The following notes were shared following a class presentation.
The've been reordered and made public in case they can possibly help anyone advance in personal resolve or knowledge about racism or even colorism. Out of context, these notes might not make much sense. Please let me know if you have questions.
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As we closed our small group presentation we shared a meditation written by Ruth King and found in her book, Mindful of Race.
Her last words to us before the book's closing meditation were,
"This book is just a beginning, designed for as much impact as a book can have given the limits of its pages. The rest is practice—practice that transforms racism from the inside out.
"One last thing: don’t be afraid of getting your heart broken. Do your work, say your prayers, then do your best. Grieve, rest, keep hate at bay, and join with others for refuge. Don’t get too far ahead of now!
"This moment is enough to digest. Sit, breathe, open, Don’t be a stranger to moments of freedom that may be flirting with you. Allow racial distress to teach you how to be more human. Sit in the heat of it until your heart is both warmed and informed, then make a conscious choice to be a light."
May we understand and transform racial habits of harm.
May we understand that we belong to each other.
May we grow in our awareness that what we do can help or hinder racial well-being.
May our thoughts and actions reflect the world we want to live in and leave behind.
May we heal the seeds of separation inherited from our ancestors in gratitude for this life.
May all beings, without exception, benefit from our growing awareness.
May our thoughts and actions be ceremonies of well-being for all races.
May we honor being diverse racial beings among the human race, and beyond race.
May we meet the racial cries of the world with as much wisdom and grace as we can muster.
King, R. (2018). Mindful of race: Transforming racism from the inside out. Sounds True, Inc.
Thank you, Ruth King!
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Earlier in our presentation we discussed some of the fascinating, important works of
Angélica Dass' photographic and social project called Humanae.
Our talk today was prompted by her TED talk, The Beauty of Skin in Every Color. It's a worthy listen and sets the scene for her creation on Humanae.
Pages scanned from her book, The Colors We Share, follow below:
https://angelicadass.com/photography/humanae/
Dass, A (2021). The colors we share. Aperture.
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To our MBSR Foundations Class --
Having just attended our team's presentation this afternoon, we invite you to continue journaling and continue discussing the concepts evoked by Angélica Dass' TED talk and your responses to them.
We invite you to continue exploring the concepts of unconscious bias:
How you might be able to identify it in yourself?
How you can respond to it?
How you can be alert to it going forward?
Also, is racism always about race? Is colorism always about color?
Do you identify with any experiences or uneasy feelings with either concept?
Last, you're invited to consider when you did not feel a sense of belonging, and instead felt "other."
How did it feel?
What can we do to invite and welcome all to a strong sense of belonging?
What can we do to foster a sense of belonging for ourselves?
We mentioned the possibility of re-envisioning Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.
Having a sense of belonging is now seen as a fundamental human need, increasingly understood as fulfilling an essential role in our ability to thrive and reach self-actualization or liberation. When looking at Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, we usually find “Love and Belonging” listed on the middle of five tiers.
The conventional five tier graphic is shown below.
We also included a re-envisioned Hierarchy of Needs for you to ponder in your journaling and conversations.
Would you propose a different model?
Even Maslow did not assign a strict linear order to the content within the Hierarchy of Needs and he never actually presented the listing as a graphic – just text, leaving room for some fluidity of ranking.
Our source for the graphic above: ThoughtCo's Hierarchy of Needs graphic
Some in theorists from different fields have proposed that the need for love and belonging should be moved to the base of the triangle as we depict this list of needs going forward.|
One possibility of re-envisioning Maslow's work is immediately below.
How do the changes sit with you?
Are all of these humans needs necessarily hierarchical?
Would you propose a different model?
How fundamental are love and a sense of belonging?
Respectfully presented and submitted by Team 3.
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