We Rise

In autumn of 2024, a diverse crowd of artists, activists, and community members gathered at the New Parkway Theater on occupied Ohlone land known as Huchiun for a private screening co-hosted by the Center for Cultural Power and Movement Generation. Excited to immerse themselves in stories of climate justice, the audience came for the debut of two short films: Remembering Our Way Forward by Lily Xie and hija de Florinda by Shenny de los Angeles & iiritu, the latest projects from CCP's Climate Woke campaign's "Create With Us" contest.On this episode, we share a recording of the event, including poetry by Aniya Butler, artist panel discussion, and audio from both films, complete with narrated visual descriptions.EVENT ORGANIZERSCenter for Cultural PowerMovement GenerationFILMMAKERS & PANELISTSRemembering Our Way by Lily Xiehija de Florinda by Shenny de Los Angeles & iirituBoth films are available for community screenings. Reach out to krystle@culturalpower.org to find out how to set up a screening in your community.MC: Dominique DrakefordPOET: Aniya Butler with Youth Vs. ApocalypseGIVE SHUUMI LAND TAX: Sogorea Te Land TrustThank you to We Rise technical advisor, Freewill Franklin for coming out to record the event & offering your expertise, always.

Enero Zapatista is an autonomously organized month-long series of events commemorating the Zapatistas' January 1st 1994 uprising. The aim of the events is to gather and form connections through Zapatismo and the Zapatista struggle, across calendars and geographies.We Rise has been attending these events all month to record and document the series.On this episode, we bring you this timely conversation drawing vital connections between deadly extraction and Indigenous resistance from Turtle Island to Argentina to Palestine. Shout out to the brilliant organizers for their labor and love.@EneroZapatista.BayArea on IGFILMSMesa Rebeldía y Resistencia Zapatistas. Parte I Genealogía del Común Zapatista, 28 de diciembre 2024 (min 48:17 - 51:28 played during event)Antes del LitioPeople of Red Mountain: Life over LithiumMUSICAlquimia by Esotérica Tropical#MilpaméricaResiste by Resistencia AncestralMadre Tierra by Los Cojolites

Welcome to the third and final episode from our Crosspollination community block party series Roots of Justice: Protecting the Land, Protecting the People. As you probably know, we're sharing this event out in 3 episodes. You can listen to episodes 54 and 55 to hear the beautiful opening ritual and the first part of the conversation with our panelists: moderator, Dr. Rupa Marya, and speakers Layel Camargo from Shelterwood Collective, Aniya Butler from Youth vs. Apocalypse, and Andrew Yeung from Mycelium Youth Network.In this episode, we turn our attention to Dr. Rupa Marya inviting questions from the audience.__We'll be announcing our Crosspollination After Party in 2025 at Oakstop in Oakland. We're really looking forward to gathering again, celebrating the incredible labor & visions of our communities, & continuing to nourish these relationships that support us in building the world we need. We are so grateful for Oakstop's sponsorship of our Crosspollination series. Panelists:Dr. Rupa Marya, Deep Medicine CircleLayel Camargo, Shelterwood CollectiveAniya Butler, Youth Vs. ApocalypseAnderw Yeung, Mycelium Youth NetworkThank you to Nikbo for sharing their music: tracks from their song We Need Each Other. Follow their work at NikboMusic.com.If you feel nourished by this work, please share it! And if you're able, please support We Rise by contributing via Patreon or PayPal.What did you think of this series? Email us at WeRiseProduction@protonmail.com with any reflections or ideas you'd like to share.Subscribe to our newsletter at WeRiseProduction.com & follow us @WeRiseProduction on Instagram for updates & announcements.

Welcome to part two of our final iteration of the Crosspollination community block party series Roots of Justice: Protecting the Land, Protecting the People. Because of the fullness of the dialogue, we're sharing this event out in 3 episodes. Listen to episode 54 to hear the beautiful opening ritual, featuring musical artists Sam and Nikbo, and our own co-director, co-conspirator nicky.We're so excited for you to hear from our amazing panelists. For this conversation, we invited collaborators and community organizations we've created with in different ways, and it was beautiful to bring everyone together and hear them weave insights and lessons about climate justice, Queer Trans Black Indigenous & people Of color (QTBIPOC) led land stewardship, rematriation, and land back in action.Panelists:Dr. Rupa Marya, Deep Medicine CircleLayel Camargo, Shelterwood CollectiveAniya Butler, Youth Vs. ApocalypseAnderw Yeung, Mycelium Youth NetworkThank you to Nikbo for sharing their music: tracks from their song We Need Each Other. Follow their work at NikboMusic.com.If you feel nourished by this work, please share it! And if you're able, please support We Rise by contributing via Patreon or PayPal. What did you think of this series? Email us at WeRiseProduction@protonmail.com with any reflections or ideas you'd like to share.Subscribe to our newsletter at WeRiseProduction.com & follow us @WeRiseProduction on Instagram for updates & announcements.

In this political moment, we are so grateful to share with you the final episodes of our Crosspollination series. In these transformational times of simultaneous pain and potential, may we continue to weave & fortify our relationships with ourselves, each other, our ancestors, with land, with water and the other beings that call this earth home. May these conversations support you and your loved ones.__Our final iteration of the Crosspollination community block party series is Roots of Justice: Protecting the Land, Protecting the People. Because of the fullness of the dialogue, this event will be shared out in 3 episodes. Join us as we ask: how do we embody care? What ancestral memories guide our relationships with land? With water? What does reciprocity look and feel like for each one of us? How does art nourish us as we build the future we need?For this panel, we invited collaborators and community organizations we've created with in different ways, and it was beautiful to bring everyone together and hear them weave insights and lessons about climate justice, Queer Trans Black Indigenous & people of color (QTBIPOC) led land stewardship, rematriation, and land back in action.Before we hear from our panelists, we begin with this beautiful opening, featuring musical artists Sam & Nikbo, and our very own We Rise co-founder, co-conspirator, nicole gervacio.__Thank you to Nikbo for sharing their music: tracks from their song We Need Each Other. Follow their work at NikboMusic.com.If you feel nourished by this work, please share it! And if you're able, please support We Rise by contributing via Patreon or PayPal. What did you think of this series? Email us at WeRiseProduction@protonmail.com with any reflections or ideas you'd like to share.Subscribe to our newsletter at WeRiseProduction.com & follow us @WeRiseProduction on Instagram for updates & announcements.

La Madre Tiarra of Auspicious Acoustics introduces Blessed Assurance: Auspicious Acoustics grassroots fundraising initiative for their work with the Parents, Families, Caregivers and Loved Ones of Ascended Young Ones, aka The Angel Baby Constellations (ABCs).We Rise invites you to listen to our dear friend & collaborator, Tiarra as she shares about her beloved Angel

Welcome to this conversation between Co-founder, Layel Camargo, Wellness Practitioner, Erica Gibbons & Artist in Residence and Somatic Scribber Kate Morales, of Shelterwood Collective. We Rise is honored to be in community with Shelterwood, a queer, trans, black, indigenous, people of color-led land stewardship project located on unceded Kashia and Southern Pomo territory in so-called Cazadero, California.In their 3 years of stewarding the 878 acre forest, the Shelterwood community has weathered wildfire, atmospheric flooding, the strains of the nonprofit industrial complex, and relationship tensions as they discover how to be in right relationship with themselves, one another, local indigenous tribe and the land to bring this project into sustainable being for future generations.Kate, Layel & Erica offer us a generous deep dive into how Shelterwood is practicing and experimenting with a common thread in our communities: navigating triggers, tensions, & healing while trying to build the next world we want to live in. Shelterwood lets us into their process in hopes of continuing to illuminate an arduous but worthwhile journey. Learn more & follow their work at ShelterwoodCollective.orgConnect with Kate | asthecrowfliesdesign.com | IG: @CrowCaminoConnect with Erica | IG: @DecolonizeMovementLike what you hear? Both the Shelterwood team and We Rise would love to hear from you. How did this conversation land? What questions remain? What do you want to learn more about? Who do you want to hear from? Let us know! You can connect with us at WeRiseProduction@protonmail.com

Welcome to part two of our recording from our June 8th Crosspollination community block party, Diasporic Care: We Show Up for Each Other. Because we had so many incredible guest speakers on our panel, we are breaking this conversation up into parts one & two. If you missed part one, we highly encourage you to listen to We Rise podcast episode 50, Diasporic Care, which includes a beautiful opening prayer with Dr. Uzo Nwankpa. In this episode, we pick up where we left off, with Tierra -We Rise advisor & panel moderator- asking our panelists how they see the safety of our relatives overseas as linked to the safety of our relatives here on Ohlone territiry?Join Mansi, Jesse, Lubna, Ant, Mira & Sarah to explore how they are practicing collective care, resistance, resilience, & safety.Sarah O'Neal, Oakland-based poet & organizerLubna Morrar, Palestinian Feminist CollectiveAnt Lorenzo, Liyang NetworkMansi, ASATA (Alliance of South Asians Taking Action)Jesse Strauss, IJAN (International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network)Mira Stern, JVP Bay Area & EducatorJoin us on August 3rd for the final event in this Crosspollination series! Learn more & RSVP at WeRiseProduction.com/Crosspollination.If you feel nourished by this work, please share it! And if you're able, please support We Rise by contributing via Patreon or PayPal. We'd love to hear from you! Reach out at WeRiseProduction@protonmail.com.

