quaker classics into Spanish. Peter Blood-Patterson also has worked with her closely on some things.
  FOC archive interview   Friends Journal article by 
  Phila YM post (re trip to visit US Quakers)

CLOSELY ASSOCIATED WITH FRIENDS:

• Benjamin Banneker (1731-1806)   wiki  Philadephia YM article 
  He attended a Quaker school, was close to a Quaker family, admired Quaker beliefs & worship & frequently attended meeting.
• Sojourner Truth (1799-1883)   wiki   article on relation with Progressive Friends
  After slavery was abolished in NY state she took refuge with a Quaker Van Wagener family, who bought her from her owner in order to free her. She took their name (Isabella Van Wagener) before she was told by God to take the Name Sojourner Truth. She was close to the Progressive Friends in PA
  “We know that she often adopted Quaker dress, choosing not to be portrayed as an object of pity.”
• Sarah Mapps Douglass (1806-1882) Friends Journal article  wiki 
  painter, abolitionist, educator - descendent of Cyrus Bustill. Frequent attender at Phila meetings - forced to sit on “Black bench” 
• Vincent Harding (1931-2014)   wiki  - closely involved with Pendle Hill including 2 years of staff
• Howard Thurman (1899-1981) He studied under Rufus Jones. He was close to and had a major impact on many Quakers, includingWilmer Cooper & Louise Wilson.
  wiki   Quaker Religious Thought article on "Thurman & the Quakers"    
  ”Backs Against the Wall” - documentary film on the life of Howard Thurman