Religion Seminar Series: Black and Buddhist

September 26, 2023 @ 7:00pm

This seminar features the authors of the text Black and Buddhist: What Buddhism Can Teach Us About Race, Resilience, Transformation and Freedom, Drs. Pamela Ayo Yetunde and Cheryl A. Giles. In the foreword to their text, Gaylon Ferguson writes “Now, more than ever, we need this message of peace, a. strong peace with justice and dignity. This is a practical message of cultivating inner spiritual power to meet the daily challenges of aggression, violence, lying, and deception.” We will learn about the Buddhist faith and practice has served as a source of healing and liberation for many Black people and what about this religion is effective in addressing individual and collective suffering.

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Cheryl A. Giles is the Francis Greenwood Peabody Senior Lecturer on Pastoral Care and Counseling at Harvard Divinity School and a licensed clinical psychologist. Giles is a core faculty member of the Buddhist Ministry Initiative, where she mentors the International Ho Foundation Fellows and students preparing for chaplaincy and public leadership. Her most recent book, Black and Buddhist: What Buddhism Can Teach Us About Race, Resilience, Transformation, and Freedom (2020) is co-edited with Pamela Ayo Yetunde and won the Gold Nautilus Award. Her articles have appeared in Christian Century magazine and the Journal of Pastoral Theology.

Pamela Ayo Yetunde is a pastoral counselor, instructor, writer, and speaker who is native to Indiana, which includes graduating from IU School of Law–Bloomington. Most recently Yetunde authored Casting Indra’s Net: Fostering Spiritual Kinship and Community (2023) and co-edited Black and Buddhist: What Buddhism Can Teach Us About Race, Resilience, Transformation and Freedom (2020), which.on the Gold Nautilus Award. Yetunde is an associate editor with Lion’s Roar and is the principal co-founder of Buddhist Justice Reporter.