Diasporic Care: We Show Up for Each OtherWelcome to Part 1 of 2 of this live recording from our Crosspollination community block party series. This event took place on June 8th, 2024. This episode features our opening prayer with Dr. Uzo Nwankpa, & the beginning of our speakers panel, featuring the brilliant hearts & minds of:Sarah O'Neal, Oakland-based poet & organizerLubna Morrar, Palestinian Feminist CollectiveAnt Lorenzo, Liyang NetworkMansi, ASATA (Alliance of South Asians Taking Action)Jesse Strauss, IJAN (International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network)Mira Stern, JVP Bay Area & EducatorWhat we get into throughout these two episodes: How do we take care of us? What practices sustain us in these challenging times?What wisdoms are we drawing from to strengthen each other & our movements? How are we engaging in a diversity of tactics? For many of us, as we show up for each other here in Huchiun, we are also caring for our communities in our motherlands. We know all land is connected, all waters are connected. Like seeds, we know the power of diaspora, the potency of biodiversity to nourish & create liberatory ecosystems, never forgetting where we come from. From Huchiun to Palestine, from the Philippines to Mexico, we honor our interconnectedness across borders.Gratitude to We Rise Advisor, teaching artist & theater worker Tierra Allen for MCing this event. If you feel nourished by this work, please share it! And if you're able, please support We Rise by contributing via Patreon or PayPal. We'd love to hear from you! Reach out at WeRiseProduction@protonmail.com.

Join Layla K. Feghali of River Rose Remembrance & Iman Labanieh of Baylasan Botanicals for a timely conversation about Layla's newly released book, The Land in Our Bones. Highlighting lineages of herbal resilience, diasporic stewardship, and unraveling the rippling impacts of colonial violence on our earth and communities, this book about people and traditions of the Levant offers relevant fodder to grapple with the dire times we are in.As organizers and herbalists with roots in Lebanon & Syria, the ongoing genocide in Gaza has been particularly heavy on our hearts and minds. Many of us have shifted our practices to respond to the needs of this moment including organizing, fundraising, and providing political education. It is our hope that this conversation will provide generative insight into more practical wisdom for action in our local and care-taking communities — for Palestine and beyond.Connect with Layla riverroseremembrance.com & @RiverRoseRemembranceConnect with Iman baylasanbotanicals.com & @BaylasanBotanicalsDirect aid to families surviving genocide and displacement Mutual Aid Support Network

Crosspollination is a block party series created by We Rise Production with the purpose of strengthening and deepening existing connections and initiating new ones, after the changing culture and community landscape Oakland experienced in years of social distancing and pandemic.Our themes will deepen into an exploration of how WE TAKE CARE OF US. We Take Care of Us is a phrase that comes out of BIPOC-led community spaces dedicated to the practice of mutual aid & abolition as a strategy for long-term collective wellbeing. We use this phrase intentionally to lift up & carry forward this invitation in our own communities as we crosspollinate.We use the word “emergent” – in part drawing on adrienne maree brown's Emergent Strategy – to signify that these organizations' work reflects a vision they are each stewarding of collective liberation.We Rise is committed to offering free education and raising awareness on important community work and causes through live events and cultural production. This series of seasonal intercommunity block parties will cultivate cross-pollination of intergenerational and intersectional identities coming together to learn about & support social justice, community safety, local businesses, & celebrate our artistic abundance.Opening prayer with Dr. Uzo NwankpaPoetry by Darius Simpson of People's ProgramsPanel Moderator Yemi from People's ProgramsPanelists:James Birch, Deputy Director, Anti Police-Terror ProjectDr. Cesar Cruz, Co-Founder Homies Empowerment, Founding Principal The Freedom SchoolDelency Parham, Co-Founder, People's ProgramsSound Tech: Frank Sterling aka Freewillin Franklin, with assistance from Mickey MayesMusic:Quantic - Cumbia Sobre el Mar, El Buho RemixGingee - Gong SpiritsMos Def - UMI SaysLowkey - Free Palestine (Instrumental)Get involved! Learn more & connect at WeRiseProduction.com/crosspollinationBecome an event Sponsor!Support this vital work on Patreon & PayPal

Join Gloria Lucas of Nalgona Positivity Pride & Luca Yacón of Radically Fit Oakland in this enlightening & heart-to-heart discussion diving deep into the realms of Harm Reduction, Eating Disorders, & Body Movement. This thought-provoking conversation is an exploration of:⁠
Harm Reduction Strategies
⁠
Personal Eating Disorder Journey
⁠
Body Movement and Acceptance
⁠
Decolonial approaches & navigating whiteness in the Medical Industrial ComplexLINKSFollow @NalgonaPositivityPride on IG for more non-conventional eating disorder support.https://www.nalgonapositivitypride.com/Follow @RadicallyFitOakland for QTBIPOC communtiy rooted in fat liberation + joyful movement.https://www.radicallyfitoakland.com/MUSIC samples from Combo Chimbita https://combochimbita.com/TRANSCRIPT coming soon!

Born and raised in the Bay, Iranian-American singer-songwriter Adrienne Shamszad hops on the mic and shares her voice with We Rise listeners, debuting her first full-length album in 15 years: Wash It All Away!Adrienne's music is dedicated to our collective liberation - and is an intimate incantation of her heart. Equal parts silly and heartfelt, Cat and Adrienne get into it on this episode of the We Rise podcast, and share some new jams from Wash It All Away, both live (and spontaneous!) and from the album.From Adrienne:"The creation of this album has been a process of making peace with myself, and embracing the life I have now. It is allowing me to let go of a lot that has been holding me back, and grieve the loss of what the passage of time takes from all of us. A beautiful outcome of this transformation is that I have found a way to make use of the old dreams that never bloomed; they have become compost for the new dreams that are thriving.It is also my life story. The story of longing for true connection, falling in love, catching glimpses of God, and it's a story of surrender. I hope hope hope these songs will resonate with YOU."For more!Album release show Aug 31: https://secure.thefreight.org/12814/adrienne-shamszadAdrienne's website: https://adrienneshamszad.com/BandCamp: https://adrienneshamszad.bandcamp.com/album/a-new-lifeAdrienne's Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/adrienneshamszad

Somos Semillas, We Are Seeds: A Podcast about Indigenous Sovereignty & Collective StorytellingThis creative collaboration with indigenous poet & scholar Erika Murcia invites us to explore inquiries about living with greater purpose, presence & rootedness.EP 5: Sacred Rainbows, Weaving Our CrossroadsIn this bonus episode Cat, Erika, & nicky gather round on Nahuatl, Ohlone & Chinook lands to reflect on the making of Somos Semillas, how their ancestors guide their creative processes, and they share a little preview of their next offering... coming this autumn! As always, there are laughter and tears along the way.Stay tuned for Autumn launch by the equinox!LINKSEpisode transcript: Coming soon!Our theme song of this podcast series is Sumergirse by @La.Clave.de.SolConnect with us atweriseproduction[at]protonmail[dot]me, and follow us on Facebook & Instagram at weriseproduction, & on twitter at WeRise Producers.Connect with Erika Murcia at https://linktr.ee/MujeryselvaPodcast Art by @NicoleGervacio

Somos Semillas, We Are Seeds: A Podcast about Indigenous Sovereignty & Collective StorytellingThis creative collaboration with indigenous poet & scholar Erika Murcia invites us to explore inquiries about living with greater purpose, presence & rootedness.EP 4: Sacred Winds, Returning to our Power of SheddingIn this episode Erika, nicky & Cat are joined by dancer and creator of healing spaces for healthcare providers, Dr. Uzo Nwankpa, to discuss the power of winds, and how this element shows up in our bodies, our human relationships, and our ancestral relationships with land.LINKSEpisode transcript: Coming soon!Our theme song of this podcast series is Sumergirse by @La.Clave.de.SolConnect with us atweriseproduction[at]protonmail[dot]me, and follow us on Facebook & Instagram at weriseproduction, & on twitter at WeRise Producers.Connect with Erika Murcia at https://linktr.ee/MujeryselvaConnect with Dr. Uzo Nwankpa: www.wellnesspromoters.net & www.theuzo.com & on IG @UzoNwankpa & @wellness_promoters Podcast Art by @NicoleGervacioMia Mingus blog post: https://leavingevidence.wordpress.com/2022/01/16/you-are-not-entitled-to-our-deaths-covid-abled-supremacy-interdependence/

