Spirited Dissent

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Aqeela Sherrills, 36, is a campaigner against gang violence who lives in Watts, Los Angeles. In 1992 he brokered a historic peace treaty between the Bloods and the Crips, two rival gangs. Tragically, his 18-year-old son, Terrell, was shot to death in 2004 in a random killing. Sherrills is executive director and co-founder of the Community Self Determination Institute, an organization located in Watts and created to promote social wellness through positive thoughts and practice.

Challenges: Activists have to be able to express the wounds in their personal lives. On one level, violence is the result of the turbulence in our personal lives. My activism was a result of my coming to terms with sexual abuse. I was molested as a kid by one of my older brothers, and this wound brought me a lot of challenges. I had to come to terms with it, figure out a way to forgive myself and forgive the perpetrator, and that began my spiritual journey. It put me in touch with my own intuitive voice that I call god, that I call spirit, that has guided me over the past 18 years to where I am today. If you want to meet the divine in your life, you have to expose your heart.

Practices: For the past 18 years, I've observed Ramadan -- not as a religious practice, but as a spiritual practice, as a cleansing, that you observe with a 30-day fast. During the day, you eat and drink nothing, then you have a meal when the sun sets. For the past two years, I've observed Lent as a spiritual practice, too. Recently, a Buddhist friend taught me sitting meditation, so I also do that every day.

Effect of these practices on activism and personal life: I couldn't put myself in the middle of some of the situations in my neighborhood without these practices. We still have major conflicts, but we resolve them on a daily basis, and we're consistently coming back to the table to renegotiate the peace. I'm in highly dangerous situations all the time. If I don't have the ability to speak from my heart, I could lose somebody or I could lose my own life. All these practices help me to remain centered. If we can't intuit ourselves into the future playing a different role with our so-called enemies, then we're doomed to repeat everything that has happened.

Pat Cane, 64, is the founder of Capacitar International, which teaches individuals and groups around the world mind-body-spirit wellness practices, team building, and self-development. Capacitar is a Spanish word that means "to empower, to bring to life." The organization grew out of Cane's work in war-ravaged Nicaragua, after a popular education center asked her to teach what she practiced herself to heal the stress of daily life. Capacitar received the 2005 Peace Prize for the Long Haul from the Agape Foundation.

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