In "ENGAGED MINDFULNESS: WHAT I HAVE LEARNED FROM MY BEST TEACHERS & HOW IT APPLIES TO ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE"
(From my book Walking on Earth With Thich Nhat Hanh: The Sanctuaries & Kindred Spirits I Found in Many Places)
FOR THE CHILDREN
The American Manifest Destiny concept was first introduced by journalist John Louis OSullivan in 1845. This myth turned into a providential dogma of expansionism, used to justify many acts of violence including the Mexican
American War of 1846-48. With the ratification of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo of 1848, Mexico lost 55% of its land.Mexicans living in the territories ceded to the United States lost their status as land owners. Mexican-American children became racialized, second-class citizens and lost a variety of legal and civil rights, including the right to attend school with white children. They soon began lagging academically.
Even the best-intentioned school principals and teachers have not been able to reverse the devastating educational effects of territorial injustice. For The Children: Lessons From A Visionary Principal documents everything
that Principal Madeline Cartwright did to help the low-income children of Blaine Elementary School in Philadelphia. But at the end of the school day, the children returned to the slums, a forsaken and deprived territory.
I recently saw an episode of Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman called "Separate but Equal” that deepened my understanding of what it feels like to be an African American child like Frederick Douglas, seeking to receive a quality
education soon after the end of slavery. The character Anthony is adopted by former slaves who are the first African Americans living among whites in a Colorado Springs community. The newly opened Freedmen’s school in the
nearby shantytown cannot provide the more advanced education that Anthony, who has been home schooled, needs. His desire to attend the white children$s school causes controversy. The teacher insists that Anthony’s presence will be disruptive. Dr. Quinn asks her, "Aren't you a teacher?” Dr.Quinn’s son, Brian, who is close to Anthony and has a deep sense of morality, refuses to attend the school and writes an editorial for the newspaper. The two children’s nonviolent resistance actions start the village’s process of moral transformation.
The courage of African American children who attended newly desegregated schools is described in Wilma King’s African American Childhoods. One of my favorite accounts is of Melba Pattillo, a young student who survives
the tumult at her high school in part because she reads a book written by Mahatma Gandhi that her grandmother gives her. She employs nonviolent resistance tactics and plays mind games to gain control of the negative situations created by her tormentors.
Throughout the Civil Rights Movement, many children offered remarkable lessons in courageous nonviolence. Many members of the Emmett Till generation were expelled from schools and incarcerated for their activism. Perhaps the most notable example of this is the Birmingham Children’s Crusade. By May 10, 1963, after eight days of protests, the city agreed to desegregate businesses and free all protesters from jail. The children$s commitment to nonviolence secured victories for the Civil Rights Movement.
VILLAGE OF LOVE AND RESISTANCE
The Village of Love and Resistance project that our Sangha supported in the month dedicated to Engaged Mindfulness works to promote territorial justice for the residents of East Baltimore. Its name reminds me of my historical teachers’ core lesson: that true justice is only attained through loving acts that foster nonviolence and interbeing.
When our Engaged Mindfulness working group met with one of the organizers of the Maryland project, she asked her "What about the children?” She replied by describing the different ways in which the children would benefit from this project. She also spoke a mindfulness garden that would have a labyrinth and an area for walking meditation.
In my painting I have depicted my vision for this garden as a Village of Love and Resistance for children, as a haven for territorial justice where all children will be healthy and loved, and will thrive. This metaphorical garden reminds me of my teachers’ vision for a better world: Dr. King’s Beloved Community and Thay’s Interbeing. I envision Engaged Mindfulness as a force that seeks to provide a better life for our children, not just the children of
Baltimore but all the children. A village of peaceful resistance through true love and true justice.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Gomez, M. (2013). Race, class, power, and organizing in east Baltimore. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.
King, M.L. (1968). Where do we go from here? Chaos or community. Boston, Mass: Beacon Press.
King, W. (2008). African American childhoods: Historical perspectives from slavery to civil rights. London, United
Kingdom: Palgrave Macmillan.
Magda's Book Review of African American Childhoods (in www.truejustice4youth.org)
Macdonald, V.- M. (2004). Latino education in the United States: A narrated history from 1513-2000. London, United Kingdom: Palgrave Macmillan.
Raff, J. (2022). Origin: A genetic history of the Americas. New York, NY: Hachette Book Group.
Thich Nhat Hanh (2020). (4th Ed.). Interbeing: the 14 mindfulness trainings of Engaged Buddhism. Berkeley, CA:
Parallax Press.
Some Questions to Explore:
1) In what way/s do I like to mindfully engage?
2) What examples of engaged mindfulness are inspirational to me?
3) Who are my spiritual teachers and how do they inspire me?
4) Which one/s of my actions I perceive will lead to my continuation after I pass?
5) How can I foster nonviolent actions and interbeing in the world?
6) In what ways can my engaged mindfulness impact the future of our world?
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