In-Person and Online: Celebrating Black Dharma Voices – A Daylong Retreat for the BIPOC Community
with Leslie Booker, Felicia Dickerson, and Isabel Adon
Saturday, February 1st, 2025 | 10:00am – 4:00pm ET
In-Person Location: New York Insight at 115 West 29th Street, 12th Floor
Despite being historically siloed, folks of African descent carry a rich legacy of contemplation—an enduring wisdom that, even in the face of colonization and enslavement, has taught us how to pause, rest, and reconnect with our true selves.
Over the course of this day of practice, we’ll explore the dharma by honoring Black dharma voices. Through meditation, reflection, and group sharing, we’ll discuss how both Buddhist and Black traditions teach us how to embrace paradox with grace—to hold grief and joy, struggle and triumph, as equal parts of the whole.
If you are Black, Indigenous, or a Person of Color, we invite you to join us for this daylong retreat.
In-Person Registration:
Please register below. If you are able, registering at the “Supporter” level enables others to attend at the “Subsidized” level (limited quantity available). Thank you for your generosity! (Please note that the registration price includes a base level of teacher support, and you will have the opportunity to donate more after the program.)
If you are registering via a mobile device such as a phone or tablet, you can scroll right and left and up and down within the below form if it is partially obscured or cut off.
CLICK HERE to open the registration form in a new browser window.
Online Registration:
Please register below. If you are able, registering at the “Supporter” level enables others to attend at the “Subsidized” level (limited quantity available). Thank you for your generosity! (Please note that the registration price includes a base level of teacher support, and you will have the opportunity to donate more after the program.)
If you are registering via a mobile device such as a phone or tablet, you can scroll right and left and up and down within the below form if it is partially obscured or cut off.
CLICK HERE to open the registration form in a new browser window.
Volunteering
All of our programs rely on volunteers to support our teachers and staff with various tasks and responsibilities. Volunteering allows you to participate in our programs at no cost. To inquire about volunteering opportunities, please fill out our inquiry form, and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
Teacher(s)
Leslie Booker
Booker is a heart – centered, spirit – driven activist and meditation teacher committed to creating a culture of belonging through her teaching and writing. She completed Spirit Rock’s 4 year Retreat Teacher Training in 2020, and shared the practices of yoga and mindfulness with New York City’s most vulnerable populations for over a decade. Booker has co – authored and contributed to several publications including the trauma – informed anthology Practicing Liberation and its accompanying workbook, for folks working towards social justice. She is a co-founder of the Yoga Service Council at Omega Institute and the Meditation Working Group of Occupy Wall Street. In 2020 she was invited to be a Sojourner Truth Leadership Fellow through Auburn Seminary and was voted by her peers as one of the 12 Powerful Women in the Mindfulness Movement.
Booker moved to Philadelphia in August of 2020 to vote in a swing state, and currently serves as the Guiding Teacher of New York Insight.
W | LeslieBooker.com
IG | TheRealBookerProject
FB | LeslieBooker
Felicia Dickerson
Felicia Dickerson came to meditation through Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction courses at UCLA’s Mindfulness Awareness Research Center in 2011. Since then she has deepened her practice in sangha with Against the Stream, in retreat at Insight Meditation Society, and through courses at NY Insight, the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies, and Spirit Rock.
She continues to show up to hold space, build community, and support New York Insight as a Practice Leader with the Harlem and BIPOC, and Midlife sanghas. With the kind support and guidance of NYI mentors, she is currently enrolled in Spirit Rock’s Community Dharma Leaders training program in 2025-2026.
Isabel Adon
Isabel Adon has been practicing meditation for over 25 years in the Vipassana (mindfulness) tradition. A long-time member of New York Insight Meditation Center, she has been actively engaged in the community for more than 20 years. Isabel occasionally leads meditation sessions for BIPOC and LGBTIQ+ groups at NYI and continues to deepen her understanding of the Dharma through learning from a diverse range of teachers.
Isabel Adon practica la meditación en la tradición Vipassana y ha guiado charlas de meditación para las comunidades de color, indígenas y latinas y gay. Isabel ha estado meditando por más de 25 años y ha aprendido de varios maestros sobre el dharma y el Buddha. Isabel es miembro del grupo de meditación de New York Insight.