Racial Awakening for White-Bodied Folks

  • 14 Oct 2020
  • 6:00 PM - 7:15 PM
  • Online
  • 1

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Racial Awakening for White-Bodied Folks

6-week class: October 14-November 18

Wednesdays, 6-7:15pm on Zoom

with Liz Reynolds

“The history of white people has led them to a fearful, baffling place where they have begun to lose touch with reality - to lose touch, that is, with themselves…” -James Baldwin

Healing is learning to love the wound because love draws us into relationship with it instead of avoiding feeling the discomfort.” -Lama Rod Owens

How can the Buddha’s teachings on the Four Noble Truths, metta and external/internal mindfulness help to unmask and heal white folks’ societal and personal conditioning around racial separation in this country? Drawing from the intersection of contemplative practice and racial justice work, participants will investigate and reflect on the ways that white-body supremacy is reinforced and maintained in our lives, paying mindful attention to the wisdom our bodies have to share in the journey towards racial equity.

Our class time together will include sharing experiences and insights within the larger group, reflection in pairs, and guided mindfulness meditation. Homework will include practical reflections for journaling or discussion, as well as optional readings and podcasts. Registering for this class with a friend, partner or family member is encouraged - support and accountability in this work is invaluable!

This class is suitable for experienced as well as beginning meditators, and for white folks at all stages of racial awareness and awakening. Re-framing and building white community centered on justice work is a brave and necessary step forward (of many possible steps) for ourselves and for our country.

**50% of all proceeds from this class will be donated to the Jefferson School African-American Heritage Center in Charlottesville, VA. Please visit their website to learn more about their work and contribute to their mission.

Instructor Bio

Liz Reynolds has been studying the intersection of contemplative practice and racial justice for the past four years and facilitating class series on whiteness since 2018. Aiding her in this journey are her decade-long meditation practice and (an almost complete!) 3-year training program in the Alexander Technique. Participation in a long-standing white racial affinity group, under the leadership of Ruth King, has cemented the pursuit of social justice as a pillar of Liz’s spiritual practice. She is a teacher-in-training with the Insight Meditation Community of Charlottesville and grateful to the practices of so many contemplative artists there and around the country for nurturing these teachings.

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