Gender Equity & Reconciliation by William Keepin & Cynthia Brix
Gender Equity & Reconciliation was published in October 2022 by Hohm Press. The book documents the GenderEquityand Reconciliation International (GERI) project. Through the Gender Equity & Reconciliation project women and men, and people of all gender identities, have come together to jointly examine the subtle knots of cultural conditioning around gender and sexuality, support each other in healing the roots of negative gender dynamics, and address the associated inequities and injustices in the world. Over the past 30 years, the Gender Equity and Reconciliation International (GERI) project has convened over 300 intensive workshops and trainings in 12 countries, for more than 7,000 people on 6 continents. These groups have engaged in a deep process of unraveling the systemic knots of gender conflicts and developed practical skills for transforming gender relations from the inside out.
The GERI program was formally endorsed in 2013 by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who launched a collaborative partnership between GERI, the Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation, and Stellenbosch University. The Foreword to the book is written by Archbishop Desmond Tutu's daughter, Mpho Tutu van Furth.
The book features 20 co-authors from 10 countries, spanning a broad range of professional expertise, culture, race, and gender diversity, representing a thousand years of combined life experience. Woven throughout are the voices and stories of dozens of leaders and participants from diverse cultural, religious, and ethnic backgrounds who have experienced the Gender Equity and Reconciliation International (GERI) program. This book is full of inspiring stories that document how the methodology of deep truth-telling and collective alchemy dissolves root causes of gender conflict, through skillfully facilitated, heart-centered transformational experiences, which are followed up with ongoing peer support.
With contributions from 12 distinguished world leaders in this field, and special inserts from such notable persons as Stanislav Grof, MD, Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo, and Peter Rutter, MD, this book is an invaluable resource for laypersons and professionals, politicians and psychotherapists, educators and religious leaders, who are thoughtfully addressing the gender-based conflicts and needs of young and old in their own homes, therapy practices, organizations and congregations across the globe.Sections of the book focus on the implementation of the GERI program in diverse contexts from prisons to parliament; religious communities to academic institutions; rural communities in Kenya and South Africa to U.N. affiliates in New York City. Other chapters focus on the GERI program in various countries around the world. Taken together, these successful applications of the GERI program in widely diverse contexts demonstrate its robustness as a practical pathway for transforming gender injustice, and for restoring right relationship between the genders.
Praise from Prominent Leaders:
"Gender Equity is the one certain step to heal humanity. …This book and the GERI program illuminate a path to do just that." –Justin Baldoni, author of Man Enough
"Inspiring and intersectional approach, … underscores the transformative power of gender justice movements." –Latanya Mapp Frett, President and CEO of Global Fund for Women
"Magnificent heartfelt healing work, … gifts us a map of deep positive transformation." –Jack Kornfield, author of A Path With Heart"A groundbreaking guide for all who want fulfilling relationships, and a more caring and equitable world." –Riane Eisler, author of The Chalice and The Blade and Nurturing Our Humanity"An important, indeed a necessary book in these difficult times. While unflinchingly illustrating the devastation of gender injustice, the authors offer an original and inspiring path to hope and healing. Their program, so vividly and movingly described, could change the world."― Jean Kilbourne, Ed.D., Senior Scholar, Wellesley Centers for Women and creator of the “Killing Us Softly: Advertising’s Image of Women” film series
“Gender and Reconciliation is overflowing with ancient spiritual wisdom and contemporary insight into the tragic interplay between gender and violence. As such it is an invaluable resource for those of us who struggle to help others see the deep connections between men’s violence against women, other men, and themselves. Even more importantly, it offers men, women, and others creative and compassionate strategies for moving forward, together.”― Jackson Katz, Ph.D., author of The Macho Paradox: Why Some Men Hurt Women and How All Men Can Help
