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angel Kyodo williams facts for kids
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angel Kyodo williams
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angel Kyodo williams, photo Bethanie Hines, 2008
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| Born | December 20, 1969 New York City, U.S.
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| Occupation | spiritual teacher, author, entrepreneur |
angel Kyodo williams (born December 2, 1969) is an American writer, activist, and Zen priest. She is known for her books, especially Being Black: Zen and the Art of Living with Fearlessness and Grace. People have called her an important African-American Buddhist leader.
Williams is the Spiritual Director of the newDharma Community. She also started the Center for Transformative Change in Berkeley, California. She helped create special practices like fearlessMeditation and Warrior Spirit Training. In 2013, she became the second Black woman Zen teacher in the world. Her Buddhist name, Kyodo, means "Way of Teaching."
Contents
About Her Life
Growing Up
Angel Kyodo williams grew up in New York City. Her father, a firefighter, raised her in Queens and Brooklyn. Later, her mother raised her in Tribeca, Manhattan, after her parents separated. She went to school in different parts of New York, including Chinatown and Chelsea. She later attended Nazareth College in Rochester.
Her Spiritual Journey
Williams became interested in Zen Buddhism after reading some important books. She started learning meditation at the San Francisco Zen Center in California. She then looked for a teacher and a community to practice with.
She became a student of Roshi Pat Enkyo O'Hara in New York City. Later, she was ordained as a priest by Francisco "Paco" Lugoviña. This meant she could teach Zen principles to others. By 2013, she was one of only two Black women Zen teachers in the world.
Her Work and Projects
In 1996, angel Kyodo williams and Rebecca Walker opened Kokobar. This was a special internet cafe in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. It was the first cybercafe owned by African-American women. Famous people like Tracy Chapman and Spike Lee helped fund it. The cafe closed in 1997.
In 2000, williams wrote her book, Being Black: Zen and the Art of Living With Fearlessness and Grace. She wrote it to introduce more Black people and people of color to Buddhist ideas. She wanted to show how Buddhism could help people find strength and peace.
In 2003, a music CD was made to go with her book. It featured well-known hip-hop artists like Blackalicious and will.i.am. The music was inspired by her book's messages.
Later in 2003, she moved to Oakland, California. In 2004, she started the New Dharma Meditation Center. This center was created to help people of color with their spiritual needs. It focused on how spiritual practice can help individuals and communities. She encouraged other Buddhist groups to welcome people of color.
The center grew and moved to Berkeley, California in 2007. It was first called the Center for Urban Peace. In 2009, it became the Center for Transformative Change (CXC).
Williams has been featured in many well-known publications. These include The New York Times and Essence. She now focuses on "transformative social change." This is an idea she helped create, which means working for social justice through spiritual practice.
See also
- Buddhism in the United States
- Five Precepts
Books
- Being Black: Zen and the Art of Living With Fearlessness and Grace, hardcover edition ISBN: 0-670-89268-8 (2000)
- Being Black: Zen and the Art of Living With Fearlessness and Grace, paperback edition ISBN: 0-14-019630-7 (2002)
- Framing Deep Change: Essays on Transformative Social Change, editor, ISBN: 978-0-9828845-0-8 (2010)
- Radical Dharma: Talking Race, Love, and Liberation, paperback edition ISBN: 978-1-6231709-8-1 (2016)
Recordings
- Being Black: A Musical Companion Inspired By the angel Kyodo williams Classic, worldcat.org ASIN B00007KFSG (2003)
- Being Black: A Musical Companion Inspired By the angel Kyodo williams Classic, Japan Release (2003)