Named “one of the wisest voices on social evolution” by Krista Tippett, angel Kyodo williams has spent her entire life working for liberation from oppressive systems and structures.

Growing up in New York City, williams would bury her face in any comic book she could get her hands on (she had a particular affinity for X-Men and Wolverine). The shy, quiet kid raised between Queens and Tribeca used comics and books to escape from a reality infused with bullying and abuse. Later in life she would somewhat jokingly share this upbringing gave her an experiential leg up on the real-life Buddha.

“He was shocked by [suffering.] But for me, suffering was a given. Suffering was my practice…I wouldn’t wish it on anyone else, and I wouldn’t trade any of it. Had I not experienced what I experienced, I wouldn’t be able to see the world the way that I see it.”

And the way she sees it is unique, creative, and filled with love – not the sentimental kind, but the radical and fierce love that brings things together and invites the new to emerge.

Beginning in the 1990s, williams has consistently built bridges between the spiritual and the social, naming that the two have never been separate to begin with. Her books, Being Black: Zen and the Art of Living with Fearlessness and Grace and Radical Dharma: Talking Race, Love, and Liberation bear witness to this in her own life and philosophy. She frequently challenges the sanghas and faith communities of her own Buddhist lineage, along with folks from other spiritual and secular traditions, to lean into the social action that invokes healing, rather than settling into the complacency of impartiality.

She is the founder of the Center for Transformative Change, a space dedicated to “bridging the inner and outer lives of social change agents, activists, and allies to create social justice for all.”

✍️ How have you chosen or settled for a posture of impartiality, rather than engage in the hard conversation or change-work needed in the moment?

Influences:

• The Zen Buddhist Tradition

• Indigenous Wisdom

• The Black liberation struggle

• American and international social justice movements

Approach to Action and Contemplation

In her work, Rev. angel Kyodo williams issues a challenge for us to engage in spiritual practices as an integral aspect of addressing systemic issues of oppression, inequality, and injustice in our society.

Coming from the Buddhist tradition, her approach is rooted in:

• Engaged Buddhism and seeking to apply the teachings of the Buddha to social life in order to bring about social change.

• Practicing mindfulness as a tool for developing social awareness, courageous action, and collective liberation.

• Interconnectedness between all beings and the interdependence of social, economic, and environmental systems.

• Viewing personal and social transformation as intertwined, with inner work informing and fueling social action.

✍️ How does your spirituality or sense of inner work inform the ways you show up in your communities? In what ways have you compartmentalized your spirituality or religious beliefs and your daily actions?

Go Deeper with Rev. angel

“It’s Not About Love Afterall”