Somos Semillas, We Are Seeds: A Podcast about Indigenous Sovereignty & Collective StorytellingThis creative collaboration with indigenous poet & scholar Erika Murcia invites us to explore inquiries about living with greater purpose, presence & rootedness.EP 3: Sacred Fires, Returning to our Sexual Creativity In this episode Erika, nicky & Cat are joined by healer, steward, and guardian Ember Phoenix to discuss the element of fire, and how its sacred force shows up in our communities, relationships, bodies, and more.LINKSEpisode transcript: Coming soon!Our theme song of this podcast series is Sumergirse by @La.Clave.de.SolConnect with us atweriseproduction[at]protonmail[dot]me, and follow us on Facebook & Instagram at weriseproduction, & on twitter at WeRise Producers.Connect with Erika Murcia at https://linktr.ee/MujeryselvaConnect with Ember Phoenix @SoulThriveApothecary & @MelaninRising.Co.Podcast Art by @NicoleGervacio

From Queer & Well's Earth Day event: A panel with Christina Chase of National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance (NAAFA) & Cat Brooks of Anti Police Terror Project (APTP), moderated by Layel CamargoWhen we think about communal care it is vital that we talk about the ways in which we take care of each other as queer and trans Black and brown folks. How do we show up for one another in a time when we are fighting to keep ourselves alive against capitalism & white supremacy? Join us for a panel discussion on what it looks like to build community infrastructures & relationships that will help sustain us and keep us moving forward.Christina Chase (she/her) is a superfat black and disabled creative problem solver who is passionate about equity, inclusion, and intersectional fat liberation. Christina is the Governance Chair of NAAFA (The National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance) and brings a delightful enthusiasm to fat activist work. She holds a Master of Arts in Education, and is highly skilled in organizational learning, community building, and professional development training. In her free time Christina loves reading science fiction, playing board games, and slaying at karaoke.Cat Brooks (she/her) is host of Law & Disorder on KPFA and a long-time performer, organizer, and activist. She played a central role in the struggle for justice for Oscar Grant, and spent the last decade working with impacted communities and families to rapidly respond to police violence and radically transform the ways our communities are policed and incarcerated. She is the co-founder of the Anti Police-Terror Project (APTP) and the Executive Director of The Justice Teams Network. Cat was also the runner-up in Oakland's 2018 mayoral election, facing incumbent Libby Schaaf.LINKSEpisode TranscriptRadicallyFitOakland.comGemini Moon BotanicalsAudio recording support from Popperz!

From Queer & Well's Earth Day event: A Conversation with Layel Camargo of Shelterwood Collective & Inés Ixierda of Sogorea Te Land TrustAs queer Black and brown folks, what does it look like to be reconnected to land our ancestors stewarded before colonialism & white supremacy? What are the ways we can come back to this land and rebuild not only the land itself, but our relationships to it. How are organizations like Sogorea Te Land Trust & Shelterwood Collective creating spaces and avenues for us to take part in these practices? Join us for a discussion on the importance of our relationship to land and how to strengthen those bonds during a time of climate crisis and change.Layel Camargo (them/them) is Co-Creator & Cultural Strategy Lead of Shelterwood Collective. Layel is Yaqui and Mayo of the Sonoran Desert. As a transgender and gender non-conforming person, they've dedicated the last decade advancing climate justice through storytelling by creating campaigns like ‘Climate Woke' with The Center For Cultural Power and supporting media projects like ‘The North Pole Show' with Executive Producers Rosario Dawson and Movement Generation, Justice and Ecology Project. They are the producer and host of Did We Go Too Far, a climate justice podcast. Most recently, Layel was named on the Grist 2020 Fixers List. They graduated from UC Santa Cruz with degrees in Feminist Studies and Legal Studies.Inés Ixierda is an interdisciplinary Mestizx artist and media maker with a background in youth work, decolonial nonprofit administration, and community organizing. She leads Sogorea Te Land Trust's art and media, coordinates projects, organizes events, and works on the land with plant medicines.Sogorea Te' Land Trust is an urban Indigenous women-led land trust based in the San Francisco Bay Area that facilitates the return of Indigenous land to Indigenous people. Sogorea Te' Land Trust cultivates rematriation and calls on us all to heal and transform the legacies of colonization, genocide, and patriarchy and to do the work our ancestors and future generations are calling us to do.LINKSEpisode transcriptRadicallyFitOakland.comGemini Moon BotanicalsAudio recording support from Popperz!

Somos Semillas, We Are Seeds: A Podcast about Indigenous Sovereignty & Collective StorytellingThis creative collaboration with indigenous poet & scholar Erika Murcia invites us to explore inquiries about living with greater purpose, presence & rootedness.In this episode we are reclaiming Earth Mother and the soils as part of who we are, what we're made of. Erika, nicky & Cat open into this longing to celebrate our bodies, illuminating body as decolonial prayer.LINKSEpisode transcript: Coming soon!Sumergirse by La Clave de Sol: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2NvLWNh9sNxdDhnFCkAOQ1?si=ajZr2gDlTga52lQA09NzuA & on IG @la.clave.de.solConnect with us at weriseproduction[at]protonmail[dot]me, and follow us on Facebook & Instagram at weriseproduction, & on twitter at WeRiseProducers.Connect with Erika Murcia at https://linktr.ee/Mujeryselva

Somos Semillas, We Are Seeds: A Podcast about Indigenous Sovereignty & Collective StorytellingThis creative collaboration with indigenous poet & scholar Erika Murcia invites us to explore inquiries about living with greater purpose, presence & rootedness.Episode One: Sacred Waters, Returning to Our Natural Flow offers expansive praxis for a calling to calmness, to flowing slowly as we dive into the depths of our dialogue, and our ancestral soul's water baggage.This episode features Somos Semillas collaborators: Nicky & Cat of We Rise Production, and Erika of Sanadora Práctica Creativa.Through multimedia, digital and live productions, We Rise Production challenges audiencesto think critically about the systems that oppress us all, and uses art to inspire active solidarity.We vision for the future with empathy and intellectual rigor. ​We move with ancestors and future generations in mind, knowing that it is our responsibilityto be accountable to our communities. Creative collaboration and storytelling are our methodsfor disseminating knowledge. These offerings are intended to help us remember what colonization tries to erase and to inspire change, big and small, loud and subtle.We ride the cusp of what our ancestors have known and what remains unknown,what has been done in acts of bravery and brilliance, and what we are capable of creating.Catherine Duval Petru aka Cat (she/her) is a queer Jewish cultural producer born & raised in Huchiun, Ohlone land known to many as Oakland, California.Influenced by this land at the epicenter of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, and the survivor spirit of her paternal grandmother, Cat's pulse beats for our freedom movements. A dancer & pollinator, Cat brings whimsy & focus to supporting artists, educators, organizations, activists & visionaries tell stories that nourish our imaginations for collective liberation.​As co-founder & co-director of We Rise Production, Cat brings her experience as an audio producer (trained at KPFA Radio's community-based First Voice Apprenticeship Program in Berkeley), as well as her knack for writing & passions for accessibility & facilitation, to all her collaborations.NICOLE GERVACIO (she/they) is an interdisciplinary artist based in Huchiun, occupied Ohlone territory also known as Oakland, California. Their parents and grandparents immigrated from Luzon and the Bisayan islands. Inspired by bodies and memory, her work explores identity, permanence versus impermanence, and is often driven by a fear of forgetting – a response to the colonization, silencing, and invisiblization of their communities as well as many others under U.S. imperialism. nicole aims to heal the cultural & historical amnesia we inherited from the ongoing violence of colonialism that harms people, beings, and land and has us facing multiple crises today. The responsibility and purpose of being an artist is a dance she navigates by dreaming and creating with ancestors and future generations in mind. nicole has been a collaborator of Liberation Spring since 2016 and is the co-founder and co-director the cultural production collective We Rise - both continue to deepen her work as an artist and activist. NicoleGervacio.comErika Murcia a Poet, and editor. Daughter of Mesoamerican diaspora. Co-author of the anthology Mamahood Sovereignty, a collection of essays on how womxn embody our Creativity. I created the Sanadora Práctica Creativa classroom honoring Native Mesoamerican teachings to support children of the global diaspora's healing journeys through Breastfeeding their Creative Praxis. As a human, I enjoy dancing, hugging trees, and drinking high-quality coffee. Now I walk my talk in Mesoamerica and wherever Earth Mother calls my heart.LINKSEpisode transcript: Coming soon!Sumergirse by La Clave de Sol: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2NvLWNh9sNxdDhnFCkAOQ1?si=ajZr2gDlTga52lQA09NzuA & on IG @la.clave.de.solConnect with us at weriseproduction[at]protonmail[dot]me, and follow us on Facebook & Instagram at weriseproduction, & on twitter at WeRiseProducers.Connect with Erika Murcia at https://linktr.ee/Mujeryselva

Somos Semillas, We Are Seeds: A Podcast about Indigenous Sovereignty & Collective StorytellingThis creative collaboration with indigenous poet & scholar Erika Murcia invites us to explore inquiries about living with greater purpose, presence & rootedness.How do we want to be seeds now?In Episode 0, Erika, nicky, & Cat are accompanied by writer & astrologer Karina Falcon to illuminate connections between the indigenous concept of zero with Spirit and the sacred element ether.

