Building The Beloved Community

When I joined Ahiah, I was surprised by its diversity. I’d only seen two kinds of New Thought spiritual centers: predominately white and predominately black. With Master Sio, a Hawaiian Kahuna leading meditation, a diverse band, a senior minister who is gay, white and in an interracial marriage, a group of black women Sunday singers, and singers of different races performing on stage, I was blown away by Ahiah’s inclusivity.

When the Civil Rights Revolution began in May of 2020, the conversation about race in America really triggered me. I committed to seeing and healing my own internalized racism. I was grateful to see spiritual leaders at Ahiah doing this healing work too. After six months of prioritizing our individual healing, Rev. Michael Bernard Lattimore, Rev. Scott Olson, Marcia Bradshaw, RScP, Kelly Metcalf, RScP, and I developed a workshop to bring the entire Ahiah community together for healing.

In the book “White Supremacy and Me”, Layla F. Saad wrote, “Anti-racism work is not a 28-day journey. It’s a lifelong practice.” To build a beloved spiritual community, we must all be committed to practicing anti-racism. The “Building the Beloved Community” workshop is an opportunity to educate ourselves and heal our own internalized racism.