CBD 2022: Patrisse Cullors in Conversation with Elaine Ray about Twelve Steps to Transforming Yourself and the World 

Patrisse Cullors will share her approach to interrogating, illuminating, and sustaining her vision for transforming the world and ourselves, In this dynamic and thoughtful conversation with writer and journalist Elaine Ray, Patrisse Cullors will discuss her latest book, An Abolitionist’s Handbook: 12 Steps to Changing Yourself and the World, which offers a blueprint for people committed to making transformative change by working to end violence and oppression by dismantling white supremacy and the carceral state. 

Leading social transformation requires not only a commitment to guiding and nurturing others but also comes with a responsibility to look inward to ensure that one’s own body and soul are wisely cared for and sustained. She will illuminate her experience with how contemplative practices can cultivate these abilities.

Cullors will describe her set of essential steps for transformation, including the abilities to engage in courageous conversations, foster healthy interpersonal relationships, and be resourced with skills for healing trauma and sustaining physical, mental, and spiritual vitality.
 
Patrisse Cullors is a New York Times bestselling author, educator, artist, and abolitionist from Los Angeles, CA. Co-founder of the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag and co-founder and former Executive Director of Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, Patrisse has been on the frontlines of abolitionist organizing for 20 years. TIME 100 also named Patrisse as one of the 100 most influential people. Patrisse has led multiple Los Angeles-based organizations, including Dignity and Power Now, Justice LA, and Reform LA Jails. Patrisse is also faculty director of Arizona’s Prescott College, a new Social and Environmental Arts Practice MFA program, which she developed nesting a curriculum focused on the intersection of art, social justice, and community organizing that is the first of its kind in the nation.

As an artist and abolitionist, Patrisse teamed with Noé Olivas and Alexandre Dorriz to serve as Co-founder and Creative Director of the Crenshaw Dairy Mart, a reimagined art gallery and studio dedicated to shifting trauma-induced conditions of poverty and economic injustice, bridging cultural work and advocacy, and investigating ancestries through the lens of Inglewood and its community. In 2020, Patrisse signed an overall production deal with Warner Brothers, where she intends to continue to uplift Black stories, talent, and creators that are transforming the world of art and culture. Most recently, Patrisse served as an Executive Producer on the HBO MAX documentary Eyes on the Prize: Hallowed Ground, which documents the profound journey for Black liberation through the voices of the movement. Cullors is the author of the New York Times bestseller When They Call You a Terrorist. Her third book An Abolitionist’s Handbook: 12 Steps to Changing Yourself and the World was published earlier this year, and will be discussed in this conversation.

Elaine Ray is a communications director, emerita, at Stanford University, where she held a variety of communications roles for 22 years before her retirement in 2018. She is a former member of the Boston Globe’s editorial board and also spent several years as an editor and writer for Essence magazine. She holds a Master of Fine Arts in fiction writing from the University of Iowa, a master’s degree in journalism from Kent State University, and a bachelor’s degree in English from Chatham University. She was a co-founder of the Parent Network for Students of Color, advocating for underrepresented students in the Palo Alto, California schools, and is a former board chair of Foundation for a College Education, a college access organization based in East Palo Alto. Ray currently serves on the board of the Pear Theatre in Mountain View, California. She won the 2016 Gival Press Short Story Award for Pidgin. Another story, The Donna Collection, is published in the 2020 edition of the 166 Palms Literary Anthology. 

Patrisse Cullors in Conversation with Elaine Ray about Twelve Steps to Transforming Yourself and the World is part of the free Contemplation by Design Summit, Oct. 9 – 16 and Oct. 28 – Nov. 2, 2022.

The full Summit schedule is posted at: http://contemplation.stanford.edu/summit. All events are FREE and online.

Registration is now open here: https://stanfordcbdsummit-2022.eventbrite.com/