Contemplation, Creativity, and the Call to Collective Liberation: Exploring James Baldwin and the Via Feminina

with Rev. Dr. Aizaiah Yong

The 16th Annual CLGS Georgia Harkness Lecture

Thursday, 15 October 2026 at 4pm (Pacific Time)

In a moment marked by intensifying social, spiritual, and ecological fragmentations, this lecture explores how contemplative wisdom can support the transformation of systems and ways of being that wound us, such as patriarchy, capitalism, white and Christian supremacy, and other intersecting forms of domination.

Drawing from via feminina — a contemplative, justice‑oriented framework rooted in the healing of soul wounds — this talk expands its horizons through the androgynous, prophetic witness of James Baldwin, an African American writer whose life and work illuminate pathways of transformation across racialized, gendered, and queered boundaries.

The lecture invites participants to imagine new forms of spiritual practice that promote holistic healing, creative courage, and collective liberation. We will explore how the insights of via feminina and James Baldwin can empower us in struggles for freedom and offer generative possibilities for resisting the cultural, political, and spiritual violences that diminish human flourishing.

This is an invitation to find our grounding, listen deeply, and re‑engage our lives with renewed courage, committed to liberation for all.