Archive
LA Times: Nalika Gajaweera on How Buddhists Are Responding to Anti-Asian Violence
The March 16, 2021 killing of six women of Asian descent and two others brought Asian Buddhists together across lineages and communities to confront anti-Asian hate. A year later, the LA Times …
Student Reflection: Researching Healing Justice with Dignity and Power Now
By Addison Baker Addison Baker is an undergraduate student at The University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington. Addison spent time researching the Black Lives Matter movement, along with healing modalities and …
ABC7: Najuma Smith-Pollard on Black History Month
CRCC’s Rev. Dr. Najuma Smith-Pollard was interviewed on ABC7 News about Black History Month. “It’s about having the mindset of we and us, not just me and myself alone,” Smith-Pollard said. “Black …
For Covering and Joy: A Prayer for Black History Month
Najuma Smith-Pollard helped University of Southern California kick off Black History Month with a prayer for the university-wide event, “Black Joy: Embracing Health and Vitality.” Watch the prayer or read the full …
Community Storytelling for Policy Change: 30th anniversary of LA Civil Unrest
In times of turmoil, storytelling can be a catalyst for policy change as well as a symbol for healing and resistance. As we recognize the 30th anniversary of the Los Angeles Uprising, …
Carmen Santiago Alonso: In Oaxaca, Indigenous Farmers Mourn Catholic Activist
This article was originally published by Religion News Service, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality. OAXACA, Mexico (RNS) — At Carmen Santiago Alonso’s funeral on Feb. 7, the …
CBS2 and Spectrum News 1: Najuma Smith-Pollard on Martin Luther King Day Jr.
CRCC’s Najuma Smith-Pollard was featured on CBS2 and Spectrum News 1’s “In Focus SoCal” to talk about how Los Angeles communities are continuing the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Speaking …
Buddhadharma: Reclaiming Our So-Called “Cultural Baggage”
This article was originally published by Buddhadharma: The Practitioner’s Quarterly. You can often hear Western meditation-based convert circles use the term “cultural baggage” to refer to the ritualized acts, cosmological ideas, and …
Russell Jeung: He Started A Movement to #StopAAPIHate
This radio documentary was originally produced by KALW’s The Spiritual Edge, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality. To hear this and other profiles, subscribe to The Spiritual Edge podcast …
Bishop Isaiah: The Bishop, the Art school and the Conflict Zone
This article was originally published on Eurasianet, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality. In the village of Zemo Nikozi, reminders of the 2008 war are hard to hide. …
Creating Safe(r) Spaces for Mindfulness of Breath: Experiences of Race in American Mindfulness
CRCC’s Nalika Gajaweera presented her research on how people of color experience race in mindfulness communities that are predominantly white at the Buddhism and Breath Summit. The Buddhism and Breath Summit was …
An Interfaith Dialogue on the Crisis Care Needs of Faith Communities
Faith leaders share about the behavioral health crises affecting diverse faith communities and the critical role they play as a support system during times of crisis. This panel was a part of …
Why the Black Church Should Support Asian Lives Matter
The below post was originally published by The Christian Recorder and The LA Sentinel. The Rev. Mark Whitlock wrote it with Hyepin Im, CEO of FACE and an alum of the USC …
Why a Complaint Collective in Buddhist Studies?
CRCC Fellow Ann Gleig discusses speaks as a part of a series called Step Forward, in which scholars of Buddhist Studies discuss the academic culture of the field, focusing primarily on histories …
#BuddhistCultureWars: Buddhabros, Alt-Right Dharma, and Snowflake Sanghas
This article appeared in the Journal of Global Buddhism Vol 22, No 1 (2021) and was co-authored by Ann Gleig and Brenna Artinger. Abstract While often associated with a liberal demographic, the …
Sitting in the Fire Together: People of Color Cultivating Radical Resilience in North American Insight Meditation
This article appeared in the Journal of Global Buddhism’s Special Issue on Buddhism and Resilience, Vol 22, No 1 (2021), co-edited by Nalika Gajaweera. Abstract Drawing upon ethnographic research conducted in California …
Journal of Global Buddhism: Special Issue on Buddhism and Resilience
Nalika Gajaweera co-edited a special issue of the Journal of Global Buddhism on Buddhism and Resilience with Darcie DeAngelo. Below is an excerpt of their introduction along with a list of articles …
Umar Hakim: Humanitarian Day Reborn for a Ramadan in a Pandemic
This article was originally published in The Washington Post and Religion News Service, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality. Last year, Ramadan ended just days before the murder …
Rev. Najuma Smith-Pollard on Chauvin Trial
Religious leaders anticipated and responded to the verdict in the trial of Derek Chauvin in the killing of George Floyd in Minnesota. Rev. Najuma Smith-Pollard, program manager for the USC Cecil Murray Center …
In Wake of Chauvin Trial, What Can Faith Leaders Learn From the Rodney King LA Civil Unrest?
This article was originally published in Religion News Service and The Washington Post. As the U.S. reacts to the guilty verdict in the trial of Derek Chauvin, many are wary of violence …