Healing Conversations from the Front Lines of Activism

A Legacy of Fierce Nonviolence

A conversation with Rev. Liza Rankow as part of her series, Healing Conversations from the Front Lines of Activism.

Dear Friends, I greet you with deep care in these times of so much crisis. In this month’s conversation, I am pleased to introduce Kazu Haga. Steeped in the tradition of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Kazu works toward an activism that not only catalyzes justice, but fosters collective healing.

After some personal catching up, we ease into our interview as I often do, asking Kazu what arises for him when he hears the title of this blog, Healing Conversations from the Front Lines of Activism. His initial response is a bit of a surprise, “Actually, the first thing that it brought up was some mourning,” he says. “Just noticing how often the frontlines of activism is actually not a healing place, that oftentimes it can be an incredibly traumatic place. It makes sense because the frontlines is where so much of the harm is happening. For me, healing is the goal of activism. And so, I guess I notice the gap between what I feel like activism and healing has to offer us and what's actually present in a lot of frontline spaces.”

He pauses briefly, then continues, “I think the deeper the harm, the deeper and more powerful the healing is. So, the times that I have experienced healing in frontline spaces, it's those moments that remind me of what we are capable of, and what healing could look like. And it's those moments that keep me going, that give me a vision of what's possible and remind me of why we're there.”

Born in Tokyo, Japan, Kazu migrated to the US with his family when he was seven. His activism began at the age of 17, when he fled a violent and tumultuous home life and joined the Interfaith Pilgrimage of the Middle Passage. For six months he took part in this 13-month prayerful journey on foot and by boat, through the Eastern United States, the Caribbean, Brazil, Cape Verde, West Africa, and South Africa, reversing the trajectory of the slave trade to foster healing from the legacy of enslavement…..