Strategy Session – Hartford CT

“Meeting on Mindfulness/Meditation, Racial Justice and Education Reform”
Breakthrough Magnet School
Hartford, CT
May 3, 2013
10am-2pm

On May 3, One Nation Indivisible convened about twenty mindfulness/meditation practitioners, educators, civil rights advocates and scholars (primarily based in MA, CT and NY) to explore the potential implications of a growing “mindfulness movement” on education reform and racial justice efforts in the United States. We learned about and discussed:

  • Efforts to bring mindfulness into various educational settings (including K-12 public schools, after-school programs and professional development for teachers);
  • What the research says about the benefits of mindfulness in relation to challenges commonly faced by students of color and/or low-income students;
  • Whether mindfulness practice might be a helpful tool in reducing unconscious racial bias, privilege, internalized racism and/or in increasing individuals’ capacity to engage in difficult discussions about interpersonal, institutional and structural racial inequality; and
  • How practitioners have attempted to make mindfulness practice accessible to, and welcoming for, people of all racial, ethnic linguistic and socioeconomic backgrounds.

For more information and resources, click here. Please contact us if you are interested in our mindfulness/meditation, racial justice and education reform work.