House Takes Action in Response to White Supremacist Rallies in Charlottesville and Boston
We at the Beacon Hill Friends House were appalled and saddened by the acts of racist, hateful, and anti-Semitic violence carried out by white supremacists in Charlottesville, VA earlier this month. As a community committed to Quaker principles of peace, community, and equality, we remain outraged by the hateful chants and displays of Neo-Nazi and white supremacist marchers in Charlottesville, the attacks on students and protestors, and the terrorist attack that took the life of Heather Heyer and seriously injured more than a dozen others. The recent surge in acts of white nationalism, white supremacy, and anti-Semitism at once disturbs us and calls us to action. It serves as a painful reminder of the history of racism deeply embedded in our nation’s being and in our local communities.
With disturbing images and details still coming in from Charlottesville, we heard that the Boston Common was to be the next stop for a white nationalist rally the following Saturday, August 19. With the prospect of a hateful rally and the potential for violence like that seen in Charlottesville just steps away from our door, residents immediately began discussing what might happen at the upcoming rally and how we might respond.
The day after the horrific violence in Charlottesville unfolded, the recently launched BHFH Quaker Action Committee (QAC) held only its second meeting. A member of the committee pushed us to reflect on the ways the committee might respond to the planned rally on the Common, and members of the committee agreed that the Friends House could play a small but strategic role in supporting counter-protesters.
Taking up the framework laid out at the QAC meeting, after thorough discussion Friends House residents came to unity around making the house a support and respite space for people marching to the Common for the causes of justice and inclusion. With Beacon Hill Friends Meeting member Siobhan Cunningham taking the lead on the Meeting side, and house resident Johnathan Kelly taking the lead on the House side, we were off and running. We started to coordinate outreach to other local houses of worship and the organizers of the counter-protest march, volunteer schedules for Saturday, and specific preparation for the support we would offer. With only a few days to get ready for Saturday, it was amazing to see all the pieces come into place quickly thanks to the support and participation from many members of the Meeting, the Friends House (including every member of the House’s Anti-Racism Committee), several BHFH board members, and Friends from throughout Boston and New England.
When Saturday came around, we were ready. Over a dozen volunteers kept the the house a space to gather, eat and drink, reflect, and find community with others. Throughout the day, the Friends House served as a hub for those going to and from the Common. We had a steady trickle of over 40 people find respite and refreshment at the house during that period of a few hours, and it set a wonderful precedent to build upon in the future. The march also provided an occasion for us to coordinate efforts at the House with potential partner organizations, such as Black Lives Matter, Showing Up for Racial Justice, and the Massachusetts Council of Churches.
Many members of the Meeting and the House also went out and joined the thousands who marched from Roxbury to the Common for the “Fight Supremacy! Boston Counter-Protest and Resistance Rally.” Materials on non-violent direct action training were distributed at the House to those going out to march. And what a beautiful march it was, with no violent confrontations on the Common and approximately 40,000 marchers demonstrating to the nation that we are not afraid to confront white supremacy and white nationalism and will work together to seek racial justice and peace and unity in our communities.
August 19 was by all accounts a great day in the city of Boston and at the Beacon Hill Friends House. But we know that there is much more work that needs to be done in our country, in our community, and in our own hearts. We look forward to building on this work as a House, alongside Friends throughout New England, with local religious and social justice organizations, and with others seeking justice and peace, as we seek to implement our strategic plan and pursue what the House is called to do and is placed to do in these times.
Contributed by Johnathan Kelly and Ben Lynch, members of the House’s Quaker Action Committee and Anti-Racism Committee
