Many thanks to kyra for sharing please experiences have an important shift in our national memory .

del

 

From: OE <oe-bounces@lists.wedgeblade.net> On Behalf Of Lynda C via OE
Sent: Thursday, March 9, 2023 6:58 AM
To: OE List <OE@lists.wedgeblade.net>
Cc: Lynda C <lynda860@outlook.com>
Subject: [Oe List ...] FW: March Updates from Kaira Jewel- Selma

 

In case some of you aren’t on Kaira Jewel Lingo’s mailing list, you  will find this powerful article reminiscent of the work in Civil Rights that called us to work with the Ecumenical Institute in the 1960’s.   

 

Several years ago, at an Archives gathering, Doug Druckenmiller made a video of David Scott telling of this same event, assigned by JWM.   I don’t know if it has been posted or not.  If not, perhaps it can get on the list for the next sojourn. 

Hope many of you can be part of this “archeological dig” and spirit event.    Karen will have to remind us of the dates and details.   

 

Thanks to Kaira for sharing this event with her Dad and with us.   Thanks to Charles and David for being on the front lines of that historical event. 

 

Lynda

 

 

 

From: Lingo Kaira Jewell <info@kairajewel.com>
Reply-To: Lingo Kaira Jewell <info@kairajewel.com>
Date: Wednesday, March 8, 2023 at 12:35 PM
To: Lynda Cock <Lynda860@outlook.com>
Subject: March Updates from Kaira Jewel

 

 

March Newsletter
Woke up this mornin' with my mind stayin' on freedom

 

 

Dear friends,
I have just returned from Selma, Alabama, where I had the opportunity to celebrate the 58th anniversary of the March from Selma to Montgomery with my dad, brother and a sangha friend. It was particularly meaningful for me as my dad worked with Dr. King and the SCLC and was one of 2 white men marching across the bridge on Bloody Sunday, on March 7, 1965 (upon the insistence of Stokely Carmichael, later known as Kwame Ture). He also helped organize the march that the court allowed to proceed two weeks later. He searched along the route to find places for marchers to spend the night on their 5-day walk to Montgomery and went back after the march ended with a team to clean up those camping spots, mend fences and the like. As we drove from Montgomery to Selma early Sunday morning for the events, my dad also pointed out the place where Viola Liuzzo was murdered by Klansmen as she was driving marchers home from Montgomery after the march. I felt a chill run up my spine imagining the jubilation in the community after the march and how vulnerable they still were in the wake of such a victory. 

When we arrived in Selma for the Unity breakfast, we enjoyed a delicious Southern breakfast (truly the best grits ever!) as we heard from various dignitaries and civil rights leaders, like Jesse Jackson Sr. who spoke to the courage of the Selma freedom fighters from his wheelchair. Throughout the event there was a big focus on the need to restore and protect voting rights, the main aim of the original march in 1965. Speakers shared stories of their experiences at the march and also requested support of Selma after 40% of its residential homes were damaged by a tornado in early January this year. Selma was already a place in need before the tornado. In panels over the weekend we also learned that Selma may have been targeted for its key role in the civil rights movement and punished through deliberate withdrawal of businesses and a military base, leading to its economic downturn. Here is some information on how to support the city in the wake of the tornadoes.

We made a short visit to Sunday service at the First Baptist Church, where my dad recalled having meetings and gatherings in the basement to plan demonstrations. It was very meaningful to join the congregation in singing Lift Every Voice and Sing, often referred to as the 'Black national anthem.' A large and multiracial group of Boy Scouts from Birmingham, AL was in attendance as well as a group of some 30 white men from all over the country, from White Men for Racial Justice who were in Selma to commemorate the anniversary weekend. 

>From there we made a visit to the Selma cemetery and inadvertently ended up parking at a private portion of the public cemetery, the Confederate Memorial Circle, dedicated to honoring confederate soldiers. There were dozens of confederate flags waving from a patch of tombstones at the center of the circle. An older couple had also just arrived, in their separate vehicles, and were each setting up to care for the circle. The woman approached us and introduced herself the president of the Selma chapter of the Daughters of the Confederacy (the husband also later proudly declared his membership in the Sons of Confederate Veterans). She was wearing a "God save the South" t-shirt with an image of a soldier carrying a large confederate flag. It was quite a shock and huge contrast to the prior events of the day to listen, with as much presence as we could, to her effusive explanations of all the work they were doing to preserve and honor confederate history and all the many monuments the circle boasted, from a cannon on a pedestal used by the confederate army, to a monument for a confederate general that had been erected in a central location in Selma, but as the plaque in front of it stated, "Bowing to the protests of a few intolerant, self-styled activists, and under pressure from Selma's first Black mayor, the Selma City Council voted 5-4... to move the monument."

