Roeder and Harrelson have written this history within the context of similar experiences throughout Virginia and the USA. Civil Rights attorney Christopher Brown of Alexandria, Virginia recently said “This book is a blueprint for how to succeed in providing equality and justice to everyone.” Brown is the grandson of Edwin C. Brown Sr., who filed lawsuits on behalf of the NAACP to get school districts to comply with Brown v. Board of Education. He also threatened to sue if the school district didn’t provide flushing toilets for the Loudoun County Training Center in Leesburg.
Mr. Roeder is the CEO of the Edwin Washington Society, which for over a decade has been studying the history of segregated education in Loudoun. Most volunteers and contributors are based in Loudoun, and many are survivors of segregation. The society is named after an African-American student in Loudoun who asked to keep his job as a waiter while attending a school run by a Quaker during Reconstruction. Larry Roeder and Barry Harrelson will have signed copies available for sale at the event.
For more details on the book, we recommend “Book chronicles Black Community’s ‘heroic struggle’ for equal education, by Jess Kirby, Loudoun Times Mirror, 3 January 2024, pp 6.7.
About us
Our Mission: We aspire to live into our testimony of equality by recognizing our legacy of racism and working to make a more equitable and just community.
Who we are: This committee was founded at Goose Creek shortly after the killing of George Floyd, on July 15, 2020. It exists under the auspices of the Peace and Social Concerns committee. ¶ The committee has met bi-monthly since its inception, and continues to do so on every other Wednesday at 7:00 pm via zoom. Please feel free to join us! Email dfsud@comcast.net for the zoom link.
Land Acknowledgement Statement: Let us recognize those who were here before us. We honor the Manahoac and Monacan (Mahock) people who were on the land where Goose Creek Meeting House now stands. This land was a trade route as well as seasonal hunting grounds for the Iroquoian, Algonkian, and Siouan language groups. We recognize their legacy.
Queries We aspire to be mindful of the role of privilege as it impacts our experiences and decisions. Quakers have long used queries as a means to test our decisions, thus we seek to use the following queries at Goose Creek:
- How could this decision impact those who have been affected by racist practices?
- Will this decision promote equity, diversity, inclusiveness, and economic justice- enabling us to be more friendly and whole?
- Are there ways we can actively provide opportunities to promote equity, diversity, inclusiveness and economic justice?
In the News
There has been a lot of activity at the Grace (church) Heritage building in the past several weeks. Allen Cochran and crew have finished putting the trusses up and the sheathing is almost complete. Soon, the rest of the roof will be put on and the building will be weather proof. Friends of Grace and the Lincoln Preservation Foundation are looking forward to opening the doors for all to see.
Learn
Friends of Thomas Balch Library Black History Committee: This website offers information about their work – what the committee is doing and has done in the past.
Check out these links:
- New Yorker, 19 September, click here for an interesting article about indigenous cuisine. It’s mainly about a Minneapolis chef-owner, but mentions the Mitsitam Native Foods Cafe in DC.
- A Deadly World War II Explosion Sparked Black Soldiers to Fight for Equal Treatment. After the deadliest home-front disaster of the war, African Americans throughout the military took action to transform the nation’s armed forces. Click here to read more at the Smithsonian Magazine online.
- ‘Segregated By Design’. This short film examines the forgotten history of how our federal, state and local governments unconstitutionally segregated every major metropolitan area in America through law and policy. Scroll down for the YouTube link and to find more resources.
- Morven Park’s 246 Years Project, a social justice initiative dedicated to honoring the millions of enslaved men, women, and children whose names and life stories have been forgotten or, in some cases, withheld from the national narrative: https://www.morvenpark.org/246years/
Our work includes:
- Created a library of books for adults and children that pertain to issues of white privilege and racism;
- In conjunction with the Archives committee, we created a land acknowledgement statement now posted at our meeting house, in our e-news posts, and on our website;
- Support and try to foster relationship with our neighboring African American church, the Grace Church project;
- Provided information to our meeting through short write ups in our newsletter.
Our continuing goals:
- Provide opportunities for discussion and discernment within our spiritual and wider community;
- Work to become aware of own biases as they impact our decisions, both personally and as a spiritual community;
- Acknowledge the native land upon which our meeting house stands and seek ways to support Indigenous people in our area;
- Seek to engage with diverse people in our wider community, fostering relationship
Resources
McQuire Woods is a consulting group (lobbyist) that focuses on Fair Equitable Housing in Virginia. They did two reports: one on past segregation practices that created unfair housing and the second one (the link above) on what to do about it, what to focus on when creating equitable housing legislation locally or in the state.
Click here to view, “Why I, as a black man, attend KKK rallies” – An encounter with prejudice early in life led black musician Daryl Davis on a quest to determine the source of the hate, leading to how and why he has attended KKK rallies.
The Story Of Access: Stanley Nelson film for Starbucks – Firelight has documented the African American experience through film for over 15 years. That experience includes stories of personal and collective heroism, as well as interpersonal and systemic discrimination.
