We share this resource with our Pacific Yearly Meeting community of Friends who seek to learn and share resources in a variety of forms on topics including peace work, social action, racial and economic justice, and indigenous concerns. This list of resources is maintained under the care of the PacYM Peace & Social Order Committee. It is not intended as a comprehensive repository of resources but rather one that reflects books, videos, websites, organizations and other resources that members of our Quaker community have recommended to us. If you have contributions or suggested changes, please let us know at peaceandsocialorderclerk@pacificyearlymeeting.org
Anti-Racism
BOOKS
How to be an Anti-Racist
Ibram X. Kendi
Broad view of racism, racist policies and how to counteract them.
White Fragility
Robin DiAngelo
A widely recommended volume for European (White) Americans confronting white supremacy, its history and continued malignancy in our society.
ORGANIZATIONS
OTHER PUBLICATIONS & RESOURCES
Faith-based anti-racism curricula and resources guide, Baltimore Yearly Meeting
Anti-Racist Clerking Advices for Friends, from Friends General Conference (FGC) (January 2025)
Anti-Racism Roadmap, Baltimore Yearly Meeting
Called Session on Racism, Philadelphia Yearly Meeting (January 2015)
Justice in June – This resource was compiled by Autumn Gupta with Bryanna Wallace’s oversight for the purpose of providing a starting place for individuals trying to become better allies.
Resources for working with white children
Understanding Racism and Privilege Among Friends, Advices and queries from Friends General Conference (FGC) (2002)
What is White Supremacy? (Vital Friends), Rashid Darden, Friends General Conference (FGC) (September 2019)
Economic Justice
ARTICLES
Why We Need a Solidarity Economy Now, Rick Wilson, American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) (July 2025)
Gender
OTHER PUBLICATIONS & RESOURCES
Transgender Children & Youth: Understanding the Basics (Human Rights Campaign)
Indigenous Concerns
ARTICLES
Indigenous organization seeks church partners for truth telling, healing, around Indian boarding school trauma, opportunities for a truth-and-reconciliation dialogue with churches (like the Quakers) who ran Indian Boarding Schools (February 2021)
Quaker Indian Boarding Schools, Article by Paula Palmer in Friends Journal (October 2016)
BOOKS
An American Genocide: The United States and the California Indian Catastrophe, 1846-1873
Benjamin Madley
“[A] stellar example of an unflinching commitment to document and analyse . . . invasion’s often horrific consequences.”—Jeffrey Ostler, Journal of Genocide Research
Murder State: California’s Native American Genocide, 1846-1873
Brendan C. Lindsay
“A significant historical account detailing white pioneers perpetrating genocide against California Indians. . . . [Employs] compelling evidence.”—Clifford E. Trafzer, Journal of American Studies
We Are the Land: A History of Native California
Damon B. Akins and William J. Bauer Jr.
Recommended by Paula R. Palmer (Boulder, CO)
“In what seems an overdue departure from standard histories, Akins and Bauer’s comprehensive account places indigenous people at the heart of California’s story.” ― Boston Globe
FILMS & VIDEOS
Quaker Indian Boarding Schools, Paula Palmer at the Truth and Healing Conference at Pendle Hill (2018)
OTHER PUBLICATIONS & RESOURCES
7 Essential Understandings for California Indian History and Culture
Native American Protocols, Los Angeles Archdiocese of the Catholic Church. Sylvia Mendivil Salazar led the development and implementation of the Native American hospitality protocol with the leaders of the four Tribal Nations who are the First Peoples of the land of the Archdiocese. These protocols took about 7 years to develop. Represented in these protocols is the intent to honor and respect Native Peoples and their cultures in a way that has been very much absent in relations between Native and Non-Native peoples.
San Diego County Department of Education
California Indian Education Resource Guide
Native American Studies Model Curriculum
Native American Youth Community Project: Native Scholars Pathway
Native Scholars Pathway: Resources
Native Ways of Knowing Book Club Recordings
Native Ways of Knowing Book List
Lobbying & Guides for Action
OTHER PUBLICATIONS & RESOURCES
Bring Your Voice, Friends Committee on Legislation of California (FCLCA) guide to lobbying
Bystander Intervention Toolkit, American Friends Service Committee (AFSC)
Doing a Deep Dive into Prisons and Police Issues, Tips for Taking Action (Handbook)
Non-Violence
OTHER PUBLICATIONS & RESOURCES
Nonviolence as a Way of Life, from an interest group hosted by the PacYM Peace & Social Order Committee at the 2025 Annual Session
Quakerism
ARTICLES
How to be an Inclusive Quaker, Article by Valerie Brown in Friends Journal (March 2020)
In a noisy world, more young adults turn to Quakers’ silent worship, Los Angeles Times (November 2, 2025)
FILMS & VIDEOS
What’s the Difference Between a Welcoming and an Inclusive Space?, QuakerSpeak video (2021)
Racial Justice
ARTICLES
A Proposed Plan for Retrospective Justice – Friends Journal, Harold Weaver, Jr. (January 2021)
Martin Luther King Jr. was a trouble-maker. That’s why we need him, Los Angeles Times, Op-Ed (January 16, 2023)
BOOKS
Black Fire: African American Quakers on Spirituality and Human Rights
https://bookstore.friendsunitedmeeting.org/products/black-fire-african-american-quakers-on-spirituality-and-human-rights?variant=7875682041892
Black Fire gathers together the voices of 18 remarkable individuals who spoke and wrote as African Americans from within the Quaker community. They testify about their viewpoints on racial justice—both within the Religious Society of Friends and society at large – and they speak of their life in the Spirit. As a collection, these selections exhibit the vitality and wisdom that three centuries of African American Quakers have contributed to and on behalf of Friends.
