04. Love & Humility

Tema Okun has spent over 30 years working with and for organizations, schools, and community-based institutions as a trainer, facilitator, and coach focused on issues of racial justice and equity. Dr. Okun currently co-leads the Teaching for Equity Fellows Program at Duke University, which works with faculty seeking to develop stronger skills both teaching about race and racism and across lines of race, class, and gender. She was a member of the Educational Leadership faculty at National Louis University in Chicago and has taught undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral level students in educational leadership and education. She is the author of the award-winning The Emperor Has No Clothes: Teaching About Race and Racism to People Who Don’t Want to Know (2010, IAP) and the widely used article White Supremacy Culture. Tema is a participant in the Living School for Action and Contemplation and a member of the Bhumisphara Sangha under the leadership of Lama Rod Owens. She is an artist, a poet, and a writer. She lives in Durham NC where she is fortunate to reside among beloved community. Her current project is deepening her ability to love her neighbor as herself. She is finding the instruction easy and the follow through challenging, given how we live in a culture that is afraid to help us do either or both. In this very special interview with my friend, mentor and beloved Tema Okun we explore: - the gift of feedback - transformative relationships - the myriad ways to lead movements for social change humility - cultural conditioning - what it means to be in beloved community and, love. You can learn more about Tema's work at www.dismantlingracism.org Podcast music by Charles Kurtz

Om Podcasten

This podcast emerged from work based in the exploration of collective grief and liberation. It exists to remind us about all the ways we can find refuge during unsettling and uncertain times, and to remind us about the resilience and joy that comes from allowing ourselves to find refuge. Michelle C. Johnson, author, yoga teacher, healer, social worker, dismantling racism trainer, activist, and grief-worker, offers monthly interviews, engaging and amplifying the brilliance and wisdom of people who have found ways to honor their grief and stay centered amidst the turmoil in the world. It uplifts the brilliance and wisdom of people who are invested in creating conditions for liberation for the collective. We feature spiritual teachers, movement practitioners, activists and social change makers, and people who hold space in various ways for healing.