1/14/2024 0 Comments Blm rest in powerIn interviews, movement leaders described honoring their body, mind and soul as an act of resilience. On July 26, 2020, they held a virtual event called Calm-Unity, to remind people that “without healing there is no justice.” Classes included yoga, meditation, African dance, Chinese medicine, and altar making. She advocates that “movements themselves have to be healing, or there’s no point to them.” ‘Without healing, no justice’īLM-affiliated organizations utilize spiritual tools such as meditation, reiki, acupuncture, plant medicine, chanting, and prayer, along with other African and Indigenous spiritualities to connect and care for those directly impacted by state violence and white supremacy.įor instance, Dignity and Power Now or DPN, an organization founded by Cullors in Los Angeles in 2012, hosts almost weekly wellness clinics on Sundays, often referred to as “ church” by attendees. Crime is taken to be a community problem to be solved through mutual understanding, as often seen in work to decriminalize sex work and drug addiction.īLM affiliated organizer Cara Page, who coined the term “ healing justice,” did so in response to watching decades of activists commit themselves completely to social justice causes to the detriment of their physical and mental health. With roots in the Quaker tradition, it approaches harms committed as an opportunity for education. Transformative justice, central to the beliefs of many in the BLM movement, is a philosophic approach to peacemaking. The movement is committed to spiritual principles, such as “ healing justice” – which uses a range of holistic approaches to address trauma and oppression by centering emotional and spiritual well-being – and “ transformative justice” which assists with creating processes to repair harm without violence.īlack Lives Matter protesters pray near the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. In an interview with Cullors, Hersey said she considers human bodies as “sites of liberation” that connect Black Americans to the “creator, ancestors, and universe.” She describes rest as a spiritual practice for community healing and resistance and naps as “ healing portals.” Hersey connects this belief to her upbringing in the Black Pentecostal Church of God in Christ, where, she explained, “I was able to see the body being a vehicle for spirit.” Theologian Tricia Hersey, known as the “ Nap Bishop,” a nod to her Divinity degree and her work advocating for rest as a form of resistance, founded the BLM affiliated organization, The Nap Ministry in 2016. ![]() As Cullors explained to us, “The fight to save your life is a spiritual fight.” Drawing on Native American, Buddhist and mindfulness traditions, her syncretic spiritual practice is fundamental to her work. Cullors grew up as a Jehovah’s Witness, and later became ordained in Ifà, a west African Yoruba religion. Since its inception, BLM organizers have expressed their founding spirit of love through an emphasis on spiritual healing, principles, and practices in their racial justice work.īLM leaders, such as co-founder Patrisse Cullors, are deeply committed to incorporating spiritual leadership. ![]() We need to love ourselves and fight for a world where black lives matter. “We don’t deserve to be killed with impunity. On J– the day of the acquittal of George Zimmerman, who had killed an unarmed black teenage named Trayvon Martin – soon-to-be BLM co-founder Alicia Garza, posted “ A Love Letter to Black People” on Facebook. A love letterīlack Lives Matter was born from a love letter. Inspiring other religious allies seeking inclusivity. What we found was that BLM was not only a movement seeking radical political reform, but a spiritual movement seeking to heal and empower while Since 2015 we have interviewed BLM leaders and organizers as well as Buddhist leaders inspired by the movement. For the past few years, we have been observing the way the movement and affiliated organizations express faith and spirituality. As scholars of religion, we believe such views fail to acknowledge – let alone engage with – the rich spiritual and religious pluralism of Black Lives Matter.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |