Racism is a heart disease, AND it's curable! 

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. 

The Mindful of Race Training Program supports an engaged exploration of our racial conditioning through a mindful lens. The power of the Mindful of Race Training Program is that it builds over time, allowing participants to genuinely connect, deepen understanding of racial conditioning, cultivate racial literacy, and integrate learning in support of wise action.

This program blends Ruth King's professional background in organizational development, leadership coaching, diversity program design, and her extensive experience as a mindfulness meditation practitioner and teacher. She is also the author of several publications including Mindful of Race: Transforming Racism from the Inside Out.

Unique to this training is the infusion of the Integral Matters™: Thriving on Difference framework, 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. Mindfulness principles and meditation are also core to this training. With mindfulness practice, 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 instinctive and often overwhelming feelings of being wronged, harmed, or endangered. In this pause, we gain perspective; we find our breath, our heartbeat, and the ground beneath our feet. This pause supports us in seeing our choices more clearly and responding more wisely. Mindfulness further supports a shift from us simply receiving information in the training to integrating awareness into our lives. 

The Mindful of Race Training Program is designed as a team-building experience supporting leadership awareness, racial literacy, and culture change. This developmental program unfolds over 12-months, and consists of a 4 1/2 day training for up to 20 participants, 9 Racial Affinity Group meetings, and 3 two-hour zoom sessions where insights across Racial Affinity Groups are shared and integrated. Participants in this program develop the following awareness skills:

• Recognize the ways in which our racial history shapes our perception of and actions toward others and ourselves; 
• Become aware of the construction of oppression and social suffering and our role in it;
• Discover how our racial awareness is reflected in our lives; 
• Become more sensitive to individual and racial group impact;
• Understand how our views impact our use of power and influence;
• Wake up to micro and macro-aggressions;
• Soften the grip of anger, guilt and fear, and use discomfort to sharpen awareness and clarify intention;
• Aim our energy toward awareness, non-harming, and harmony; 
• Amend our racial narrative by becoming more intentional; 
• Identify our most sensitive "activation points" and tend to them with wise care;
• Experience the relief that self-awareness, honesty, vulnerability, and presence make available to us and to others;
• Experience our kinship and innate propensity for kindness and compassion;
• All this while having a bit of fun! 

Core to the Mindful of Race Training Program is the formation of Racial Affinity Groups (RA Groups), a 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 our understanding of racial conditioning. 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, RA Group instructions for examining both our racial conditioning and our group process are provided in the 4.5-day training.

The RA Group is a mindfulness practice. Commitment to the structure is crucial for group cohesion, focus, and growth. Learning is heightened and accelerated in RA Groups because 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.

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.

Interested? Submit the Training inquiry Form.

Please Note: 

• This training is designed for intact groups and teams, not as a public or general offering.
• Your group need not be racially diverse to benefit from this training. 
• This 12-month commitment consists of:
  • A 4.5-day training intensive
  • 9 peer-led RA Group meetings
  • 3 Integration sessions with Ruth King or Associates

Read Mindful of Race: Transforming Racism From The Inside Out prior to committing.

Click here for Space & Material Requirements