Meh. It was readable, but didn't say much and didn't seem to have much to teach. ( )

“What does liberation mean when I have incarnated in a particular body, with a particular shape, color, and sex?”

In The Way of Tenderness, Zen priest Zenju Earthlyn Manuel brings Buddhist philosophies of emptiness and appearance to bear on race, sexuality, and gender, using wisdom forged through personal experience and practice to rethink problems of identity and privilege.
Manuel brings her own experiences as a bisexual black woman into conversation with Buddhism to square our ultimately empty nature with superficial perspectives of everyday life. Her hard-won insights reveal that dry wisdom alone is not sufficient to heal the wounds of the marginalized; an effective practice must embrace the tenderness found where conventional reality and emptiness intersect. Only warmth and compassion can cure hatred and heal the damage it wreaks within us.
This is a book that will teach us all.

Before Ferguson, their has been discussion on how to address Buddhist sangha members who are cis gender, and are non white. There are PoC (People of Color) sanghas within larger sanghas and their are separate PoC sanghas to list some of the results. Zenju has been and continues to walk in these areas. It is her exposure and her own personal experience that makes this book special. This is not a straight read through book. I read some pages and put it down to let what she said wash over me. Then picked up again. Zenju admits that she does not have all the answers but what she suggest is worth trying out. I would love for all sanghas to make this book part of their library or a big read. I will be reread this book for many years to come as I continue to encounter issue that this book addresses within my own sangha. Thank you Zenju. ( )