Dharma Relief 2: 2020 – 2024
Healing Racial Trauma
Through Buddhist Communities
Going Forward Together:
The Fellowship Program
Dharma Relief 2 (DR2): “Healing Racial Trauma Through Buddhist Communities” was an initiative that recognized Black Dharma teachers and leaders as uniquely positioned to offer healing and support through a Buddhist lens for African-descendant communities in the United States. These teachers and leaders addressed the intergenerational, historical, and ongoing trauma experienced by African-descended people.
Through the generous dāna (donations) of many, DR2 funded five individual Black Dharma Teacher/Leader Fellowships, providing both community and material resources to sustain their profound work. Each Fellow received a monthly dāna offer of $1,000.00 USD to use as they saw fit to best support their livelihood and well-being. The fellowships began in October 2023 and ran for one year.
In the News
Dharma Relief 2 Fellowship Announcement
Lion’s Roar, September 2023
Meet the Fellowship recipients for the Dharma Relief 2 initiative. Read the Article
True Liberation: Black & Buddhist in America
Lion’s Roar, April 2024
Lion’s Roar’s Pamela Ayo Yetunde hosts a roundtable conversation with four of the fellows: Jean Marie Robbins, Pamela Freeman, Ramona Lisa Ortiz-Smith, and Victoria Cary. The discussion explores how Buddhist practice is helping Black people heal from the impact of racism and discover inner peace. Read the Article
Dharma Relief 2: Innovative Financial Support for Black Dharma Teachers and Leaders
Lion’s Roar, April 2024
Pamela Ayo Yetunde speaks with Myokei Caine-Barrett, Marisela Gomez, Stacy McClendon, and DaRa Williams, the advisory board of Dharma Relief 2, about their vision to fund and support Black Buddhist leaders in serving Black communities. Read the Article
Meet Our Fellows
Jean Marie Robbins
Jean Marie Robbins has been a practitioner in the Shambhala lineage in Chicago, Illinois for nearly 10 years. In 2020, during the first year of the pandemic, she and an Internal Family Systems therapist received a grant from Shambhala to design and conduct a workshop called Warriorship and Whiteness, which evolved into the monthly Collective Liberation. Jean facilitates exploring race and identity, racism, bias, and inequity. Most recently, Jean completed meditation instructor training and entered the Vajrayana path with the intention of providing healing and connection for Black youth.
👉 Click here for Jean Marie’s teaching schedule and talks
Jozen Tamori Gibson
Jozen Tamori Gibson began Their formal meditation practice in 2004 through Sotō Zen while living in Japan joined by a Theravada practice in 2010. Jozen is a 2021 graduate of the Insight Meditation Society (IMS) – Insight Retreat Center (IRC) Dharma Teacher Training program. With certifications and embodiment studies in Yoga, Qigong, Emergency Medical Technician (NREMT), Indigenous Focusing Oriented Therapy (IFOT) and Complex Trauma, Jozen lives to provide and nourish contemplative body-heart-mind alignment practices and spaces rooted in wellness, anti-oppression and interdependent liberation for all beings. Jozen honors the wisdom and compassion of all teachers, highlighting their mother, Akimi, and Dharma teachers, Monitsu Pamela Weiss and Osho Zenju Earthlyn Manuel.
👉 Click here for Jozen’s teaching schedule and talks
Pamela Freeman
Pamela Freeman is a licensed clinical psychotherapist who has been in practice over 30 years and is a co-founder of The Black Women’s Health Project in Atlanta. She is a graduate of the Community Dharma Leadership program and the Dedicated Practitioners Program at Spirit Rock Meditation Center. She is a co-founder of Delaware Valley Insight in the Philadelphia Tri-State Area, and is also one of the leaders for a monthly meditation group for people of color in Philadelphia. Pamela aims to expose more people to the benefits of meditation.
👉 Check back later for Pamela’s teaching schedule
Ramona Lisa Ortiz-Smith
Ramona Lisa Ortiz-Smith, MBA, has been practicing meditation for over 25 years and studying the Dharma in the Theravada tradition for more than 15 years. Ramona Lisa considers herself a dedicated lay practitioner of the Dharma. She enjoys scholarly programs and has completed East Bay Meditation Center’s Commit to Dharma Program (C2D3) and Spirit Rock Meditation Center’s (SRMC) Dedicated Practitioners Program (DPP6). Her teacher training includes certification through the Mindfulness Training Institute and completion of East Bay Meditation Center’s two-year Spiritual Teacher and Leadership training. She is also a certified Indigenous Focusing Oriented Therapy (IFOT) Practitioner and is inspired to include earth based indigenous practices in her offerings as a meditation and Dharma teacher. Ramona Lisa is nourished and sustained by long, silent retreat practice. She is a Free Spirit who creatively weaves together real life experiences into her Dharma interpretation and teachings using authenticity, kindness, humor and joy!
