The Call

Racism remains one of the most rooted and painful impasses of our time. It's fed through unawareness and the misuse of power. Embedded in racism is the skeletal shape of oppression. To discern the dynamics of racism and the flesh we put on its bones is to also discern other forms of oppression and our relationship to differences, divisions, and diversity. Understanding how we have been conditioned to think and react is at the root of both racial harm and racial wellbeing. Groups and organizations committed long-term to cultivating racial self-awareness and mindful leadership will be inspired to respond to this call.

The aim of the Mindful of Race Training Program is not to encourage the cosmetics of racial inclusion, the tokenism that often go with "flavors of the month" training, or to address a crisis. Rather it offers a gradual process for understanding our racial programing, its impact, and our potential. Together we create a vital and supportive learning community where we become more aware of our racial conditioning, discover how to deconstruct habits of harm, embody racial wellness and responsibility, and contribute to a culture of care.

The Program

The Mindful of Race Training Program is designed as a cultural change initiative for groups and organizations. The power of the Mindful of Race Training Program is that it builds over time, supporting the development and integration of three crucial competencies: racial awareness, mindfulness meditation, and leadership. This program unfolds over 12-months and consists of:

• A 4 1/2-day training intensive for up to 20 participants
• 9 peer-led Racial Affinity Group monthly meetings
• 3 two-hour zoom sessions with combined Racial Affinity Groups, facilitated by Ruth King or her associates, to leverage learning and integrate insights across groups

This 12-month program is grounded in Ruth King's publication, Mindful of Race: Transforming Racism from the Inside Out, her professional background in leadership and organizational development and diversity program design, as well as her extensive experience as a mindfulness meditation teacher.

Racial Framework

Unique to this training is the infusion of the Integral Matters Framework: Thriving on Difference, developed by Drs. Barbara E. Riley and Delyte Frost of The Chambers Group, LLC. This model supports an examination of differences and its power dynamics from three levels of experience: individual, group, and institution, and the dominant and subordinated dynamics of oppression embedded in our mind that is reflected in our actions. This framework was modified to focus exclusively on race through the lens of mindfulness and incorporates Ruth King’s extensive background in the design of diversity training programs for leadership teams and organizations throughout the world.

Mindfulness Framework

Mindfulness principles and meditation are also core to this training. Ruth King and her associates have extensive experience in the Mindfulness (Insight) Meditation tradition. With mindfulness practices, we learn to stay present to what’s here and now, and to what’s difficult, with caring and wise awareness as we investigate our “individual” and “collective” racial conditioning and its “systemic” proliferation. It helps us put a critical pause between our impulsive and often overwhelming feelings of being wronged, harmed, or threatened. In this pause, we gain perspective; we find our breath, our heartbeat, and the ground beneath our feet. This pause supports us in examining our thoughts and feelings, seeing our choices more clearly, and responding wisely. Mindfulness further supports a shift from us simply receiving information in the training to integrating awareness into our lives.

Racial Affinity Group Development Framework

Core to the Mindful of Race Training Program is the formation of Racial Affinity Groups (RA Groups), a mindfulness structure that deepens understanding and integration of knowledge gained in the training.

RA Groups are formed during the 4.5-day training. Participants commit to attending 9 peer-led sessions over a 12-month period responding to specific questions that deepen understanding of racial conditioning and group development.

The RA Group is a mindfulness practice. The quality of sharing and depth of connection experienced by each participant largely depends on how successfully each RA Group navigates three predictable stages of group life: Inclusion, Control, and Belonging. For this reason, a RA Group framework is provided in the 4.5-day training for examining both our racial conditioning and group life experiences.

Commitment to this structure is crucial for group cohesion, focus, and growth. Learning is both heightened and accelerated in RA Groups as we use each other to wake up, come out of hiding, and discover our impact on others and ourselves.

In this 12-month cycle following the training, every 4th month, all RA Groups reconvene to share insights, be supported, and leverage learning.

RA Groups allow for a rare opportunity to live an experience dedicated to racial awareness and genuine connection with members of our own race, while also ripening our capacity to engage across race.

Program Outcomes

Participants in this program develop the following awareness skills:

• Recognize the ways in which our racial history shapes our perception of others and ourselves
• Become aware of the construction of oppression and our role in it
• Discover how our unconscious racial views are expressed in our lives
• Become more sensitive to individual and racial group impact
• Discern how mindfulness supports racial awareness and group wellbeing
• Elevate our understanding of power and influence
• Wake up to micro and macro-aggressions
• Soften the grip of anger, guilt and fear, and use discomfort to clarify intention
• Identify our most sensitive “activation points” and tend to them with wise care

In this training, we aim our energy toward awareness, non-harming, and harmony. We experience the relief that self-awareness, honesty, vulnerability, and presence make available to us and to others, and we experience our kinship and innate propensity for kindness and compassion. All this while having a bit of fun!

Target Audience

The Mindful of Race Training Program is designed for groups, teams, and organizations invested in exploring the intersections of racial self-awareness, mindfulness, and leadership, and interested in the inner work that supports individual deconstruction of racial conditioning. Your group need not be racially diverse to benefit from this training. This 12-month commitment consists of:

• A 4 1/2-day training intensive for up to 20 participants
• 9 peer-led Racial Affinity Group monthly meetings
• 3 two-hour zoom sessions with combined Racial Affinity Groups, facilitated by Ruth King or her associates, to leverage learning and integrate insights across groups

Organizational consulting services are also available.

Next Steps

• Read Mindful of Race: Transforming Racism from the Inside Out
• Complete the Training Inquiry Form
• Review the Space & Material Requirements