Race in America Retreat
April 15 - 19, 2027
Montgomery, Alabama, USA
Join Zen Peacemakers in Montgomery, Alabama this April for an immersive retreat into race in America. Together, we will bear witness to racial separation and division, and to the many forms of suffering that arise from our differences that affect us all.
The Race in America Retreat is an opportunity to listen to many voices, to share our differences and our interconnectedness, and to come together as one body.
The retreat is open to people of all backgrounds, faiths, and experiences. Peacemaking takes place between people with different views – we sometimes learn the most from our differences. We invite you to bring stories from your life, and to learn from others.
Montgomery and its people will be our primary teachers. We will visit the Legacy Museum, and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, where more than 4,400 Black people killed in racial lynchings are remembered. Part of each day will be spent in silent meditation and in reading the names of people that are victims of lynching. We will listen to the experiences of people in the community and to each other, meeting daily in small groups and altogether as a whole. The retreat will include communal meals and dedicated lodging for a deeply immersive experience.
Zen Peacemakers has been holding retreats rooted in Not Knowing, Bearing Witness, and Taking Action for over thirty years, from Auschwitz to Rwanda to the Black Hills of South Dakota.
This will be our seventh retreat in Alabama. We invite you to join us.
All are welcome.
Why Montgomery?
Montgomery, Alabama was the epicenter of the brutal enslavement and racial segregation of Black people in America and of the Civil Rights actions that followed, led by citizens in the community seeking to end the racial caste system.
The National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery is the nation’s first comprehensive memorial to the victims of racial terror lynchings, and The Legacy Museum provides an immersive experience with first-person accounts of racial subjugation in America, from enslavement to mass incarceration. Built on the site of a former warehouse where enslaved Black people were imprisoned before sale, the 11,000-square-foot museum sits midway between Montgomery’s historic slave market and the main river dock and train station that transported tens of thousands of enslaved people at the height of the domestic slave trade. Learn more about the Legacy Sites.
Racial separation based on difference and the suffering that arises from it still persists. Being in these places and listening to people’s lived experiences provides a powerful ground for bearing witness to the racial division that continues in our lives and communities today.
Testimonial
Eliza Welch
Testimonial
Tim Harrison
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Race in America
Retreat Info
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REGISTRATION OPENS SOON
Race in America: An Immersive Retreat
April 15-19, 2027
Montgomery, Alabama, USA
We realize that travel at this time can be expensive and challenging.
Donations to support the participation of others are most appreciated.
Scholarships are available to ensure the diversity of attendees, as well as guidance for inviting the community to support your participation by raising a mala. Those in the Zen Peacemaker Order are eligible for reduced tuition to attend.
Questions? Contact us at retreats@zenpeacemakers.org
What does the Retreat Fee pay?
The registration fee includes all retreat programs, as well as museum fees, lunches (Fri, Sat, Sun), and a final retreat dinner (Sun).
The Retreat Fee also includes transportation during the retreat:
Friday morning, April 16, through Monday morning, April 19th (We will have a drop-off at Montgomery Regional Airport before 9:00 a.m.)
Attendees are responsible for arriving in Montgomery Thursday, April 15th for check in at the AUM (see Essential Travel & Schedule).
Travel arrangements /costs to and from the retreat will be the attendees’ responsibility.
We encourage you to purchase refundable tickets, a travel insurance policy. If you are traveling from abroad, please be sure that your passport is valid for 3 full months after your return travel date. Please also check the visa requirements for your country and apply for visas as early as possible.
Throughout our time together in Alabama, we intend to move together, share meals, and remain as a group in our intentional space. To support this ‘container’ we have booked our accommodations at the Auburn University Montgomery campus housing.
AUM occupies a small portion of the approximately 7,000-acre McLemore Plantation, which operated through the 1960’s. Records show distribution of enslaved people of the mid 1800’s as well as sharecroppers and tenant farmers of the mid 21st century.
Our decision to stay here significantly reduces the cost for participants and will will serve as an excellent location for our retreat.
Upon registration you will purchase your accommodations.
CANCELLATION & REFUND POLICY
Please note the following important dates for the cancellation and refund policy. All refunds are normally processed within 60 days of the notification of cancellation.
- If the retreat is canceled by Zen Peacemakers (ZP), the retreat fee will be fully refunded.
- If it is canceled by the registrant before March 10th, the fee can be refunded after the $100 administrative fee is deducted.
- If it is canceled by the registrant between March 10th and April 1st, the fee can be refunded after the $300 cancellation fee is deducted.
- The Retreat Fee becomes non-refundable if it is canceled by the registrant on or after April 1st.
