Dr. Ram Bhagat is a longtime educator, arts innovator, peacemaker, and community healer who has been teaching and transforming communities for 35 years. Dr. Bhagat is committed to healing trauma in our classrooms, schools, and communities. Ram is an international conflict resolution trainer, specialist in arts integration, and certified in restorative justice. He is a master teacher of culturally responsive peacemaking circles, racial healing, trauma awareness & resilience, yoga and mindfulness.
In the early 1990s, Ram co-founded Drums No Guns, a world percussion ensemble using drumming, dance, and drama (3D) to engage youth in a process of “healing community with rhythm.” The Drums No Guns Foundation was established in 2017 to expand Dr. Bhagat’s work with youth and families traumatized from gun violence, by combining trauma healing, restorative practices, mindfulness, and artfulness. Dr. B. also started incorporating peacemaking circles along with the original junk-yard jam to create a sense of balance within schools and diverse communities.
Dr. Ram Bhagat is devoted to healing community with rhythm. His pedagogy revolves around the ideals of compassion, equity, liberation, and love. Dr. Bhagat integrates four spheres and four arcs of engagement in his community healing process, called Massive Resilience. This emergent strategy is based on the principles of Ubuntu (I Am, Because We Are) and Sawubona (I See You, We See You). The four spheres for Massive Resilience are art, culture, education, and health, which collectively promote and support safe, responsive, loving, and healthy communities and organizations. The four arcs or engagement practices are trauma healing, restorative practices, mindfulness, and artfulness. The goal of Massive Resilience is to generate a decade-long renaissance (soaring 20s) of transformative cultural experiences, which includes training a cadre of warrior healers who are committed to generational healing.