Social Justice Resources

As yogis, thoughts and prayers are not enough and we must take action. Kundalini Yoga gives us the awareness and the inner wisdom to know what needs to be done. The world needs leadership from all of us to fight racism and prejudice of all kinds. We are grateful for these teachings that give us strength and determination to take our practice off the mat and out into the world.

As a predominantly white organization, KRI looks towards also changing ourselves. We acknowledge the long road we must walk towards anti-racism and are taking new steps to dig deep into our own culture of white privilege. It is time to get honest with ourselves and improve KRI.

KRI will continue to support trainers around the globe who offer Teacher Training Programs at low-cost or no-cost in communities in need to help increase the access to Kundalini Yoga to all people. This has included Bali, Burundi, Cuba, India, Mexico, South Africa, Togo, United States, and Venezuela and we commit to continue this work.

To fight racism we must all examine our own actions and commit to being “anti-racists”.

Ways to help, support and learn

Recommended Listening

Recommended Reading

Recommended Watching

Black Lives Matter #BlackLivesMatter was founded in 2013 in response to the acquittal of Trayvon Martin’s murderer. Black Lives Matter Foundation, Inc is a global organization in the US, UK, and Canada, whose mission is to eradicate white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities by the state and vigilantes. blacklivesmatter.com

Campaign Zero Campaign Zero’s data-informed platform presents comprehensive solutions to end police violence in America. joincampaignzero.org

Color of Change Color Of Change is the nation’s largest online racial justice organization, which helps people respond effectively to injustice in the world around us. (https://colorofchange.org/)

Community Change Community Change is a national organization that builds the power of low-income people, especially people of color, to fight for a society where everyone can thrive. communitychange.org

Emergent Fund The Emergent Fund provides resources to support grassroots organizing and power building in communities of color who are facing injustice based on racial, ethnic, religious, and other forms of discrimination. See a list of the Fund’s grantees since 2017 here.

Equal Justice Initiative The Equal Justice Initiative is committed to ending mass incarceration and excessive punishment in the United States, challenging racial and economic injustice, and to protecting basic human rights for the most vulnerable people in American society. eji.org

GLAAD GLAAD rewrites the script for LGBTQ acceptance. As a dynamic media force, GLAAD tackles tough issues to shape the narrative and provoke dialogue that leads to cultural change. GLAAD protects all that has been accomplished and creates a world where everyone can live the life they love. glaad.org

Leadership Conference on Civil Rights The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is the nation’s oldest, largest, and most diverse civil and human rights coalition. civilrights.org

Obama Foundation “I’m asking you to believe. Not in my ability to create change—but in yours.” President Barack Obama.

Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) SURJ is a national network of groups and individuals working to undermine white supremacy and to work toward racial justice. Through community organizing, mobilizing, and education, SURJ moves white people to act as part of a multi-racial majority for justice with passion and accountability.showingupforracialjustice.org

Teaching Tolerance Teaching about race, racism and police violence

Yoga Inspires Life. One Breath at a Time.

Rachel Cargle’s work as a public academic is the most comprehensive I’ve seen. Her organization, The Great Unlearn, is a necessary space for education and self-reflection, and I feel the topics outlined there directly correlate with creating more evolved teaching practices.

The Center for Racial Justice in Education has two-day workshops on talking about race in the classroom.

Learning for Justice has powerful webinars on enhancing teaching practices and introducing topics related to social justice in the classroom. I also appreciate their Teaching Hard History podcast.

The organization Village of Wisdom has great thought leadership on protecting Black genius in education, and centers the role of Black parents in advocating for their children. I think we need to start learning from centering the protection of the brilliance of marginalized identities, rather than the dismantling of whiteness.

Racial Equity Tools is a powerful space for anyone to evolve their anti-racism practices, but offers a lot of resources on facilitation in particular.

Guide on gender discrimination and women’s mental health.

Environmental Racism is intentional racial discrimination in infrastructural and environmental policy making. We’ve created a resource that can equip individuals with information to better address these issues in their communities. You can find the full resource, “Public Health Resources for Understanding Environmental Racism” here: https://www.publichealthdegrees.org/resources/environmental-justice-resources/

Black Visions Collection is a social justice organization that aims to “center our work in healing and transformative justice principles, intentionally develop our organization’s core ‘DNA’ to ensure sustainability, and develop Minnesota’s emerging black leadership to lead powerful campaigns.” You can donate to the cause here.

The mission of the Black AIDS Institute is “to stop the AIDS epidemic in black communities by engaging and mobilizing black institutions and individuals in efforts to confront HIV.” Just a couple of the key resources it provides include a Los Angeles medical clinic specializing in HIV services and prevention and a national network of AIDS/HIV stakeholders like service providers, educators, and community leaders. You can donate to its cause here.

This organization works with communities and city council members in Minneapolis to redistribute money from the police department to other parts of the city’s budget that “truly promote community health and safety.” You can donate to Reclaim the Block here.