(Also available on Amazon and other bookseller websites, but much more expensive).
Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood
Trevor Noah
Growing up in apartheid South Africa, a ‘crowning achievement’ in white supremacy and oppression. An excellent autobiography from Trevor Noah that speaks to the personal experience of growing up in a racist society in a very engaging way.
Fit for Freedom, Not for Friendship: Quakers, African Americans and the Myth of Racial Justice
Donna McDaniel and Vanessa Julye
Provides a comprehensive view of the history of Quakers and African Americans; very insightful, well-written and interesting.
Radical Transformation: Long Overdue for the Religious Society of Friends
Pendle Hill Pamphlet #476
https://quakerbooks.org/collections/antiracism/products/radical-trasformation
Vanessa Julye, co-author of Fit for Freedom, Not for Friendship, gave the 2021 Stephen G. Cary Memorial Lecture at Pendle Hill. The Religious Society of Friends stands in need of transformation. The systems of White supremacy, racism, colonization, and capitalism continue to erect walls that prevent people of color from joining and remaining in our Quaker community. Through the use of continuing revelation, we can co-create a transformed religious community that honors freedom, equity, integrity, and peace.
FILMS & VIDEOS
13th, documentary by Ava DuVernay that explores the history of racial inequality in the United States, focusing on the fact that the nation’s prisons are disproportionately filled with African-Americans. (available on YouTube and Netflix)
The 1619 Project, Nikole Hannah-Jones, based on the New York Times series. (available on Hulu)
Rustin. The 2023 film about activist and Quaker Bayard Rustin who faced racism and homophobia as he helped change the course of Civil Rights history by orchestrating the 1963 March on Washington. (Available on Netflix)
MUSIC & PODCASTS
Songs on Racial Justice, from Rise Up Singing
What a Black Enclave Lost in the Los Angeles Wildfires, CodeSwitch Podcast (February 2025)
OTHER PUBLICATIONS & RESOURCES
Pacific Yearly Meeting Racial Justice Subcommittee of Ministry Committee
Quaker Coalition for Uprooting Racism, Friends General Conference (FGC)
Racial Justice Resources, from the PacYM Racial Justice Subcommittee
Other
FILMS & VIDEOS
New England Yearly Meeting plenary, Row On: There’s Dawn Beyond the Night, Amanda Kemp (2020)
No Other Land. A gripping tale about Basel Adra, a young Palestinian activist, and his resistance to the forced displacement of his people by Israel’s military in Masafer Yatta, a region in the occupied West Bank, since he was a child. He records the gradual destruction of his homeland, where Israeli soldiers are tearing down homes and evicting their inhabitants to enforce a court order maintaining that the area’s designation as an Israeli military firing zone was legal under Israeli law. (Available on various streaming services via Support Masafer Yatta)
OTHER PUBLICATIONS & RESOURCES
Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Resources, Media Providence Friends School in Media, PA
Visualizing Palestine, Collaborative downloadable exhibit, express your interest in hosting the exhibit in your own community, buy a copy of Visualizing Palestine’s book for yourself or your loved ones, see all of Visualizing Palestine’s visuals.
Young Adult Friends – intervisitation with YMs, information and resource sharing
Friendly Speakers (aka “Speakers Bureau”)
Email us to find out how to contact a specific speaker (peaceandsocialorderclerk@pacificyearlymeeting.org)
Individual contact information is not posted to protect privacy.
Please note that an honorarium may be appropriate for some speakers, depending on their affiliation, time and resource commitment required, etc.
Linda Lingane, dialogue on and awareness of social threefolding and how it could assist in resolving important issues of our times, Palo Alto Friends Meeting
See two page description here: Social threefolding – shorter intro.pdf
See full text: Social threefolding – longer intro with Quaker paragraph.pdf
Note: Assuming the format is via Zoom, Linda can usually be available Mon, Wed, or Fri between 5-8:30pm, Sat, 1-8:30 pm or Sun, 12 noon-2 pm (Pacific).
Minutes of Concern
Social Concern Minutes are one way our voice of conscience can be made public. They are also a way in which we can express our ideals, witness and narrate the struggles of our time, and can hold ourselves more accountable. Providing hope and moral vision is never to be underestimated.
