Meditation for Black Lives Matter #2

Here is James Sissler's photo of the event Buddhist Peace Fellowship created at City Hall. Not my photograph. I wasn't there. I was minding the online chat. We had 200 people in person who completely encircled City Hall, and we had another 100 on Livestream, and several people came up to praise us for being "the good protesters," or "the peaceful protesters." This made us furious. So the next morning I wrote a statement and posted it on our Facebook page, clarifying matters. 

This is a silent protest. This is not a peaceful protest. Do not call us “peaceful protesters.” To be peaceful in this moment of State violence is to be complicit. We are not complicit.

From Rev. Zenju Earthlyn Manuel, in her new book, The Deepest Peace: “Peace is not superior. Peace is persistent. Rage is persistent as well. I meditate while trembling with rage.”

Portland Buddhist Peace Fellowship meditates in public to call attention to systemic racism and its brutality and violence. We meditate in rage, honoring the suffering caused by white supremacy. We meditate in silence. Silence is one tactic. We support multiple tactics. Many of us practice multiple tactics.

Do not call us peaceful. We are strengthened by meditation so that we can find other ways to resist the domination of a violent State. Do not mistake our silence for peacefulness.