In On Race and Religion - My Journey from Jim Crow to Mysticism, three-time author Lauren Joichin Nile shares two compelling memoires - the story of growing up under segregation and experiencing other forms of racism in the United States, and the story of her journey from Methodism to Mysticism.
Growing up in the 1950s and 60s, Nile witnessed both the best and the worst of her country, seeing firsthand the actions of some White Americans to maintain a societal system of birth-based privilege for themselves, and birth-based oppression for Americans of Color. She also saw in courageous Black Americans and progressive White Americans, an equally deep desire and a movement to transform the country into one that lives up to its founding ideals, a nation in which all people are treated equally and with compassion. Nile describes with exquisite detail how witnessing that dichotomy during her formative years shaped both her consciousness and her character as an adult.
In Nile's racial memoir, she tells the heartwarming story of her mother, Selina Gray Joichin, a woman of principle, strength, warmth, and compassion, of the African American community in which she grew up, and of that community's adults who were inspiring examples for the children they raised.
Nile's spiritual memoir is the compelling story of her quest for the source of her life-long, deep, intuitive feeling that there is something more to the universe than we experience through our senses, and specifically, that that "something" is a loving Divine Creator. Going from science to philosophy, and from philosophy ultimately to mysticism, Nile embarked on a life-long journey to find The Creator.
On Race and Religion - My Journey from Jim Crow to Mysticism is a thought-provoking and inspiring read. You will be beckoned to embark upon Nile's exciting life adventure witnessing first-hand the two themes of her life: social justice and spirituality. Nile's hope is that her story will inspire readers to see all people as equal members of one human family, and to join her in her pursuit, of a world that is more just, more compassionate, and more spiritually evolved.
