We sit with heavy hearts in the wake of George Floyd’s murder. This senseless loss has deepened wounds in the United States at a time when ongoing health and economic crises continue to disproportionately harm Black people. We are profoundly aware of the horrors of racism, reverberating with societal disconnection and continued fear and grief across our communities.
We have also witnessed the resilience, courage, and hope of the human spirit in the face of such pain. In this country and around the world many are working hard to alleviate suffering, to dismantle systems of oppression, and to better support, protect, and uplift the voices of Black, Brown, and Indigenous people.
At the Mind & Life Institute, we solemnly acknowledge the generations of injustice and trauma experienced by people of color—whose each and every life matters. As an organization, we are committed to showing up fully to support the healing, humility, and open-heartedness required for antiracist work. Mind & Life does this work as a staff and as an expanding community, in recognition that we must take ownership and address our own biases. We know the ripple effect of our actions day-to-day contributes to greater collective flourishing.
We believe our work at the intersection of contemplative wisdom, science, and changemaking is a powerful place from which to inspire action toward a future that embraces our shared humanity and interconnection. In the words of Ruth King, we “must teach [our] children about racism, not from a distance, but from [our] own wise heart.”
Mind & Life is committed to a bold vision for shifting human consciousness and embracing compassion as a guiding principle in creating a safer, kinder, and a more equitable world.