Seeing the confederate flags waving in the breeze, on her t-shirt and on the plaques and monuments surrounding us was dizzying and disturbing. I felt nauseous as we returned to the car. I wondered what kind of South she wanted God to save? The one where black men, women and children were dehumanized, stolen from, raped, brutalized and lynched with impunity? That is the South my great grandparents fled from, seeking asylum from racial terror in the North (though they could not escape it there, either). This history is powerfully captured in the newly-expanded Legacy Museum: From Enslavement to Mass Incarceration and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, located in Montgomery, AL, which documents over 4400 racial terror lynchings of Black people between 1877 and 1950, and all over the country, not just in the deep South.

As we left the cemetery we pondered the challenge we face, as individuals and as a country, to bring about true racial justice and healing when basic facts are not shared and the perception of reality and history is so fundamentally different that it appears unreconcilable.  

>From there we went on to the commemoration of the march itself and stood before the Edmund Pettus bridge listening to speeches, including by President Biden, who was introduced by Charles Mauldin, a dear friend of my dad's, who joined the Bloody Sunday march at the age of 16, and who has organized a Foot Soldier's Breakfast every year for decades in Selma to honor the foot soldiers of the Movement. While the bridge was named after a Grand Dragon of the Klu Klux Klan, we claimed it as ours as we walked, jubilantly, reverently in the footsteps of those brave heroes 58 years ago, singing 'Ain't gonna let nobody turn me 'round' and 'Woke up this mornin' with my mind, stayin' on freedom' and other songs of the movement. There was such a joy and power walking among a group of thousands of people honoring this decisive moment in US history that helped lead to the passing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. And we walked mindfully, aware of how much was sacrificed then for us to be able to walk in dignity today. I felt Thay, Thich Nhat Hanh, walking with us, as we treasured each step and the freedom we could walk with, deeply alive and treasuring each moment. 
 

Bowing to Buddhist monastics walking on the bridge, who were chanting and drumming
 

And there is still much that needs to be protected and fought for. We know the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act in 2013. Although the John Lewis Voting Rights Act passed in Congress in 2021 it has been blocked in the Senate. Many groups are doing important work to protect voting rights. Check out The Voting Rights Alliance, the Poor People's Campaign, and a list of other ways to get involved here.

The trip was made even more special by having lunch with the Honorable Andrew Young the following day, just before I had to catch a plane back to New York, who was also part of the march from Selma to Montgomery. He was executive director of the SCLC and close confidant to Dr. King and went onto serve as Ambassador to the UN and mayor of Atlanta. He is also a close friend of my father and our family and I have been fortunate to grow up spending time with him and his family. He shared over lunch that he still remembered Thay talking to Dr. King about the war in Vietnam in 1966 and how Dr. King and his staff were all in a kind of trance as Thay explained the meaning of the self-immolations of Buddhist monastic and lay practitioners, and how they were not suicides. See the picture of the three of us at the end of this email. 

Thank you for sharing in this profound Civil Rights experience with me by reading and holding this story with me. 

~ ~ ~

Below is information on my upcoming online and in-person retreats, courses and events, plus further resources and talks I have offered recently. I'm happy to be offering more in-person events locally this spring! (Including at Adelphi University in Garden City this Thursday--tomorrow!)

May we all keep our minds stayin' on freedom for ourselves, our communities, our nation and our world, including all the more than human species.
in solidarity,
Kaira Jewel

 

 

Some of my upcoming retreats:
 

May 16 - 21, 2023 Garrison Institute: “I’ve Got the Power!” 
Claiming and Strengthening Our True Power A Retreat for the BIPOC Community with Dr. Marisela Gomez and Kaira Jewel Lingo. In person

August 28 - September 3, 2023 Rocky Mountain Ecodharma Retreat Center: Belonging to Each Other: Falling in Love with Mother Earth Together BIPOC Ecodharma retreat with Kritee Kanko and Kaira Jewel Lingo. In person


November 3 - 6, 2023 Barre Center for Buddhist Studies: Sacred Justice for Our World: Embodying Compassion and Equanimity with Konda Mason and Kaira Jewel Lingo. In person
 

Save the date for these upcoming retreats: 


September 15 - 17, 2023 Omega Institute: Weekend retreat open to everyone, with Dr. Larry Ward and Kaira Jewel Lingo. In person 

 

 

“I’ve Got the Power!” 
Claiming and Strengthening Our True Power
A Retreat for the BIPOC Community with Kaira Jewel and Dr. Marisela Gomez 

Hosted by Garrison Institute 
More info here
May 16 - 21, 2023
In person retreat

 

 

Radical Aliveness in a More than Human World
Kaira Jewel Lingo will be co-facilitating the US retreat with Kritee Kanko

Hosted by Rocky Mountain Ecodharma Retreat Center
More info here
May 22 - 29, 2023
In person retreat
This is a Kincentric Leadership retreat as part of an 18-month training program. Find out more at: www.kincentricleadership.org 

 

 

Sacred Justice for Our World: Embodying Compassion and Equanimity 
with Kaira Jewel and Konda Mason 


Barre Center for Buddhist Studies

This retreat will support and resource activists and community organizers, as well as practitioners looking to engage more directly in justice work as spiritual practice.

