Freedom School

Freedom School

Civil Rights Protestors

Civil Rights Protestors

Baynard Rustin

Baynard Rustin

Audre Lorde

Audre Lorde

Howard Zinn

Howard Zinn

Highlander School

Highlander School

Fannie Lou Hammer

Fannie Lou Hammer

Dubois Niagara Movement

Dubois Niagara Movement

James Baldwin

James Baldwin

Rosa Parks

Rosa Parks

Malcom X

Malcom X

Woman with Police

Woman with Police

June Jordan

June Jordan

Thich Naht Hahn and MLK

Thich Naht Hahn and MLK

Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela

Rigoberta Menchu

Rigoberta Menchu

Desegregation

Desegregation

Congo Cobalt Mine

Congo Cobalt Mine

CURRENT PROJECTS

CURRENT PROJECTS

Insight endeavors to inspire openness and connection to the richness and beauty of our world. We aspire to bring loving-kindness for ourselves and each other in the everyday practice of racial justice.

What is Insight

Personal Training?

Advisory Council Member Michael Speraw

interviews founder Dr. Damita Brown

INSIGHT Personal Training works with individuals interested in deepening their understanding of anti-racism and sharpening their skills for dismantling racism at the personal and interpersonal levels.

You will become more at ease relating to race whether it involves being able to have conversations openly or interrupting racist dynamics without alienating those involved. You will develop more satisfaction with your ability to be involved in a constructive, compassionate and impactful way.

Because this work is for everyone and economic disparities keep privilege in place, we work with people on the basis of a sliding scale fee.

Heart Light Action Cards

Heart Light Action Cards are especially suited for those who want to bring their passion for racial justice together with their commitment to meditation and other contemplative practices. The cards encourage help us balance our day to day efforts with the inner wisdom we find through contemplative practice. 

The cards remind us of the goodness and power we all possess to repair the harm of racism. They were developed so that we can be reminded of our power to create, connect, open, love. Each set has 25 statements that encourage contemplation and action. The set also includes an explanation and contemplation for each statement. You can engage at the level that suits your time and availability.

Learn more and order your Heart Light Cards today.

Letter Writing Project

We must fight for your life as if it were our own—which it is.

James Baldwin

Insight Workshops

The Letter Writing Project is a practice of contemplative anti-racism in which we turn the lens inward for reflection. When we hear about horrible atrocities motivated by racial hatred, instead of burying our outrage, heartbreak or shame we can listen to that inner dialogue which needs to be heard. Our work begins within.

We meet every 2nd and 4th Friday at 3pm EST

This collective action has three objectives:

  • Transform silence about anti-Black violence into action

  • Build community among anti-racists that does not blame, shame or divide

  • Show up in visible ways for Black people who are impacted by racist violence

Our goal is to write open letters that make transparent our inner struggle with racism. We can write to survivors, organizations, elected leaders, those causing harm, ourselves, our families - the possibilities are open. We write to take a contemplative journey into our understanding of race, racism and how we can make a difference.

Questions: zijidragon@gmail.com

REGISTER HERE

Community Lab for Intentional Practice

Insight Workshops are customized to deliver the activities, engagement and explanations of the key ideas that match your team’s needs. Insight’s highly experiential approach helps participants benefit from immediate hands on encounters with the concepts, skills and supportive encouragement they need to become knowledgeable and confident. The whole approach is grounded in the values of empathy, togetherness and acknowledging basic goodness in each other.

Insight Workshops offer:

  • Contemplative and compassionate self-reflection as a foundation

  • Experiential learning modules focused on activities of repairing harm

  • Imaginative exploration of ways to recover from of toxic identity traps

The workshop uses activities and exercises to strengthen our capacity for kindness, bravery, honesty, resilience and peace.

We learn to centralize these qualities in our day to day engagement with anti-racism. And each of us creates a unique compassionate pathway to liberation. We find in doing this work that we can cut through our mythologies about race. We get to be inspired by our collective inquiry into the beauty, dignity and power of being human.

Tea With Dee

First Friday racial justice gathering.

In the Community Lab we explore existing and new approaches to liberation from supremacist identities, institutions and ideologies. We cultivate the counter cultural norms which guide alternative community building. Such work is a critical part of making anti-racism work sustainable. The practice of building and working within an alternative community, points us toward other ways of being together, other ways of thinking about how power operates in our relationships. The Community Lab creates the conditions for maximizing our potential for alternative experience.

Labs can be used as a supplement to your organization’s ongoing work, a part of your professional development plan, or as a stand alone space for re-imaging the kind of society we want to live in.

Schedule a conversation with Dr. Damita Brown to explore which options work for you.

Tea with Dee is an afternoon gathering of anti-racists who get together once a month to compare notes, learn new skills and troubleshoot difficult spots in their work. Guests have a chance to ask questions, share insights and enjoy the support of those committed to addressing the traps of race in all its forms.  We meet First Fridays at 3 pm EST.

Upcoming First Friday Tea Dates for 2024

May 3, No Tea with Dee in June, July 5, August 2, September 6, October 4, November 8 and December 6

What people are saying about INSIGHT

  • Dr. Damita Brown approaches her work with loving directness and unparalleled thoughtfulness. The space she created and opened up for me and the team I work with allowed us to uncover our racist biases in heart, mind and practice. In working with her, I learned both spaciousness and urgency in how I approach racial justice work.

    Sam Hsieh

  • I worked with Damita through my school. I looked forward to every meeting we had together, and what stood out the most with Damita was the calmness they brought to each setting. Anti-racist work is hard. It is a lot of understanding your faults as a person and being able to change yourself for the better of society and especially for our students. Damita's workshop was a space for learning and growing that was welcoming and highly beneficial for all. Creating an anti-racist action plan in these workshops made me realize, as a white educator, that there is an opportunity to grow daily. It's not just writing things down but coming up with ways to keep growing and understanding how we can make situations better for our students, not just for ourselves. It is so easy to be complicit with society and performative in anti-racism work. Damita's workshops had this warm and inviting space that made us all want to break free from that and really make a difference.

    Sarah Weinstock

  • I liked the overall theme of bringing the topic of racism into a contemplative setting. I liked that we started from a place of love by basic goodness being pointed out. I liked the topic of diaspora identity and want to learn more about it and how the colonial mindset comes from the horrible conditions in Europe. I loved the inquiry and learning around blood on the hands. The poster exercise was a great way to bring the learnings home. The inquires I am carrying forward are about diaspora identity, the whole concept of whiteness, not just what benefits come from white privilege but what have I/we lost, what has been the cost of it to white people. What have we lost as a result? Finally, I carry the question of how to let go of white privilege? What would that look like?

    Anonymous

  • Damita's breadth of knowledge about racism and contemplative path together, so both were woven through workshop. Use of collage as a way to contemplate and express (along with music). Experiential exercises (raise your hand exercise). Perspective of family lineage inheritance related to racism/collective trauma. Dialogue between Damita and participants. I appreciated the lunch together and food/drink offerings throughout the workshop.

    Marion Stork

  • I liked Damita's presence, humour, knowledge, buddhist-practice-orientation, and creativity. I appreciated Barry's contributions, as well. I liked the arc of the learning - from our European roots of trauma to immigration to North America (without awareness of the indigenous perspective and genocide or an awareness of slavery, past and present), to waking up to our responsibilities as caring citizens and members of society who must work to educate ourselves and each other about White privilege and it's hidden impact on people of colour.

    Alan Sloan

Contact

Get in touch

zijidragon@gmail.com