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Finalist, Award for Excellence in the Study of Religion, Constructive-Reflective Studies, given by the American Academy of Religion
Explores how Black Buddhist Teachers and Practitioners interpret Western Buddhism in unique spiritual and communal ways
In Black Buddhists and the Black Radical Tradition, Rima Vesely-Flad examines the distinctive features of Black-identifying Buddhist practitioners, arguing that Black Buddhists interpret Buddhist teachings in ways that are congruent with Black radical thought. Indeed, the volume makes the case that given their experiences with racism—both in the larger society and also within largely white-oriented Buddhist organizations—Black cultural frameworks are necessary for illuminating the Buddha’s wisdom.
Drawing on interviews with forty Black Buddhist teachers and practitioners, Vesely-Flad argues that Buddhist teachings, through their focus on healing intergenerational trauma, provide a vitally important foundation for achieving Black liberation. She shows that Buddhist teachings as practiced by Black Americans emphasize different aspects of the religion than do those in white convert Buddhist communities, focusing more on devotional practices to ancestors and community uplift.
The book includes discussions of the Black Power movement, the Black feminist movement, and the Black prophetic tradition. It also offers a nuanced discussion of how the Black body, which has historically been reviled, is claimed as a vehicle for liberation. In so doing, the book explores how the experiences of non-binary, gender non-conforming, and transgender practitioners of African descent are validated within the tradition. The book also uplifts the voices of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer Black Buddhists. This unique volume shows the importance of Black Buddhist teachers’ insights into Buddhist wisdom, and how they align Buddhism with Black radical teachings, helping to pull Buddhism away from dominant white cultural norms.
— Larry Ward, author of America’s Racial Karma: An Invitation to Heal
"An extremely important and timely contribution to scholarship on Black religion in the US, and on Buddhist studies. Vesely-Flad’s ethnographic interviews, which are a fantastically rich part of the book, center the voices and interpretations of Black Buddhists in a way that is unparalleled and enables the author to effectively argue for the importance of Black Buddhist teachers’ insights into Buddhist wisdom."
— Sarah Jacoby, author of Love and Liberation: Autobiographical Writings of the Tibetan Buddhist Visionary Sera Khandro
"An exciting project; hearing the voices of more than 70 multi-lineage Black Buddhists is itself a significant contribution to Buddhism in America. Vesely-Flad’s coverage of the Black Radical Tradition is superb—the history and breakdown of the different threads of the Black Radical Tradition is compelling and impressive."
— Ann Gleig, author of American Dharma: Buddhism Beyond Modernity
"Black Buddhists take as a starting point the experience of suffering, but they do not depoliticize spirituality as some of their white peers have the privilege to do. For Vesely-Flad, suffering is redefined in terms of the history of white supremacy and its effects on the psyche."
"[Vesely-Flad's] book stands to become a classic ethnographic study for the field of Buddhist studies and should be consulted by those looking to do further research on Black Buddhists in America and elsewhere."
"By documenting the Black Radical Tradition as precursor and influence for Black Buddhists, Vesely-Flad situates Black thinkers as producers of knowledge about the Dharma, thereby pointing the way to the vibrant possibilities of alternate histories of Buddhism in the United States."
"Vesely-Flad introduces the reader to a uniquely Black Buddhist hermeneutic that relates Buddhist doctrine and practice as understood by Black Buddhist practitioners to the thought of key Black radical intellectuals and movement leaders."