Breaking the Ice: Stillness in an ICE Detention Center Event
Peacemaker Featured Event (Jan. 20th, 2026)
Tuesday, January 20th, 6pm US Eastern Time, ONLINE via Zoom
Breaking the Ice: Making Space for Stillness in an ICE Detention Center
Volunteers from the Zen Center of Denver now sit weekly with detainees at the GEO ICE Detention Center in Aurora, Colorado.
This talk will explore the process of establishing these sittings, Bill and David’s encounters with detainees, and the institutional and practical challenges they have faced, all viewed through the lens of the Zen Peacemakers’ Three Tenets. We will also reflect on the broader moment we find ourselves in and consider whether it calls for an expansion of prison dharma to include ICE detention centers on a national scale.
About the Speakers:
Bill Kyoshin Hamaker is an assistant teacher at the Zen Center of Denver, where he has practiced for over thirty years. A retired school music teacher, Bill focuses on prison dharma and other social outreach endeavors, leading meditation practice at FCI Englewood Prison and supporting the Zen Center of Denver’s role as a Zen Peacemakers International affiliate. He is a member of the Zen Peacemakers Order having recently completed training in ZPO Cohort 3.
David Gibson serves on Mountain Staff and is a Board Member at the Zen Center of Denver. He serves as Volunteer Coordinator for ZCD’s social action activities at Metro Caring Food Bank and the GEO ICE Detention Center. He is also active in the Interfaith Immigration Network in the Denver/Boulder area. He will be starting the Zen Peacemakers Order training in Cohort 4 in March.
With gratitude,
The Zen Peacemakers Team



