Rothko Chapel

Brandi Beckett and Simon Cox, Daoist Tradition

Wednesday, February 7, 2018

For the month of February, the Rothko Chapel presented a meditation in the Daoist tradition. Led by Brandi Beckett and Simon Cox of Wudang Houston, this session explored Daoist Inner Alchemy from the San Feng lineage. The Daoist Inner Alchemy is a form of Daoist meditation centered around becoming familiar with the energies and energetic pathways in one’s body, breaking down the barrier between body and mind.

About the presenters:

Simon Cox and Brandi Beckett both spent six years living and training in China at the Wudang Daoist Traditional Kung Fu Academy. While there, they were part of an intensive Daoist studies program at the Jade Void temple, where they learned Chinese, Daoist meditation, Daoist music, kung fu, tai chi, and qigong. Simon and Brandi became lineage holders of the San Feng sect in 2012.

Simon Cox is pursuing his PhD in Chinese and Tibetan religions at Rice University under Jeff Kripal. He is currently writing an intellectual history of the subtle body, looking at how energy bodies have been conceived of and engaged in traditions from ancient China, Tibet, and Syria. Brandi Beckett began studying kung fu with her mom and sister at the age of 14. She began studying Daoism when she traveled to China in 2008. While there, she learned a body-centered method of connecting with the Dao and her practice continues that tradition to this day.

Brandi and Simon teach donation-based Daoist martial arts, Tai Chi, and meditation at Fleming Park through Wudang Houston. Classes are held Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday at 5:00 p.m., and Saturday Tai Chi at 10:00 a.m. For more information visit wudanghouston.com​

Annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday Celebration

"Monumental Decisions: Art, Politics, and Social Responsibility"

Conversation with artist Ed Dwight, Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis, and Texas Southern University Art Historian and Curator Dr. Alvia Wardlaw, moderated by ABC13’s news anchor Melanie Lawson

In honor of the life and work of the Rev. Dr. King, the Chapel held a lecture and conversation exploring the power of symbols in our society today.

Symbols hold power in our society. Flags, monuments, memorials…what story do they tell? Whose story do they tell? What is our collective responsibility to ensure that public space is available for all people, and how do we shape the narrative of the landmarks placed in the public sphere?

In the past two years, a critical narrative around public monuments’ histories and intentions has garnered national attention. Before June 2015, there were more than 700 confederate monuments in public places around the nation. Many of these pieces were purchased in part with public funds, yet their selection and placement were decided by a select group of people. These symbols communicated a narrow history and were used to promote racial division and elevate white supremacy. Since 2017, over 42 of these statues and plaques have been removed.

In contrast, when sculptor Ed Dwight began making public art in the 1970s, he travelled around the country and observed few monuments chronicling the history of African Americans. Over the past forty years he has created 128 monuments, memorials & public art installations around the U.S. depicting the contributions of African Americans to America’s landscape.

Ed Dwight shared his journey beginning as an Air Force Test Pilot and America’s First African American Astronaut Candidate to a proficient public artist. Following his address, Dwight engaged in conversation with Harris County Commissioner for Precinct One Rodney Ellis and Texas Southern University Art Historian and Curator Dr. Alvia Wardlaw, moderated by ABC13's news anchor Melanie Lawson, exploring the artistic, historical and political realities of monuments in this country, and discussing the fine lines between chronicling and sharing history, preserving works of art, and creating a space that promotes justice and peace for all people.

Suzanne Benally, the first Indigenous Executive Director of Cultural Survival, shared her personal spiritual journey as a Navajo and Santa Clara from New Mexico and how this shapes her understanding of the concept of the divine. Benally explored the meaning of the Navajo concept “Hozho,” which is centered on living responsibly in a web of relationships emphasizing reciprocity with and reverence for all beings.

