In September of 2019 author and Professor Rhonda Magee, JD published an article that summarized her newly released book, The Inner Work of Racial Justice: Healing Ourselves and Transforming our Communities through Mindfulness. She is a Professor of Law at the University of San Francisco and is also Chair of the Board of the Center for Contemplative Mind in Society, a member of the Project for Integration of Spirituality, Law and Politics, and a contributor to Mindful.org.
Our world is challenging us each day with what we are witnessing with the media in regards to racial inequality and the injustices that people of color continue to face – we see peaceful protests supporting black lives matter joined by officers and at the same time we continue to see those who diminish the movement, share comments on all lives should matter and express worry that the police are targeted and put at risk each day to keep protesters from getting out of hand. More individuals, communities and businesses are engaging in dialogue that supports understanding of policies that promote systemic racism. Last week we saw Nascar remove the display of the Confederate Flag at all racing events in support of recognizing the harm in hanging a flag that represents the enslavement of people of color.
Rhonda’s book highlights how we can better engage with the world to create a culture on how we can all live together, be seen for who we are, and learn how to grow and thrive together. She shares techniques on mindfulness that can help us engage better with each other when we practice self- care for ourselves. She also highlights how mindfulness can also help us deepen our reflective process of empathy to help us better engage in our communities, particularly when we hear, see, or witness racial inequity. She refers to mindfulness and meditation as; “Mindfulness meditation may hold the key to grappling with interpersonal racism, says Rhonda Magee, because it helps people tolerate the discomfort that comes with deeper discussions about race. And it can help cultivate a sense of belonging and community for those who experience and fight racism in our everyday lives.” Rhonda also addresses how mindfulness can help work through our implicit bias and to better understand the narrative of the past and to help reshape the future together.
Resources that highlight the work of Mindfulness Approaches to Help with Racial Inequality:
For a full copy of the article please click on the following link:
https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_to_fight_racism_through_inner_work
Mindfulness and Presence-Based Approaches to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Racial Justice
https://www.rhondavmagee.com
A Mindful Approach to Race and Social Justice with Rhonda Magee, Jon Kabat-Zinn, and Anderson Cooper
https://youtu.be/1DPw09eTa7o
https://www.rhondavmagee.com/my-book/
THE INNER WORK OF RACIAL JUSTICE
Healing Ourselves and Transforming Our Communities Through Mindfulness
This post was brought to you by:
Melissa C Schroeder
Youth and Family Program Director
mcs35@cornell.edu