Somos Semillas, We Are Seeds: A Podcast about Indigenous Sovereignty & Collective StorytellingThis creative collaboration with indigenous poet & scholar Erika Murcia invites us to explore inquiries about living with greater purpose, presence & rootedness.In this 5-episode series, we'll deconstruct the ways we connect to each sacred element -Water, Fire, Wind, Earth, and Ether. Together we have been weaving stories that gather and recall our ancestral memories. We have invited voices of sacred feminine and two-spirit leadership from various communities of the diaspora.We'll learn about the journeys of our guest storytellers, including astrologer Karina Falcon, Dr. Uzo Nwankpa, and healer, steward, and guardian Ember Phoenix.Our theme song is Sumergirse by La Clave de Sol.Visit www.weriseproduction.com to sign up for our newsletter and support our expansive labor! Muchas gracias, thank you for listening! Invite your comadres, aunties, relatives and extended communities to listen to our stories!LINKSEpisode transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hTjNg0_s41FhwU5c6pGl8gjzrOqxc9Ghh89AUiCMyEs/edit?usp=sharingEpisode & guest links: Karina Falcon: https://www.mujerlunar.com/ & https://www.carpalunar.org/ & on IG @mujerlunarka & @sagradamujerlunar Dr. Uzo Nwankpa: www.wellnesspromoters.net & www.theuzo.com & on IG @UzoNwankpa & @wellness_promotersEmber Phoenix: @SoulThriveApothecary & @MelaninRising.CoMusic credits: Sumergirse by La Clave de Sol: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2NvLWNh9sNxdDhnFCkAOQ1?si=ajZr2gDlTga52lQA09NzuA & on IG @la.clave.de.solConnect with us at weriseproduction[at]protonmail[dot]me, and follow us on Facebook & Instagram at weriseproduction, & on twitter at WeRiseProducers.Connect with Erika Murcia at https://linktr.ee/Mujeryselva

This is it, right here, this is the final episode. And if you're here right now, and you've been choosing to return to this work again and again, I want to say, thank you. Cuz If we want alternative means to responding to harm other than the systems on offer from the state, we are the ones who have to invest time, energy, labor into learning, healing, imagining, practicing, remembering, and organizing to get there. As Black feminist revolutionary writer June Jordan said, “we are the ones we have been waiting for.” Now is the time to generously bring forth our gifts and throw down for our collective liberation. So again, thank you for choosing to be here.Let's dream forward.Episode transcript: Coming soon!Sogorea Te' Land Trust: https://sogoreate-landtrust.org/Save the West Berkeley Shellmound: https://shellmound.org/June Jordan: http://www.junejordan.com/The Revolution Starts at Home: Confronting Intimate Violence Within Activist Communities, ed. Ching-In Chen, Jai Dulani, Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha: https://www.akpress.org/revolutionstartsathome.htmlDemocracy Now!, “Remembering Grace Lee Boggs (1915-2015): ‘We Have to Change Ourselves in Order to Change the World'”: https://www.democracynow.org/2015/10/6/remembering_grace_lee_boggs_1915_2015Kim Tran: https://www.kimtranphd.com/ Kyra Jones: https://www.kyrajones.me/Adrienne Skye Roberts: http://therapywithadrienneskye.com/Mia Mingus: https://www.soiltjp.org & https://leavingevidence.wordpress.com Bay Area Transformative Justice Collective: https://batjc.wordpress.com/For additional resources, including this episode's ASL video: https://www.weriseproduction.com/therealworkzAnda of DiaspoRADiCAL: @diaspo.radical on Instagram & https://soundcloud.com/diasporadicalConnect with us at weriseproduction[at]protonmail[dot]com, and follow us on Facebook & Instagram at weriseproduction, & on twitter at WeRiseProducers.

Last episode, we focused on the accountability part of community accountability. We explored how changing our behavior to live accountably is lifelong work, is violence prevention, takes building skills until they become muscle memory. Fortunately for us, Mia gave us many opportunities to practice. In this episode, we learn from this practice – and – we focus on the community part of community accountability. Mia emphasized that transformative justice is not about intervening in or saving someone else's community – TJ is responding to harm, violence, and abuse in our OWN communities. So as we built up fundamental TJ skills, she guided us to envision the changes we'd like to see in Bay Area theater.Episode transcript: Coming soon!Sogorea Te' Land Trust: https://sogoreate-landtrust.org/Save the West Berkeley Shellmound: https://shellmound.org/Story F.4. “Surviving and Doing Sexual Harm: A Story of Accountability and Healing” from Section 4.F: Taking Accountability in the Creative Interventions Toolkit: A Practical Guide to Stop Interpersonal Violence: https://www.creative-interventions.org/toolkit/“What Is Accountability” panel recorded at Building Accountable Communities: A National Gathering on Transforming Harm on April 27, 2019 at Barnard College, NYC featuring Shannon Perez-Darby, Esteban Kelly, RJ Maccani, Mia Mingus, Sonya Shah, and Leah Todd, and moderated by Piper Anderson: https://bcrw.barnard.edu/videos/building-accountable-communities-what-is-accountability/Theater-Specific Case Study #1 - Abusive Rehearsal Room: https://f2606a71-bda8-4907-8ea6-d848e7fd6671.usrfiles.com/ugd/f2606a_5869addf765749b99d63019969bf0ceb.pdfTheater-Specific Case Study #2 - Award-Winning Director + Sexual Violence: https://f2606a71-bda8-4907-8ea6-d848e7fd6671.usrfiles.com/ugd/f2606a_310f018b45de437bb24639f478166068.pdfBATJC Case Studies: https://batjc.wordpress.com/resources/case-studies/Mia Mingus: https://www.soiltjp.org & https://leavingevidence.wordpress.comBay Area Transformative Justice Collective: https://batjc.wordpress.com/For additional resources, including this episode's ASL video: https://www.weriseproduction.com/therealworkzAnda of DiaspoRADiCAL: @diaspo.radical on Instagram & https://soundcloud.com/diasporadicalConnect with us at weriseproduction[at]protonmail[dot]com, and follow us on Facebook & Instagram at weriseproduction, & on twitter at WeRiseProducers.

Thank you for listening to our podcasts over the years, or months – or if you're new to our work, welcome!After 6 years of groundwork, we're celebrating how far we've come & asking you – our community – for support. Donate to our first ever fundraiser! Your contribution supports queer, femme, Black Indigenous and People Of Color-centered multimedia productions.Our collaborations uplift liberatory ideas & strategies, and offer seedlings of possibilities & inspiration that will support us in the coming years – as we navigate climate emergencies, oppressive systems, & the ongoing effects of the pandemic – and as we seek ways to heal & take care of ourselves, our communities, and the coming generations. This is why we say our work is in service of "nourishing imaginations for our collective liberation."Listen to Cat & Nic reflect on past collaborations, and get sneak peak sound bites of what's to come!Donate now! Become a patron: https://www.patreon.com/werise Donate on PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/weriseproduction Share our call for support with your community! https://www.weriseproduction.com/ Contact us at WeRiseProducers@gmail.com if you'd like to write a check - or - with questions or ideas.