More info here
November 3 - 6, 2023
In person retreat

 

 

Some of my upcoming talks:

Ongoing every Thursday at noon ET: Weekly BIPOC Meditation Sangha Online
Warm invitation to Black/Indigenous/People of Color (which has been meeting for 2.5 years!) to join for an hour of meditation, teaching and sharing with Kaira Jewel and Marisela Gomez, who alternate teaching every Thursday from 12-1pm ET. By donation. More info here. To register here.

Thursday, March 9, 2023, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm. Mindfulness and Compassion in Our Daily Life. Adelphi University, Ruth S. Harley University Center, Room 324 In person

Wednesday, March 15, 2023, 1 - 2  p.m., A conversation on Climate Grief, hosted by Good Grief Network and Reimagine. Online

Wednesday, March 22, 2023, 6 p.m., Wednesday Morning Meditation, hosted by Spirit Rock. Register here. Online

Thursday, March 30, 2023, 1pm ET. Rubin Museum Mindfulness Meditation Manhattan, NYC In Person

Monday, April 3, 2023, 5 p.m., Smith College Presidential Colloquium Speaker Series, Campus Center Carroll Room. More info here. In person

 

 

Let’s TAKE ACTION: Transforming Climate Grief into Growth

A dialogue between Good Grief Network’s LaUra Schmidt and I, to inspire action and growth as we confront climate change.
Hosted by Good Grief Network and Reimagine
Wednesday, March 15, 2023, 1 - 2 pm ET

More info and to RSVP here.
online 

 

 

Recent podcasts

 

 


 

For the podcast website. 
 

"Friends, here is the latest episode of the Encountering Silence podcast. This episode features a conversation the Encountering Silence team had last year with Buddhist author Kaira Jewel Lingo."

 

 

You can hear more podcasts on my website here
or my YouTube channel here.

 

 

Buddhist-Christian Community
of Meditation and Action

With Kaira Jewel Lingo and Father Adam Bucko
Please join us on Tuesday, March 28, 2023, 8:00 - 9:30 pm ET 

Register here
 

          I co-teach this group with my partner, Father Adam Bucko, a Christian contemplative and an Episcopal priest. We meet to deepen our study and application of the rich and diverse Buddhist and Christian contemplative practices and how these can support engaged spirituality, or what Andrew Harvey terms sacred activism, “a transforming force of compassion-in-action that is born of a fusion of deep spiritual knowledge, courage, love, and passion, with wise radical action in the world.”
          Sessions begin with a contemplative practice or meditation, followed by a teaching or dialogue with a guest visitor, and end with conversation and Q&A. 
You are welcome to join our next gathering. Everyone is welcome, of all religious or spiritual backgrounds or none. When you register, you will also have access to the recording of the gathering a week or so later.

          Monthly gatherings are offered on a give-what-you-can donation basis. All donations go to supporting the growth of this community. 

 

 

We Were Made for These Times
Audiobook Available on Audible.com

Read by me!
Available also at your favorite book seller. 

For audiobook use these online bookstores:
Worldwide: Audible
US: Apple, Kobo, Storytel, Scribd, Spotify, Libro.fm, Google Audiobook, Barnes and Nobles, BooksAMillion
Australia: Booktopia
Italy: Ibs
international: Bookbeat
UK: Love Reading

 

US: Support your local bookstore at Indie Bound or Bookshop.org or direct from Parallax Press, the publishing house of Plum Village You can also pre-order from Penguin Random House or Amazon. Here's a great site with black-owned bookstores and other black-own businesses. Or support your local bookstore. Or check out Kaira Jewel's website for other countries here. Be sure to scroll down and look on the left side.

 

 

The Honorable Andrew Young, my dad, Al Lingo, and me, just this past weekend in Atlanta, a few days before Andrew Young's 91st birthday.

 

SUPPORT KAIRA JEWEL

 

You are invited to support Kaira Jewel's work to continue to offer transformational teachings to diverse groups of people. Thank you!

 

Donate

CONNECT WITH KAIRA JEWEL

 

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