On the Inner Work of Racial Justice

Submitted by the Event Organizer

In a society where unconscious bias, microaggressions, institutionalized racism, and systemic injustices are deeply ingrained, healing is an ongoing process. When conflict and division are everyday realities, our instincts tell us to close ranks, to find the safety of those like us, and to blame others. Author, meditation teacher, and law professor Rhonda Magee teaches that in order to have the difficult conversations required for working toward racial justice, inner work is essential.

Through the practice of embodied mindfulness—paying attention to our thoughts, feelings, and physical sensations in an open, nonjudgmental way—we increase our emotional resilience, recognize our own biases, and become less reactive when triggered. Rhonda teaches that embodied mindfulness calms our fears and helps us to exercise self-compassion. These practices help us to slow down and reflect on microaggressions—holding them with some objectivity and distance—rather than bury unpleasant experiences so they have a cumulative effect over time.

Through her work and her writing, Rhonda helps us develop the capacity to address the fears and anxieties that would otherwise lead us to re-create patterns of separation and division. By healing from injustices and dissolving our personal barriers to connection, we can develop the ability to view others with compassion, and to live in community with people of vastly different backgrounds and viewpoints. In Rhoda’s latest book, The Inner Work of Racial Justice, she incorporates mindfulness exercises, research, and her own hard-won insights to offer us a road map to a more peaceful world.

Join CIIS Director of Diversity and Inclusion Rachel Bryant in a conversation about Rhoda’s life and work, her latest book, and learn how mindfulness can heal ourselves, and transform our communities.

Disclaimer: Please double check event information with the event organizer as events can be canceled, details can change after they are added to our calendar, and errors do occur.