Visionary activist and spiritual teacher Konda Mason joins The Common Good to explore how healing the land is inseparable from healing ourselves. In this powerful conversation with Jonathan F.P. Rose, Konda shares the story of Jubilee Justice, a cooperative reclaiming Black agricultural wisdom through regenerative rice farming and community ownership across the American South. She traces rice’s deep African roots, the resilience of its farmers, and how cooperative economics can restore both soil and spirit. Konda also introduces her transformative Journeys Program, where truth-telling, ancestry, and compassion bridge divides of race, land, money, and faith. The episode closes with a grounding practice of ancestral connection—reminding us that joy and reverence are essential tools for justice.
Host
The Garrison Institute co-founder, urban visionary and award-winning author Jonathan F.P. Rose.
Guest
Konda Mason is a social entrepreneur, regenerative farmer, Buddhist teacher, and co-founder of Jubilee Justice, an organization addressing the intersections of race, land, money, and spirit through cooperative economics and regenerative agriculture. Konda also serves as a guiding teacher at Spirit Rock Meditation Center and hosts The Brown Rice Hour podcast.
Transcript
Read and download full transcript
Related Resources
- Jubilee Justice: Transforming land, race, money and spirit through regenerative farming and reparative economics.
- Lotus Foods on Jubilee Justice: Partner in the rice project, working on specialty rice, regenerative supply chains and the “More Crop Per Drop” SRI model.
- Cornell University’s SRI Research: Technical assistance partner for System of Rice Intensification used by Jubilee Justice.
- Konda Mason at Spirit Rock: Hosting Konda Mason’s dharma teaching and social engagement profile.
- Brown Rice Hour: Konda’s podcast, episode featuring land, race, money and spirit, with Elisabeth Keller.
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Show Notes
0:00-5:00 Early life and awakening: Growing up in San Bernardino, Konda describes moving at age 12 into a mostly white suburb, and how that shaped her understanding of race and identity. She shares how her loving family, the activism of the 1960s/70s, and community informed her formation.
5:00-10:15 Berkeley & yoga: Konda recounts arriving at UC Berkeley in 1973. Konda recalls the music, art and activism milieu. Jonathan and Konda realize they were in Berkeley at the same time and agree that there was an incredible sense of abundance in Berkeley at the time. Discussion of economic history.
10:15-16:05 Konda recounts discovering Kundalini yoga and meditation in Berkeley. She recounts her first Buddhist retreat in 1982, which profoundly changed her life path. The integration of her spiritual path (yoga/meditation/Buddhism) begins in earnest. In 1992 Jack Kornfield invited her to be the yoga teacher at a retreat for social and environmental activists at Vallecitos, beginning her work in Theravada and Spirit Rock.
16:05–19:22 Illness, organics & land: She tells how a critical illness (lupus) led her to start an organic-food home delivery service in Los Angeles. Spiritual practice, food systems and ecological awareness begin to merge.
19:22-24:32 Discussion of the human need for connection, particularly with regard to prison and solitary confinement.
24:32-28:30 Introduction of Jubilee Justice & the two-prong model: Konda describes the two arms of her work — the “vertical” (Jubilee Justice Farm Project: working with Black farmers across the Southeast) and the “horizontal” (Jubilee Journeys: transformational learning journeys across race/money/land/spirit).
28:30-32:40 Konda highlights the framework that underpins her work: four pillars – Land, Race, Money, Spirit. She explains how these dimensions are deeply interconnected and foundational to her current projects. She also explains her shift from urban activist/entrepreneur to land-based regenerative farmer.
32:40-39:20 The Rice Project: She delves into the beginnings of the cooperative of Black farmers she co-founded, with farmers in Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama, discussing regenerative approaches to rice farming including the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) method. Konda recounts how while she was farming on her friend Elisabeth Keller’s organic plantation in Louisiana, she realized she was standing in the footsteps of her ancestors, and that her mission is to heal the harm that was done to hers and countless other Black families.
39:20-52:05 Reparations, healing, and cross-racial work: Konda emphasizes reparations as more than monetary — it’s about repairing relationships, acknowledging ancestors, and reconnecting to land. Konda agrees that while Black people suffered far more, white people need to heal from slavery as well. She ties how rice is emblematic — historically enslaved West Africans brought rice-farming expertise to the American South; reclaiming rice becomes a form of repair.
52:05-1:01:45 The Journeys Program: Konda describes the two-year Ancestral Journey program: 40 participants (20 Black, 20 white), deep ancestry work, truth-telling across race, land, money and spirit, and how transformation emerges through intimate, real conversation. Konda reflects on the profound impact of this work. The work cannot be simply “scaled” but must be cultivated and seeded.
1:01:45-1:04:30 Practical practice offered: Konda invites listeners to create an ancestor altar — a sacred space honoring one’s ancestors, doing the research, bearing witness, engaging with gratitude and forgiveness, and doing the work in a small group (2–3 people) rather than alone. She closes by reminding us to stay joyful, engaged, connected to nature and each other.
1:04:30-end Closing remarks: Jonathan thanks Konda, reflects on joy and commitment, and invites listeners to share feedback, reviews, etc.