As the cohort continued, we learned that building the capacity to practice transformative justice takes immense and consistent personal work. We're talking the basics of being human, like self reflection, and how to communicate.These personal inquiries into how we live our values, and how we respond to our inevitable mistakes, were like portals into the heart of TJ. Into what it would take to support ourselves and others in living accountably every day for everything we do, and fail to do.Episode transcript: Coming soon!Sogorea Te' Land Trust: https://sogoreate-landtrust.org/Save the West Berkeley Shellmound: https://shellmound.org/Creative Interventions Toolkit: A Practical Guide to Stop Interpersonal Violence: https://www.creative-interventions.org/toolkit/Aya de Leon, “Reconciling Rage and Compassion: The Unfolding #MeToo Moment for Junot Diaz”: https://transformharm.org/reconciling-rage-and-compassion-the-unfolding-metoo-moment-for-junot-diaz/“Hollow Water,” directed by Bonnie Dickie: https://www.nfb.ca/film/hollow_water/Mia Mingus, “The Four Parts of Accountability & How To Give A Genuine Apology“: https://leavingevidence.wordpress.com/2019/12/18/how-to-give-a-good-apology-part-1-the-four-parts-of-accountability/Mia Mingus: https://www.soiltjp.org & https://leavingevidence.wordpress.comBay Area Transformative Justice Collective: https://batjc.wordpress.com/For additional resources, including this episode's ASL video: https://www.weriseproduction.com/therealworkzAnda of DiaspoRADiCAL: @diaspo.radical on Instagram & https://soundcloud.com/diasporadicalConnect with us at weriseproduction[at]protonmail[dot]com, and follow us on Facebook & Instagram at weriseproduction, & on twitter at WeRiseProducers.

Our facilitator, Mia Mingus, used the metaphor of a fist to explain how, unlike our current severely punitive carceral system, TJ creates conditions that support folks to step up and take accountability when they've caused harm. In this episode, we explore how these systems have shaped us, and ask, how else can we respond to violence, harm, & abuse?Episode transcript: coming soonSogorea Te' Land Trust: https://sogoreate-landtrust.org/Save the West Berkeley Shellmound: https://shellmound.org/Mariame Kaba - https://transformharm.org/ & http://mariamekaba.com/Readings & Media compiled by the Bay Area Transformative Justice Collective: https://batjc.wordpress.com/resources/readings-media/Transformative Justice Resources, compiled by Cory Lira of Critical Resistance Portland: https://docs.google.com/document/d/11D8HSm4q4LIMH_T8b3W8oFIZxMgvPYkUh0WhC5XlgCU/editMia Mingus: https://www.soiltjp.org & https://leavingevidence.wordpress.comBay Area Transformative Justice Collective: https://batjc.wordpress.com/For additional resources, including this episode's ASL video: https://www.weriseproduction.com/therealworkzAnda of DiaspoRADiCAL: @diaspo.radical on Instagram & https://soundcloud.com/diasporadicalConnect with us at weriseproduction[at]protonmail[dot]com, and follow us on Facebook & Instagram at weriseproduction, & on twitter at WeRiseProducers.

On episode one, we got up to speed about the conditions that brought theater makers in the Bay Area to organize around TJ. This episode is dedicated to unpacking, at its core, what is TJ?Episode transcript: https://bit.ly/TheRealWork-Episode-2Sogorea Te' Land Trust: https://sogoreate-landtrust.org/Save the West Berkeley Shellmound: https://shellmound.org/BATJC Pods & Pod Mapping Worksheet Instructions: https://batjc.wordpress.com/resources/pods-and-pod-mapping-worksheet/BATJC Pod Mapping Worksheet:https://batjc.files.wordpress.com/2016/06/batjc-pod-mapping-2016-updated.pdfEdSource, “At this Oakland high school, restorative justice goes far beyond discipline”: https://edsource.org/2022/at-this-oakland-high-school-restorative-justice-goes-far-beyond-discipline/673453Restorative Justice for Oakland Youth/RJOY: https://rjoyoakland.org/Mia Mingus: https://www.soiltjp.org & https://leavingevidence.wordpress.comBay Area Transformative Justice Collective: https://batjc.wordpress.com/Democracy Now!, “Remembering Grace Lee Boggs (1915-2015): ‘We Have to Change Ourselves in Order to Change the World'”: https://www.democracynow.org/2015/10/6/remembering_grace_lee_boggs_1915_2015For additional resources, including this episode's ASL video: https://www.weriseproduction.com/therealworkzAnda of DiaspoRADiCAL: @diaspo.radical on Instagram & https://soundcloud.com/diasporadicalConnect with us at weriseproduction[at]protonmail[dot]com, and follow us on Facebook & Instagram at weriseproduction, & on twitter at WeRiseProducers.

How did The Real Work come to be? What were the conditions that set the stage (pun intended) for theater workers to come together to study & practice transformative justice? Let's find out...Episode transcript: https://bit.ly/TheRealWork-EP1Sogorea Te' Land Trust: https://sogoreate-landtrust.org/Save the West Berkeley Shellmound: https://shellmound.org/Anti Police-Terror Project: https://www.antipoliceterrorproject.org/The Village in Oakland #feedthepeople: @villageoakland, https://www.facebook.com/TheVillageInOakland Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment: https://www.acceaction.org/East Bay Permanent Real Estate Cooperative: https://ebprec.org/Washington Post, “Chicago theaters said ‘Not in Our House' to sexual abuse and harassment”: ​​https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/theater_dance/chicago-theaters-say-not-in-our-house-to-sexual-abuse/2017/12/14/e2db9c30-e014-11e7-8679-a9728984779c_story.html Howlround, “What Playwrights Can Learn from Intimacy Directors: A Conversation with Gaby Labotka“: https://howlround.com/what-playwrights-can-learn-intimacy-directors Coalition of Black Women Professional Theatre Makers in the Bay Area, California: https://blackwomenbayareatheatre.wordpress.com/The New York Times, “Long Wharf Theater Leader is Accused of Sexual Harassment”: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/22/theater/gordon-edelstein-long-wharf-theater-sexual-misconduct.html Kim Tran: https://www.kimtranphd.com/ Kyra Jones: https://www.kyrajones.me/Adrienne Skye Roberts: http://therapywithadrienneskye.com/Resources for Addressing Sexual Harassment & Violence (compiled for It's Time: Bay Area Town Hall on Sexual Harassment in Our Theatre Community): https://www.theatrebayarea.org/general/custom.asp?page=itstimeresources Mia Mingus: https://www.soiltjp.org & https://leavingevidence.wordpress.com Bay Area Transformative Justice Collective: https://batjc.wordpress.com/Liberation Spring: https://liberationspring.com/ For additional resources, including this episode's ASL video: https://www.weriseproduction.com/therealworkzAnda of DiaspoRADiCAL: @diaspo.radical on Instagram & https://soundcloud.com/diasporadicalConnect with us at weriseproduction[at]protonmail[dot]com, and follow us on Facebook & Instagram at weriseproduction, & on twitter at WeRiseProducers.

We are proud to present The Real Work: a podcast about theater culture & transformative justice! This collaboration has been in the works since 2018, and we are thrilled to share it with you now. Join us for our free online premiere of this series with a community dialogue August 22nd 7PM-9PM PST. Register at the link below. Let's gather, witness episode 1, and dialogue about how transformative justice — a paradigm of community accountability and intervention in harm, violence, and abuse — can strengthen our art-making and activist spaces.Episode transcript: https://bit.ly/TheRealWork-Pilot-EpisodeRegister for the 8.22.22 online premiere: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/online-premiere-of-the-real-work-podcast-with-asl-interpretation-registration-389740062017The Real Work is a 6-episode audio miniseries exploring transformative justice as a tool for preventing, addressing, and healing harm in Bay Area theater and beyond. Over the course of one year, nearly thirty local theater makers gathered monthly to learn together about transformative justice, under the facilitation of Mia Mingus, co-founder of the Bay Area Transformative Justice Collective. This podcast series documents our learnings with an aim to share out and grow our collective capacity to practice transformative justice, especially in our arts and activist spaces.True to its name, The Real Work reveals the seemingly mundane relational practices we can engage with one another to build cultures of safety and thriving within our communities. From communication skills, giving and receiving feedback, and learning how to make good apologies, to understanding roots of harm, TJ illuminates patterns of violence and abuse and offers dynamic ways of taking accountability to fundamentally shift them.The Real Work: A Podcast About Theater Culture & Transformative Justice is created & hosted by Tierra Allen, in partnership with We Rise Production.Sogorea Te' Land Trust: https://sogoreate-landtrust.org/Save the West Berkeley Shellmound: https://shellmound.org/Mia Mingus: https://www.soiltjp.org & https://leavingevidence.wordpress.comBay Area Transformative Justice Collective: https://batjc.wordpress.com/For additional resources, including this episode's ASL video: https://www.weriseproduction.com/therealworkzAnda / DiaspoRADiCAL: @diaspo.radical on Instagram & https://on.soundcloud.com/XdeZehwLEPh127oG8Connect with us at weriseproduction@pm.me, and follow us on Facebook & Instagram at @WeRiseProduction, & on twitter at @WeRiseProducers.This project is supported by an Investing in Artists Grant from the Center for Cultural Innovation & the City of Oakland's Cultural Funding Program, and was incubated with initial support from Cal Shakes.