About the presenter:

Suzanne Benally is the first Indigenous Executive Director of Cultural Survival, an organization that advocates for Indigenous Peoples' rights and supports Indigenous communities’ self-determination, cultures and political resilience since 1972. She is Navajo and Santa Clara Tewa from New Mexico.

Benally was the Associate Provost for Institutional Planning and Assessment and Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs at Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado. She was a core faculty member in environmental studies and a member of the president’s cabinet. Before starting at Naropa in 1999, she was Deputy Director and Director of Education Programs at the American Indian Science and Engineering Society and Director of the Institute on Ethnic Diversity at the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education. She has worked extensively with American Indian communities and her interests, teaching, and passions are focused on the relationship between land, spirituality, and people as reflected in stories, and in environmental issues and Indigenous rights.

About the series:

Concept of the Divine series provides a unique opportunity for speakers to share how their personal concept of the Divine has changed over time and shaped their lives, their service to the community, and views about their place in the cosmos. As an organization committed to interfaith dialogue and engagement, this series offers an excellent opportunity to hear from people representing diverse faith communities and other sectors of society about this important topic.

Hector Monterosso and Sandra Montes, Christian Tradition

Wednesday, December 6, 2017

For the month of December, the Rothko Chapel presented a meditation in the Christian tradition with the theme "Search for a Place of Rest." Partnering with the Episcopal Diocese of Texas, Bishop Monterroso provided a reflection in English on Posadas, a Latino tradition during Advent which involves re-enacting Mary and Joseph’s search for a place of rest in Bethlehem. Sandra Montes taught participants the traditional song used in Posadas in Spanish through call and response. Francisco Guevara accompanied the meditation on the guitar.

About the presenters:

Bishop Héctor Monterroso was born in Guatemala and for the last 14 years, has served as Episcopal Bishop of Costa Rica. He recently joined the Episcopal Diocese of Texas as an assistant bishop. The son of a professional soccer player, Bishop Monterroso used his own soccer prowess to help plant new churches. In addition to other duties at the Diocese he will help encourage and build the growing Latino population of the Episcopal Church in Texas. He and his wife Sandra have two grown children, María Beatriz, a medical doctor in Costa Rica, and Héctor Ramón, a civil engineer.

Sandra Montes was born in Perú, grew up in Guatemala and settled in Texas. Her passions are God, family (especially her son), writing, music, and education. She has been an active member of the Episcopal Church since 1986 where she often serves as musician, translator, speaker, consultant and writer. Sandra has a doctorate in education and taught for 21 years in public elementary schools before becoming a full-time independent consultant and musician.

About the series:

Since September 2005, on the first Wednesday of each month from 12-1pm, the Rothko Chapel hosts a meditation or contemplative practice focusing on a different spiritual or faith tradition featuring teachers and religious leaders from throughout the greater Houston community. The Twelve Moments: Experiencing Spiritual and Faith Traditions series provides opportunities for visitors to learn more about a specific spiritual or faith tradition, and experience a related meditation or contemplative practice, such as prayer, chanting, and more.

World AIDS Day Observance

8-8:30am Pastries and Coffee outside on the Chapel Plaza

8:30-9:30am Meditation, music and conversation inside the Chapel

In commemoration of World AIDS Day, the Rothko Chapel held a morning conversation and meditation offered in partnership with Montrose Center and Legacy Community Health. Attendees gathered to show support and solidarity with the millions of people living with and impacted by HIV/AIDS.

The morning observation included live music, community conversation, and guided meditation. Venita Ray, policy manager at Legacy Health, shared some important facts on the current state of the HIV/AIDS pandemic and the citywide campaign she’s running to end HIV. A moment of silence, prayer and guided reflection was led by Reverend Laura Mayo, Senior Minister of Covenant Church, and music was performed throughout the experience by Michele Thibeaux (vocals), Denis Cisneros (guitar), and Jason Mitchell (cajón).

