A public scholarship project created at the intersection of academic inquiry and community-based engagement.
- Offer community-based Buddhist Studies courses that center Black social movements, Black poets, and Black Buddhist writers
- Create conversations amongst Buddhist practitioners and activists, as well as scholars of Buddhism, on how Buddhism can address racialized systemic harm in bureaucracies such as the U.S. penal system
- Think through how Buddhist-inspired anti-caste movements influence anti-racism movements, as well as speak to discrimination based on poverty, gender, and sexuality in the U.S. context
- Co-create a dialogue between Black Buddhists and Asian and Asian American Buddhists to address issues such as cultural appropriation, cultural adaptation, and internalized racism
- Publish literature that can be used for furthering academic and community dialogue that incorporates the study of Buddhism and Black Studies.
Recent Articles
Uplifting Black Nichiren Buddhist Voices Closing Thoughts Transcript
Rima Vesely-Flad: It has been a joy to be in conversation with Black Nichiren Buddhists in the first few months of 2025. Since beginning recording of this podcast series, we have watched our environment change at a rapid speed. Many of the groups with whom I stand are under...
Buddhists of African Descent on Creating a Just Society with Michael Belton Transcript
Rima Vesely-Flad [00:00:37] Welcome to the podcast series Uplifting Black Nichiren Buddhist Voices. In our final episode today, we explore the connection between self-improvement and creating a just society. Nichiren Daishonin, the founder of Nichiren Buddhism, made it clear in...
Buddhists of African Descent on “Nam Myoho Renge Kyo” with Jacci Thompson-Dodd Transcript
Rima Vesely-Flad [00:00:37] Welcome to the podcast series Uplifting Black Nichiren Buddhist Voices. In today's episode, we are exploring the role of chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, the title of the Lotus Sutra, which is also called the Daimoku. Nam means devotion, or offering our...
Now in Stores and Available Online!
Black Buddhists and the Black Radical Tradition:
The Practice of Stillness in the Movement for Liberation
Finalist for Excellence in the Study of Religion, Constructive-Reflective Studies, given by the American Academy of Religion
30% off if purchased on the NYU Press Website, use code VeselyFlad30
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