CONTENT NOTE: Racist police murder.On Saturday, June 18, 24-year-old Derrick Clark was shot and killed by 30 members of the Oregon State Troopers and Clackamas County Sherriff's Office for a DUI.Derrick's loved ones are in deep mourning, and organizing to get answers about Derrick's murder, and obtain justice in some way in the face of this white supremacist, racist, colonial, militarized so-called justice system.On Saturday, June 25, Derrick's friends, family & community gathered in Aquatic Park in Clackamas, just south of Portland, OR, occupied native land of the Clackamas, Kalapuya, Multnomah & many others. We Rise joined in community, and with permission, recorded speeches from the march & rally, as well as some 1-on-1 conversations.Please listen with care. You'll find ways to stay connected at the end of the episode & in show notes. Justice for Derrick Clark.STAY CONNECTED:JusticeForDerrickClark@gmail.com@JusticeForDerrickClark on Facebook

As with all specially designated months, we get to celebrate being queer year round. That said, happy pride friends! And happy belated summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere.In December of 2021, just before the Winter Solstice, cat & nicky got to sit down (virtually) with KPFA Radio's First Voice Apprentice & Full Circle producer Sentient Shiloh AKA DJ Loh to reflect on lessons received in the first two years of global pandemic as queer, community-centered creatives.From roots to relationships, and slowing down to dispelling gaslighting, nicky & cat pause, listen, and share a bit about how we've navigated these challenging, painful, and deeply transformational times.In honor of this Pride & solstice season, and because it feels poignant to share this content now, here is our conversation with Shiloh.You can hear other queer artists & educators on the Full Circle show (link in show notes). Thank you again to Shiloh for inviting us to share in the power of reflections. If you're moved to share, we'd love to hear from you. Find us on social media or email us at WeRiseProducers@gmail.com.FULL CIRCLE LINKhttps://kpfaapprent.wordpress.com/2022/03/18/full-circle-03-18-2022-part-1-rona-reflections-queer-resilience/

As we approach the 74th anniversary of the Nakba (catastrophe) in Palestine, Layla Kanaan joins Cat for an in-depth discussion of the history of Zionism, the founding of the settler state of Israel, the ongoing impacts of violence on the Palestinian people, how this struggle is all our struggle, and how we can get involved and act in solidarity for a free Palestine.We learn, too, about local organizations doing solidarity work, and share details about this weekend's Nakba Day event on May 15.*this show also aired on KBOO Portland!EVENTMay 15, 2022 https://www.instagram.com/psu_super/ EDUCATIONIlan Pappe's books https://www.versobooks.com/authors/1636-ilan-pappe Gaza Fights for Freedom, film by Abby Martin https://gazafightsforfreedom.com/ Related We Rise Production podcasts https://www.spreaker.com/show/we-rise Universal Declaration of Human Rights https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rightsInternational Covenant on Civil and Political Rights https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/international-covenant-civil-and-political-rights The 4th Geneva Convention of 1949 https://h2o.law.harvard.edu/text_blocks/2751 UN Resolution 194 https://www.unrwa.org/content/resolution-194 ORGANIZATIONSBoycott, Divestment, Sanctions https://bdsmovement.net/ & bit.ly/RiseUpWithPalestine Center for Study & Preservation of Palestine https://www.cspp.site/ Demilitarize PDX to Palestine https://www.instagram.com/demilitarizepdxtopalestine/ PSU Students United for Palestinian Equal Rights https://www.instagram.com/psu_super/SONGSDammi Falastini by Mohammad AssafLong Live Palestine by Lowkey

Mayra, Tierra, Cat, and Nicky are interviewed by a beloved comrade and filmmaker, speaking to our experience in Akiing alongside water protectors resisting Enbridge Corporation's Line 3 pipeline. Akiing is the Anishnaabe name for the land we were on. It means “the land to which we belong.”Following the interview, we share updates on the Stop Line 3 movement, other calls for land and water defense in the region, and how you and your people can participate.LINKS & RESOURCEShttps://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2017/aug/24/nickel-mining-hidden-environmental-cost-electric-cars-batterieshttps://talonmetals.com/ https://www.Line3legalfund.com https://www.dropline3charges.com https://www.stopline3.org/

On the heels of ‘Strike-tober', more than 100,000 workers in the so called “United States” either participated in or prepared for strikes in one of the largest increases of organized labor in the twenty-first century. Striketober began amidst the Great Resignation, when people started to quit jobs due to low wages and oppressive working conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic, which some economists described as a general strike.In response, we share one water protector's reflections from the frontlines of the Stop Line 3 movement, as they discuss how labor organizing is vital to our movements, like LandBack, Climate Justice, and Prison & Police Abolition. Their story from a direct action is a beautiful allegory for how we can collaborate, strategize & care for each other - on the frontlines and in our daily lives - as we continue to navigate the very real daily, personal challenges amidst the pandemic, economic & climate crises collectively.

Here is our complete interview with Jaike Spotted Wolf, who we met on Anishnaabe land, and who you heard snippets of on our episode called The People are a River. Jaike discusses the significance of Line 3 across Turtle Island - from the summer heat domes of the Pacific Northwest to polar cap ice melting in Alaska - the need for indigenous leadership and land stewardship, strengthening cross-movement solidarity, and how this movement effects all of us. If you are just learning about Line 3, here is some context...Line 3 is a pipeline expansion project that will process tar sands from Alberta, Canada and carry the refined oil across Anishnaabe treaty land in Minnesota to Superior, Wisconsin. Enbridge Corporation, the Canadian pipeline construction company, is responsible for the largest oil spill in the U.S. in 1991, Grand Rapids, MN. They've been permitted by the state of Minnesota to remove 5 billion gallons of water from the Mississippi headwaters to complete this project, which has already wreaked havoc on the land, water, and water protectors: the Mississippi headwaters have dropped 10 feet since April 2021, there have already been 28 drilling spills in the wetlands, and over 700 water protectors have been arrested by local sheriff departments, which are being paid off by Enbridge. The situation is dire, worse by some accounts than the Dakota Access Pipeline, as this pipeline will cross over 227 waterways, including the Mississippi twice. The project's destruction and violence perpetuates climate catastrophe, and the brutalization of indigenous people, the vital wild rice, the animals, and land.JOIN THE MOVEMENT: stopline3.org

This episode offers our full conversation with Ember Phoenix & Ben Joselyn, water protectors on Anishnaabe land, building community & protecting the sacred.For more on the movement to Stop Line 3, you can listen to We Rise episode 32 (called Have you heard of Line 3?), 35 - The People are a River, and 37, our full interview with water protector Jaike Spotted Wolf.ABOUT LINE 3:Line 3 is a pipeline expansion project that will process tar sands from Alberta, Canada and carry the refined oil across Anishnaabe treaty land in Minnesota to Superior, Wisconsin. Enbridge Corporation, the Canadian pipeline construction company, is responsible for the largest oil spill in the U.S. in 1991, Grand Rapids, MN. They've been permitted by the state of Minnesota to remove 5 billion gallons of water from the Mississippi headwaters to complete this project, which has already wreaked havoc on the land, water, and water protectors: the Mississippi headwaters have dropped 10 feet since April 2021, there have already been 28 drilling spills in the wetlands, and over 700 water protectors have been arrested by local sheriff departments, which are being paid off by Enbridge. The situation is dire, worse by some accounts than the Dakota Access Pipeline, as this pipeline will cross over 227 waterways, including the Mississippi twice. The project's destruction and violence perpetuates climate catastrophe, and the brutalization of indigenous people, the vital wild rice, the animals, and land.As we continue to experience climate emergency after emergency, we have so much to learn from the struggle against Line 3. Despite the ongoing violence and destruction to people, land, and water, mainstream media is not picking up this narrative. While the Biden administration canceled the Keystone XL pipeline, they continue to support the Line 3 pipeline.JOIN THE MOVEMENT: stopline3.org

