What happens when our spiritual leadings move us from merely surviving the present moment to actually practicing the world that comes next?

In this special interim episode, host Peterson Toscano shares an excerpt from Climate Changed, a podcast produced by The BTS Center in Portland, Maine.

Featured guests Norma Wong and Autumn Brown sit down for a deep, challenging conversation on spiritual leadership and endurance in a fractured world.

• From “I” to Kākou: Moving beyond hyper-individualism into the Native Hawaiian concept of kākou—a collective, experiential “us.”
• Practicing Beyond Collapse: Shifting from debating the theory of capitalism to building real, ground-level community systems right now.
• Echoes from Quakers Today: How their insights weave into past QT episodes on Jiwasa (Aymara communal we-ness), prefigurative classroom practice, and Quakers navigating capitalism.

• Norma Wong is a Zen Master, Native Hawaiian teacher, and lifelong community organizer based in Hawaiʻi. Her work focuses on collective accompaniment, ancestral presence, and grounding communities through times of systemic transition.
• Autumn Brown is a writer, organizer, and co-host of How to Survive the End of the World. She is the author of the forthcoming book Temper.

• The Full Conversation: Listen to the complete episode at climatechangedpodcast.org
• Full Show Notes & Reading Links: Visit QuakersToday.org
• Leave a Voicemail: Call or text 317-QUAKERS (317-782-5377) or email podcast@friendsjournal.org

Quakers Today is a project of Friends Publishing Corporation. Season 6 has been sponsored by Friends Fiduciary and the American Friends Service Committee. Produced by Peterson Toscano.

In our final episode of the season, we reflect on what we have learned and focus on concrete, practical next steps to align our money with our values. Moving beyond individual guilt and financial anxiety, we explore how practicing integrity and simplicity—combined with targeted collective action—can help us transform our economic systems and pursue shared liberation.

Guests Rich Kent, Dov Baum, Lisa Graustein, and Lucy Duncan explore the practical realities of inflation, the mechanics of strategic corporate boycotts, and the necessity of moving from charity to structural reparations. Diana and Peterson also provide practical next steps for individuals, institutions, and collective movements.

About the Guests

Rich Kent A financial professional with Friends Fiduciary who helps Quaker meetings and organizations balance radical values with the practical necessity of managing institutional assets.

Dov Baum Director of the Action Center for Corporate Accountability at the American Friends Service Committee, guiding faith communities in strategic divestment and boycott campaigns.

Lisa Graustein A Quaker with inherited wealth advocating for impact investing and using money as a tool to rectify centuries of intentional inequity.

Lucy Duncan A lifelong Quaker activist serving on the Reparations Committee at Greene Street Friends Meeting, challenging Friends to move from traditional charity to structural reparations.

Key Topics Covered

Integrity, Simplicity, and Radical Testimony

Why leaning into integrity keeps us honest about our money, and how simplicity frees us from hyper-consumerism and builds community resilience.

From Individual Guilt to Collective Action

Why we must shift our focus from seeking personal moral purity to utilizing organized economic leverage against profit-maximizing corporations.

Impact Investing and Reparative Economics

How to move beyond boycotts and actively fund solutions while shifting our mindset from traditional charity to structural reparations.

Next Steps: Where Do We Go From Here?

Practical action steps across three interconnected rings: personal stewardship audits, institutional queries on ethical screening, and joining collective campaigns.

Episode Timestamps

00:00 – Introduction and the Tension of Simplicity

04:36 – Shifting to Collective Action and BDS

09:16 – Impact Investing and Reparations

11:47 – Practical Next Steps

13:21 – Sponsor Messages, Credits, and Conclusion

Resources & Links

Quakers Today Website: https://quakerstoday.org

Friends Journal: https://friendsjournal.org

Investigate: https://investigate.info

Action Center for Corporate Accountability: https://afsc.org/acca

Never Vanguard Campaign: https://eqat.org/never-vanguard

Connect With Us

What becomes possible when we stop trying to carry the weight alone—and start moving our resources together in community? Leave a voicemail at 317-QUAKERS (317-782-5377) or email podcast@friendsjournal.org.