A Minute of Social Concern expresses the unity of a Meeting around an issue of social justice, usually with a call to action. Meetings are encouraged to share their Minutes of Social Concern so that others may also consider them.
Please see the Pacific Yearly Meeting website for past minutes of concern and instructions for sharing and posting minutes on the PacYM website: Minutes of Social Concern
Depending on the topic, it may be worthwhile to submit an approved minute of concern to local newspapers or to local legislators and government leaders.
Meeting Actions
La Jolla Monthly Meeting
With other friends from the PacYM community, La Jolla Monthly Meeting led a monthly reading group on the book “Fit for Freedom, Not for Friendship”. It began in the fall of 2021, continuing through 2023 to conclude a series of intensive discussions with small and large groups on the many topics covered in the book. See an article from FGC Ministry on Racism: Fit for Freedom, Not for Friendship: A Book Group – Friends General Conference
Orange County Friends Meeting
Minute of Concern for Gaza, Israel and the Palestinians (September 2024)
Minute of Concern for the Safety and Societal Participation of Transgender and Gender Non-conforming People, (June 2024)
A Call for an Inclusive and Diverse Society of Friends (December 2020)
North Pacific Yearly Meeting
Minute of Support for Indigenous People, (draft minute) North Pacific Yearly Meeting (April 2022)
Philadelphia Yearly Meeting
Young Adult Friends Epistle with a call for police abolition, Philadelphia Yearly Meeting (2020)
PacYM Affinity Group for White Allies
This affinity group offers a brave space for white Friends to grapple with white fragility and do the uncomfortable and necessary introspection, education, and action required to be in beloved community with all people.
Sign-up to join the group using this form: PacYM Antiracism Affinity Group for White Friends
Guidance on Establishing a Committee for Peace & Social Concerns at your Meeting
Many meetings throughout our Yearly Meeting and others have established standing committees with a concern for peace, racial equity and social justice. When considering this step as a meeting, Faith and Practice should be a guide, specially the section on committees of the monthly meeting, and here is a link to that section in the online edition: Committees of the Meeting (Faith & Practice 2001)
The peace and social concerns committee for your meeting might take different forms and have a different scope of care. For example, Strawberry Creek Meeting in Berkeley, CA calls their committee the “Peace, Earthcare, and Social Witness Committee” and has a broad and detailed description – see Committee Description.
Orange County Friends Meeting in Costa Mesa, Santa Monica Friends Meeting and Sacramento Friends Meeting call their committees “The Peace & Social Concerns Committee”, and here is a sample current committee description (from Orange County Friends):
The Peace & Social Concerns Committee is comprised of three or more members or attenders. Historically, Quakers have played a prominent role in the pursuit of peace and social justice around the world. The Peace and Social Concerns Committee is the social action arm of our meeting. It informs members and attenders of community events that reflect our concern for peace and justice, it serves as a liaison between our meeting and community groups working for peace and justice, and it organizes projects through which we as a community can support Quaker values in our community and in the world. Additionally, it encourages and supports the efforts of members and attenders working for peace and justice outside of our meeting.
The focus of any given peace and social action committee will naturally vary according to the members of the committee, the character of the larger meeting, and the communities in which the meeting members live and worship. Priorities may shift over time as well. It is important for peace and social action committees to have the support of their meetings and for involvement in peace and social justice work to be shared, with coordination as needed by the committee and with regular sharing on planned and recent actions to the meeting, such as this instruction to the Strawberry Creek committee:
The Committee reports regularly about its activities to Business Meeting and about witness opportunities, and other information on peace, social and environmental issues and activities with the larger SCMM community via the Meeting Newsletter, regular postings on the Meeting website and list serve, and other means.
When establishing a peace and social action committee, it may be useful to connect with friends from other meetings, the Quarter and the Yearly Meeting. Many friends have provided their information to Pacific Yearly Meeting and so are included in the PacYM Directory, which can be accessed here: General Directory of Members & Attenders. You will need a password that can be obtained as directed on the page.
To contact the Pacific Yearly Meeting Peace & Social Order Committee, please email peaceandsocialorderclerk@pacificyearlymeeting.org
To contribute to this page, please email peaceandsocialorderclerk@pacificyearlymeeting.org
Social Justice
BOOKS
Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents
Isabel Wilkerson
This book explores, through an immersive, deeply researched, and beautifully written narrative and stories about real people, how America today and throughout its history has been shaped by a hidden caste system, a rigid hierarchy of human rankings.
FILMS & VIDEOS
“Music for Justice”, by Annie Patterson and Peter Blood (Rise Up Singing)
Origin. A 2023 American biographical drama film written and directed by Ava DuVernay. It is based on the life of Isabel Wilkerson, played by Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, as she writes the book Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents. Over the course of the film, Wilkerson travels throughout Germany, India, and the United States to research the caste systems in each country’s history. See Origin (Film) (Wikipedia) (Available on various streaming services)