ABOUT THE EPISODE: A small group of artists from We Rise Production went to the Mississippi headwaters in July 2021 and - with permission - gathered stories and sound. On this episode you'll hear directly from people who have been on Anishnaabe land in Minnesota for months. What have they been doing there? Rising up against the construction of a tar sands pipeline called Line 3.As we continue to experience climate emergency after emergency, we have so much to learn from the struggle against Line 3. Despite the ongoing violence and destruction to people, land, and water, mainstream media is not picking up this narrative. While the Biden administration canceled the Keystone XL pipeline, they continue to support the Line 3 pipeline. On this episode, we learn about Line 3 and how it relates to our survival. You'll hear water protectors - people taking action against these pipelines - talk about the pain of the devastation to the land and people - and - the joy of building community as an act of healing and resistance.ABOUT LINE 3: Line 3 is a pipeline expansion project that will process tar sands from Alberta, Canada and carry the refined oil across Anishnaabe treaty land in Minnesota to Superior, Wisconsin. Enbridge Corporation, the Canadian pipeline construction company, is responsible for the largest oil spill in the U.S. in 1991, Grand Rapids, MN. They've been permitted by the state of Minnesota to remove 5 billion gallons of water from the Mississippi headwaters to complete this project, which has already wreaked havoc on the land, water, and water protectors: the Mississippi headwaters have dropped 10 feet since April 2021, there have already been 28 drilling spills in the wetlands, and over 700 water protectors have been arrested by local sheriff departments, which are being paid off by Enbridge. The situation is dire, worse by some accounts than the Dakota Access Pipeline, as this pipeline will cross over 227 waterways, including the Mississippi twice. The project's destruction and violence perpetuates climate catastrophe, and the brutalization of indigenous people, the vital wild rice, the animals, and land.JOIN THE MOVEMENT: stopline3.org

"What you are about to hear comes from youth from across Turtle Island - from occupied Ohlone land in the San Francisco Bay Area to Shawnee territory in Louisville, Kentucky. As we learn and explore media making, we bring you the wisdom we carry in our voices… and the seeds of our vision for the future..."This episode of We Rise was co-created by youth from our Telling Our Stories: Re-Envisioning the Future⁠ initiative with Bioneers & Mycelium Youth Network. In this 4 month series of workshops, frontline youth explored writing, audio & video production, and social media to learn various ways to share stories of climate resilience, resistance, regeneration and sovereignty, while raising up issues that matter to them.Featuring:Kyler WilliamsSabreen AhmedHelen XinSol ArmstrongBecca KaelinDaydrianna JeffriesSolyana MesfinAtaijah BurrusMusic shared with Creative Commons permission:Flute Fleet by Podington BearSounds Piano by Reed BlueRespiration by Podington BearSlow Water by Serge QuadradoSaudade by Digi G'AlessioWe Rise theme song by Pink Panther Sorority, Inc. Mixed by DiaspoRADiCAL. 

This episode contains 9 speeches by organizers of the event: From The Shellmounds to Sheikh Jarrah: Call to Honor Those We Have Lost to Colonialism, held on Memorial Day 2021. We share their memories, visions & voices with utmost care & consent.A few times, speakers explain that they are going to share a prayer, but the prayer is not in this podcast. That's because these prayers are sacred & We Rise does not record or share without explicit consent. We encourage you to listen deeply to the speakers' words, and sense any prayers or longings their words evoke for you.Listen to this episode in order, in one sitting, or come back to it again & again. Let it be meditative & moving. Inspiring bold vision & courageous action.Thank you to all who showed up & spoke at this event, in active solidarity, for our collective liberation.From the event description:This Memorial Day, please join us at safe distance as we gather in prayer and solidarity with all those who struggle to protect sacred land and life from colonial destruction and desecration.We call to honor the lives of those lost to the ongoing colonial terror and devastation that is presently being suffered by those in Palestine, Columbia, India, Okinawa, and here on Ohlone lands.We invite all to come honor the ancestors and remember those who have passed by leaving messages, prayer ties, artwork, flowers, and blessings at the West Berkeley Shellmound – the sacred Ohlone cultural and village site that is now fenced-off with razor-wire at ‘1900 Fourth Street' in so-called Berkeley, CA.We further welcome and invite all to make and leave offerings, prayers, and blessings at the shellmound throughout the entire weekend (Sat & Sun May 29-30) in advance of our gathering (Mon. May 31).Photo from Palestinian Youth Movement

Do you know about Line 3? Maybe you've heard of Keystone XL or DAPL (the Dakota Access Pipeline)? Many of us haven't heard about Line 3… yet. Even though it is the biggest tar sands pipeline project in global human history. Enbridge Corporation is reconstructing a pipeline on Anishnaabe land in occupied Minnesota, and we must rise to stop it - to protect the clean waters, for the wild rice, to show up in solidarity with the indigenous people who live there, & for our collective future.The songs, speakers, and prayers you'll hear on this episode come from Treaty People Gathering (TPG), a mass mobilization of native folks & accomplices to Stop Line 3 in early June 2021. In order, you'll hear voices from TPG's introductory video, a welcome from Winona LaDuke, Anishnaabe of Honor the Earth, and speeches from Bill McKibben, co-founder of 350.org, native youth Silas, famed actress & activist Jane Fonda, and Winona LaDuke once more.Credit & gratitude to Keri Pickett of Honor the Earth, Morgan Brings Plenty of Indigenous Environmental Network, RISE Coalition, Allyson Woodard with Sunrise Movement, and TPG movement media, for gathering & sharing the vital footage featured on this episode.The call is urgent for allies & accomplices to join water protectors on the front lines this summer to put an end to Line 3. Learn more & take action at stopline3.org.Photo credit Ron Turney of Indigenous Environmental Network

Part three of the Free Palestine! series features voices from Yelamu Ohlone land commonly known as San Francisco, California.We begin with Mama Tiny of Poor Magazine offering a warrior call & prayer. Then, Zeyad of Palestinian Youth Movement speaks to us on May 15th, Nakba Day, where nearly 10,000 people, families, children, and allies took to the streets that day in solidarity with the people of Palestine, and against the on-going Israeli settler-colonialism and violence. As Palestinians of the diaspora had been preparing to commemorate the 73rd year of the Palestinian catastrophe, Al Nakba, Palestinians in Sheikh Jarrah began to experience an increase of violent dispossession.This episode also features voices from the protests held in front of the Israhelli Consulate in Yelamu Ohlone Land – San Francisco – May 18th, as Palestinians and allies participated in a general strike and day of action from Jerusalem, across colonized Palestine, and the world. Organizers of the Palestinian Youth Movement and Arab Resource and Organizing Center (AROC) share history about successful strikes & boycotts in solidarity with Palestine and leave us with a call to action: Block The Boat.Learn more: https://blocktheboat.org/As of now, that boat has been delayed for over a week and is currently treading the waters outside the San Francisco bay.5/27/2021 update: "We've delayed ZIM - Our readiness to mobilize to the Port of Oakland is working! The Israeli ZIM-operated "Volans" ship was scheduled to dock this morning, but hasn't done so in fear of facing our protest. For every hour its cargo isn't unloaded, the Apartheid state of Israel loses enormous amounts money. Our action is sending a clear message that Israel's occupation of Palestine will come with a heavy price. Stay tuned, as ZIM-operated ships are still on the schedule for the Port of Oakland. Let's keep up the momentum and keepapartheid-profiteering out of the Bay Area!" -AROCStay tuned for transcripts...http://palestinianyouthmovement.comhttp://araborganizing.org/

May 15 is Nakba Day. Catastrophe. Remembering May 15, 1948 when Palestinians were violently forced to leave their land, their homes by the settler colonial nation state of Israel.73 years later, the violence has not stopped. Voices have not faltered. The call to return remains.Part two of Free Palestine! series is the second half of Center for Study & Preservation of Palestine's Nakba Day rally on Chinook land, known by settlers as Portland, Oregon. On this hot Saturday afternoon, listen, as Palestinians share stories of the 1948 Nakba as well as stories of the ongoing experience of ‘The Catastrophe,' standing in solidarity with their people in the homeland resisting ethnic cleansing by the Zionist occupation state.The live event had ASL interpretation. Stay tuned for transcripts!Featured music is Dammi Falastini by Mohammad Asaaf

May 15 is Nakba Day. Catastrophe. Remembering May 15, 1948 when Palestinians were violently forced to leave their land, their homes by the settler colonial nation state of Israel.73 years later, the violence has not stopped. Voices have not faltered. The call to return remains.Part one of Free Palestine! series comes from the Center for Study & Preservation of Palestine's Nakba Day rally on Chinook land, known by settlers as Portland, Oregon. On this hot Saturday afternoon, Palestinians shared stories of the 1948 Nakba as well as stories of the ongoing experience of ‘The Catastrophe,' standing in solidarity with their people in the homeland resisting ethnic cleansing by the Zionist occupation state.The live event had ASL interpretation. Stay tuned for transcripts! Please note the last speech in this episode is in Arabic and was not translated. The speaker's words & voice are immensely powerful, whether you understand Arabic, or not.

