What is Block Build Be?

Black lesbian feminist writer Audre Lorde famously said:

"The master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house. They may allows us temporarily to beat him at his own game, but they will never enable us to bring about genuine change."

Truth. And, this might leave you wondering, what are the new tools? How can I combine my spiritual life with social justice to develop genuinely liberatory solutions?

At Buddhist Peace Fellowship, we’ve been exploring these questions through BLOCK | BUILD | BE, a framework describing the essential qualities for true social and spiritual transformation.

  • Block: resisting harm and injustice
  • Build: cultivating relationships, communities, and new structures
  • Be: contemplative practices for resilience and liberation

Block Build Be 2020 Gathering!

Wednesday, July 1, 12pm – Sunday, July 5, 12:30pm

Block Build Be 2020 will convene activists, organizers, healers, and seekers, Buddhist and not, for a five-day gathering at Land of Medicine Buddha in Soquel, CA.

Cost: Fully sliding scale from $0–$3,800. No one turned away for lack of funds.

Applications are live! Apply now!

Image description: A brightly painted wooden sign reads "Land of Medicine Buddha / A Center for Healing and Developing a Good Heart" and features an image of the Buddha in seated meditation. The sign is planted among a forest, with trees in the background and ivy plants around the base of the sign.

Our days together will include:

  • Immersion in the Block Build Be approach to social justice
  • Reflecting on our own strengths and challenges in movement work
  • Relaxing among the redwood trees
  • Opportunities for a variety of contemplative practices
  • Interactive workshops on a range of spiritual-political topics
  • Vegetarian organic meals
  • Singing, swimming, sharing in the beloved community

Visit the Block Build Be 2020 page for more info!

Want to Learn More About Block Build Be in Your Life?

Blocking, building, being — there is no single correct role to play — contrary to the judgmental mindset we’ve inherited from capitalism. It takes many of us — all of us! — in all of our multi-dimensionality, to achieve collective liberation.

Just as ecosystems thrive on diversity of life forms, so do our social movements require multiple roles. What’s your role?

Learn more about the Block Build Be framework! Take our popular class What's My Role in the Revolution? with political and spiritual leaders Ai-Jen Poo, Dr. Shanté Paradigm Smalls, and Harmony Lambert (Chumash Nation).

Block Build Be 2019

Focus: Earth Wisdom and Eco Justice
Attendance: 100% BIPOC: Black, Indigenous, and People of Color
Cost: Fully sliding scale from $0–$3,500. No one turned away for lack of funds.

There’s no denying it: we are in for huge, deadly ecological shifts that will disproportionately harm the world’s majority: poor people; women and folks who are not cisgender men; and people of color.

At BPF, we see this crisis as both a responsibility and an opportunity to respond.

Recent studies show that the average U.S. person vastly underestimates how much Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color, as well as poor and working-class people, care about protecting the environment.

We offer this gathering as a space to address big questions of our times: including how to protect land while returning it to indigenous stewardship; how to more deeply align eco justice and disability justice movements; and how to continually heal patriarchy, transphobia, and sexism in our political and spiritual homes.

BBB 2019 took place at The Highlander Center in New Market, TN, Thursday–Sunday May 9th–12th.

Thank you to all who made this blessed gathering possible!