Established by the World Health Organization in 1988 as the first ever global health day, World AIDS Day takes place on the 1st day of December each year. It is an occasion to reflect on the more than 35 million people who have died from HIV/AIDS since the virus was first identified in 1984, and a time to consider how to better care for the 36.7 million people living with HIV/AIDS, and their families, friends and loved ones who have been deeply impacted. World AIDS Day is important because it reminds the public and government that HIV has not gone away – there is still a vital need to raise money, increase awareness, fight prejudice and improve education.

33rd Annual Houston Interfaith Thanksgiving Service

"Helping Each Other"

Leaders and members of nine different faiths across the city offered prayers of thanksgiving and read sacred texts on thankfulness. A reception followed the program.

The service started 33 years ago in response to the bombing of a storefront mosque. After helping to raise money to support the mosque's repairs, the Annual Thanksgiving Service co-founders George Atkinson and Garland Pohl wanted to find a way for different faith organizations to come together, as thanksgiving is a common value shared by all the major world religions. Initially, participants represented Judaism, Islam and Christianity, but within three years, Buddhists, Sikhs, Zoroastrians, Baha’i, Hindus and Jains joined the service. The creation of the event is a milestone in the development of interfaith dialogue in Houston.

Participants in this year's service included representatives from Houston Baha’i Center, Texas Buddhist Association, Arya Samaj Greater Houston, JVB Preksha Meditation Center Houston, Congregation Or Ami, Islamic Society of Greater Houston, The Sikh National Center of Greater Houston, Zoroastrian Association of Houston, and Faith Lutheran Church.

2017 Rothko Chapel Óscar Romero Award Pre-Program

Double Jeopardy: Women and the Criminal Justice System

Conversation with Julie Bindel and Dr. Andrea Link, moderated by Lise Olsen

Women of sex trafficking face the dual realities of being victims while also being prosecuted as offenders. Julie Bindel was joined in conversation with Houston advocate Dr. Andrea Link and Lise Olsen, investigative reporter with the Houston Chronicle as they explored this topic from both local and global perspectives. The local awardee for the 2017 ORA, Kathryn Griffin Griñán, provides direct service and counseling to victims of sex trafficking in Houston.

In her most recent book “The Pimping of Prostitution,” Bindel takes the debate on prostitution legislation head-on, exposing the lived realities of women in contrast with the dominant discourse in current academic and liberal feminist debates. Based on more than 250 interviews with people involved in and affected by prostitution around the world, Bindel exposes the harms of the global sex trade and documents the emergence of the exciting and vibrant survivor abolitionist movement – leading us to question when the policy makers, politicians and international human rights organizations will start to reject the mythology around prostitution, hold sex buyers accountable for the damage that they do, and truly begin to fight for the human rights of women around the world.

This program was followed by a public reception and book signing with Julie Bindel on the plaza.

About the program participants:

A renowned investigative journalist, Julie Bindel has written extensively on a range of topics including violence against women, the international surrogacy trade, mail order brides, trafficking, and unsolved murders. She writes regularly for The Guardian, New Statesman, The International Business Times, and The Spectator, and frequently appears on the BBC and Sky News. She was Visiting Journalist at Brunel University, UK (2013 - 2014) and is now on the Advisory Board of Byline.com.

Dr. Andrea Link is a physician who did her medical training and residency at Stanford University School of Medicine. She developed and implemented Healthcare for the Homeless Houston’s award-winning Healthy and Whole program at Angela House, which provides women exiting prostitution and incarceration with comprehensive trauma-informed health and wellness programming. Dr. Link also researches the psychosocial and medical issues involved in street-level prostitution and lectures on the subject at both the local and national level. She is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Family and Community Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine and is the Program Manager for Healthy and Whole.

Lise Olsen is deputy investigations editor and senior investigative reporter at the Houston Chronicle. Olsen has more than 20 years' experience specializing primarily in crime, corruption, worker safety and human rights. Her work also has appeared in documentaries “The Eleven” (A & E -2017); “Ruben Cantu: The Wrong Man?”(CNN-2015) and in Texas Monthly. Her series on a Houston-based human trafficking ring that for years kept importing girls from Mexico and selling them in local cantinas was published in the Chronicle and in Borderline Slavery: Mexico, United States and the Human Trade.

2017 Rothko Chapel Óscar Romero Award Pre-Program

Silencing Opposition: Human Rights Violations in Burundi

Former US Ambassador to Burundi, Robert Krueger in conversation with Tony Tate, Program Officer for Sub-Saharan Africa at the Fund for Global Human Rights and Dr. Methode Butoyi, Alliance for Multicultural Community Services, moderated by Dr. Kerry Ward, professor of history at Rice University, exploring the social and political dynamics of Burundi, east Africa. The international awardee for the 2017 ORA, Pierre Claver Mbonimpa, works with wrongly incarcerated individuals in Burundi.

About the presenters:

Mwalimu Methode-Alain Butoyi, PhD was born and raised in the Cibitoke province of Burundi. Butoyi came to the US in July 1971, on a Fulbright scholarship to pursue his studies at UCLA. In April 1972, two months before he was to return home, selective genocide started in Burundi. The US State Department renewed scholarship and he completed an MA and PhD in French and African Studies at UCLA. He taught French for 30 years at the university and high school levels and served international refugees for over 18 years in California and Texas. He is currently a Family Wellness Instructor and Training Specialist in Houston at the Alliance for Multicultural Community Services. His services include Cultural Orientation, mentoring and vocational ESL.

Robert Krueger is a former US Representative and US Senator from Texas, and served as US Ambassador on three occasions: to Mexico, Burundi, and Botswana; and additionally as US Special Representative to the Southern African Development Community. During his service in Burundi, Krueger’s outspokenness on human rights issues provoked an ambush of his convoy in which two persons were killed and eight grievously wounded. His book on living amid genocide in Burundi, From Bloodshed to Hope in Burundi, was published in 2007 by the University of Texas Press. Krueger holds a Ph.D. from Oxford University, and served as a Professor of English and as Vice Provost and Dean of Arts and Sciences at Duke University. He currently lives with his family in New Braunfels, Texas.

Tony Tate began working with the Fund for Global Human Rights as the program officer for Sub-Saharan Africa in October 2010. He oversees the Fund’s grant making programs in Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda. Tony worked for seven years as a researcher at Human Rights Watch, first as their in-country researcher in Burundi, later as the Africa researcher in the Children’s Rights Division. At Human Rights Watch, he investigated and published reports on human rights violations in numerous countries in central, eastern and southern Africa. He has a J.D. from the City University of New York School of Law, an M.A. in international affairs and African studies from Columbia University, and a B.A. from the George Washington University. Tony is a member of the advisory committee of the Children’s Rights Division of Human Rights Watch and is fluent in French and conversant in Swahili.

Dr. Kerry Ward is Associate Professor of world history at Rice University and the author of Networks of Empire: Forced Migration in the Dutch East India Company published by Cambridge University Press. She directs the African Studies Program and co-directs the Minor in Museums and Cultural Heritage at Rice. Her current research is on the British suppression of the maritime slave trade in the Indian Ocean during the emancipation era and on the long history of unfree maritime labor.

2017 Rothko Chapel Óscar Romero Award Ceremony

Keynote address by Harris County Precinct One Commissioner Rodney Ellis

French Translation Services sponsored by Master Word Services, Inc.

Rothko Chapel's biennial Óscar Romero Award--named after Archbishop Óscar Romero of San Salvador who was assassinated on March 24, 1980, because of his vocal opposition to the violent oppression of his fellow citizens--has been given every two years since 1987 in recognition of courageous, grassroots human rights advocacy. Building upon the topic of ending mass incarceration addressed at our 2017 Spring Symposium, the Chapel will honor two recipients, one internationally and the other locally selected, for this year's recognition.

