Kazu Haga launches "Fierce Vulnerability," with Erika Sasson

Kazu will read from his new book, followed by a conversation with NYC-based restorative justice practioner Erika Sasson, book signing and reception.

Preorder your copy here!

In times of collapse, we need a movement that recognizes injustice as a reflection of collective trauma and embraces its role as a catalyst for collective healing through transformative action.

We are living in a world where the depths of division, violence, and destruction can no longer be ignored. From political polarization leading to the erosion of the democratic process to the climate crisis continuing to perpetuate racial inequity, we need changes that heal harms at the personal and systemic levels.

Escalated forms of harm require an equally escalated response. Yet social movements often use tactics that have a tendency to escalate an “us vs. them,” “right vs. wrong” worldview not conducive to healing.

In Fierce Vulnerability, activist and author Kazu Haga argues this binary worldview is at the heart of what is destroying our relationships and our planet and offers a new way to create healing by combining the time-honored lineage of nonviolent action with the sciences of trauma healing and the promises of spiritual practice. Fierce Vulnerability realizes we can’t “shut down” injustice any more than we can “shut down” trauma; if healing is our goal, we need social movements that center relationship.

Advanced Praise for Fierce Vulnerability

"Kazu Haga is one of the wisest voices in a new generation of teachers and activists. This important new work invites us to be mindfully conscious wounded healers, not wounded wounders—activists who end up making things worse. With fresh insights, brilliant writing, and a clear teaching style, he points a way forward in this cataclysmic time of permanent warfare, climate chaos, and cultural collapse, inviting us beyond the deadlock of "us vs. them" into activism as collective healing work and organizing as a spiritual practice." —Rev. John Dear, Nobel Peace Prize nominee, author of Living Peace

"In Fierce Vulnerability, Haga invites us to understand that there is no freedom or resiliency in a changing world without telling the truth that our freedom actually means healing. This book is good medicine for those of us on the frontlines of liberation work who long to root our work in an ethic of care and healing." —Lama Rod Owens, author of The New Saints: From Broken Hearts to Spiritual Warriors

"Kazu Haga's new book is a profound invitation to personal and collective awakening in response to our unraveling world. This book is brilliant, compassionate, and powerfully hopeful." —Tara Brach, author of Radical Acceptance

Kazu Haga is a trainer and practitioner of nonviolence and restorative justice, a core member of the Fierce Vulnerability Network, a founding core member of the Ahimsa Collective, a Jam facilitator and author of Healing Resistance: A Radically Different Response to Harm as well as the upcoming book, Fierce Vulnerability: Healing from Trauma, Emerging through Collapse. He works with incarcerated people, youth, and activists from around the country.

He has over 25 years of experience in nonviolence and social change work. He is a resident of the Canticle Farm community on Lisjan Ohlone land, Oakland, CA, where he lives with his family. You can find out more about his work at kazuhaga.com.

Erika Sasson is an attorney and practitioner who designs and facilitates restorative justice processes. Her work is focused on piloting restorative frameworks for complex harm, including for intimate partner violence, sexual assault, and homicide. She also consults on long-term projects with organizations in New York City and around the country who want to create restorative justice programming, or who need to navigate complex dynamics in pursuit of a healthier workplace. Erika's work is anchored by her experiences learning directly from Native American peacemakers from across North America.

Erika is a 2023 recipient of The David Prize, awarded annually to New Yorkers with a vision to improve their city. Originally from Canada, Erika moved to NYC in 2009 and is raising a family with her husband Misha in Brooklyn, NY. Learn more or get in touch at erikasasson.com.

Host or Publisher Lofty Pigeon Books