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New Beginning | the CENTER | January 2009

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http://www.transformativechange.org/docs/nl/transform-200901.html

Read this newsletter online: http://transformativechange.org/docs/nl/transform-200901.html Download printable PDF version: http://transformativechange.org/docs/nl/transform-200901.pdf

what's new

welcome

New Look for Our Newsletter

This January we welcome a new president, a new year, and for transform., the newsletter of Center for Transformative Change, a new

Welcome to the new transform.

look. This month we celebrate the historic inauguration of the first black president, someone people hold as a symbol of hope and change. To introduce our new issue, the director talks more about what that means to many of us in the featured article below. In recognition of the inauguration, we invite each of you to look at what you once thought was impossible and take the first steps toward making it happen.

As you can see, our newsletter has a new look and our organization has a new name.

Read more...

Room Available with our residential community at Center for Transformative Change.

in TIME Open House & Annual Sangha Gathering--You're Invited!

Once a year, we invite the larger community, new and old, invested and interested, to come together to assess the past.

Here's a taste of what we'll be discussing on January 25th: Read more...

Schedule of upcoming events.

Celebrate Inauguration in Community

finally American

in the CENTER Center for Transformative

inSIGHT with angel Kyodo williams

Change: Inner Work Meets Social

Each time I peer at this new look of transform., I get a feeling of satisfaction that a process that we began over a year ago--transitioning from an Oakland-based meditation center to situating ourselves sqaurely in the center of this work we call "transformative social change"--is essentially complete.

I'm more struck, though, at the great big American flag that looms above in our welcome section. I took that

Change In December, the Center for urbanPEACE became the Center for Transformative Change.

Read more...

in the MIND

picture in the airport at Jacksonville, FL after a 2004 Election Protection

fearlessMeditation Complete! For

campaign. You remember, don't you? The last presidential election was all about Florida because that was the scene of the year 2000 crime that gave America a president that many of us couldn't or wouldn't call our

the first time ever, we offered our complete fearlessMeditation series over three consecutive

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New Beginning | the CENTER | January 2009

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http://www.transformativechange.org/docs/nl/transform-200901.html

own.

weeks.

Read more...

Looking back, it seems strange that I even took a photo of a US flag. After all, I've identified less and less with the flag, being American, and even America itself, since my 4th grade protest of the "Pledge of Allegiance."

Like a good social justice practitioner, I recognize the privilege foisted upon me because I was born a US citizen whenever I leave the country.

Even if my rights aren't well-regarded when I'm here at home, I do (still) get special treatment elsewhere in the world. Personally, though, I was one of those heathen "unpatriotic" Americans that, far from feeling a swell of pride whenever "Oh, say can you see..." was belted out by the latest pop star on a football field, felt a burdensome combination of shame and irritation. Shame because from sea to shining sea, America stood for something far from liberty and justice for all. Irritation because

"the best workshop i've ever taken. radically changed my work." fearless Meditation is our 3-part signature series that teaches practical meditation in a social justice context: fearless Meditation I: practice of the body fearless Meditation II: practice of the breath fearless Meditation III: practice of the mind

in the BODY Fearless Self-Defense

apparently a bunch of folks still think if we don't wave the flag until our arms fall off and stick little pins on our lapels, we're Enemy Combatant #1 and should get ready for an all expense-paid trip to Gauntanamo for a

In November, Zochi Alonzo

little waterboarding excursion.

of women the basics of

Young, one of our Core Members, taught a small group self-defense.

So you can imagine how strange it seems to now reacquaint myself with what it means to be American.

But here I am...here WE are. A scant 8 years after "we wuz robbed" of what should have been the first Green President, we've got the first Black

Read more...

Universal Form in the Park

wellness & well-being

President. Having in Al Gore a President that would have acknowledged our path of environmental destruction before Katrina could have restored faith for some us, but having a post-9/11 President with an Arabic name

Celebrate the New Year with

meaning "blessed" is too much for even the most hopeful of us to have ever anticipated. Does anyone think that whoever is pulling the swtiches behind the curtain of the Universe doesn't have a sense of humor?

activist who speaks out about

Bryant Terry's Asian Martini.

Bryant is an author & food food sustainability. His first book, Grub with coauthor Anna LappĂŠ, won a 2007 Nautilus Award for Social Change.

After Obama's election I quickly realized that I wasn't alone in my arms-distance relationship to being American. Over and over again I

His new book Vegan Soul Kitchen: Fresh, Healthy, and

heard people--conscious, justice-seeking people: black people, white people, poor and privileged, from behind the scenes and on the frontlines--each on an outbreath of relief say: "I can finally be proud to

March.

be American."

