Fellowship Program – Cohort 2
Introduction
The BIPOC Intergenerational Justice and Healing Fellowship will train and support a cohort of emerging leaders — BIPOC intergenerational spiritual activists — in their aspirations and community-building work.
Fellows will gain the skills necessary to dismantle structures of racial and social inequity and build structures of equity in the domains of their choosing. The foundational practice of mindfulness and healing will undergird the training of sixteen BIPOC intergenerational adults.
The fellowship is organized as a 7-month-long training and mentoring program led by BIPOC core teachers, Kaira Jewel Lingo and Marisela Gomez.
The Beginning
We take inspiration from the work of our teacher, Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, who during the Vietnam War gathered activists for regular periods of mindfulness practice to renew themselves individually and as a beloved community as they helped communities rebuild in the face of untold suffering.
We also take inspiration from various BIPOC-led movements that have addressed systemic racial and social inequity, like the Civil Rights Movement, Black Feminist Movement, Farm Workers Movement, Housing Affordability, Land Liberation (including Standing Rock), BIPOC Mindfulness, and others.
Program Purpose:
This program is focused on training activists and folks interested in collective leadership in our Garrison BIPOC sangha. The purposes of the Program are:
– To support activists to deepen their daily spiritual practice
– To train participants to take a leadership role in facilitating the Garrison BIPOC meditation sangha
– To build community
– To attend the May Garrison BIPOC retreat, which is the celebrative culmination of the program
Program Requirements:
– Practicing for at least 6 months with the Garrison BIPOC sangha
– Received 5 MTs or planning to receive in the next year
– Completed study and practice of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness sutra
– Commitment to attend Garrison BIPOC meditation sangha ongoing
– Attend all scheduled activities
This project will build political, economic, spiritual and cultural power for BIPOC communities in two ways:
Empowering Intergenerational BIPOC Communities through Spirituality and Compassionate Action
By nurturing and supporting a core group of intergenerational BIPOC (people from different ages and generations within the Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities and encouraging them in their community organizing grounded in a spiritual practice and compassionate perspective.
Cultivating Mindfulness and Social Justice
What we learn in the seven months will be applied to offering future mindfulness, and social justice change grounded in love.
Many activists these days are, understandably, challenged not to give in to despair or anger in the face of multiple and ongoing injustices. A core group of committed, strategic, and compassionate activists can influence many of their peers and model the steadiness and compassion from which transformative action can arise.
Our intention is that this cohort will provide mentorship for subsequent cohorts to continue to build compassionate communities able to resist injustice and build from a place of love. We believe in the intergenerational transmission of strength, resilience, and leadership as a path toward remediating trauma.