"The authors have written "the bible" on the topic of gender and healing. Their expertise is world class as is this absolutely remarkable book. We ALL need the insights, information, challenging truths, comprehensive understandings and profound healing power of this book. I celebrate the scholarship contained in this work but most of all, the LOVE they have so deeply expressed through this book on the most vital topic of our age." ― Lynne Twist, Co-Founder of Pachamama Alliance, Author of The Soul of Money
"Unless we make the 21st century the feminine century, our humanity is at stake. This book shows the important steps to cultivate feminine values and how to lead with them for the ultimate good for all."― Zainab Salbi, Humanitarian, Author, TV Host, and founder of Women for Women International
"In a world that pushes us towards polarities of differences, this seminal work celebrates those differences and helps us find common ground. The book is full of new approaches practiced over decades and a wealth of experiences gathered from across the world that have fostered genuine healing and reconciliation between men, women, and people of all gender identities. It is a must read." ― Vishal Talreja and Suchetha Bhat, Co-Founder and CEO of Dream a Dream
"There are many admirable people and organizations around our planet devoted to making the world a better place. High on that list is the courageous work described in this volume. The stories and events recounted here are immeasurably inspiring. There is scarcely any more important work going on today than the effort to heal and transform the relationships between men and women, between people of all genders: to bravely bear witness, to work through the traumas, to face the shadows in our history and in ourselves. And from there, to accept responsibility, grieve, ask forgiveness, offer forgiveness. The hard-won achievements of such work ripples out to influence not only the larger society but our human relations with the many other species that with us constitute our Earth community."― Richard Tarnas, Ph.D., Author of The Passion of the Western Mind and Cosmos and Psyche, Founding Director of Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness Program, California Institute of Integral Studies
"This book is a powerful and timely contribution to breaking the tyranny of silence and exposing the hidden truths, harmful stereotypes, and trauma of gender oppression. This collective work of a global repertoire of activist voices spanning three decades has redefined the contours of our gendered political and social landscape in a remarkable manner. Their spirited activism challenges injustice, and encourages us to disrupt the way we think and the way we live. The imperative of the book is a deliberate intersectionality of reconciliation, mindful action, inclusive practice, resilience, respect for diverse realities, and a more radical humanism." ― Professor Rajendra Chetty, a post-colonial scholar, University of the Western Cape, South Africa
"If you’re called to help heal our world, to affect a root cause of human suffering - regardless of your gender or racial identity, your sector, nationality or orientation, read this book! With a boldly audacious goal to address the deepest, most insidious and universal trauma that pervades our human species, it shares stories and methods that have proven effective in creating transformations rippling in societies around the globe. The book speaks to all levels of the traumas we carry as a result of thousands of years of gender bias and violence ― a root cause of all the issues we face ― from the individual to the organizational, and from the societal to the archetypal." ― Nina Simons, Co-founder of Bioneers, author of Nature, Culture, and the Sacred: A Woman Listens for Leadership 2nd Edition
About the Authors:
William Keepin, Ph.D., Co-founder of the Gender Equity & Reconciliation International project. A mathematical physicist (Ph.D. applied mathematics) he is widely published in areas of sustainable energy, global warming, archetypal cosmology, comparative mysticism & the intersection of science and spirituality. Co-founded the Satyana Institute to facilitate inter-spiritual practice and collaboration across the major religions and science. Trained extensively in spiritual traditions East and West, he holds an honorary doctorate from the California Institute of Integral Studies & is a Fellow of the Findhorn Foundation.
Rev. Cynthia Brix, Ph.D., co-founder of Gender Equity and Reconciliation International, is an ordained interfaith minister and Co-Director of Satyana Institute. Cynthia leads retreats on interfaith spirituality and has co-organized five international conferences in this area. Besides co-authoring several books with husband Will Keepin, she has produced a DVD entitled Cultivating Women’s Spiritual Mastery. Cynthia holds an M.Div. from Iliff School of Theology (2006), a double M.A. in wellness management and applied gerontology, and an honorary doctorate from the California Institute of Integral Studies.
To learn more, go to
https://www.genderreconciliationinternational.org/new-geri-book/