In 2017, Follen overwhelmingly voted to become an intentionally antiracist congregation (PDF). The Racial and Economic Justice Group (REJG) is fulfilling that commitment by working with community organizations in town such as the Association of Black Citizens of Lexington (ABCL), the Lexington History Museums (LHM), and LexSeeHer to promote public events and support the research and interpretation of Black history.

In 2023, Follen partnered with the Association of Black Citizens of Lexington to start a new celebration of Dr. King’s birthday, which complements the town’s official celebration each year. The ABCL puts on a program that includes Brother Dennis and Friends singing songs from the civil rights movement and showcases a particular speech by Dr. King, always delivered by a young person from Lexington. This year, Josephine Lawrence read his address to the Two Houses of the General Court of Massachusetts before he led the Freedom March and Rally in Boston on April 23, 1965.

REJG also funds one of the 2 ABCL Black History Portrait Banners each year, which are displayed on the lampposts in Lexington Center during Black History Month. The banners honor citizens who have made significant contributions to civic life in town. One of the honorees is Bernie Harleston, a long-time member of Follen.

In addition, REJG has provided financial support for the ABCL’s Quock Walker celebration that occurs in July on Lexington Green every year. Quock Walker was the plaintiff in 3 lawsuits brought in the early 1780s that ultimately resulted in the effective abolishment of slavery in Massachusetts.

Margaret M., a member of REJG, provided research that has been incorporated into the Black History Trail. Sean Osborne, ABCL’s historian, identified, marked, and laid out the sites.

Sean noted that “Quock Walker, the Black Patriots of Lexington, and the Black History Portrait Banner honorees struggled with the world as it was to create the world that has come to be. ABCL’s programming brings their heroic actions out of the shadows of our historical knowledge. Partners like Follen’s Racial and Economic Justice Group help us demonstrate the presence of the past in our daily lives.”

Members of REJG researched, wrote, and produced “Slavery in Colonial Lexington,” a brochure that documents the existence of slavery in town and is distributed at the historic sites and the visitor center each year. Fourteen thousand brochures have been printed and distributed since 2020. Now in its 6th printing, it was the inspiration for sculptor Meredith Bergman’s depiction of childhood enslavement in the LexSeeHer monument. This brochure is picked up by thousands of local, national, and international visitors who come to Lexington each year to learn about the birthplace of the American Revolution. Many of them are surprised that slavery existed here.

Besides providing the brochure on slavery to the 3 historic sites operated by the Lexington History Museums, REJG has financially supported a number of LHM projects, including the Stopping Stones embedded in the bricks outside the Hancock Clarke House that identify 2 enslaved people, Jack and Dinah, who lived and worked there in the 18th century. In addition, Margaret provided expertise on Black history in Lexington that has been incorporated into the exhibits of the LHM’s newly opened museum in The Depot in Lexington Center.

Executive Director Trenton Carls remarked, “Lexington History Museums is incredibly grateful to Follen’s Racial and Economic Justice Group for their sustained support. Their contributions have helped make possible exhibitions and projects that examine Lexington’s histories of injustice and ongoing efforts toward equity, strengthening our ability to tell a more complete and inclusive story of our community.”

By taking an active role in the activities of these organizations, REJG has established Follen as a major supporter of racial and economic justice in Lexington.