RIMA VESELY-FLAD
Speaker + Bestselling Author + Buddhist Scholar-Practitioner + Black Buddhist Studies Founder
LOCATED NEAR: Asheville, NC
SPEAKING TOPICS
Buddhism
Black Radical Thought
Social Ethics
queer, Black voices with Buddhist practice
Popular talks
The Dharma of James Baldwin and Audre Lorde: This presentation explores the writings of Audre Lorde and James Baldwin through a Dharmic lens, revealing for the first time how two of America’s greatest literary voices reflect—and expand—Buddhism’s most timeless truths toward justice and liberation.
Black Buddhists and the Black Radical Tradition: Drawing on interviews with more than forty Black Buddhist teachers and practitioners, this presentation explores how Buddhist teachings heal intergenerational trauma, thereby providing a vitally important foundation for Black liberation.
Buddhism and Social Justice: This talk investigates the lived experiences of Buddhist practitioners whose identities are marginalized within mainstream Buddhist culture, and inquires into how Buddhist doctrines, practices, and communities have served as both refuge and resistance.
EVENT TYPES
KEYNOTES
LECTURES
FIRESIDE CHATS
PANELS
Workshops
VIRTUAL EVENTS
INTERNATIONAL EVENTS
Rima Vesely-Flad, PhD, is the Founding Director of the Initiative for Black Buddhist Studies and a Visiting Affiliate Fellow at Princeton University. She is the author of three books: The Fire Inside: The Dharma of James Baldwin and Audre Lorde (North Atlantic Books, 2026); Black Buddhists and the Black Radical Tradition: The Practice of Stillness in the Movement for Liberation (NYU Press, 2022); and Racial Purity and Dangerous Bodies: Moral Pollution, Black Lives, and the Struggle for Justice (Fortress Press, 2017). Dr. Vesely-Flad has twice been awarded a Department of State Fulbright Scholarship, as a post-graduate student in South Africa and as a faculty member in Ghana. She is also the recipient of grants from the Fetzer Institute, the Henry J. Luce Foundation, the Frederick Lenz Foundation, and the Crossroads Program. For several years, she taught college-level courses at Sing Sing Prison, Sarah Lawrence College, and Warren Wilson College, as well as graduate classes at Union Theological Seminary. You can follow her work at www.blackbuddhiststudies.org and on Instagram @blackbuddhiststudies.
GET SOCIAL WITH Rima Vesely-Flad
RIMA VESELY-FLAD in the media
The Fire Inside: The Dharma of James Baldwin and Audre Lorde with Rima Vesely-Flad & Lama Rod Owens at Charis Books
Dharma and Justice: Investigating Caste and Racial Oppression through a Buddhist Lens with the Union Theological Seminary
Spacious Praxis: A Convening on Love, Racial Justice, and Spiritual Transformation with the Fetzer Institute
Articles Featuring Rima Vesely-Flad:
BAR Book Forum: Rima Vesely-Flad’s Book, “Black Buddhists and the Black Radical Tradition | Black Agenda Report
LGBTQ-RAN Educational Resource Prize Honorees | LGBTQ Religious Archives Network
Podcasts with Rima Vesely-Flad:
