Who are Quakers and what do they believe? Quaker Activist, George Lakey, gives answers and discusses his new book

• Aniya Faulcon
  BioRecent Stories

  

  Aniya Faulcon is The Spark Host/Producer for WITF. She has a passion for shining a light on unique people, experiences, and perspectives within the community.
  
  Previously she worked as the People and Social Trends Reporter/Video Anchor for LancasterOnline | LNPNews. During her time there, she created video packages, provided Facebook Live coverage at community events, and wrote data-driven stories with census data and feature stories on local leaders, non-profit organizations, events, and people with unique talents and experiences within Lancaster County.
  
  Aniya also worked at WMAR ABC 2 News as a Sales Assistant and at the AFRO American Newspapers as an Executive Assistant and Media correspondent. Aniya interned at WEAA Gospel Grace 88.9 and worked at her alma mater’s radio station, WWPJ at Point Park University, where she gained skills and a passion for radio.
  
  Aniya grew up in Baltimore, Maryland and attended the Baltimore School for the arts for high school with a concentration in acting. She continued to hone her skills and passion for storytelling and later graduated from Point Park University in 2018 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting and Broadcast Reporting. Aniya is eager to continue her journey with storytelling in her role with WITF, as she aims to shed a light on real people and real stories within Pennsylvania in a variety of mediums.

 George Lakey

Airdate: December 19, 2022

According to Community Literacy, there are about 75,000 Quakers within the country and about 377,000 Quakers worldwide.

Many may have little to no knowledge about Quakers and what they believe.

On The Spark Monday we dove beneath the surface and learned more about Quakerism and George Lakey, a Quaker activist who fights for peace, civil rights, LGBTQ rights, labor, justice, and the environment.

Lakey led over 1,500 social change workshops on five continents for groups including Thai Buddhist monks, Russian LGBTQ, activists, U.S. coal miners, South African National Congress members, and Northern U.S. students.

On The Spark, we discussed Lakey’s recently published book, Dancing with History: A Life for Peace and Justice, which is his memoir.

Quakerism started in the mid-17th-century in England. Quakers believe that all people are capable of directly experiencing the divine nature of the universe—known as God, the Holy Spirit or Spirit, without a priest, spiritual intercessor, or any kind of ritual.

Lakey said, when Quakerism started it was an activist outfit, as their beliefs were considered controversial.

On The Spark, Lakey discussed his work as an activist and fight for his health, freedom of sexuality and the changes that he wants to see in the world.