One of the tenets of Quaker faith is to always be open to new revelation, to change. Sometimes the revelation comes quickly, but more often, it comes through ongoing collective discernment. This kind of continuing revelation describes the two-year process that has led us to adopt a new organizational statement On Anti-Racism, Anti-Discrimination, Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion.
Many of the principles in the new statement reflect the long-standing values FCNL holds and are already reflected in various parts of The World We Seek.
In 2015, we sought to encapsulate our commitment to being a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive organization in a brief, one-paragraph statement. As we continue our journey toward building the beloved community we seek, our staff and governors agreed it was time to update and expand this stated commitment.
Our new statement is much longer and more explicit about the kind of organization we want to be. The length reflects the complexities of the issues we face today and our aspirations to become an anti-racist and anti-bias organization. It also reflects our attempts to integrate each of those issues and how they will fuel us in our ongoing journey toward the world we seek.
In approving and adopting the statement, we have affirmed that it is a living document, and we still have much work to do to live up to its aspirations.
The murder of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter protests two years ago sparked our need to reexamine our commitment to racial justice—in words and deeds. We hired a consultant to help us examine issues of racism and other biases within our organization and our work, to educate and train us, and to help us reframe our thinking, both in our internal operations and in our external work.
Over the course of recent months, a staff team then drafted the new statement, revised it several times, and worked with our leadership to seek formal organizational adoption. It was finally approved by the Executive Committee on May 21—four days before the second anniversary of George Floyd’s death.
In approving and adopting the statement, we have affirmed that it is a living document, and we still have much work to do to live up to its aspirations. We also know that our own journey as a community and an organization continues.
We trust in the power of continuing revelation and that it will evolve more in the future as Spirit leads us in our journey to the world we seek. For now, we embrace the commitments expressed and the challenges laid out in our new Statement on Anti-Racism, Anti-Discrimination, Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion.
