People on death row opposing a proposition to end the death penalty. Say what? California's Prop 34, known as the Savings, Accountability, and Full Enforcement for California Act, or SAFE California Act, bills itself as a way to save money, keep people safer (from criminals), and guard against the possibility of executing an innocent person.  Sounds pretty good, right?  A win in California would appear to s ...

Thank you to all the beautiful people who submitted video about your Big Buddhist Questions! It's so lovely to see the enthusiastic faces of so many people who are interested in both Buddhism and social action. We're out there! Check out our new video to see for yourself! Folks want to talk about everything from animal rights to the commons. Have a big burning question to add? Let us know in the comments! T ...

As you may have heard, BPF's 2013 series of dialogues, "The System Stinks" is on the way! We're going to be talking about true systemic issues, like greed enshrined in capitalism, colonialism in our mind and world, and what we can do about it. At this point, you might be wondering who exactly you'll be talking to about all this stuff. To give a glimpse into the year ahead, BPF will be posting some interview ...

At a debt strike action in September, Amin Husain (right) burned a statement from the IRS sent after he raided his 401k to help pay for treatment for his father's pancreatic cancer. Husain is not alone in his struggles.  Far from it. An individualist culture tends to frame debt as a primarily personal, not political issue, but in truth it's a systemic problem. Overwhelming debt has long been an issue at the ...

I cut my nonprofit teeth working at a rape crisis center. Crisis support for survivors of sexual violence was a constant part of the job, even though it was never my main gig. With statistics like 1 in 4 women and 1 in 10 men being sexually assaulted at some point in their lifetime, nearly every conversation I had at work included some variation of "this happened to me/my sister/my mom/my college roommate/m ...

Here is a roundup of Buddhism and social justice news from 8 through 14 October 2012: Go to: Tibet • Burma • Engaged Buddhism News • Engaged Buddhism Views Tibet Rare Footage Shows Extreme Measures of Tibetan Protesters - "In the remotest regions of China, inhabited by the country's Tibetan minority, an appalling uprising is under way. In the past year more than 50 monks have died after setting themselves o ...

Having risen at retreat-early hours this morning, we've put the finishing touches on BPF's Indiegogo crowdfunding page, and fired up the engines. Now it's up to all of us.  Check out the video, donate to receive your copy of The System Stinks curriculum, and share the campaign if it speaks to you. Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who has already helped contribute to this vision!  Your encouragement, self-video ...

Tomorrow night at 9 pm EST is the first and only vice presidential debate between Vice President Joe Biden and vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan (R-WI). Many of us have come to develop low expectations for these types of highly stage-crafted events. The two candidates will exchange rhetorical jabs and bicker over whose policies will do what to whom, but there will be few big ideas and even less accountabi ...

This jaw-dropping chart comes to us via engaged Buddhist Ecaterina Burton, who says of the associated article: Few people have discussed how the Great Recession has been the largest theft of wealth from black and brown families (transferred to white investors through mortgage-backed securities). All their gains over the past 30 years were wiped out in 2 years. Now, median black wealth is $5,000 and median w ...

Here's a roundup of Buddhism and social justice news from 1 through 7 October 2012: Go to: Tibet • Burma • Engaged Buddhism News • Engaged Buddhism Views Tibet Arbitrary Arrests Continue at Zilkar Monastery - "In continued crackdown at the Nyatso Zilkar Monastery in Zatoe region of eastern Tibet, another Zilkar monk has been arbitrarily detained by Chinese security officials for unknown reasons." Latest Sel ...