YBE Events
YBE would love to have you join us for an event, workshop, or book club. Find information about upcoming opportunities and recordings of past workshops here.
JULY PANEL:
Title: Face to Face: Abolition and Buddhism
Panelists: Eli Ryn Brown (They/He) and traci ishigo (They/Them, She/Her)
Description: In the midst of the current movement for equity and justice, the YBE Social Justice Committee is honored to feature Eli Ryn Brown and traci ishigo in conversation on the theme of abolition. This gathering on Tuesday, July 27 at 5:30 PM (PT) aims to explore how collective care and dismantling structures of oppression resonate with Buddhist practice. This event is structured to be both educational and discussion-based.
JUNE PANEL:
Title: Face to Face: Queer Dharma
Panelists: Reverend Noel Alumit, Reverend Keisuke Lee-Miyaki, Juliet Bost
Moderator: Reverend CJ Dunford
Description: In honor of Pride Month, our first event will be a panel of members of the LGTBQ+ community held over Zoom on June 27th, 2021 at 3 pm PT. We are honored to feature Noel Alumit, MDiv., Reverend Keisuke Lee-Miyaki, and Juliet Bost as our three panelists and Reverend CJ Sokugan Dunford as our moderator. In this event, we hope to understand more about how Queerness and Buddhism intersect and align.
Face to Face
The YBE Social Justice Committee is proud to present our summer panel series, “Face to Face”, to our community. Inspired by our ever-growing and diverse Buddhist sanghas, we wanted to provide a space for people of all generations and all Buddhist sects to come together in community. Come join us as we come face to face with each other and topics important to our society. This free workshop series will be led by leaders and members of the Buddhist community and is structured to be both educational and discussion-based.
Here is a schedule of the topics we will be covering this summer. More details to come.
The Lineup:
JUNE: LGTBQ+ - Looking into how Queerness and the Dharma intersect.
JULY: Abolition - Conceptualizing how an abolitionist framework aligns with Buddhism.
AUGUST: Colonization - Dissecting Buddhism’s relationship to colonization as both subjects and agents.
SEPTEMBER: Environmental Justice - Recognizing our interdependence with all life and understanding the ecological nature of Buddhism.
Building Buddhist Communities: A Retreat Inspired by Be the Refuge
Saturday, May 22nd, 2021, 10am–3pm Pacific Time / 1–5pm Eastern Time
YBE is thrilled to invite you to this free online retreat, inspired by the recently published book Be the Refuge: Raising the Voices of Asian American Buddhists. We are delighted to feature author Chenxing Han alongside many other presenters and panelists for this exciting half-day event. Come prepared to participate in interactive sessions inspired by the four parts of Be the Refuge: Trailblazers, Bridge-Builders, Integrators, and Refuge Makers. The retreat is open to people of all backgrounds. We hope our time together can deepen connections and build friendships within and beyond our Buddhist communities.
Social Justice Committee
General Interest Meeting
On March 6th, 2021 at 3pm PST/6pm EDT, The Young Buddhist Editorial’s Social Justice Committee will be holding a General Interest Meeting for all community members interested in joining. Whether you are a seasoned social justice advocate or you are new to the movement, we welcome all backgrounds, identities, and familiarity with social justice work. This event is non-binding and there are no obligations. We will be covering what the Social Justice Committee has accomplished thus far and information on how you can get involved in our developing projects and community building moving forward. Register for the Zoom meeting here.
Voices of Resilience
YBE’s one-year celebration
On February 6th, 2021, the Young Buddhist Editorial held our one-year anniversary celebration: Voices of Resilience. Thank you to all those who attended the event. For those who were unable to attend live, you can still watch the recording of the event here:
Event Info: With racial strife, a global pandemic, political unrest, and environmental disasters, 2020 has certainly been a year of hardship and change. Resilience is a theme that is important to us because it inspires strength in the face of great uncertainty. The Young Buddhist Editorial is a platform meant to center the stories and voices of Asian Americans within Buddhism and offer a different narrative from the stereotypical misrepresentation on mass media platforms. Rather than let our story be told by others, our religion has persevered throughout generations of trauma and ignorance.
