by admin | Jan 6, 2026
Join us online for a discussion with Dr. Rima Vesely-Flad about her new book The Fire Inside: The Dharma of James Baldwin and Audre Lorde. Black, queer, feminist, Buddhist: The Fire Inside casts a fresh new light on the radical literary legacies of James Baldwin and Audre Lorde.
This is an online-only program with the American Writers Museum.
This program is presented in conjunction with the AWM’s special exhibit American Prophets: Writers, Religion, and Culture, a powerful new exhibit that takes you on the ultimate exploration through spirituality and storytelling. American Prophets is supported by a grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. through its Religion and Cultural Institutions Initiative.
More about The Fire Inside:
The Fire Inside explores the writings of Audre Lorde and James Baldwin through a Dharmic lens, revealing for the first time how two of America’s greatest literary voices reflect—and expand—Buddhism’s most timeless truths toward justice and liberation.
Dr. Rima Vesely-Flad dives deeply into a dharma of liberation as lived by Baldwin and Lorde, offering timely lessons to help us each meet this moment. She explores the writers’ enduring legacies to show that liberation depends not only on organizing and mass movements, but the generative power of inner well-being, authenticity, art, and embodiment. Each chapter shares how looking inward is the way forward, examining Baldwin and Lorde through key Buddhist principles.
This book offers space for emerging conversations within spiritual communities—ones that don’t shy away from difficult or uncomfortable truths; that center—and celebrate—Black, queer, radical thought; and that embrace the ways our inner lives, creative fire, sensuality, and expressions of love can ignite and sustain revolutionary liberation.
Praise for The Fire Inside:
“I have followed and admired Rima Vesely-Flad’s work for years. She is tapping resources that all of us can access for greater hope and change.” —MICHELLE ALEXANDER, author of The New Jim Crow
“This groundbreaking work is a gift of love reminding us of how Black liberation struggle, like the dharma itself, has always been about everyone getting free.” —LAMA ROD OWENS, author of Love and Rage and The New Saints
“This is a read not to miss… I find my own embers of wellness, justice, and harmony stoked with her joy of expression from the heart and mind on behalf of us all.” —LARRY WARD, Buddhist teacher, author, and cofounder of The Lotus Institute
“This book is a fire that both illuminates and refines, a call to engage with the truth of our times while drawing strength from ancestral wisdom.” —RUTH KING, author of Mindful of Race
About the author:
DR. RIMA VESELY-FLAD is the Visiting Professor of Buddhism and Black Studies at Union Theological Seminary. She is the author of Black Buddhists and the Black Radical Tradition: The Practice of Stillness in the Movement for Liberation (NYU Press, 2022) and Racial Purity and Dangerous Bodies: Moral Pollution, Black Lives, and the Struggle for Justice (Fortress Press, 2017).
by Ignacio Lopez | Feb 28, 2025
The Afro-Caribbean Jazz Collective blends the heart of Afro-Caribbean rhythms with the sophistication of modern jazz, creating a soundscape that is as familiar as it is fresh in the world music genre. José Guzmán Borrero, a native of Ponce, Puerto Rico, is a multi-genre guitarist who has performed with jazz ensembles, chamber groups, and rock bands. He leads the Latin jazz group, The Afro-Caribbean Jazz Collective, which has released several albums on Spotify.
Join us for a bombajazz filled night in an intimate setting with The Afro-Caribbean Jazz Collective & Colectivo Sayba at the Puerto Rican Arts Alliance.
El Afro-Caribbean Jazz Collective combina el corazón de los ritmos afrocaribeños con la sofisticación del jazz moderno, creando un paisaje sonoro tan familiar como fresco en el género musical mundial. José Guzmán Borrero, originario de Ponce, Puerto Rico, es un guitarrista multigénero que ha actuado con conjuntos de jazz, grupos de cámara y bandas de rock. Lidera el grupo de jazz latino, The Afro-Caribbean Jazz Collective, que ha lanzado varios álbumes en Spotify.
Únase a nosotros para una noche llena de bombajazz en un ambiente íntimo con El Afro-Caribbean Jazz Collective y Colectivo Sayba en las instalaciones de Puerto Rican Arts Alliance.
by Kerry Sheehan | Aug 15, 2024
This event is FREE and open to the public.
THROUGH FISH EYES: A DANCE PRODUCTION THAT COMBINES ART, SCIENCE, AND A CALL TO ACTION
“Through Fish Eyes” is a unique performance that utilizes dance to create awareness of and evoke empathy in audiences about our dwindling marine ecosystems. This art-science-dance work follows the relationship between mankind and the ocean, starting at a time when man lived in harmony with nature and ending with the current fragmented world. It brings a voice to water which is all around us in so many forms. The once abundant and thriving ocean has been ravaged by humans. The relationship between man and water is no longer sacred and the damage is done. Humanity is the hand that has been destroyed, but can it now be the hand of change?
This work was initially conceptualized by Kasi Aysola & Madhvi Venkatesh. Research and fieldwork was done at the Great Barrier Reef in Cairns, Australia. The creative development of this piece has been funded by the National Academies Keck Futures Initiative, The Boston Foundation, and the Boston Cultural Council.
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Through Fish Eyes’ cannot be classified merely as a Bharatanatyam piece – though it has fast-paced rhythmic sections drawn from the art form’s toolkit. It cannot be classified as a Nature drama – though it has marvelous depictions of marine life. It cannot be classified as romantic yearning for the past – though it portrays the idyllic times of yore. At best, ‘Through Fish Eyes’ can be considered a Call to Arms. It is a devastating depiction of the present and an urgent beseeching to imagine new futures.” – Aditya Venkataraman, Narthaki.com
“Transported to a faraway place…dynamic music, intricate movements, percussive detailed footwork impressed a story that was well thought out and executed” -Raquel Lake, Dance Metro DC
This project has been funded by the National Academies Keck Futures Initiative, The Boston Foundation’s Live Arts Boston program, and the Boston Cultural Council. Prakriti Dance uses the vocabulary of Indian dance to narrate a story that is so relevant to the world today.
“Through Fish Eyes” has been choreographed by Kasi Aysola, and conceptualized by Kasi Aysola & Madhvi Venkatesh.
Dancers:
Kasi Aysola
Archana Raja
Madhuvanti Sundararajan
Harini Nilakantan
Sangeeta Chettia
Kavisha Prajapathi
