The attached letter is what Bayard Rustin sent to the draft board explaining his refusal to participate in World War II. Rustin subsequently spent close to three years in federal prison as a conscientious objector. Bayard Rustin... A master strategist and tireless activist, Bayard Rustin is best remembered as the organizer of the 1963 March on Washington, one of the largest nonviolent protests ever held in the United States. He brought Gandhi’s protest techniques to the American civil rights movement, and helped mold Martin Luther King, Jr. into an international symbol of peace and nonviolence. Despite these achievements, Rustin was silenced, threatened, arrested, beaten, imprisoned and fired from important leadership positions, largely because he was an openly gay man in a fiercely homophobic era. Five years in the making and the winner of numerous awards, BROTHER OUTSIDER presents a feature-length documentary portrait, focusing on Rustin’s activism for peace

Today, the United States is still struggling with many of the issues Bayard Rustin sought to change during his long, illustrious career. His focus on civil and economic rights and his belief in peace, human rights and the dignity of all people remain as relevant today as they were in the 1950s and 60s. (868k PDF)
Image above, Bayard Rustin & Martin Luther King.

Diversity Plan - Friends School of Baltimore

While the implementation of Friends School’s diversity program is a shared responsibility among all members of the School commu- nity, the Diversity Committee of the Board of Trustees has a particular leadership role. It will seek to ascertain the School’s progress as measured against its expressed plans and intentions, and—in consultation with the Diversity Council, the new Diversity Coordinator, and the School’s administration, it will consider new directions and ideas as the School moves forward. The six queries in this plan have been devised by the Diversity Committee to help guide its work, assess the School’s progress, and discern whether new strategies will be appropriate. 144kb PDF

Friends Select School Diversity Statement and Goals

Friends Select School is an independent, college-preparatory school with 545 students in grades pre-kindergarten through twelve. Friends Select draws its identity from its Quaker heritage and beliefs and from its Center City location. Framed by this basic identity, the school provides a challenging academic program to a diverse, coed student population.

Special Diversity Bundle
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• Embracing the Tension: Moral Growth in Friends High Schools
• Schooled in Diversity Action Research: Student and African-American Alumni Collaboration for School Change
• Schooled in Diversity: Readings on Racial Diversity in Friends Schools
• Who Needs Integration? Can Quaker education cope with the hip-hop challenge?

Drawing on extensive research and in-depth interviews with a wide range of independent school educators and other diversity professionals, Michael Brosnan has done an extraordinary job of pulling together material that is, at once, informative, concrete, challenging, affirming and firmly rooted in the realities of independent schools.

The publication is available for purchase of hard copies or you can download the pdf version and make your own copies. Use the link below for more information:

While Fit for Freedom, Not for Friendship tells the Quaker story, the issues it raises certainly touch a wider audience. Attached are two files, a flier with more information on the book and front matter from the book that gives its scope and mission to help educators evaluate it for classroom use. QuakerBooks of FGC offers discounts on books purchased for classroom use. (A study guide for the book is forthcoming.)