The live-streamed event via Zoom featured keynote speaker, Reverend Matt Hamasaki from Sacramento Betsuin as well as artists and performers from the YBE community. Thank you for celebrating one year of continued resilience as we acknowledge and recognize the power in Asian American voices within Buddhism.
We want to hear from you!
Thank you for joining the YBE’s Voices of Resilience One-Year Celebration. As we strive to continue improving the quality and experience of our events, we welcome and appreciate all comments/feedback. If you have a minute, please take the survey below:
Let’s Talk About It Workshops:
About the Workshops
These free workshops are organized by the Young Buddhist Editorial and facilitated by AAPI community leaders and members. The focuses of the workshops are education and allowing a safe space for productive conversation to take place. We hope that all questions can be asked and discussed, so that we can all grow together to be better allies. Each of the workshops has a different focus, and all are designed to be beneficial regardless of attendance to previous sessions or level of personal education. Please see “Past Events” below for more information and recordings from our series of workshops on Black Lives Matter and antiracism, held in summer 2020.
YBE Book Club
About the Book Club
The Young Buddhist Editorial social justice committee started two book clubs in 2020: the YBE Book Club and Book Club for Optimistic People. Three sessions of book club groups have read "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander and "So You Want to Talk About Race" by Ijeoma Oluo. The social justice committee is looking forward to offering more book club opportunities in 2021, including their first session of Conversations About Race and Buddhism, which will discuss “Radical Dharma” by Rev. angel Kyodo Williams, Lama Rod Owens, and Jasmine Syedullha. Please check back at this page for new opportunities, or subscribe to our newsletter.
Register for Conversations About Race and Buddhism by January 22nd. This book club is open to all ages and you do not have to be Buddhist to participate!
Past workshops
Let’s Talk About: What’s in a Vote
Topics
I. Timeline of Voting Rights
II. History of Disenfranchisement
III. What’s on the ballot?
Facilitators
Mariko Rooks / BA/MPH Candidate, Yale University
KK Nodohara / Child and Adolescent Development Student, Sacramento State University
KC Mukai / Sociology Student, UC Berkeley
Workshop IV: Let's Talk About: Walking the Path of Anti-Racism
Topics
I. . How do we use our privileges to uplift the Black community?
II. What are some sustainable actions that I incorporate into my everyday life?
III. How do we apply intersectionality and restorative justice to our temple communities in hopes to promote inclusivity?
Facilitators
Allison Tanaka / B.S. Psychology Student at Seattle University, YBE Gallery Director
Stephanie Fong / Student at Northeastern University, YBE PR Chair
Workshop III: Let's Talk About: A Future Without Suffering
Topics
I. What kind of Reparations need to be made for the Black Community?
II. What does defunding or abolishing the police mean?
III. How can mutual aid help build a world free of suffering?
Facilitators
Marissa Wong / Student studying Social Work, YBE Dharma Talks EditorJohn Mullins / Student, Institute of Buddhist Studies
John Mullins / Student, Institute of Buddhist Studies
Workshop II: Let's Talk About: Systemic Racism that Causes Suffering in the Black Community
Topics
I. Systemic vs. Individual Racism
II. Implicit Bias and How We Perpetuate It
III. What is disproportionality and how does it affect Black people?
Facilitators
Tara U. / MSW, PPSC
Marissa Wong / Student studying Social Work, YBE Dharma Talks Editor
Workshop I: Let's Talk About: Why Black Lives Matter in a World Full of Suffering
Topics
I. Why is Black Lives Matter relevant right now?
II. Racism vs. Anti-Blackness
III. How are these sentiments prevalent in our community?
Facilitators
Rev. Matthew Hamasaki / Resident Minister at Sacramento Buddhist Church
Devon Matsumoto, MSW / YBE President