The international awardee is Pierre Claver Mbonimpa, Executive Director of Association for the Protection of Prisoners and Human Rights in Burundi, east Africa. The local awardee is Kathryn Griffin Griñán, a Recovery Coach & Peer-To-Peer Counselor at Been There, Done That in Houston, Texas. The public award ceremony took place on November 12, 2017 at 3pm in the Rothko Chapel, including a keynote speech by Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis. This ceremony honored both recipients' courage while recognizing the vital importance of their work.

About the Awardees:

Pierre Claver Mbonimpa is Executive Director of Association pour la Protection des Droits Humains et des Personnes Détenues (Association for the Protection of Prisoners and Human Rights), an organization that documents and reports on human rights violations with an emphasis on those committed against incarcerated people. APRODH provides legal advice and judicial accompaniment, monitors prisons and jails, fights against torture and sexual violence, and publically and vocally condemns human rights violations regardless of who commits them. Pierre Claver is referred to as the grandfather of Burundi’s human rights movement. He was one of a few activists who, despite the country’s insecurity, not only remained in Bujumbura but also continued to denounce human rights violations and the harassment of human rights defenders. In remaining outspoken, he knowingly put himself in danger and has been attacked, imprisoned and faced assassination attempts. In 2015, his son-in-law was killed and his son shot, and still, he has never stopped condemning human rights abuses committed by the government. Pierre Claver remains commitment to the fight for justice and basic freedoms in Burundi.

Kathryn Griffin Griñán is the Human Trafficking Director for the Precinct One Constable’s Office in Harris County, the creator and Director of a re-entry program in Harris County Jails called “Been There, Done That,” and the Program Coordinator at the Texas Department of Correction’s Plane State Jail (Henley Unit) for her program “Our Road to Freedom.” In addition to rehabilitating women who have been victims of human trafficking and prostitution, she also serves as an airline ambassador, training others on how to spot sex trafficking victims. Kathryn’s no nonsense approach in healing and rehabilitating victimized women, children, and men, and her ability to reach the hearts of those she helps is a result of her personal experiences with childhood sexual abuse and the harsh world of prostitution until the age of 43. After a long a long battle with drug abuse resulting in incarceration in numerous jails, prisons and over 22 rehab centers, today Kathryn is beginning her 15th year of sobriety and has committed her life to saving the lives of others.

Dr. Harish Chandra, Hindu Tradition

Wednesday, November 1, 2017

For the month of November, the Rothko Chapel presented a meditation in the Hindu tradition. Led by Dr. Harish Chandra of Arya Samaj Greater Houston, this session explored the philosophy and methods written by Patanjali in Yoga-Sutras, defining Yoga as cessation of mental transience that leads to self-realization. Dr. Chandra described three different methods of Yoga and then practiced Ashtanga Yoga.

About the presenter:

Dr. Harish Chandra was academically trained in engineering sciences with BTech from IIT Kanpur (India) and PhD from Princeton, specializing in theoretical combustion sciences. He engaged in engineering research from 1974-1996. He has completed intensive self-study of the Vedic concepts through wide ranging literature that includes the Vedas, Upanishads, Six Books of Vedic Philosophy, and other modern commentaries. He is an authority on the Vedic concept of mind and its control, particularly in the treatises of Samkhya (by Kapila) and Yoga (by Patanjali). Since moving to Houston from London in 2015, he has been a spiritual guide with the Arya Samaj Greater Houston.

About the series:

Since September 2005, on the first Wednesday of each month from 12-1pm, the Rothko Chapel hosts a meditation or contemplative practice focusing on a different spiritual or faith tradition featuring teachers and religious leaders from throughout the greater Houston community. The Twelve Moments: Experiencing Spiritual and Faith Traditions series provides opportunities for visitors to learn more about a specific spiritual or faith tradition, and experience a related meditation or contemplative practice, such as prayer, chanting, and more.