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Is there room for politics in your mindfulness practice? Is there room for politics in any mindfulness practice? In a 1992 Tricycle interview, Black feminist scholar and radical pedagogue bell hooks said: “Where I stand spiritually is, steadfastly, on a path about love. I think of feminism, and I think of anti-racist struggles as part of it.” For hooks, and for her teachers Thich Nhat Hanh and Martin Luther King, Jr., politics was inextricable from spiritual practice, because in order to practice love one must also be engaged in the struggle for human equality and liberation.

In a world where church and state are separated, do we need to bring politics back into our spiritual practices? What do we gain when we keep an eye on politics within our spiritual communities? What might be lost?

Join us at the Dittmar Memorial Gallery in the Norris University Center in a guided conversation with Dr. Nicole Spigner, Assistant Professor of Black Studies, to talk about these and other questions and, more importantly, to gather and engage in mindfulness practices together as an intergenerational Northwestern community. All students, staff, and faculty are welcome. 

The Salon is accessible to all bodies. No special equipment or experience needed.

Light refreshments will be served.