Within the constant violence of the systems of oppression that structure our lives, there are infinite reasons for us to be enraged. As we recorded this conversation, hundreds of thousands of us were (and still are) taking our rage to the streets and to the page, protesting police violence and white supremacy around the world. Our righteous anger, as we can see clearly in this historical moment, exists as a sacred and necessary ingredient to our power and collective liberation.

In this episode, we take a closer look at anger with Buddhist teacher Lama Rod Owens, kicking off a deeper season of study with his new book, “Love and Rage: The Path of Liberation through Anger,” as our summer 2020 Irresistible Book Club selection!

We discussed ways in which anger pierces through to the truth of our reality, acting as a mirror, source of clarity, and catalyst for change. We also talked about how to consume anger rather than letting it consume us; Black rage; and the loving care we must also offer the wounds beneath it. 

Transcript & full show notes at http://www.irresistible.org/podcast/68

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Join IRRESISTIBLE BOOK CLUB to read Lama Rod's new book, Love and Rage: The Path of Liberation through Anger, with others all over the world. You'll also get access to a discussion guide, a live conversation with Lama Rod this fall, and a 35% discount from North Atlantic Books.

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Check out the following episode to engage in an Anger Offering practice with Lama Rod.

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Thanks to Zach Meyer for production, Josiah Werning & Alyson Thompson for design and social media, and Ana Cecilia for music.

Irresistible is sponsored by Kalliopeia Foundation: Dedicated to reconnecting ecology, culture, and spirituality. Learn more at kalliopeia.org

EXCITING NEWS! Irresistible is welcoming its first-ever Co-Director, the inimitable BJSTAR. We are so excited for you to get to know them in this episode & beyond!

BJ joins Co-Director Kate Werning for a conversation about sharing leadership, what brought them into movement and healing work, their political homes, why lowering expectations is awesome, and putting their favorite foods on their resume.

Transcript & more info at www.irresistible.org/podcast/67

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Become a sustaining member on Patreon at any level to join us for the Irresistible Kick-Back with BJ & Kate, and other members-only events: https://www.patreon.com/posts/38050572

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Thank you to Zach Meyer for production, Alyson Thompson for social media, and Ana Cecilia for music.

Irresistible is sponsored by Kalliopeia Foundation: Dedicated to reconnecting ecology, culture, and spirituality. Learn more at kalliopeia.org

In participation with the week of action In Defense of Black Lives, we’re republishing a practice that was shared under our previous name, Healing Justice, in April 2018.

Kandace Montgomery and Miski Noor of Black Visions Collective in Minneapolis took time to share some reflections with us about how to practice incorporating healing and wellbeing into the preparation for action, during direct action itself, and in aftercare. You’ll hear stories, examples, and important questions to ask ourselves.

We desperately wish this episode wasn’t so timely right now. For so many of our movements, times like now -- the moments when we are experiencing the most direct, deep racialized trauma, emergency, and injustice, when we really need to slow down for our own well-being -- are often the very moments that we also need to give the most, to escalate, to organize actions, hone our message, and fight back. We hope this wisdom-sharing from the past helps support you in taking the most grounded and sustainable action we can right now.

For up to date trustworthy calls to action and places to donate, please see Black Visions Collective & the Movement for Black Lives.

Transcript & all links to listen at www.irresistible.org/podcast/66p

Our corresponding conversation, Sustaining Ourselves When Confronting Violence, is findable at http://www.irresistible.org/podcast/66

For more healing resources for BIPOC organizers & allies taking action for Black lives, visit https://medium.com/@irresistiblemovements/healing-resources-for-bipoc-organizers-allies-taking-action-for-black-lives-f55067486690

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Thanks to Alyson Thompson for social media and Ana Cecilia for music. Irresistible is sponsored by Kalliopeia Foundation: Dedicated to reconnecting ecology, culture, and spirituality. Learn more at kalliopeia.org

In participation with the week of action In Defense of Black Lives, we’re republishing a critical conversation that was shared under our previous name, Healing Justice, in April 2018.

Kandace Montgomery and Miski Noor of Black Visions Collective in Minneapolis took time to share with us about the 18-day police station occupation that followed the police murder of Jamar Clark in Minneapolis in 2015, and how healing, escalation, and direct action need to go hand-in-hand.

We desperately wish this episode wasn’t so timely right now. For so many of our movements, times like now -- the moments when we are experiencing the most direct, deep racialized trauma, emergency, and injustice, when we really need to slow down for our own well-being -- are often the very moments that we also need to give the most, to escalate, to organize actions, hone our message, and fight back. We hope this wisdom-sharing from the past helps support you in navigating this time.

For up to date trustworthy calls to action and places to donate, please see Black Visions Collective & the Movement for Black Lives.

Transcript & links to listen at www.irresistible.org/podcast/66

Check out the corresponding practice called Healing in Direct Action at http://www.irresistible.org/podcast/66p

For more Healing Resources for BIPOC Organizers and Allies Taking Action for Black Lives, visit https://medium.com/@irresistiblemovements/healing-resources-for-bipoc-organizers-allies-taking-action-for-black-lives-f55067486690

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Thanks to Alyson Thompson for social media and Ana Cecilia for music. Irresistible is sponsored by Kalliopeia Foundation: Dedicated to reconnecting ecology, culture, and spirituality. Learn more at kalliopeia.org

In a time when many of our biggest visions for 2020 feel turned upside down, we're hungry for some inspiration. Enter youth voices Athina Amanor, Daniel Cook, Sary Barrios, & Theo Cooksey.

