Brittany Owens Micek, Meditating for Black Lives, Part I: Finding Purpose Riding in a Red Convertible
Brittany Owens Micek is the founder and lead organizer of Meditating for Black Lives, a community organization that uses the principles and practices of various meditation traditions to support community efforts to heal oppression. Brittany started Meditating for Black Lives last summer with hopes to create a space for attendees to sit in contemplation together to process our absorbed trauma and breathe for the lives of Black and Brown people, and for all people, throughout the world. On Saturdays and Sundays from June 2020 lasting through the fall, Brittany or other intentionally selected guides led up to 2,000 attendees through 30 minute guided meditations in both Bed Stuy and Brownsville that focused on the privilege and precarity of breath.
You will hear my conversation with Brittany in two parts. And they are both damn good, if we do say so ourselves.
This is part one. In this episode, Brittany and Alexis talk about their spiritual relationships with New York City and its often overlooked natural beauty, how an image of three of her selves in a red convertible in the wake of a pandemic related lay off led Brittany to start Meditating for Black Lives, and how listening to music can be both comforting and also emotionally manipulative (word to Brandy on that one). Brittany also tells us some foundational things to know about meditation and about her experience at a silent retreat at a Buddhist monastery and its impact on her- including altering her relationship to New York’s infamous and indomitable cockroach population. You will hear the beginnings of the genesis of Meditating for Black Lives, but we leave you on an intentional cliff hanger. So tune in to part two!
Meditating for Black Lives is also back for its second season! They will hold three meditations every Saturday and Sunday in May at Swivel Gallery in Bed Stuy. Visit the links for MFBL anf Swivel Gallery below to check the times and sign up in advance.
Places on the Internet to Learn More:
Visit Meditating for Black Lives’ Website and Instagram to sign up for a meditation and donate if you are able
You can also sign up for a meditation on Swivel Gallery’s website
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