What does it mean to put our faith into action?
A recent example of Letting Our Lives Speak was our bus trip to the People’s March in Washington, D.C., sponsored by Stony Run Friends Meeting (SRFM), two days before the presidential inauguration. On this chilly, rainy day, 54 people put their everyday lives on hold to face an uncomfortable and potentially dangerous situation.
Inclusion: Facing the current headwinds against diversity, equity, and inclusion, participants in this action ranged from 13 to 80-something, and reflected Baltimore’s panoply of faith traditions, races, genders, ethnicities, and concerns.
The bus, funded by Stony Run Friends Meeting's FRAUC (Funds, Review and Use Committee), was free to riders. In addition to Quakers from SRFM and Homewood, riders came from the Interfaith Coalition for Black Lives (IC4BL), the North Baltimore Mennonite Church, Be the Change, Women in Black, and Park and Friends schools.
Your SRFM donations at work: FRAUC funding criteria includes "nurture," which is usually given to individuals for spiritual growth, such as attendance at a Pendle Hill workshop. Maria Brown, clerk of Stony Run's Peace and Justice Committee, submitted Stony Run Member Ann Kehinde’s request to FRAUC, which approved the expenditure.
Nonviolence: Given the violent history of some people who categorize themselves as MAGA, Ann thought it prudent to offer a training in nonviolent de-escalation before the March. "Fundamentals of Nonviolence" was co-sponsored by the Baltimore PeaceBuilders, a project of the Central Maryland Ecumenical Council (CMEC) and the IC4BL. The trainer, Tarek Maassarani, from the DC Peace Team, held an interactive workshop that was attended by more than 20 people. It was held at the Gwynn Oak United Methodist Church, presided over by the Rev. Dellyne Hinton, in a room that was filled to capacity.
Making Our Voices Heard: At the March, Saratu Kehinde was interviewed by TeenVogue. Here is an excerpt from the article, "Ahead of the Trump Inauguration, Young People Take to the Streets in DC to Protest."*
"'A huge part of what makes me passionate is talking about healthcare rights,' Kehinde said. 'I also believe that our institution of healthcare has been riddled with racism for far too long and the outcome is lower life expectancies, lack of care for those of the lowest income, marginalized groups, LGBT, people of color, the disabled as well.’
To push back against Trump's administration, Kehinde highlighted the importance of prioritizing education for younger voters, particularly younger male voters.
'We saw that there was a huge shift between 2020 to now in voting statistics for them, so a lot of it is education,' she said."
Although participation at the 2025 People’s March was nowhere near the monumental 2017 Women’s March, tens of thousands from around the country attended. While there were some hecklers and attendees observed a man with a gun who was surrounded by police, the March was overwhelmingly peaceful.
“Attending the People’s March was motivating, but the real benefit will be if it strengthens connections between those who attended and inspires them to take concrete actions against unjust policies in the next four years,” said organizer Ann Kehinde.
Supporting the Community: While there was no fee to ride the bus, we collected donations from riders to provide a tip to the driver. Enough money was contributed to allow us to share an additional $200 to Our Community Serving Others, a nonprofit food pantry at St. Matthews UMC in Turner Station, which serves residents in both Baltimore County and City.
Our thanks to those who planned, funded, and attended this important activity.
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*To read the entire TeenVogue article, visit https://www.teenvogue.com/story/trump-inauguration-young-people-protest.





