Healing Resistance A Radically Different Response To Harm – Kazu Haga (1)

One day, I was in a workshop inside the Correctional Training Facility (CTF), also known as Soledad State Prison. All of our workshops inside this prison are led by our inmate trainers. One of our trainers, Roy Duran, was breaking down Principle One: “Nonviolence is a way of life for courageous people” for the workshop participants, his incarcerated peers. Suddenly, Roy went into full-on prophetic mode and blew everyone away with the most powerful explanation of this principle I have ever heard in my life.

With his permission, I’m going to offer the words he shared with us: As a young boy, I was sensitive, empathic, and loving. However, through virtually all the agencies of socialization, I was taught that my behavior was not in line with the rules of who I was supposed to be as “a man.” I was supposed to be tough, strong, and violent, or at least convince people that I was willing to be.

I learned that the rules also informed me of who I was not supposed to be: sensitive and vulnerably honest about my emotions. As a consequence of accepting the indoctrination of the ideology of toxic masculinity, I became drawn to big, strong, powerful, and violent role models. Mike Tyson, Jean-Claude Van Damme, and Tony Montana from Scarface were people that I wanted to emulate. I was convinced that rash, reckless, and violent behavior was me being “a man” and “courageous.”

In retrospect I can see that I wanted to be safe, secure, and have an identity and purpose that I would be confident in. I took the easiest route I could find in my neighborhood, and I became a drug dealer and gang member. In my distorted view of reality, I had a sense of pride and loyalty, and I achieved criminal success. I was charged, tried, and convicted of murder.

After receiving my life sentence, I was shook to my core by the tidal wave of consequences from my self-centered, violent behavior. A week after I was sentenced, my dad committed suicide. A month later, my grandfather died from a heart attack.

“Kazu Haga’s deep, nuanced, and principled commitment to nonviolence has challenged and inspired me and many others who’ve had the privilege of encountering his work.” —MICHELLE ALEXANDER, author of The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness “To resist today’s violence exploding everywhere, in ways that can actually heal our world, seems a pipe dream—until Kazu Haga makes it real. In his wry, funny, and utterly grounded fashion, he helps me believe we can do it and begin to become the Beloved Community.

We need this book like oxygen.” —JOANNA MACY, author of World as Lover, World as Self: Courage for Global Justice and Ecological Renewal “Kazu Haga broadens the landscape of nonviolence from an idealistic, often passively perceived, aspiration into a practical path of being deeply engaged and lovingly transformative of our world. Beautifully accessible and profound, Haga is a masterful teacher connecting our internal and external experiences of intending, of doing, and of being—living together with care and justice.” —LARRY YANG, core teacher at the East Bay Meditation Center, member of the Spirit Rock Teachers Council, and author of Awakening Together: The Spiritual Practice of Inclusivity and Community “Kazu Haga has written an accessible, thorough, and deeply personal introduction to nonviolence as a power for personal and social transformation.

He reflects upon common myths about nonviolent resistance, offers practical insight from his own experiences, and challenges readers to consider a radical, healing approach to confronting injustice. An inspiring read.” —ERICA CHENOWETH, Berthold Beitz Professor in Human Rights and International Affairs at Harvard Kennedy School and coauthor of Why Civil Resistance Works: The Strategic Logic of Nonviolent Conflict “An inspiring book about the power of nonviolence—living it in our lives and using it in our work for social transformation.

Kazu Haga brings to life Martin Luther King Jr.’s six principles of nonviolence and his six steps for building powerful nonviolent campaigns. Read this book, feel empowered, and help build the Beloved Community.” —DAVID HARTSOUGH, author of Waging Peace: Global Adventures of a Lifelong Activist and cofounder of Nonviolent Peaceforce and World Beyond War “Healing Resistance breathes life into the often misunderstood study and practice of nonviolence.

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

Book Information

• Unique ID: 1a6f2ad2c255b74d
• File Extension: .pdf
• File Size: 3,332,860 bytes (3.178 MB)
• Title: –
• Author: Unknown
• ISBN: 9781946764447, 9781946764430
• Pages: 313
• Language: English (en)

Reading & Word Statistics

• Estimated Reading Time: 454.33 minutes
• Total Words: 90,867
• Total Characters: 528,501
• Average Words per Page: 290.31
• Average Characters per Page: 1688.5

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