The founder of a social change agency dedicated to bridging racial justice and collective well-being through mindfulness, compassion and self-compassion will be on campus Oct. 8-9.
Angela Rose Black is the founder of the black-owned agency “Mindfulness for the People,” which offers trainings on compassionate mind-body wisdom and racial justice specifically on university campuses and at social-good organizations.
Black will present a keynote address at a luncheon Oct. 9 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Ford Alumni Center ballroom. The talk, “Emotional Reparations as Racial Justice Work,” will highlight the intersection between racial justice and emotional reparations, and using mindfulness and compassion in supporting both intersections, among faculty members, staff and students. An RSVP is requested.
Black also will offer two fireside chats. The first session is Oct 8 from 5 to 6:30 p.m. in Room 220, HEDCO Building. It is sponsored by the UO’s Coalition on Allyship and Engagement, and an RSVP is requested. The Multicultural Student Center will host a second chat from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Oct. 9 in Gerlinger Lounge. An RSVP is requested.
Black is being brought to the UO through the Division of Equity and Inclusion’s campus and community engagement portfolio.
Black was named by Mindful magazine as one of the “10 Powerful Women of the Mindfulness Movement” and was described as “The New Mindfulness,” by Time magazine. Her research on mind-body medicine and stress-health pathways among black women has been published widely and gained her numerous awards and grants. She has an interdisciplinary background in psychology, human development and family studies, women’s studies, public health, and mind-body medicine.
Lesley-Anne Pittard, assistant vice president for campus and community engagement in the Division of Equity and Inclusion, sees Black’s work directly relating to the advancement of the university’s established Inclusion, Diversity, Evaluation, Achievement and Leadership framework.
“This year in particular, the Divsion of Equity and Inclusion will champion our IDEAL work through the ‘LACE’ lens: love, authenticity, courage, empathy,” Pittard said. “LACE builds off Black’s passion for resilience, with a focus on how best we can respond to the complex issues related to a shifting national political environment and campus culture shifting. I am thrilled she will spend time with our newly formed Coalition on Allyship and Engagement as well with our students through the Multicultural Center.”
In 2018, Black founded the Academy for the People as a nonprofit research and education arm of Mindfulness for the People. The vision of the academy is to help grow the next generation of mindfulness researchers, teachers and practitioners that center racial justice in mindfulness and mindfulness in racial justice.
By tova stabin, University Communications