Listening to the transformative experiences of Black Nichiren Buddhists in this podcast series reminds us that Black people have confronted extraordinary levels of oppression over centuries and have survived. These practitioners ask, ‘how do we confront this onslaught beyond expressing fear and outrage?’We are encouraged by these practitioners—by their wisdom and stamina, by their singing and chanting, by their emphasis on joy.

Supported by the Crossroads Project funded by the Henry J. Luce Foundation, as well as the Frederick Lenz Foundation and the Fetzer Institute. Produced by Sandra Hannebohm, founder of Twice as Good Media.

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.

“Nam Myoho Renge Kyo,” the title of the Lotus Sutra, is also known as the Daimoku. In this episode, Rima Vesely-Flad speaks with a decades-long practitioner of Nichiren Buddhism, Jacci Thompson-Dodd, about the significance of chanting and other practices of the association, Buddhists of African Descent.

Jacci Thompson-Dodd has practiced Nichiren Buddhism for 50 years. She supports women healing from life-altering illness and trauma. Thrivorship®, her nationally recognized program for breast cancer survivors, has been offered by cancer centers and organizations across the country.