Creative African-American Cuisine comes out in Asian Martini Recipe

january wallpaper

On the one hand, 2009 brings with it the incredible challenges of the freefall of an economic house of cards built with smoke, mirrors and lots of dishonest spit, an unjust war built on outright lies. and a devastating attack on a people that the world can no longer deny is on the short end of a harsh stick, built on a 60 year theft. On the other hand, we are embarking upon a new year, a new era, and a strange, new hopefulness that real people, tired of being polarized by fear, hate and separation can organize for hope, progress and change. And together, our collective will can make a difference.

I debated taking that flag image out many, many times. But it stayed.

And for now, anyway, I stay. I stay here to reimagine and fully claim being American because I can finally exchange some of my stalwart commitment to see change happen for an actual experience of change being possible. And it's change I can believe in...imagine that?

This Buddha image was photographed by angel Kyodo williams at the Clear Water Temple in Japan during the fall of 2006. Download it as wallpaper for your desktop, with or without the calendar.

Download your desktop calendar here...

connect | share | support

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New Beginning | the CENTER | January 2009

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angel Kyodo williams, is founder of urbanPEACE. A social visionary and leading voice for transformative social change, she is also author of Being Black: Zen and the Art of Living With Fearlessness and Grace.

Download this article as a PDF www.angelkyodowilliams.com Don’t Miss angel Kyodo williams next talk, February 8, 2009 Topic or Name of next event that aKw will appear at.

newDharma Talk Faith Mind: Don't Pick and Choose The HSIN SHIN MING or Verses of the Faith Mind is a rich text written by the Third Zen Patriarch of China, Sengtsan (d. 606 AD) says: "The Great Way is not difficult for those who have no preferences. When love and hate are both absent everything becomes clear and undisguised. Make the smallest distinction, however, and heaven and earth are set infinitely apart. If you wish to see the truth then hold no opinions for or against anything." angel Kyodo williams talks about cultivating Faith Mind, and how "not picking and choosing" can bring more ease to our everyday lives.

http://www.transformativechange.org/docs/nl/transform-200901.html

transform feedback editor@transformativechange.org Share your transformative story tell us how you're changing the WAY change is done.

Register for trainings, workshops & events 866.PEACE.2009 (toll free) register@transformativechange.org Forward this newsletter Be a friend. Pass transform on.

Center for Transformative Change is the first national center entirely dedicated to bridging the inner and outer lives of social change agents, activists and allies to support a more effective, more sustainable social justice movement. The Center is a project of urbanPEACE, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational organization whose mission to inform, incite and empower a broad-based, presence-centered transformative social change movement.

Donate to the Center to support our work.

Visit the Center's website.

Listen to the newDharma Podcast here or

activists, allies & agents of change…

Each month in this section of the new transform we'll feature an individual or an organization whose focus is on bringing about change using a transformative approach. This month we hear from Adrienne Maree Brown, Executive Director of the kickass Ruckus Society.

Why Gaza Matters to Us

by Adrienne Maree Brown from Colorlines Blog

On December 30, I attended a rally/memorial for Gaza in Dearborn, Michigan. Dearborn is home to the largest community of Arab and Arab-American people within US borders. I went with two young women who have focused on Palestinian human rights, and were in Palestine last year doing work with youth to develop a creative and nonviolent response to the wall, and a third young woman who is learning about the situation much as I am.

Read more... www.ruckus.org

resources for change…

In this section we'll offer resources that empower Transformative Social Change. This month, Alice Walker writes on Leadership and Claudia Horwitz speaks to Service on Obama's US Service website. Finally, angel Kyodo williams talks about Being Natural.

An Open Letter to Barack Obama from Alice Walker

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New Beginning | the CENTER | January 2009

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http://www.transformativechange.org/docs/nl/transform-200901.html

Perfecting Our Legacy: The Path of Spiritual Activism Being Natural: $8 On this CD angel Kyodo williams discusses the often understated importance of being who we are and how this lets us find real space in our lives. It's a helpful resource for letting go of who you aren't in order to be true to yourself. Get it here...

quote of the month Without inner change, there can be no outer change. Without collective change, no change matters." —angel Kyodo williams, Center for Transformative Change

Center for Transformative Change is a project of urbanPEACE, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational organization whose mission to inform, incite and empower a broad-based, presence-centered transformative social change movement.

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