Saturday, December 18, 2010

Non-Violent Prisoner Strike in Georgia Crosses Racial Lines

Buddhist or not, this model of non-violence is worthy of note, globally.


"Non-Violent Prisoner Strike in Georgia Crosses Racial Lines
Fed up with their living and working conditions, prisoners across the state of Georgia last week staged a six-day mass peaceful protest that transcended racial boundaries.

Black, Latino and white inmates at least six prisons, including Hays State Prison, Telfair State Prison, Macon State Prison and Smith State Prison, banded together to show their unhappiness by staying in their cells. The families of some prisoners reported that corrections officers responded violently, destroying personal effects and beating inmates at one penitentiary while another facility cut off the hot water supply.

Inmates spent months coordinating the protest by using cell phones smuggled into the prisons.

They have demanded better living conditions, medical care and nutrition, more educational and self-improvement opportunities, wages for work performed in prison and better access to their families, among other demands." Article


Friday, February 26, 2010

Ron Allen....Detroit

2006 Los Angeles Poverty Department (LAPD) invited African American Buddhist priest and a Viet Nam veteran Ron Allen to direct poetry workshops on Skid Row. FRIED POETRY is a skilletful of individual and group spoken word pieces and music on the subjects of spirituality and recovery from addiction. In Fried Poetry, LAPDer's invoke their insights into recovery as means of healing self and society.



"There is no question that Dharma has taken hold in Detroit. In the face of great odds, closed-off highways and harsh winters, Still Point fills every Sunday. We have over 120 members now. There is a waiting list for seminary slots. Two years ago, Kogam Gary Schwocho started a sangha in Royal Oak, Muddy Water Zen. It will only grow. Bodhidharma Ron Allen is a one man prophet of the Dharma – he has his own set of formal students and has integrated Buddhist teachings into his plays and poetry, most notably his recent play about the Tibetan Book of the Dead." Article