Nannie Helen Burroughs Lecture Series

March 10, 2026 | Events

Presented by Howard University School of Divinity

🗓️ March 25th, 2026 @ 5:00pm ET

đź“ŤIn-person

🗺️ HU West Campus
Holy Cross Hall
2900 Van Ness St. NW, DC

Guest Speaker: Rima Vesely-Flad, Ph.D.
The 5:00pm reception will be followed by a lecture and book signing.
This event is free; no tickets are required.

HU Shuttle to West Campus available.

More from Dr. Rima Vesely-Flad

James Baldwin argued that racism is not a “Black problem” but a white fear-driven delusion that scapegoats Black people and evades interior work. Drawing on Baldwin’s essays and testimony, we discuss his critique of white moral pretentiousness, evasion, and the projection of shame and fear—especially the fear of death—onto Black bodies. We also see how Baldwin’s analysis relates to Buddhist teaching on dependent origination from the Rice Seedling Sutra.

 

In this dharma talk, we investigate the role of Sati—which is translated as knowing, awareness, presence, or mindfulness—in the writings of James Baldwin and Audre Lorde, in conversation with early Buddhist writings.
In this dharma talk, we understand the weight of suffering through the eyes of James Baldwin and Audre Lorde. We learn how Baldwin gleaned the difference between suffering due to the violence of racism, and suffering that is central to the human experience. We learn about Lorde’s embrace of the idea that pain can teach us something important, but that we need not suffer uselessly.

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