Mindful of Race Program
Based on Mindful of Race by Ruth King
Please join us for a deep dive into racial awareness. Following suggestions from Ruth King’s book, Mindful of Race, we will form mindfulness-based Racial Affinity Groups for a yearlong commitment to explore, understand and awaken more deeply to our own racial conditioning with the intention of ‘reducing racial harm and increasing racial harmony from the inside out.’ (King, p. 167)
As Ruth King says:
There is no shift in consciousness around race without the grit that relating to each other makes possible. However, given the unintended harm caused from unawareness and cumulative impact when we gather across races, we need a different way, or perhaps an alternative way, to explore the ignorance and innocence of our racial conditioning and racial character with those of our same race. I recommend racial affinity groups (RAGs) as an ongoing form for investigating and transforming our individual and collective habits of harm.
In a RAG, we put ourselves in intentional spaces with people of our same race, where we can be safe enough to be vulnerable, challenged, and unedited; to examine the stories we have been told and the stories we tell ourselves; to lean towards what is unfamiliar and away from what is habitual; and to understand what is difficult to acknowledge, feel, and attend to within us and among us as a racial group.
RAGs offer a structure of inquiry and can address many needs. They support us in exploring what has been forbidden, forgotten, and unhealed. (King, p. 167)
The program will start with a half day retreat for setting up our small groups of 2 -7 people of same race, and possibly same gender. Groups can form themselves before the retreat, or individuals can sign up to be added to a group. Then each group will commit to a year of monthly meetings. In the beginning, each group will follow the format suggested by King’s book, and then will evolve according to that group's needs. The program will culminate in a half day closing retreat which will be organized out of suggestions from all the groups involved.
What: Mindful of Race Program
Who: Open to anyone with an on-going personal mindfulness practice willing to do the inner work of transforming hidden racial bias.
Cost: Donations appreciated to help support the time and effort to organize the program.
When: Online Opening Retreat Sun Oct 25th 9:30 - 12p, followed by monthly small group meetings for a year.
Commitment: Read Mindful of Race book, attend program opening retreat and participate at least monthly for a year with your small group.
To sign up, email Lindsay Bridges: [email protected].
Please include the following info:
Are you signing up as an individual and would like us to place you in a group?
If yes, please share your affinity race and gender. Are you open to a mixed gender group?
If signing up as a group, how many are in your group? (Recommendation is for groups from 2-7 members).
What are the other members’ emails so we can add them to the email list?
Is your group open to others who need a group? If yes, what is the affinity race and gender of your group? (Some groups might be mixed gender.)
As Ruth King says:
There is no shift in consciousness around race without the grit that relating to each other makes possible. However, given the unintended harm caused from unawareness and cumulative impact when we gather across races, we need a different way, or perhaps an alternative way, to explore the ignorance and innocence of our racial conditioning and racial character with those of our same race. I recommend racial affinity groups (RAGs) as an ongoing form for investigating and transforming our individual and collective habits of harm.
In a RAG, we put ourselves in intentional spaces with people of our same race, where we can be safe enough to be vulnerable, challenged, and unedited; to examine the stories we have been told and the stories we tell ourselves; to lean towards what is unfamiliar and away from what is habitual; and to understand what is difficult to acknowledge, feel, and attend to within us and among us as a racial group.
RAGs offer a structure of inquiry and can address many needs. They support us in exploring what has been forbidden, forgotten, and unhealed. (King, p. 167)
The program will start with a half day retreat for setting up our small groups of 2 -7 people of same race, and possibly same gender. Groups can form themselves before the retreat, or individuals can sign up to be added to a group. Then each group will commit to a year of monthly meetings. In the beginning, each group will follow the format suggested by King’s book, and then will evolve according to that group's needs. The program will culminate in a half day closing retreat which will be organized out of suggestions from all the groups involved.
What: Mindful of Race Program
Who: Open to anyone with an on-going personal mindfulness practice willing to do the inner work of transforming hidden racial bias.
Cost: Donations appreciated to help support the time and effort to organize the program.
When: Online Opening Retreat Sun Oct 25th 9:30 - 12p, followed by monthly small group meetings for a year.
Commitment: Read Mindful of Race book, attend program opening retreat and participate at least monthly for a year with your small group.
To sign up, email Lindsay Bridges: [email protected].
Please include the following info:
Are you signing up as an individual and would like us to place you in a group?
If yes, please share your affinity race and gender. Are you open to a mixed gender group?
If signing up as a group, how many are in your group? (Recommendation is for groups from 2-7 members).
What are the other members’ emails so we can add them to the email list?
Is your group open to others who need a group? If yes, what is the affinity race and gender of your group? (Some groups might be mixed gender.)