- IMPORTANT NOTE: The participants are responsible for their own transportation costs, cancellations, and related fees/penalties.
If you have a question regarding the cancellation of the order or the event itself, please contact retreats@zenpeacemakers.org
Destination & Departure
Please plan to arrive on Thursday, April 15th, at AUM by 5:00 PM in time for a welcome orientation.
(exact location at AUM tbd)
We suggest that you book flights for Montgomery Regional Airport (MGM) and arrange transportation to AUM via Taxi/Uber (17 mile distance).
Departure
The retreat will conclude on Monday morning.
For your return airline ticketing, transportation from Montgomery to the Montgomery Regional Airport (MGM) will be after Monday breakfast, arriving at the airport before 9am.
Spending one or more nights in Montgomery after the retreat is encouraged to relax and integrate the events of the intensive week of the retreat.
We encourage you to purchase refundable tickets, a travel insurance policy, or both due to any ongoing pandemic situation.
If you are traveling from abroad, please be sure that your passport is valid for 3 full months after your return travel date.
Please also check the visa requirements for your country and apply for visas as early as possible.
The intention has always been to engage without becoming a tourist; to seek unity without ‘othering’ those with whom we Bear Witness.
Events will include the Legacy Museum, the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, and other sites. We will have sessions of zazen (meditation), work practice, and Council practice, and building relationships with local organizations.
Zen Peacemakers encourages everyone to fundraise their participation by reaching out to close ones and friends and by that to include others in what otherwise may be a very personal journey. You will also raise awareness for whatever causes or issues attending this retreat will address for you.
2,500 years ago, it was the practice of the lay congregation to support monks through donations of food and clothing. Shakyamuni Buddha led his monks each morning in the practice of begging for their daily food. Each day’s offering was received with thanks regardless of its nature or size. In this way the Buddha encouraged simplicity, the generosity of both giving and receiving, and undiscriminating appreciation.
We continue this begging practice by raising support for our work by assembling a mala, or beads that are strung together and worn like a necklace. Each bead represents a person who supports that member’s vision and work, and the entire mala represents the Member’s community of support.
This is a practice of giving and receiving. By asking for support from family, friends, and associates, we acknowledge that as individuals, we are limited in what we can do. We depend on the generosity of others to increase our membership, train more peacemakers, and develop and support more programs. This is one more way in which we bear witness in the interdependence of life.
Another important aspect of mala practice is the incorporation of the ministry of money in our program. The assembly of malas ensures that money management and fundraising are not seen as foreign to peacemaking work; instead, the give-and-take of money is the compassionate, unobstructed flow of energy that nourishes and transforms our activities.
Mala practice also gives us the opportunity to share our work with our families, friends, and associates. Most of us lead professional work lives and have families. By raising money for our Socially Engaged Buddhist work, we publicize its activities, and most important, our own commitment. By wearing the beads we have assembled, we take our supporters with us in our peacemaking endeavors and on Bearing Witness retreats such as at Auschwitz, thus making family and friends an intimate part of this peacemaking journey.
Assemble a mala (not from your personal funds) consisting of 18 small beads and one Buddha (large) bead or one of 108 beads and dedicate each bead to each of your donors. Beads from individuals or from groups or families are equally appreciated. When they offer a bead, they will be working, training, studying and traveling with you wherever you go.
ETHICAL GUIDELINES
Bearing witness retreats often take us to places of deep suffering and even trauma. Participants are encouraged to bear witness not just to certain external and historical events, but also to personal issues of vulnerability and darkness. While the entire staff, including spirit holders, council facilitators, religious leaders and coordinators, tries to create a retreat environment that serves these goals, it is the responsibility of all of us, staff and participants alike, to maintain this environment for the sake of all participants. For this reason I agree to uphold this Code of Ethical Conduct, which is based on principles of trust, integrity, justice, respect and accountability, in order to nurture this bearing witness retreat.
I understand that this retreat provides an opportunity to practice the Three Tenets of the Zen Peacemakers: (1) Not Knowing, (2) Bearing Witness, and (3) Taking Action from Not Knowing and Bearing Witness.
>> Accountability. Maintaining the well-being of the retreat is the mutual responsibility of all participants. I agree to consciously cultivate a space where all voices and opinions are heard, the diversity of individual experiences is affirmed and encouraged, and where all participants feel safe in sharing personal shortcomings and concerns. Clear communication supports taking responsibility for both oneself and the retreat, and is thus an act of service to all participants.
>> Transparency. Transparency is crucial to maintaining balance and harmony. I will speak out on matters that, if left unaddressed, may foster doubt, suspicion or resentment.
