From Africa to Zen

From Africa to Zen
Author: Robert C. Solomon
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 316
Release: 2003
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9780742513501

In the second edition of this groundbreaking text in non-Western philosophy, fifteen experts introduce some of the great philosophical traditions in the world. The dozen essays collected here unveil exciting, sophisticated philosophical traditions that are too often neglected in the western world. The contributors include the leading scholars in their fields, but they write for students coming to these concepts for the first time. Building on revisions and updates to the original essays on China, India, Japan, and the Americas, this new edition also considers three philosophical traditions for the first time--Jewish, Buddhist, and South Pacific (M ori) philosophy.

Being Black

Being Black
Author: Angel Kyodo Williams
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 225
Release: 2002-01-08
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1101199458

"Honest, courageous... Williams has committed an act of love."—Alice Walker "A classic."—Jack Kornfield There truly is an art to being here in this world, and like any art, it can be mastered. In this elegant, practical book, Angel Kyodo Williams combines the universal wisdom of Buddhism with an inspirational call for self-acceptance and community empowerment. Written by a woman who grew up facing the challenges that confront African-Americans every day, Being Black teaches us how a "warrior spirit" of truth and responsibility can be developed into the foundation for real happiness and personal transformation. With her eloquent, hip, and honest perspective, Williams—a Zen priest, social activist, and entrepreneur—shares personal stories, time-tested teachings, and simple guidelines that invite readers of all faiths to step into the freedom of a life lived with fearlessness and grace.

ABC Books and Activities

ABC Books and Activities
Author: Cathie Hilterbran Cooper
Publisher: Scarecrow Press
Total Pages: 168
Release: 1996
Genre: Education
ISBN: 9780810830134

A creative guide to over 5000 alphabet books with activities, games, and projects that can be used with ABC books.

Saving Our Sons

Saving Our Sons
Author: Marita Golden
Publisher: Mango Media Inc.
Total Pages: 180
Release: 2022-03-15
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1642508942

Raising Black Teen Boys in Turbulent Times "It is always heartening to see women step up to the writer's table. When the results are as adroit and affecting as Marita Golden's work, it is more than satisfying; it is a cause for celebration." —Toni Morrison, Nobel Laureate Two decades ago, Marita was the first Black writer to address the horrifying statistic that haunts all Black mothers: the leading cause of death among Black males under twenty-one is homicide. Today, police brutality rages on as millions call for the reformation of our broken law enforcement in the wake of the traumatic murders of Black teen boys like Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown and Daunte Wright. Read an intimate account of a mother’s efforts to save her son. Writing her son’s story against the backdrop of a society plagued by systemic racism, economic inequality, and mass incarceration, Golden offers a form of witness and testimony in a time of crisis for Black Americans. Learn how to grapple with the realities of Black America. Join Golden as she confronts the root causes of violence inflicted upon Black teen boys and reassesses the legacy of her own generation's struggle for civil rights. Explore Black boys’ difficult road to adulthood in the U.S. and learn why single Black mothers are often wrongly blamed for their sons’ actions. Gain invaluable advice and knowledge from trustworthy sources. In Saving Our Sons, Golden documents her conversations with psychologists, writers, and young Black males themselves. This book is designed to help you: Discuss and unpack generational trauma with loved ones Gain deeper insight into the injustices Black children face in the U.S. Recognize the importance of community for the success of Black teen boys If you liked Decoding Boys, Mother & Son: Our Back & Forth Journal, The Boy Crisis or Boy Mom, you’ll love Saving Our Sons.

Black Pain

Black Pain
Author: Terrie M. Williams
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 370
Release: 2008-01-08
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1416554122

Black people are dying everywhere we turn, in the faces we see and the headlines we read, and we feel emotional pain, but we don't know how to tackle it—it's time to recognize it and work through our trauma. Terrie had made it: she had launched her own public relations company with such clients as Eddie Murphy and Johnnie Cochran. Yet she was in constant pain, waking up in terror, overeating in search of relief. For thirty years she kept on her game face of success, exhausting herself daily to satisfy her clients' needs while neglecting her own. When she finally collapsed, she had no clue what was wrong or if there was a way out. She learned her problem had a name—depression—and that many suffered from it, limping through their days, hiding their hurt. As she healed, her mission became clear: break the silence of this crippling taboo and help those who suffer, especially in the black community. Black Pain identifies emotional pain—which uniquely and profoundly affects the black experience—as the root of lashing out through desperate acts of crime, violence, drug and alcohol abuse, eating disorders, workaholism, and addiction to shopping, gambling, and sex. Few realize these destructive acts are symptoms of our inner sorrow. In Black Pain, Terrie has inspired the famous and the ordinary to speak out and mental health professionals to offer solutions. The book is a mirror turned on you. Do you see yourself and your loved ones here? Do the descriptions of how the pain looks, feels, and sounds seem far too familiar? Now you can do something about it. The help the community needs is here: a clear explanation of our troubles and a guide to finding relief through faith, therapy, diet, and exercise, as well as through building a supportive network and eliminating toxic people. Black Pain encourages us to face the truth about the issue that plunges our spirits into darkness, so that we can step into the healing light. You are not on the ledge alone.

