Mindfulness practice is about seeing ourselves with ever greater clarity. What has come to light for many of us are the ways we have internalized racism and xenophobia. Our personal and collective blind spots are being exposed. We are waking up!
Let’s keep it that way!
Painful as this process is, it is necessary and useful to hold it in the light of mindfulness and practice being with the discomfort, caringly seeing what is hard to see, and working with what is hard to work with.
CHECK IN. Take stock of where you are and how you are feeling.
FEEL the discomfort, the anger, the sadness, the fear, grief, guilt, shame,
aversion, and embarrassment.
NOTICE the benefits and challenges of your IDENTITY(S);
no judgment, just notice.
CONSIDER how you wish to proceed,
what will lead to less harm, less suffering and more well-being?
ACT ACCORDINGLY...
We have been involved in educating ourselves about our own color-blindness and microaggressions over the past few years. There is still much to be done. It is a lifelong learning to awaken out of the veils of delusion that impede clear seeing and feeling.
Many of us received woefully inadequate education on the shadow-side of our country's legacy to date, and even though we have known racism existed, many of us have not acted enough on that awareness.
As U Tejaniya says, “Awareness is not enough”, but it is a necessary first step.
EDUCATE yourself!
TRAIN yourself to SEE the SIGNS of greed, hatred, and ignorance....gross to subtle.
TRAIN yourself to NOTICE your resistance and defensiveness and,
BE CURIOUS... wonder, consider, ponder opposing & similar views!
ATTUNE the heart to CARING ATTENTION often and,
ENACT COMPASSION - to others as to myself, to myself as to others.
STAY AWAKE to the insidious and destructive dynamic of “us” and “them”!
TAKE GOOD CARE of yourselves & SUPPORT each other in this endeavor!!
It is for your welfare;
it is for our welfare,
all of us, no one left out!!!
We are here. We are forever students of life and students of the Dharma.
We are doing this with all of you.
Thank you for your practice!
Warmly,
Bill & Susan
Resources
Below are some resources and links. These are by no means exhaustive but hopefully illuminating. We hope these are helpful as you navigate this landscape and engage in conversations in your communities.
SUPPORT Black Owned Businesses
Literary Hub (Black Owned Online Bookstores)
WORKSHOPS on Whiteness
VIDEOS related to Whiteness
Racial Justice - Van Jones
White Rage: The unspoken Truth of Our Nation's Divide - Carol Anderson
Amber Ruffin Share a Lifetime of Run-Ins with Police - Late Night with Seth Meyers
PODCAST on Race & Healing
Civil Conversations & Social Healing (a wealth of good listening)
WEBSITES for White Allies
BLACK DHARMA TEACHERS that speak to race
BOOKS
White Fragility -- Robin DiAngelo
Me and White Supremacy -- Layla F. Saad
How to Be an Antiracist--Ibram X. Kendi
So You Want to Talk About Race --Ijeoma Oluo
My Grandmother's Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies -- Resmaa Menakem
An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States -- Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower -- Brittney Cooper
Pleasure Activism: The Politics of Feeling Good -- adrienne maree brown
As Long As Grass Grows: The Indigenous Fight For Environmental Justice From Colonization To Standing Rock -- Dina Gilio-Whitaker
Thick: And Other Essays -- Tressie McMillan Cottom
Love & Rage -- Lama Rod Owens
Radical Dharma: Talking Race, Love, and Liberation --Jasmine Syedullah, Lama Rod Owens, and angel Kyodo Williams
ARTICLES of Interest
White Fragility Reading Guide - Özlem Sensoy and Robin DiAngelo
White Fragility Discussion Guide - Gail Forsythe-Vail
The Heart of the Uprising in Minneapolis - New Yorker Magazine
Bryan Stevenson The Frustration Behind the George Floyd Protests - New Yorker.com
Racial Justice - Skillful Action for a Path Forward - Plum Village
Decentering Whiteness - Jeff Hitchcock and Charley Flint
White Supremacy Culture & Antidotes - Tema Okun