Leading African American Buddhist teachers offer lessons on racism, resilience, spiritual freedom, and the possibility of a truly representative American Buddhism.

What does it mean to be Black and Buddhist? In this powerful collection of writings, African American teachers from all the major Buddhist traditions tell their stories of how race and Buddhist practice have intersected in their lives. The resulting explorations display not only the promise of Buddhist teachings to empower those facing racial discrimination but also the way that Black Buddhist voices are enriching the Dharma for all practitioners. As the first anthology comprised solely of writings by African-descended Buddhist practitioners, this book is an important contribution to the development of the Dharma in the West.

With contributions by Acharya Gaylon Ferguson, Cheryl A. Giles, Gyozan Royce Andrew Johnson, Ruth King, Kamilah Majied, Lama Rod Owens, Lama Dawa Tarchin Phillips, Sebene Selassie, and Pamela Ayo Yetunde.
Black and Buddhist: What Buddhism Can Teach Us about Race, Resilience, Transformation, and Freedom, Cheryl A. Giles and Pamela Ayo Yetunde (editors), Shambhala Publications, Paperback, 189 Pages, $19.95

PAMELA AYO YETUNDE, J.D., Th.D. is a Community Dharma Leader in the Insight Meditation tradition. She teaches pastoral care and counseling and has taught at University of the West, United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities, and Upaya Institute and Zen Center. Ayo has written for Buddhadharma, Lion�s Roar, Religions, and Buddhist-Christian Studies. She is the author of Object Relations, Buddhism and Relationality in Womanist Practical Theology and Buddhist-Christian Dialogue, U.S. Law, and Womanist Theology for Transgender Spiritual Care

CONTENTS: Black and Buddhist

In Honor of George Floyd ix

Foreword by Gaylon Ferguson xvii

Acknowledgments xxix

Editors' Introduction 1

1. THEY SAY THE PEOPLE COULD FLY Disrupting the Legacy of Sexual Violence through Myth, Memory, and Connection by Cheryl A. Giles 25

2. THE DHARMA OF TRAUMA Blackness, Buddhism, and Transhistorical Trauma Narrated through Three Ayahuasca Ceremonies by Lama Rod Owens 44

3. TURNING TOWARD MYSELF by Sebene Selassie 65

4. BELONGING by Lama Dawa Tarchin Phillips 82

5. VOLUNTARY SEGREGATION The Paradox, Promise, and Peril of People of Color Sangha by Pamela Ayo Yetunde 97

6. FROM BUTCHER TO ZEN PRIEST Radical Transformation through Bloodletting by Gyozan Royce Andrew Johnson with Pamela Ayo Yetunde 119

7. ON BEING LAILAH'S DAUGHTER Blessons from Umieversity on Actualizing Enlightenment by Kamilah Majied 137

8. WHOLENESS IS NO TRIFLING MATTER Race, Faith, and Refuge by Ruth King 150

Conclusion 175

Notes 179

About the Editors 185

Contributor Bios 187