👉 Click here for Ramona Lisa’s teaching schedule and talks
Victoria Cary
Victoria Cary has been practicing Insight Meditation and studying Dharma since 2006. She graduated from Spirit Rock Retreat Teacher Training in September of 2020, and has served as a Community Dharma Leader since her graduation from Spirit Rock’s Community Dharma Leaders (CDL) program in 2016. At that time, she co-founded the San Francisco People of Color Insight Sangha and continues as one of the core teachers. Victoria is particularly interested in the integration of the Mindfulness in everyday life.
👉 Click here for Victoria’s teaching schedule and talks
Advisory Board
DaRa Williams
Insight Meditation Society and New York Insight, vipassana
Marisela Gomez
baltimore and beyond mindfulness community, order of interbeing/tiep hien
Myokei Caine-Barrett Shonin
Nichiren Buddhist Sangha of Texas, nichiren SHU
STACY MCCLENDON
Common Ground Meditation Center, vipassanA
GUO GU
Tallahassee chan center, chan
MARTIN APPLEBAUM
being without self, rinzai zen
NARAYAN HELEN LIEBENSEN
Insight Meditation Society, Cambridge insight meditation Center, vipassana
Sara Khan
Tallahassee Chan Center, Chan
Deep gratitude to the following former Advisory Board members, who were instrumental and invaluable in getting this project underway and in facilitating its development:
Anouk shambrook
Cheryl Giles
RALPH STEELE
LORNE LADNER
MATT ZEPELIN
MEIDO MOORE
THUBTEN CHONYI
The Advisory Board for Dharma Relief 2 (DR2) attended an in-person, two-day meeting in Tallahassee in March 2024. As a board, we had never met in person before, and this retreat provided the opportunity to foster connections in relaxed settings promoting collaboration and enhancing the Fellowship Program. See our photo at the beautiful Wakulla Springs in Wakulla, FL to the left.
(From Left to Right: Marisela, Narayan, Martin, Myokei, GuoGu, DaRa, Stacy, and Sara)
Supporters
Bodhisattvas
Individuals who financially support at any level
Alev Wilk
Anne Blackburn
Ashley Messenger
Athene Carras
Barbara Baatz
Barbara Krumsiek
Bart Leonard
Belinda Li
Bill Millington
Binbin Deng
Bonnie Sarmiento
Brad Hunter
Bruce Teague
Carletta Bullock
Carrie Pollak
Chengye Wang
Cheryl Giles
Cheryl Marland
Chris Fortin
Courtney McKeown
Craig Rosa
Daniella Molle
Dawn Toepelt
Diane Powell
Efrat Livny
Elvin De La Cruz
Emmanuel Lartey
Frances Berry
Ginger Toll
Gita Pitter
Grace Cialek
Hamsa Isles
Helen Hobart
Helen Horigan
JD Doyle
Jeff Wilson
Jeffrey Shiu
Jennifer Racho
Jessica Buges
Jimmy Lin
Jingwen Chen
Joe Schuman
Johanna Gorse
Jon Josef
Jonas Kaplan-Bucciarelli
Judy Shiu
Karen McInerney
Katalin Kiraly
Kerry Dunn
Kim Neuschel
Lily Kung
Linda Grove
Liz Johnson
Lori-Ann Lima
Lowell Arye
Lydia Ridgway
Mark Nunberg
Marsha Lawson
Marty Larch
Melissa Medick
Milton Vedder
Monica Solomon
Nancy Chu
Nancy Dunham
Nancy Riemer
Nealy Zimmermann
Neil Ryder
Noliwe Alexander
Onshin Landry
Patrice Koelsch
Patricia Phelan Cabarga
Patricia Williams
Philip Claypool
R Amadea Morningstar
Racquel Adams
Rain Sussman
Ralph Quinn
Raquel Lambert
Rev Bruce N Teague
Rev SeiFu Singh-Molares
Richard Henning
Richard Swanson
Robbie and Dan Tisch
Robin Major
Rozsalind Brown
Ryan Van Wyk
Samo Skerbec
Sandra Medina Bocangel
Sara Khan
Sarah O’Gara
Serge Stelmack
Siobhan Cassidy
Stacy McClendon
Steven Cooley
Sufen Weiwu
Susanne Anderson
Susanne Delattre
Suzanne Kilkus
Takaaki Okada
Terri and Ellis Delaney
Terri Barczak
Todd Finlay
Todd Walker
Tom Hogeland
Tory Street
Tuere Sala
Ve Shing Kau
Victoria Mausisa
Virginia Watson
Vonda Pearson
Wen Hsin
Yung-Yi Mosley
Yupin Chao
Sponsors
Organizations that support the project
Financial Impact
The success of this project was made possible through the generosity of over 150 individual donors, Dharma centers, and institutional supporters, as well as the dedication of those who contributed their time and expertise.
