People of color (POC) make up about 30 percent of the United States’ population, yet account for 60 percent of those imprisoned. Bureau of Justice Statistics indicate that one in three black men can expect to go to prison in their lifetime. Black and Native American children have the lowest rates of upward economic mobility while black and Latino two-parent families have half the wealth of white single parent families.
We know these statistics. We know people of color (POC) communities are impacted. But how do we assess the damage of internalized racism that is eating POC from the inside and the daily barrage of racist microaggressions doing their work from the outside? We may hear the names and the stories and see the headlines of some of those most directly impacted by racist actions, but most of us who are directly impacted by systematic racism and oppression go unnamed.
As POC, we are conditioned to take on racism, internalize it and have it impact our self-worth. We then turn it on people of our own race/ethnicity, those of other communities, and ourselves.
This is an invitation for those who identify as people of color to attend this day-long retreat on healing from the internalized racism that debilitates and keeps us from showing up fully and beautifully.
The retreat offers mindfulness practices in the Plum Village tradition founded by Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh, and includes mindful breathing, mindful sitting, mindful walking, mindful eating, mindful speaking and listening, quiet reflection, small and large group dialogue, and deep relaxation.
Register here: https://zmm.org/our-programs-2/575/healing-the-wounds-of-racism/