A Community Dialogue in Pursuit of Spiritual Thriving and Sustainable Justice
Grounded in the pursuit of spiritual thriving and sustainable justice, this dynamic, participatory community dialogue brings together diverse voices with wide-ranging expertise to engage deeply with the realities of incarceration, racism, and the work of collective justice-making.
This conversation, the third in a series of Braxton Institute Dialogues on Resisting and Thriving, will be led by three leaders who embody both theory and practice in their work for justice: Pastor Tina Booker (Radikal4kidz Inc., NYC Department of Correction), Dr. Nigel Hatton (UC- Merced, Braxton Institute), and Chaplain Justin von Bujdoss (Buddhist teacher, NYC Department of Correction).
Please join us for a powerful evening of spirit-connected movement-building!
Thursday, February 22, 2018 from 6:00 to 8:00 pm
The Potter’s House
1658 Columbia Road, Washington, DC 20009 (map)
This event is free and open to the public and no registration is required.
PANELISTS
Pastor Tina Booker
“When ‘The Troubled Teen’ Speaks: Moral Injury, Healing, and Justice.”
Pastor Booker is native of Brooklyn, NY. She has been married for the past 15 years and is the mother of one daughter. Educated through the NYC public School system and continued on to S.U.N.Y Old Westbury for two years as a Media and Communication Arts major. She completed Ministerial Training 2012 at HRCBC Ministerial Institute after answering her call to ministry in 2009. Pastor Booker began working in the health profession as an administrative assistant and medical biller in 1992 until moving on to the New York City Department of Correction in 1999 as a Correction Officer.
Pastor Booker was installed as Pastor of the Full of Faith Christian Center located in Laurelton Queens, launched in October 2016 after being ordained at Historic Rugged Cross Baptist Church as a reverend in 2012. Her vision for ministry is to encourage, inspire and infuse God's love to his people through engaging with the community offering powerful worship services that offer biblical truth in relevant and practical ways.
In 2013 Pastor Booker founded Radikal4kidz Inc., a non-profit community outreach creative and performing arts program created as a safe haven for youth and young adults to express themselves through performing and creative arts. The program was inspired by her own childhood struggles as she was labeled a “troubled teen”. Radikal4kidz is a resource for social development and creative freedom.
Pastor Booker has dedicated her life to effective community outreach. Through her personal and professional experiences, she understands that a lack of resources can contribute to the mass incarceration epidemic that affect many families in inner-city communities. She is dedicated to creating innovative ways to raise awareness and provide needed resources through ministry and the Radikal4kidz “JAIL IS NOT AN OPTION” initiative. This initiative bridges the gap between law enforcement, clergy, elected officials and the community. Hosting information sessions, community fun day events, and conferences as preventive and proactive measures, we continue to address the mass incarceration crisis in the inner-city communities of New York City and throughout the United States of America.
Pastor Booker as received numerous awards, citations and acknowledgements for her community service and achievements within the Department of Corrections. Her life is dedicated to living by example and encouraging all Gods children to live life in fullness.
“I just do what I can, and pray that God is pleased with my service to his people
— Pastor Booker's Motto
Professor Nigel Hatton, MFA, Ph.D
“On the Spiritual and Political Leadership of Resisting Black Mothers.”
Dr. Hatton is a member of the board of directors of the Braxton Institute and an assistant professor of literature at the University of California, Merced. He is interested in how narrative theory and practice can help lower homicide and incarceration rates in impoverished communities. He has completed introductory and advanced narrative workshops with the Program in Narrative Medicine at Columbia University Medical Center.
Dr. Hatton’s work on the uses of story to end black-on-black homicide has gained influence in both the U.S. and abroad. Dr. Hatton’s “African-American Women, Homicide, and Human Rights: How Black- on-Black Murder in Oakland, California, Silently Affects the International Human Rights Movement” is based on a series of interviews over two years with women whose children were murdered. It was turned into a collaborative project with the photographer Susan Latham and named a semifinalist for the Dorothea Lange-Paul Taylor documentary prize.
Dr. Hatton began teaching literature and writing courses at San Quentin State Prison in 2003 through the Prison University Project and now volunteer teaches writing courses with the Prison Education Project at Central California Women’s Facility, the world’s largest women’s prison, located in Chowchilla, California. In his academic work, he is the author of several articles on the intersections of global human rights discourses and world literature, as well as the philosophy of Søren Kierkegaard. He received the dual Ph.D. in Modern Thought & Literature and the Humanities with a political science (political theory track) minor from Stanford University. He also holds an MFA from the Jesuit University of San Francisco.
Chaplain Justin von Bujdoss
“Spirituality and Justice Through the Eyes of Riker’s Buddhist Chaplain.”
Chaplain Bujdoss is an American Buddhist teacher and chaplain. He was ordained as a Repa in the Karma Kamstang tradition of Tibetan Buddhism by His Eminence Goshir Gyaltsab Rinpoche in 2011 and given the name Repa Dorje Odzer and has over 20 years of experience with Buddhist practice. Justin is passionate about the preservation of the heart-essence of the tantric Buddhist tradition in a way that meets the needs of, and simultaneously challenges, the modern western way of life. He is committed to the development of a repa tradition rooted in the west and has been working to this end for a number of years.
From 2012 until 2017 Justin served as the resident-lama and executive director of New York Tsurphu Goshir Dharma Center, an urban dharma organization which functioned as an affiliate of Palchen Chosling Monastic Institute, Ralang, Sikkim, India.
Justin is presently the first dedicated Staff Chaplain for the New York City Department of Correction where he provides spiritual support for the 13,000 employees, both uniformed and non-uniformed, who work throughout the New York City Corrections system. Part of his work includes developing and implementing meditation programs for officers throughout the NYC jail system in addition to the typical work of ministering DOC staff.
Justin has also worked as a full-time home hospice chaplain and is trained both in CPE (Clinical Pastoral Education) as well as Buddhist end-of-life practices and spiritual care. Justin has taught on Buddhist end-of-life care and teaches dharma in a variety of settings from monasteries, retreat centers and dharma centers, to hospital didactics, CPE groups and at conferences, universities and museums.
More of his work can be seen at justinvonbujdoss.com.
ABOUT DIALOGUES ON RESISTING AND THRIVING:
The Braxton Institute Dialogues on Resisting and Thriving engage justice-activists with the nitty-gritty issues that can undermine our success, such as conflicts within our movements, burnout, internalized oppression and benevolent paternalism. The Dialogues prioritize the wisdom and leadership of people of color, resource our effectiveness through break-through conversations, and by exploring and re-imaging the spiritual resources that have fueled and sustained powerful social change movements—including folk healing, meditation, rituals for empowerment, celebration, and more.