Gathering Plenaries

Daquanna Harrison

Date: Saturday February 1 at 8pm Eastern / 5pm Pacific

Daquanna encourages Quakers to step beyond their comfort zones and move forward with courage and strong, clear action. The Gathering Plenary Committee is excited not only by the depth of Daquanna’s message but by her dynamic approach that bridges the sacred and the practical. Her plenary will illuminate the pathway for Quakers to uphold their prophetic voice, reinforcing the understanding that spiritual integrity is found in the courageous examination of ourselves and our communities, as well as in the commitment to push forward toward transformation and healing. 

As a part of this plenary Daquanna is inviting Quaker organizations to offer direct action opportunities for Friends to lead real change. Break out rooms will be integrated in this plenary as we are asked to engage and move forward with commitments to answer calls to action. She is asking Quaker groups to move beyond discussion and contemplation and offer concrete ways for individuals to get involved in making an impact. Whether through community projects, social and racial justice initiatives, or environmental efforts, Daquanna’s vision calls for action that reflects our shared values and makes a difference in the world. Her plenary will challenge Quakers to think about how our faith can be lived out in practical, meaningful ways that contribute to healing and justice. ~Nora Lisette Cooke

Eileen Flanagan

Date: Saturday February 2 at 8pm Eastern / 5pm Pacific

Eileen Flanagan brings a forty-year commitment to justice to her speaking, writing, and climate leadership. She has served as campaign director of Earth Quaker Action Team and as a teacher of spiritual discernment at Pendle Hill. Her online courses on effective and spiritually grounded activism have engaged people around the world. In the lead up to the 2020 election, she was Trainings Coordinator for Choose Democracy, which trained 10,000 people in nonviolent strategies to prevent a coup. An award-winning author, her forthcoming book, Common Ground, is about how overcoming our divisions can help us build a movement for a more just and sustainable world. She carries a minute of religious service from Chestnut Hill Meeting in Philadelphia, Read more about her work at eileenflanagan.com.

David Bucura

Date: Sunday 2/9 at 11am Eastern / 8am Pacific

How do nations persevere and find relationship after genocide and deep conflict between their peoples? For some of us, this question is hypothetical but for David Bucura, a man who wears many hats in his community, the answer is something he lives daily in his home in Rwanda.  When I asked if he would be willing to speak to our gathering and share what he has learned and observed, he welcomed the theme “A Spring Who’s Waters Never Fail” and expressed a leading to talk with us about how people in Rwanda  are able to live together with love after the genocide against Tutsis in 1994.
He will talk to us about “Good Leadership after genocide, unity and reconciliation, restorative justice (Gacaca Justice) and forgiveness,” not from a theoretical perspective, but from a place of deep connection to God and lived experience. At this time in America, when our wounds of racism, genocide and exploitation continue to fester and the political divide feels like the splitting of a continent, we have a lot to gain from listening to a perspective grounded in lived experiences, on the ways available to address differences and pains. ~ Mica Estrada