Posts

Ricky Martin, meet George W. Bush: … George W. Bush, meet Ricky Martin.

What I saw today: … 70 pages of the original Dred Scott documents. A call for journalists to be scholars. Michael Bowen’s First Person Parables (Bowen was one of the first African-American personal home pages that I had the good fortune to run across). And Verne Gay’s recollection of the the Gulf War — it was 10 years ago today — through the eyes of CNN’s anchors.

The deed was done: … and now two hearts beat as one. < sniff, sniff > Somebody, pass me a tissue … < / sniff, sniff >

After last night: … I’m looking forward to going over some of the personal testimony offered in this page about diversity in Buddhist communities.

Before you begin reading the following personal statements we ask that you take a moment of reflection. Take some breaths and allow your mind to relax. Now imagine your Sangha, gathered in full, sitting and listening to a Dharma Talk. You are in the front looking out at a sea of faces. Who is there? What color are those faces? Do you see many faces of color? Do the color of these faces reflect the greater community in which your sangha lives? How do you feel about this? And how do you feel generally about people of color? Do you hold stereotypical ideas about some people of color? Do those stereotypes affect the way you deal with people of color? Please be honest with yourself. We do not ask these questions to encourage blame. We are all struggling with deep racial conditioning. By bringing light to this problem we hope to deepen the practice of Dharma for all beings.

A handy guide: … to black rage, not necessarily similar to what I felt when casting around for material about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., online and finding a David Duke autobiography, but close.