IRTF Liberation Lab Keynote and Book Signing

March 17, 2026 | Events

register
🗓️ Apr 9, 2026 @ 7:00pm ET – Loganberry Books 🗓️ Apr 10, 2026 @ 6:30pm ET – Third Space Reading Room 🗓️ Apr 11, 2026 @ 11:30am – 5:00pm ET (1:00pm Keynote) – IRTF Liberation Lab @ CSU Law đź“ŤIn-person 🗺️ 13015 Larchmere Blvd, Cleveland, OH 44120 – Loganberry Books 🗺️ 1464 E 105th St, Cleveland, OH 44106 – Third Space Reading Room 🗺️ 1801 Euclid Ave, Cleveland, OH 44115 – CSU College of Law

Book signing and discussions with author Dr. Rima Vesely-Flad about two of the greatest literary voices from the US and how they reflect justice and liberation.

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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