In this episode, we hear four winning essays read by their authors from the YES! Magazine student essay contest this spring. The prompt was about students' Wildest Dreams for 2020, inspired by our New Years Practice with Alicia Garza here on the podcast. 1,342 students submitted essays, and these were some of the most powerful. Feel free to share with the young people in your life!

Transcript, text of the student essays, and links to listen at www.irresistible.org/65

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Thanks to Zach Meyer for production, Josiah Werning & Alyson Thompson for design and social media, Ana Cecilia for music, and Jing Fong & Zenobia Jeffries Warfield at YES! Magazine for your amazing work.

Irresistible is sponsored by Kalliopeia Foundation: Dedicated to reconnecting ecology, culture, and spirituality. Learn more at kalliopeia.org

Emergencies like the COVID-19 pandemic create the conditions for accelerated political realignments. This creates an enormous threat for bold moves toward authoritarianism, but also creates major opportunity for our movements to put forward our vision for the future and shape a new common sense about what we deserve.

In this episode, we face the reality of what is happening politically. We engage with how our power building strategies need to adapt to our current conditions, and also pace with our needs and limitations as humans living in a traumatizing time.

You'll hear from Ejeris Dixon, an organizer and political strategist who founded Vision Change Win Consulting; and Dove Kent, Senior Strategy Officer at Bend the Arc: Jewish Action. They have 4 decades of combined experience in grassroots organizing, political education, and movement building, and this conversation was partially inspired by Ejeris' recent article titled "Fascists are Using COVID-19 to Advance Their Agenda. It's Up to Us to Stop Them."

Transcript, further resources, & link to read Ejeris' article at www.irresistible.org/podcast/64

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Thanks to Jacob White & Zach Meyer for production, Josiah Werning & Alyson Thompson for design and social media, and Ana Cecilia for music.

Irresistible is sponsored by Kalliopeia Foundation: Dedicated to reconnecting ecology, culture, and spirituality. Learn more at kalliopeia.org

This week we are diving into the grief, loss, intimacy, and possibility available in the unknown - all the time, and especially now in this moment of pandemic forcing great transition. How may we engage with this time as a rite of passage?

You'll hear from Roshi Joan Halifax; a Buddhist teacher, Zen priest, anthropologist, and pioneer in the field of end-of-life care; along with Reverend Jennifer Bailey & Carinne Luck of Faith Matters Network.

Transcript, further resources, & full show notes at www.irresistible.org/podcast/63

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Thanks to Zach Meyer for production, Josiah Werning & Alyson Thompson for design and social media, and Ana Cecilia for music.

Irresistible is sponsored by Kalliopeia Foundation: Dedicated to reconnecting ecology, culture, and spirituality. Learn more at kalliopeia.org

Stimulus checks from the US government are starting to hit bank accounts for qualifying citizens this week. What is going on with those checks, and if we don't need them for our own immediate survival, how can we think about redistributing for justice & mutual aid right now?

We spoke with Yahya Alazrak (Campaign Director at Resource Generation) and Dara Marquez (volunteer field organizer with Movimiento Cosecha) about the #ShareMyCheck campaigns they're leading. They share with us some amazing opportunities to move money to mutual aid funds and grassroots movement organizations during this crisis, especially to undocumented workers who are on the frontlines of essential work right now but did not qualify for any stimulus support.

Donate directly to undocumented immigrants facing financial hardship from COVID-19: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/cosechamutualaid

Sign the pledge to #ShareMyCheck: https://www.sharemycheck.org

Transcript, further resources from Dara & Yahya, & full show notes at www.irresistible.org/podcast/62

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Thanks to Zach Meyer for production, Josiah Werning & Alyson Thompson for design and social media, and Ana Cecilia for music.

Irresistible is sponsored by Kalliopeia Foundation: Dedicated to reconnecting ecology, culture, and spirituality. Learn more at kalliopeia.org

The COVID-19 pandemic is bringing real and significant disruptions to our lives, our communities, and our organizing.

The scale of this shift in our social fabric is new, but these are challenges that disability justice organizers have always faced. How can we organize in a state of constant uncertainty and limitations on physical movement? How can we protect people with compromised immune systems as we work to build people power? How do we get the work done while leaving no one behind?

This episode shares stories and insights from disability justice organizers that all of us can learn from and apply to organizing in our current conditions. Thank you to JOIN for Justice, the Jewish Organizing Institute and Network, for organizing this call & working with us to turn the recording into a podcast episode. You'll hear featured voices Patty Berne, Lydia X. Z. Brown, & Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, moderated by Allegra Heath-Stout.

Transcript, further resources, & full show notes at www.irresistible.org/podcast/61

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Thanks to Myra Al-Rahim & Zach Meyer for production, Josiah Werning & Alyson Thompson for design and social media, and Ana Cecilia for music.

Irresistible is sponsored by Kalliopeia Foundation: Dedicated to reconnecting ecology, culture, and spirituality. Learn more at kalliopeia.org