A delegation of five AFS students attended the annual Quaker Youth Leadership Conference in Providence, R.I., for two days of intense work and conversation focusing on the theme of  “Equality: Past, Present and Future.” Juniors Desmond Daniels, Emma Giddings, Noah Shufutinsky and Ken Wang and sophomore Danielle Thomas made the trip, under the guidance of Upper School History Teacher Margaret Guerra.

The gathering, hosted by the Lincoln School and Moses Brown School, drew students and teachers from 21 schools, including those from as far away as England and Ontario.

Margaret said an interactive keynote presentation by Liza Talusan, Director of Intercultural Affairs at Stonehill College, “got us talking to one another about our experiences of inequality and diversity.”

Another keynote speaker, Jordan Seaberry of the Institute for the Study and Practice of Nonviolence, delivered a call to action in the small, spare Providence Meetinghouse on Moses Brown’s campus. Margaret described it as “a powerful meditation on the history of racism in this country, and how young activists can address it.”

Our students presented a workshop, “Quake: Rap and Poetry,” that was so well-received that students who attended the first session stayed to hear it again during a second session.

There was plenty of time for casual chat and letting loose, too. On Friday evening, at a coffeehouse of short performances, Noah Shufutinsky rapped to great applause, while Desmond Daniels’ first attempt at stand-up comedy won over the crowd.

Margaret said the closing Meeting for Worship on Saturday “left us all energized and grateful for the community we created with one another.”