Significant in-kind support played a crucial role in making this work possible. The Barre Center for Buddhist Studies and Tallahassee Chan Center offered retreat support, offering space and resources for participants. The Open Door Zen Community also contributed financially, while the Insight Meditation Society (IMS) generously funded $13,000 to cover the Deep Time Liberation Retreat, ensuring that Fellows and teachers could fully participate. In-kind volunteer support included a devotion of an extraordinary amount of time to the project, dedicating over 2,000 hours (equivalent to a full year of full-time labor.) While these are many hours, the outcome of many hours of learning together as we built the program, enabled the organizers to be able to offer something beautiful for the Fellows.
Financially, the program was sustained through $92,527.62 in total funding, with $75,426.40 allocated to the Fellowship Program and $17,101.22 supporting administrative needs. Fellowship donations covered monthly stipends for five Fellows, as well as retreat and travel expenses, while administrative funds provided essential infrastructure, including Zoom, accounting software, and program oversight. Through a balance of financial support and volunteer dedication, this initiative was able to create meaningful, lasting impact.
Share Our Impact – Download the Infographic
Building DharmaRelief 2
What was the Fellowship?
The Fellowship Program supported an initial cohort of five Black Dharma Teachers/Leaders in their work of offering healing and support through a Buddhist lens for African-descendant communities in the United States. As an important threshold step in this effort, DR2 provided the cohort of Fellows with: 1) access to material and community support, so they could continue to develop their mission; and 2) access to liberative resources so Fellows could more deeply understand and heal their own racialized trauma.
Through the generosity of the individuals, agencies, and sponsors listed here, DR2 funded five individual Fellowships for Black Dharma Teachers/Leaders for a duration of one year, providing monthly dāna of $1,000.00 USD to each Fellow beginning in October of 2023. The Fellows used the dāna as they saw fit to best support their livelihood and well-being. In order to create a shared experience among the cohort, Fellows attended: i) at least two of three Fellowship circles during the Fellowship year, each a daylong virtual gathering (held on October 7, 2023, January 27, 2024, and August 17, 2024); and ii) an in-person residential ‘Deep Time Liberation’ (DTL) retreat in the spring of 2024. Retreat registration and a $300 travel stipend were generously provided by Insight Meditation Society.
The DR2 Black Dharma Teacher/Leader Fellowship was complemented by free access to a variety of Dharma resources. Two such resources included free enrollment at any retreat or workshop offered by Barre Center for Buddhist Studies and Cambridge Insight Meditation Center. A full list of resources was made available to each Fellow upon the start of the Fellowship.
For more information, click here to watch the DR2 Zoom information session held in March 2023 and here to view the slides. Attendance at this session was not required to apply to the Fellowship program.
Who was eligible to apply?
The primary criteria for the Fellowship were twofold: (1) applicants had to identify as descended from African peoples; and (2) applicants had to be recognized as a teacher or leader in a Dharma community. It was our aim to ensure diverse representation across Buddhist lineages, age, gender identity, geographic location, and teaching experience.
How were the Fellows selected?
Teachers and leaders who applied for the Fellowship completed a written application as well as engaged in a virtual conference with the selection panel, made up of the Black Dharma Teachers of the DR2 Advisory Board: DaRa Williams, Marisela Gomez, Myokei Caine-Barrett Shonin, and Stacy McClendon (learn more about them here). The selection panel also engaged with references provided by the applicants.
Fellowship timeline:
- April 10-30, 2023 — applications were accepted
- May, 2023 — applications were reviewed
- June, 2023 — conferences were conducted and references contacted
- July, 2023 — Fellow cohort was selected
- August, 2023 — Fellows were announced
- October, 2023 — Fellowship began
What was expected of the Fellows?
In order to create a shared experience among the cohort, Fellows committed to attending: 1) at least two of the three Fellowship circles offered during the Fellowship year (held on October 7, 2023, January 27, 2024, and August 17, 2024), each a daylong virtual gathering (dates were announced at a prior information session); and 2) a residential ‘Deep Time Liberation’ retreat.
Fellows also committed to engaging in feedback exercises throughout the program to highlight the impact and efficacy for Teachers/Leaders and to inform future related projects.
What were the program goals?
The goal of the Fellowship Program was to foster the development of the liberative mission of Black Dharma teachers: addressing the impact of intergenerational, historical, and continuing present-day trauma on African-descended people by offering healing and support through a Buddhist lens for African-descendant communities in the U.S. The Fellowship Program supported this goal through the provision of material and community support, so Fellows could continue to develop their mission, and, in parallel, through access to resources so Fellows could more deeply understand and heal their own racialized trauma. Fellows were then supported to continue passing on their healing wisdom to their communities.
How was the Fellowship dāna dispersed?
Monthly dāna of $1,000.00 USD was provided to each Fellow via direct deposit for one year, beginning in October of 2023.
How did the program come about?
In response to a flood of horrific racial attacks, Dharma Relief brought together a wide spectrum of Buddhist teachers, centers, and temples in the United States to collectively heal the impact of racialized trauma against Black African-descended people. This initiative was thus named Dharma Relief 2.