COURSE LEADERS
Byron McMillan is a former Army Captain and decorated combat veteran turned nonviolent contemplative peacemaker. He is from Raleigh, North Carolina and a graduate of East Carolina University. Byron is the founder of RiverFlow Communications and has been deeply influenced by the School for Conversion in Durham, North Carolina, the Christian Community Development Association, MIT’s U-Journey, Illuman, the Mystic Soul Project, and the Center for Action and Contemplation, where he completed the Living School in 2019. He humbly acknowledges all his faults and failures on his unending journey of descent where he is slowly learning to observe and experience all things in love. Byron McMillan currently resides in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Bill Clark has been the Northwest Director of Peace Catalyst International (PCI) since 2012. PCI Is a faith-based nonprofit that works closely with building bridges between Christian and Muslim communities. He and his wife Julie lived and worked in China for 10 years before moving to Kazakhstan. Living and working among Muslims in Central Asia is what birthed in them the desire to be peacemakers upon their return to the US. Slowly that work began to include the painful history of Black people and the systemic racism which undergirds a social system that is designed to work best for people who look like him. Oh, and he did have a side gig as a concert promoter. After discovering the local Bosnian Muslim community loved jazz, he promoted a series of jazz concerts that raised money for humanitarian projects in Muslim communities.
COURSE OUTLINE AND PREPARATION
Evidence of transmitted pain is prevalent throughout America. We believe that much of this pain is due to our addiction to white supremacy. Many people deny that this is a problem or that there is even such a thing as white supremacy. Just like all addictions, the first step to recovery is acknowledging that there is a problem. Then, we join together with others and we get to work on our own internal issues and the external realities confronting us.
How does this course help us do this?
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- Meet for 1.5 hours online each month. We’ll look at the history of the United States from People of Color, those who have found themselves on the margins of society, outside of the white dominant cultural narrative mostly taught in our schools.
- We utilize the Way of Council for our Small-Group Discussions, ongoing conversations and ritual activities addressing what is coming up for each of us as we go through the course.
- We participate in Ritual Practices both collectively online and individually on our own out in nature, where race is absolutely irrelevant to the Great Conversation taking place. Ritual helps our learning expand beyond the cognitive abilities of our minds and engages our soul and physical bodies where trauma is trapped and often goes unrecognized.
- And finally, We engage in personal Journaling utilizing the book, me and white supremacy by Layla Saad.
Who is it for?
It is for men who believe that healing in our country is necessary and that the sacred container of the Way of Council, brothers working shoulder to shoulder through a power greater than our own, can be a tremendous resource for whole-being healing in individual men and our communities.
Why is it important?
America cannot long endure if it continues to transmit the pain and suffering of white supremacy built into the foundation of this nation. We are supposed to be a nation of Liberty and Justice for All. We have failed to manifest this reality and far too many people are excluded from the promise of America. At this critical juncture in our nation’s history, we are being called to step up or fail utterly.
“If we do not transform our pain, we will most assuredly transmit it. If we cannot find a way to make our wounds into sacred wounds, we invariably give up on life and humanity.” Richard Rohr
IN PREPARATION FOR THE COURSE:
Purchase and Read Introduction (3 short sections) of:
Watch and take notes:
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- Bill Clark’s Video presentation, A Historical Overview of the United States from the Perspective of Marginalized People will be available for viewing November 3, 2020, one week before the first online session.