Living in the Tension: The Quest for a Spiritualized Racial Justice. Questo articolo non è disponibile.Living in the Tension: The Quest for a Spiritualized Racial Justice

For many, spiritual and racial justice principles go hand in hand. Yet, although seemingly compatible, tensions often arise when people try to live out their associated values and strategies. Further, there are those who sit solidly on one side of either spirituality or advocacy and fail to see the connection between the two. Spiritually-oriented people often say: People focused on politics and social justice activism are angry, wounded, unhealthy individuals who sabotage their own efforts by using antagonistic and divisive language, including terms like oppression, privilege, and supremacy. On the other hand, racial justice advocates often say: People focused on their spirituality as part of their personal growth are trying to escape into transcendence or a false "kumbaya" experience and deny their ongoing role in continuing personal and institutional racism, privilege, and the reinforcement of an unjust status quo that operates through interlocking systems of oppression. Why do these tensions matter? There is a vast potential of untapped transformative power waiting to be released if activists and spiritual people of various racial backgrounds build and strengthen bridges between their differing principles and expectations. How can this book help? Each chapter tackles one tension-filled theme and asks: What happens if one side of the tension is ignored? How can a both/and approach allow spirituality and racial justice efforts to support one another? Chapter 1: Transcendence and Race Consciousness Chapter 2: Self-Acceptance and Self-Improvement Chapter 3: Personal Healing and Political Action Chapter 4: Common Humanity and Group Differences Chapter 5: Belonging and Appropriation Chapter 6: Inner Truth and Accountability Living in the Tension brings a broad perspective and a "both/and" awareness to spiritual and racial justice concerns, two areas that matter greatly in contemporary life. This book will appeal to people of any faith tradition and social justice activists at work in any setting.

Shelly Tochluk is the author of Witnessing Whiteness: The Need to Talk About Race and How to Do It. An educator, with a background in psychology, Shelly Tochluk spent ten years as a researcher, counselor, and teacher in California’s public schools. She now trains teachers to work with Los Angeles’ diverse school population as Professor of Education at Mount Saint Mary’s University - Los Angeles. Her personal dedication to confront issues of race developed first through her participation with UCLA’s NCAA Division-1 All-American Track and Field 4X400 meter relay team and later through her inner city teaching experiences. She currently volunteers with AWARE-LA (Alliance of White Anti-Racists Everywhere-Los Angeles). With this group, she co-created and produces the Unmasking Whiteness - Summer Institute that leads white people into a deeper understanding of their personal relationship to race, white privilege, and systemic racism.