Most of us have experienced people treating us badly because of something basic in our identities. Our height, weight, background, gender, race, physical ability— when hurt on these lines, what can you do? Your heart rate spikes, stress tunnels your vision, and you freeze.

In a Bay Area built on an international community and gorgeous diversity, we sometimes face discrimination based on race. Equally, in a diverse world, when faced with cultural differences we can sometimes unintentionally hurt others. Whether the resulting discrimination happens to you or your colleague, your child or their friend, this is what occurs in our bodies: a flood of stress, an inability to change the situation for the better.

How can we get past that in order to help ourselves and others?

How do we create racial justice starting where we stand?

Dr. Rhonda Magee of UCSF offers us a way to be present and change these situations with a comprehensive program using Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction techniques. Mindfulness, because it allows us to notice our thinking and the underlying structures of the world, has the powerful potential to change personal behavior, shift the culture, and protect individuals.

Magee visits in a riveting discussion with Angie Coiro on January 28th for our cultural and political events series, This is Now. Most of us have experienced discrimination. Do we have the power to heal our selves and others?

Photo of Rhonda Magee by Stuart Locklear.

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