Sponsors & Credits

Quakers Today is a project of Friends Publishing Corporation, hosted by Peterson Toscano and Diana Yañez. Season 6 is supported by Friends Fiduciary (https://friendsfiduciary.org) and the American Friends Service Committee (https://afsc.org).

Financial Disclaimer

All investments involve risk, and financial decisions should be made based on your individual circumstances, ideally in consultation with a qualified professional. The views expressed by guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the host, Natural Investments, or its affiliates.

Co-hosts Peterson Toscano and Diana Yañez explore reparations beyond simple transactions. Rooted in abolition, repair is examined as a relational commitment and spiritual discipline aimed at ensuring historical and systemic harms are never repeated.

Guests Anthony "Ant" Smith and Lucy Duncan discuss the historical lessons of Reconstruction and share how Philadelphia's Greene Street Friends Meeting dedicated $500,000 to reparations, centering Black leadership and unlocking over $11 million in local housing wealth.

Anthony "Ant" Smith

Organizer and educator with Reparation Works and Abolition Schools, bringing an abolitionist framework to racial repair and systemic change.

Lucy Duncan

Quaker activist, writer, member of Greene Street Friends Meeting, and Reparation Works focused on transgenerational healing.

Key Topics Covered

1. Abolition and Non-Repetition: Why reparations require systemic transformation so racialized violence cannot be repeated.
2. Reconstruction Precedents: How General Sherman’s Field Order No. 15 proved the tools for Black autonomy were already understood.
3. A Meeting’s Commitment: How Greene Street Friends Meeting allocated $500,000 over 10 years, housing the work in Worship and Ministry.
4. Centering Black Leadership: Entrusting full financial discernment directly to the meeting’s Black members.
5. Tangible Community Impact: Investing $25,000 in a legal clinic that preserved $11 million in Black generational housing wealth.
6. Reparations as Spiritual Practice: Approaching long-term systemic repair with curiosity, patience, and love.

Episode Timestamps

0:00 – Introduction: Beyond Financial Payouts

2:45 – Anthony Smith on Abolition & Repair

6:15 – Reconstruction & Sherman’s Field Order 15

8:50 – Greene Street Friends & Spiritual Resources

12:10 – Centering Black Discernment

15:30 – Free Legal Clinics & Housing Wealth

18:40 – Reparations as a Spiritual Discipline

20:55 – Listener Query & Archive Highlights

22:30 – Sponsor Messages & Disclaimers

Resources & Links

• Reparation Works: https://www.reparation.works/
• Article: Reparations and Transgenerational Healing by Lucy Duncan https://www.friendsjournal.org/reparations-and-transgenerational-healing/https://friendsjournal.org
• Archive Episode: Quakers and Reparations (January 2023) https://www.friendsjournal.org/podcast/episode-3-quakers-and-reparations/

• Racial Wealth Gap Simulation https://bread.org

Bonus Video Feature

Ant & Lucy Community & Activism Feature: https://youtu.be/IwN8-z7usYI?si=qEzVIeeMzlxZQH1H

Connect With Us

What does repair look like in your community? Leave a voicemail at 317-QUAKERS ( 317-782-5377) or email podcast@friendsjournal.org.

Quakers Today Website

https://quakerstoday.org

Friends Journal

https://friendsjournal.org

Quakers Today is a project of Friends Publishing Corporation, hosted by Peterson Toscano and Diana Yañez. Season 6 is supported by Friends Fiduciary and the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC).

All investments involve risk, and financial decisions should be made based on your individual circumstances, ideally in consultation with a qualified professional. The views expressed by guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the host, Natural Investments, or its affiliates.

Diana Gisel Yañez is an Investment Advisor Representative of Natural Investments PBLLC. Natural Investments is an independent Registered Investment Advisor. Quakers Today and Friends Journal are not registered entities and are not affiliates or subsidiaries of Natural Investments.