Mindful of Race Training

Racism remains one of the most rooted and painful impasses of our time. We could say that racism is a heart disease AND it’s curable! Understanding how we have been conditioned to think and react is at the root of both racial harm and cultural wellbeing. 

Racism is fed through unawareness and the misuse of power. Embedded in racism is the skeletal shape of all oppressions. To understand the dynamics of racism and the flesh we put on its bones is to also understand other forms of oppression and our relationship to differences, divisions, and diversity. Mindful of Race Training is designed for leaders, groups, and dedicated practitioners to grow wise about race. Participants become aware of the relational reality of race and their role in racial distress – its formation and transformation.

This program blends Ruth King's professional background in organizational development, leadership coaching, diversity program design, and her experience as a mindfulness meditation practitioner and teacher. 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, where we explore race and its power dynamics from three levels of experience: individual, group, and institution, and the dominant and subordinated dance of oppression embedded in our mind that is reflected in the world.

Mindful of Race Training supports an engaged exploration of our racial conditioning through a mindful lens. With mindfulness practice, we learn to stay present to what’s true and what’s difficult with a caring and wise heart as we investigate our “individual” and “collective” racial conditioning and “systemic” proliferation. The aim of this training is not to encourage the cosmetics of racial inclusion, or an unrealistic ambition or anxiety-driven desire to eliminate racial hatred. Rather it offers a process for gradual healing through a deep understanding of our racial programing, its impact, and our potential. 

This program consist of a 4 1/2 day training and a 1-day meeting six months following the training to share and integrate the teachings. Participants in this training:

• Recognize the ways in which our racial history shapes our perception of others and ourselves;
• Become aware of the construction of oppression and social suffering and our role in it;
• Discover how our inner life is reflected in the world;
• 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 brighten awareness and clarify intention;
• Aim our energy toward awakening, non-harming, and unification;
• Transcend our racial narrative by becoming more intentional;
• Experience the relief that self-awareness, honesty, vulnerability, and presence makes available;
• Experience our kinship and innate propensity for kindness and care;
• All this while having a bit of fun!

Mindful of Race Training is a call to groups and organizations committed long-term to developing self awareness, racial literacy, and collective wellbeing.

Please Note: 

• This program is designed for intact groups and teams, not as a “general audience” offering.
• Your group need not be racially diverse to benefit from this training.
• Commitment to a mindfulness or contemplative meditation practice is advised.
• Read Mindful of Race: Transforming Racism From The Inside Out prior to attending this training.
• Participation in a Racial Affinity Groups following this training will be encouraged to support integration and sustainability of the teachings.   

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