With the donations it receives, New York City-based The Okra Project fights food insecurity and “pays black trans chefs to go into the homes of black trans people to cook them a healthy and home-cooked meal at absolutely no cost.” In addition, it provides free meal delivery to black trans people who are homeless or do not have adequate space in their homes for mean preparation by a chef. You can donate to its cause via PayPal here.

North Star Health Collective is a group of health care providers who work in alliance with organizations to create safer environments for protesters. You can donate to the cause here.

This national fund helps pay bail for people in need (including protesters). Once a client’s case has ended, the bail money is returned to the fund and used over and over again, so your donation here can go a long way. You can also visit The National Bail Fund Network to see a full directory of bail funds by state.

Founded by three black trans women, this San Francisco organization has developed the world’s first legally recognized transgender cultural district in the city’s Tenderloin neighborhood. It aims to “stabilize and economically empower the transgender community through ownership of homes, businesses, historic and cultural sites, and safe community spaces.” You can donate to The Transgender District here.

This Twin Cities-based organization confronts police brutality by providing those in need with services, including but not limited to crisis hotlines and legal, medical, and psychological referrals. It also holds rallies, protests, and educational seminars alongside “routinely waging battles in the political and legal arenas to bring about changes in laws, policies, and practices that reduce accountability and allow police brutality to occur.” You can donate to its cause via PayPal here.

Colin Kaepernick founded this organization that holds education seminars across the country for black and brown youth. Know Your Rights Camp teamed up with defense lawyers in the Minneapolis area to help provide legal resources for those in Minnesota in need right now. You can donate to the organization here and learn more about the legal defense initiative here.

Founded and led by trans and gender-nonconforming people in Little Rock, Arkansas, House of GG provides “safe and transformative spaces where members of our community can heal — physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually — from the trauma arising from generations of transphobia, racism, sexism, poverty, ableism, and violence.” You can donate to its cause here.

Fair Fight, founded by Stacey Abrams, promotes fair elections by bringing voter discrimination to light with education programs and election reform advocacy. You can donate here.

BreakOUT! aims to make New Orleans a safer city for LGBTQIA+ youths. To do so, it “builds on the rich cultural tradition of resistance in the South to build the power of LGBTQ youth ages 13-25 and directly impacted by the criminal justice system through youth organizing, healing justice, and leadership development programs.” You can donate to its cause here.

This bail fund in Atlanta is dedicated to those who have been arrested for protesting political injustice. You can donate to The Atlanta Solidarity Fund here.

This organization raises money to post bail for LGBTQIA+ people who have been jailed across the country. The LGBTQ Fund also provides referrals to medical, legal, and social services to those in need, in addition to “raising awareness of the epidemic of LGBTQ over-incarceration.” You can donate to its cause here.

Campaign Zero aims to end police brutality by providing the public and government officials with urgent, research-based policy solutions. You can donate to its cause via PayPal here.

This organization led by black trans and queer activists is devoted to “ending the mass crisis of passive genocide, incarceration, and criminalization of black trans women” with education programs, resources such as reports and media guidelines, and a fund that “provides direct financial support to for trans folks navigating personal emergencies.” You can donate to Solutions Not Punishment Co. here.

This independent, educational, and decentralized media nonprofit works to identify the causes of social issues by sharing stories of people whose voices have been silenced. You can donate to Unicorn Riot here.

The Trans Justice Funding Project provides financial grants to transgender community leaders across the country in order to “support grassroots, trans justice groups run by and for trans people.” You can either donate directly to the organization here, or you can click here to see its directory of grantees and donate directly to one of them.

Embodying Anti-Racism: Being the Change!

 

Join us for a special live 6 Week series to embody anti-racism and become the change you want to see in this world. As yogis when we hear these words

“I Can’t Breathe”-George Floyd

we feel into this as a mighty call to action to awaken our beloved community to do anti-racism work. Please join us as we explore global cycles of oppression, history of racism, and uncover how and where we can help our world heal.

This 6-week series meets live hosted on Sutra for yogis, teachers, trainers everywhere who want to awaken to understand how to use our privileges in service to end racism…..

We have consciously chosen not to market our black speakers here in the active effort to not tokenize them in our learning process of dismantling systemic racism and oppression.

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What its like to be black, female and Sikh in New York – A conversation with Vedya Amrita Kaur

 

Let’s talk about George Floyd and being a black Sikh woman in the US. An insight into the life and perspectives of a black Sikh Woman living in New York. This conversation takes place with a backdrop of the devastating murder of George Floyd at the hands of Police in Minnesota and the Black Lives Matter movement. We talk about the way things are for real, and the way things should be.

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5 Ways White Yogis can do Anti-Racism Work—On & Off the Mat.

 

I wonder how many of us have been practicing yoga in the past few weeks.

Have we come to our mats since George Floyd was murdered? And if we did, why? Did we come to find peace? Stress relief? The comfort of routine? To escape from the tension, the news, the heat?

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