Black Nirvana Matters

Abstract

Rima Vesley-Flad’s book Black Buddhists and the Radical Tradition succeeds in presenting an account of how black Buddhists from various lineages address black trauma and how Buddhism generally can be a resource for radical projects aiming at black liberation. While the book’s tonal inconsistencies and underdeveloped threads may frustrate academic audiences insisting on reading it as a piece of research that stretches the bounds of scholarship with a narrow thesis, it generally achieves what it sets out to do in establishing a topical field and pointing the way to resources within Buddhist traditions for those seeking to ameliorate the historical and contemporary plight of black folk in America while navigating existing Buddhist spacing and forming new communities.