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Continuing its 35th anniversary celebration, Speak Up For Peace, The Peace Center joins Compassion Develops Communities, Inc. (CDC) in hosting two more community Dialogues on Racism.
The dialogue at the Newtown Friends Meetinghouse (Quaker), which is located at 219 Court Street in Newtown Borough, is set for Thursday, Sept. 15 at 7 p.m.
Another dialogue will take place at St. Mark AME Zion Church, which is a multi-cultural church, at 136 N. Congress Street in Newtown Borough on Monday, Oct. 24 at 7 p.m.
In July, 75 people came out to a vigil for peace in downtown Newtown Borough, followed by dialogue. “With additional violence towards unarmed blacks and police, it is important to keep moving towards social change, mercy and justice,” said Barbara Simmons, executive director of The Peace Center, which is based in Langhorne Borough.
The purpose of the dialogues is to listen more deeply to one another; affirm each other’s experience with racism/discrimination and work towards solutions in our communities.
“We are all connected to one another,” Simmons said. “ We stand in support of people of color who face discrimination, and want to create a bridge for more effective communication between the police and those who feel discriminated by the police in our community as well.”
She continued that it is key to understand one another, “We need to truly listen and hear one another for both healing and finding ways to help make our communities and nation a safe and accepting place for everyone.”
Simmons explained what happens in a dialogue. “We start out by creating a Social Contract in order to ensure as safe an environment as possible,” she said. “We use a circle process so that everyone can see each other when we share experiences, ideas, concerns and solutions. We also work in small groups using questions to prompt discussion and openness.”
Facilitation for the group will be shared by Rev. Danny Thomas, Rev. Sandra Reed and Simmons.
CDC, co-sponsor of the dialogues, is a faith-based non-profit organization founded by St. Mark AME Zion Church for the purpose of creating a caring community that embraces people of all age groups and all backgrounds. CDC is now a separate non-profit organization.
“We seek to realize our vision by providing life-enhancing programs and services to young people and their families at a centrally located and welcoming place,” said Dennise Veasley, CDC coordinator and a member of St. Mark AME Zion Church.
In the past CDC has been involved in homeworker helper, career planning/interviews and most recently co-sponsoring the Dialogues on Racism.
“We can’t change the way we think and feel about one another without understanding one another,” Veasley said. “The dialogues give us an opportunity to share and be honest with how we feel about racism. It also provides an outlet where we can brainstorm to change behavior.”
Rev. Reed, pastor of St. Mark AME Zion Church, will participate in the event and hopes to be able to provide answers to questions that people may have.
“St. Mark AME Zion Church is known as the Freedom Church,” she said. “Since its inception back in the early 1800s, we were the church that made sure people were free from all types of oppression, including religious, educational, racial and employment.”
About the two upcoming dialogues, Reed said, “I’m praying that it will be a diverse group because when we begin to talk about race and race relations, we need everyone to be at the table,” she said.
Arli Necowitz, 17, has been helping to plan the dialogues. A senior at Pennsbury High School, she is part of a program called Operation Understanding (OU). This summer, a group of African-American and Jewish students traveled the east coast learning about each other’s cultures.
“We met with civil rights leaders, rabbis, went to museums and immersed ourselves in learning,” she said. “We are now bringing back what we learned on our trip to create change in our own communities.”
Operation Understanding’s mission is to develop a group of young African-American and Jewish leaders knowledgeable about each other’s histories and cultures to effectively lead the communities of Philadelphia to a greater understanding of diversity and acceptance.
For more information about the dialogues, please contact Barbara Simmons at bsimmons@thepeacecenter, visit www.thepeacecenter.org or call The Peace Center at 215-750-7220.
Editor’s Note: Petra Chesner Schlatter is a representative of The Peace Center.
