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Acknowledging the problem
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Acknowledging the problem

by Lighten Up Meditation · Apr 4, 2021

It’s been awhile since this site was active.

A lot has happened in the world.

A lot has happened for me.

In becoming more aware of the realities of racism in America, through the long-overdue consciousness-raising that rippled through America in the Summer of 2020 after George Floyd was murdered (and Breonna, and Ahmaud, and there have been so many) and my own education, I also became more aware of the messages sent by and through this site. “Lighten Up” was originally intended to describe the visceral experience of light that comes about from meditation. However, there are subtle and not-so-subtle overtones with the phrase.

Is meditation only for those who are “light”?

Is it only for those who want to be more “light”?

If the goal is to “lighten up” then that’s implicitly saying that there is a higher value on those who are “lighter” and to not be “light” is not a desirable state. It’s colorism. It does not matter that it was unintentional on my part so many years ago when looking for a name to brand my meditation classes around.

I apologize for any harm from the microaggression caused by the name of this site or its contents.

I am unsure what I will be doing with this site, and the domain.

In the interim, I wanted to post this public acknowledgement.

Justice and equity are important to me. As a white woman, I am only beginning the process of understanding the mechanisms of systemic and of internal racism.

For aeons, religious traditions have said that only women could be Enlightened.

Apparently I’ve been promulgating the idea that for this Westernized version of Enlightenment, only white people are welcome. I am sorry.

image credit: This author. From a #BLM demonstration in June 2020.

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