This final episode explores the connection between self-improvement and justice. Nichiren Daishonin, the founder of Nichiren Buddhism, believed that Buddhism only has meaning when it effects positive change in society. Rima Vesely-Flad speaks with Michael Belton, a founding co-architect of the association, Buddhists of African Descent, about how this teaching has helped him develop throughout his life.

Michael Belton is a Minneapolis-based practitioner who spent forty years in public service, most recently as the Deputy Director for Ramsey County, Minnesota’s Juvenile Corrections Division. He has instituted culturally responsive treatment and programming for communities of color, focusing on culturally rooted responses for vulnerable African American male youth.