Last night, the Cornell's Office of Spirituality and Meaning-Making hosted a talk by author, attorney, filmmaker, and civil rights activist Valerie Kaur.
In the wake of last week's horrific shootings in Atlanta, Kaur created a sincere and open space for participants to sit quietly with each other to acknowledge our emotional responses to this and other recent traumatic events, and to contemplate the ways that histories of targeted violence impact us individually and collectively.
In her beautiful talk, titled "See No Stranger" based upon her memoir and manifesto of the same name, Kaur both explored the darkness of trauma brought on by acts of violence (fear, grief, rage, numbness) and found hope in our togetherness (through the Revolutionary Love Project which defines love as the choice to labor together).
A recording of the webinar is not available, but many of Kaur’s lectures and workshops can be accessed on YouTube. Here are links to two of Kaur's recordings that I find especially honest, kind, and hopeful. Please consider sharing them with your students.
- Valerie Kaur — 3 Lessons of Revolutionary Love in a Time of Rage
- Valerie Kaur — Breathe! Push! The Labor of the Revolutionary Love
