Dear friend,
We are excited to share our new website with you! Beloved Community Circles is a decentralized network of circles of people around the world who take local action towards climate and racial justice. We, the Caretaking Council, want this online space to be about you - to become a place where you can connect with likeminded folks who are concerned about environmental justice, and who are ready to do something about it. Our mission is to support you and people like you around the world to take action in their communities, and to do so sustainably, lovingly, and even joyfully.
To that end, we've put together a website where you can easily peruse resources to support your practices of mindfulness, organizing, and Circle building. You can learn about the social justice efforts that our established Circles are making for inspiration. You can read our handbook — which is part how-to guide, part mission statement — and read more about our work. And, of course, you can get in touch with us if you're interested in starting a Circle, or otherwise getting involved with our movement.
One of our favorite features on the website is the map of all of the emerging and existing Circles around the world. It inspires us daily how many people from different backgrounds and life circumstances said "yes" to the call to become what we think of as "lotuses in the sea of fire" — oases of mindfulness and intentional action in what feels like an increasingly chaotic world. If you need a visual reminder that you are not alone in wanting to change things for the better, this is it. There are dozens of you in this community alone, and thousands of others in likeminded circles. We hope that someday that map will show hundreds and hundreds of local Beloved Community Circles!
We also have curated a rich resources section to support you with all aspects of your mindful action work. Take, for example, this Google document, which is updated daily by climate activists on what is going on with the environment. Every day, there is "good" news and "bad" news posted. In today's urgency and crisis driven media cycle, it's sometimes hard to see encouraging news from the global stage of any sort. It's an important reminder: there is good news.
There is good news, and you are part of a movement that's making sure there will be more of it.
Thank you for being here. We all are the change we've been waiting for.
With warmth,
The Beloved Community Circles Team
Coryna Ogunseitan
John Bell
Melanie Gin
Vivien Roman-Hampton