Writing as Enlightenment

Writing as Enlightenment
Author: John Whalen-Bridge
Publisher: State University of New York Press
Total Pages: 211
Release: 2011-08-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1438439210

This timely book explores how Buddhist-inflected thought has enriched contemporary American literature. Continuing the work begun in The Emergence of Buddhist American Literature, editors John Whalen-Bridge and Gary Storhoff and the volume's contributors turn to the most recent developments, revealing how mid-1970s through early twenty-first-century literature has employed Buddhist texts, principles, and genres. Just as Buddhism underwent indigenization when it moved from India to Tibet, to China, and to Japan, it is now undergoing that process in the United States. While some will find literary creativity in this process, others lament a loss of authenticity. The book begins with a look at the American reception of Zen and at the approaches to Dharma developed by African Americans. The work of consciously Buddhist and Buddhist-influenced writers such as Don DeLillo, Gary Snyder, and Jackson Mac Low is analyzed, and a final section of the volume contains interviews and discussions with contemporary Buddhist writers. These include an interview with Gary Snyder; a discussion with Maxine Hong Kingston and Charles Johnson; and discussions of competing American and Asian values at the Beat- and Buddhist-inspired writing program at Naropa University with poets Joanne Kyger, Reed Bye, Keith Abbott, Andrew Schelling, and Elizabeth Robinson.

Black to Nature

Black to Nature
Author: Stefanie K. Dunning
Publisher: Univ. Press of Mississippi
Total Pages: 208
Release: 2021-04-22
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1496832973

In Black to Nature: Pastoral Return and African American Culture, author Stefanie K. Dunning considers both popular and literary texts that range from Beyoncé’s Lemonade to Jesmyn Ward’s Salvage the Bones. These key works restage Black women in relation to nature. Dunning argues that depictions of protagonists who return to pastoral settings contest the violent and racist history that incentivized Black disavowal of the natural world. Dunning offers an original theoretical paradigm for thinking through race and nature by showing that diverse constructions of nature in these texts are deployed as a means of rescrambling the teleology of the Western progress narrative. In a series of fascinating close readings of contemporary Black texts, she reveals how a range of artists evoke nature to suggest that interbeing with nature signals a call for what Jared Sexton calls “the dream of Black Studies”—abolition. Black to Nature thus offers nuanced readings that advance an emerging body of critical and creative work at the nexus of Blackness, gender, and nature. Written in a clear, approachable, and multilayered style that aims to be as poignant as nature itself, the volume offers a unique combination of theoretical breadth, narrative beauty, and broader perspective that suggests it will be a foundational text in a new critical turn towards framing nature within a cultural studies context.

Black Buddhists and the Black Radical Tradition

Black Buddhists and the Black Radical Tradition
Author: Rima Vesely-Flad
Publisher: NYU Press
Total Pages: 344
Release: 2022-04-05
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1479810487

"This book illuminates distinct Buddhist practices amongst meditators of African descent. It includes interviews, dharma talks, and writings of more than sixty-five Black Buddhist teachers and long-term practitioners. In lifting up the distinctive voices and practices of Black Buddhists within American Buddhism, this book emphasizes the interpretations and practices of Black Buddhists. This book identifies specific causes and conditions for suffering, such as the transatlantic slave trade, the auction block, lynchings, migrations, and contemporary state violence, that have led Black Buddhist teachers to prioritize healing intergenerational trauma as a foundation for Black liberation. In pointing the horrific conditions manifested by patriarchy, misogyny, cisgender normativity, Black Buddhists assert that healing intergenerational trauma is foundational of psychological and spiritual liberation. Relatedly, this book delves into the importance that Black Buddhists place on honoring ancestors-biological and spiritual-as forebears who survived hostile and degrading conditions. Furthermore, this book illuminates the ways in which Black Buddhists privilege the body, even as it has been degraded, as a vehicle for liberation. Finally, this book argues that all of these distinct components of Black Buddhist practice fulfill the quest for psychological liberation evoked in the Black Radical Tradition"--