As I reflect on the profound connective roots between spirituality, Black cultural history, and the Dharma, it is clear that these threads are deeply interwoven. Together we can honor these connective roots, lineages, and individuals—both ordinary and extraordinary—who have drawn upon wisdom, spiritual traditions, love, and community to shape the path that has brought us to this moment.

The friendship between Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Thich Nhat Hanh was a spiritual and political relationship that was reflected in their shared commitment to peace and the belief in our innate humanity. It is what Thich Nhat Hanh referred to as “interbeing.” Though these leaders emerged from vastly different cultural and spiritual traditions, they came together to hold sacred space, walk for peace, and demonstrate the transformative power of collective action.

The theme for Black History Month this year is labor, honoring the work that African Americans have done and continue to do—whether paid or unpaid, forced or free. Our labor, seen and unseen, has shaped America’s political, cultural, and spiritual history.

There are many unrecognized contributions of bravery, brilliance, creativity, and innovation that have shaped our collective history—leaders, scientists, visionaries, and artists from Bayard Rustin, Fannie Lou Hamer, Constance Baker Motley, Charles Drew, Henrietta Lacks, Frederick McKinley Jones, Sadie Alexander, Garrett Morgan, Paul Williams, Richard Barthé, Charles White, Gordon Parks, Rebecca Lee Crumpler, the Tuskegee Airmen, and so many more throughout the diaspora.

We celebrate the remarkable contributions of people of African descent who have upheld, and continue to lift up, all of humanity—those who organized marches, ran free breakfast programs, steadied themselves in places of worship, and built community with resolve in the midst of hatred and unspeakable adversity. These individuals were guided by love and the enduring spirit of ancestors, and grounded in diverse manifestations of the Divine Abodes—lovingkindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity—manifested in many spiritual traditions.

The Spirit Rock community continues to be inspired by Dharma practitioners and teachers who recognize, honor, and transmit the rich connections to Black History that shape our collective lives and the Dharma for the benefit of all beings.