Rev. angel Kyodo williams in Portland

Rev. angel is in town again. 

She talked about Conversation as a form of Practice: deep listening, truthful talking, as Investigation. She says she's really not interested in selling "Buddhism," but prefers the idea of dharma--a way of life that involves curiosity, investigation, and connection. 

She also offered three definitions, based in US history, that I find very helpful.

1. White supremacy is an ideological orientation that presupposes whites as the pinnacle against which everyone else is measured and develops a priority for people of European descent to maintain and protect power and privilege.

2. Whiteness is the practice of the culture of the practices and protocols that maintain white supremacy. (It is implicit; white people usually don't realize they are participating in it.) It involves the seduction of white-bodied peoples by status, money, and power and by laws that prohibit cooperation of white-bodied people with non-European people. The creation of "whiteness" was a project of the slave economy. Before "whiteness" was created, people were known by their countries of origin and not by a perception of skin color.

3. White people are white-bodied people who may or may not participate in "whiteness." 

It is vital not to confuse white-bodied people with "whiteness." Whiteness is a choice. 

The desire of people to connect, to enjoy each other, to be in wonderment about each other, is natural. The perception of "race" constricts access to the love that is natural and inborn in all of us. There was a time in each of our lives when we were not "racialized," when we could connect with people without judgments based on the perceptions of "race." That knowing, that inclination to know each other and to love each other, is in us. It is innate. It is our nature to connect and appreciate. We can find that again, through investigation.