Self-Awareness. Knowing that this retreat may be arduous to both mind and body, I will take responsibility for monitoring and caring for myself.
>> Right Speech. Mutual respect manifests when we treat each other with dignity and engage with everyone truthfully and compassionately. Harmony is promoted when I observe right speech: refraining from lies, self-serving talk, slander, or apportioning blame. It also includes proactively and skillfully speaking out in a manner that respects all persons involved. Recognizing the potency of anger, I will practice self-awareness and endeavor to express myself openly and generously, without blame or rejection.
>> Confidentiality. I understand that the retreat includes processes and procedures that may involve the sharing of sensitive personal information, and that this information should be held in confidence as much as possible. This caution particularly applies to staff members. On those occasions when, for the well being of specific individuals, staff members need to consult with each other, such consultations will be maintained in confidence.
Boundaries. I am responsible for clarifying, maintaining and communicating appropriate and clear boundaries with other participants.
>> Sexual Conduct. I acknowledge that sexuality is a highly vulnerable part of human experience, and even more so in retreats that challenge our bodies, minds and hearts. For this reason I will not form a new sexual relationship during the retreat with other retreat participants.
>> Use of Intoxicants. I understand that clarity of mind is a fundamental component of the practice of the three tenets. The use of non-medically prescribed intoxicants during retreats is acceptable only when prescribed by the retreat staff.
>> Practices Outside the Scope of the Retreat. All activities should support the purpose of this retreat as declared in the advertised description. No staff member or leader can give teachings or practices that lie outside its purview. Any doubts or questions about this should be taken to the spirit holders for resolution.
When you participate in a Bearing Witness retreat, you enter a carefully crafted container held by various teams:
Spirit Holders learn and listen to the pulse of the retreat during the retreat, and adjust the schedule accordingly. This role is specific to the retreat they have been chosen for. They review the retreat structure and schedule and make recommendations for changes. The Spirit Holders include (1) individuals whose lives are deeply infused with the place and theme of the retreat, (2) Zen teachers or Masters with extensive experience in the practice and teaching of the Three Tenets and (3) Those with a particular role, such as Head of Logistical Staff and Head Council Trainer.
Staff serves the needs of the retreat and its participants by translating the direction of the spirit holders into action. Our staff consists of highly trained ZPI members.
Council Facilitators lead the daily council groups- sharing circles that give space for sharing one’s experience of the retreat with others.
Elders are past retreat Spirit Holders who have transmitted their role to another and hold years-worth of insight from experiencing, practicing and leading at ZPI Bearing Witness retreats. They participate informally and offer the retreat administrators and current spirit holders feedback on the flow and pulse of the retreat. They are available to everyone as a resource before, during and after a retreat.
The Administration Team develops, plans and manages the budget, marketing and schedule for each retreat from its inception to the actual start of the retreat. They continuously evaluate and determine whether a retreat is financially feasible.
Through the years the Zen Peacemakers have hosted countless nationalities, faiths and ethnicities on the retreat. Donations can be extended towards those from diverse backgrounds to contribute to the multifaceted experience of the retreat. Donation will also ensure the attendance of those challenged financially to gather the cost of tuition.
Donations can be made at the time of registration or online on our Donation Page.
Zen Peacemakers, Inc. is a 501(c)3 tax exempt organization for your tax purposes.
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- Hurston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God. Lippincott, 1937; Amistad, 75th Anniversary Edition, 2020.
- Kendi, Ibram X. How to Be An Antiracist. Penguin Random House, 2019.
- Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America. Bold Type Books, 2017.
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- Morrison, Toni. The Bluest Eye. Vintage, 1970; Reprint edition 2007.
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- Wilkerson, Isabel. Caste. Penguin Random House, 2020.
Questions regarding retreat program, registration and payment: retreats@zenpeacemakers.org
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THE THREE TENETS
All aspects of the retreat are founded on the Zen Peacemakers’ Three Tenets:
NOT-KNOWING
letting go of fixed ideas about yourself, others, and the universe.
BEARING WITNESS
to the joy and suffering of the world.
TAKING ACTION
that arises from Not-Knowing and Bearing Witness.
These are and will be our anchor to which we will return every day of the retreat.
They are a powerful way to live one’s life and respond to the needs of the world.
Please refer to this webpage about the Three Tenets to learn more.
Zen Peacemakers
Core Trainings
Retreat Info Will Be Available In November
A History of Racial Injustice
Equal Justice Initiative
A series of short films that offer a deeper dive into selected entries from EJI’s A History of Racial Injustice calendar.
A History of Racial Injustice Daily Calendar
Learn more about our nation’s history of racial injustice by reading our online calendar, which features a different historical event each day.
Visit calendar website