We Rise has been partnering with Mycelium Youth Network for over a year, and together, we are so excited to share this two-part podcast series with you. Here is the second of two keynote speeches from MYN's Autumn 2020 conference entitled Apocalyptic Resilience: An Afro-Indigenous Futuristic Adventure. This episode features the brilliant organizer, researcher, & AfroFuturist Black feminist nerd Dominique Thomas speaking on "AfroFuturism, Organizing + Earthseed: Journey to Collective Liberation" (bio below).Mycelium Youth Network prepares young people for climate change, using a combination of our ancestral knowledge and practices, and the best of science technology engineering arts and math (STEAM) thinking. For the past year We Rise, MYN, and Bioneers have been collaborating to bring you an amazing project to support young people telling their stories of climate resilience and environmental justice. You can learn more and support the work by going to MyceliumYouthNetwork.org. Feel free to follow @MyceliumYouthNetwork on Facebook & Instagram and @MyceliumYouth on Twitter for more updates.About Dominique Thomas:Dominique is a grassroots organizer, researcher, Afrofuturist Black feminist nerd based in Harlem, New York, who believes relationships are essential to successful base-building and being strategic requires organizing from the intersections of climate and other systems of oppression. She launched The Climate League in 2020, a BIPOC training program to learn organizing and campaigning skills, focusing on racial justice in the climate movement. Her main objective in this work is to uplift the labor and stories of those who have been erased from the climate movement, while creating avenues for engagement utilizing an organizing orientation where communities can empower themselves. Read more here: https://womensearthalliance.org/meet-the-leaders-of-the-2020-us-accelerator/dominique-thomas/Gigantic shout out to Indigo Mateo, who both introduced Dominique Thomas in this keynote AND shared her gorgeous music with us for this podcast. The track is titled "Just On Time." For more, please check out IndigoMateo.com. Thank you Indigo!

We Rise has been partnering with Mycelium Youth Network for over a year, and together, we are so excited to share this two-part podcast series with you. Here is the first of two keynote speeches from MYN's Autumn 2020 conference entitled Apocalyptic Resilience: An Afro-Indigenous Futuristic Adventure. This first episode features the unstoppable Isha Clarke with Youth vs. Apocalypse, and Atekpatzin, indigenous educator (bios below).Mycelium Youth Network prepares young people for climate change, using a combination of our ancestral knowledge and practices, and the best of science technology engineering arts and math (STEAM) thinking. For the past year We Rise, MYN, and Bioneers have been collaborating to bring you an amazing project to support young people telling their stories of climate resilience and environmental justice. You can learn more and support the work by going to MyceliumYouthNetwork.org. Feel free to follow @MyceliumYouthNetwork on Facebook & Instagram and @MyceliumYouth on Twitter for more updates.Isha Clarke is a West Oakland resident, organizer, advocate, activist, and co-founder of Youth Vs Apocalypse. Isha is a recent high school graduate who was born, raised, and educated in West Oakland, CA. Isha recognizes that climate change is the consequence of fundamental systems of oppression like white supremacy, capitalism, and colonialism, and therefore, disproportionately impacts people of color, indigenous communities, and working-class people. Knowing this, Isha’s work is focused on building a movement that shapes the leadership of frontline communities, creates solidarity between other fights for justice, and works to dismantle the systems of oppression that fuel climate change. As a result of this work, Isha was awarded the 2019 Brower Youth Award, 2020 Diller Tikkun Olam Award, and has become a nationally recognized speaker, presenter, and writer.Atekpatzin Young is an independent researcher, consultant, writer, artist, and musician. Mr. Young has done extensive research on the Indigenous peoples of Tehuayo, Indetah and Aztlán and their present-day descendants. He has also studied the relationship of ancient and contemporary Nahua religious practices. He spent fifteen years studying with traditional Indigenous healers. Mr. Young is the recipient of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Scholarship award, and the Cesar Chavez Peace and Justice Leadership Award.Thank you to Dani Ahuicapahtzin Cornejo for generously contributing your music to this episode. Original music: Wayñumi Aswan Allin from new album Debajo del Agua.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network has called for all organizations in support of Palestinian liberation to endorse the "Days of Resistance", in occupied Palestine and internationally, August 7-9, 2020. In response, Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM) chapters and many organizations across the nation are participating in actions throughout this weekend. This program was curated to go along with these actions, furthering the conversation around what annexation has meant and currently means for Palestinians on the ground and in diaspora. Days of Resistance: https://samidoun.net/2020/07/the-days-of-resistance-are-growing-join-over-50-organizations-in-the-call-to-action-august-7-9/MUSICAl-Keffiyeh Al-Arabiyeh by Shadia Mansour ft. M1 (Dead Prez)Push Defend Fight by Soulidarity WaveMin Irhabi by DAMSharaft Ya Nixon by Sheikh ImamSomos Sur by Ana Tijoux ft. Shadia MansourBroken Promises by Soulidarity WaveArtwork by Mohammed Hassona

This show is a follow up to our last episode about the indigenous led peasant movement in Nicaragua - in defense of land, water and sovereignty. On that episode David de la Gran of KPFA’s La Onda Bajita spoke with Medardo Mairena, one of the most prominent leaders of Nicaragua’s peasant movement, and a recently released political prisoner. His sentence by Ortega’s government was for 200 years… Today, we are joined by another courageous leader and recently released political prisoner. Edwin Carcache is a bit younger than Medardo Mairena --On Tuesday June 11, 2019 Edwin Carcache, a charismatic student leader and journalist, was one of 56 political prisoners released from jail in Nicaragua, after nearly 10 months of illegal detention. Today, we will speak with him about what he is fighting for, the role of women and young people in particular in the freedom movement, how the United States is involved in ongoing injustice and human rights violations, and more.

We Rise had the extreme honor to record a show with David de la Gran of KPFA's La Onda Bajita featuring Medardo Mairena, leader of Nicaragua's indigenous peasant movement. David was joined by UC Berkeley students to co-facilitate the conversation. Mairena was joined by four members of Nicaragua's National Council in Defense of the Land, Lake and Sovereignty.On June 11, 2019, Mairena was released from prison, after being sentenced to 200 plus years for his activism. Mairena is the national leader of the Anti-Canal Peasant Movement and a representative in the Civic Alliance, which is composed of the private sector, students, human rights activists, social and community leaders. The Alliance led negotiations with the government of Nicaragua for a peaceful resolution and a cease and desist to mass public killings and repression. Mairena directly addressed Daniel Ortega, Nicaragua's current president, at the national dialogue negations. This show is in Spanish. It is vital that we de-centralize English in this work and we strongly encourage folks with familiarity with the language to listen! LINKSNicaraguan Rural Leader Medardo Mairena Speaks after Prison- https://havanatimes.org/nicaragua/nicaraguan-rural-leader-medardo-mairena-speaks-after-prison/?fbclid=IwAR3ezpFeIf-8CQSowaFULglEeTWQ58lZwBstuScuDUUYuoER_rL5_dYfuXEFrom CNN Español: a video with the daughter of Medardo Mairena- https://cnnespanol.cnn.com/video/nicaragua-medardo-mairena-secuestro-sot-camilo/Nicaraguan activists sentenced to more than 200 years- https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-47290527From La Prensa: Defenderemos con sangre nuestras tierras- https://www.laprensa.com.ni/2019/08/14/politica/2579012-movimiento-campesino-sobre-el-nuevo-anuncio-del-gran-canal-defenderemos-con-sangre-nuestras-tierras

On July 15, Cal Shakes (an SF Bay Area theater company) hosted a community meal and civic dialogue about the role of joy in our movement building, our resistance, and our art, inspired by our production of House of Joy by Madhuri Shekar.We Rise got to record, produce, and edit this episode of Asides, the Cal Shakes podcast.Hosts: Tierra Allen, SK Kerastas, and Kimiya Shokri. Guests: Playwright Madhuri Shekar and poet and RYSE Youth Center teaching artist and program manager Ciera-Jevae "CiCi" Gordon.For more, including full transcripts, visit calshakes.org. or weriseproduction.com.Here’s the conversation.

On July 9, Cal Shakes (an SF Bay Area theater company) partnered with Causa Justa :: Just Cause to host a community meal and civic dialogue called “Is Capitalism Killing Us?” inspired by their production of The Good Person of Szechwan.We Rise got to record, produce, and edit this episode of Asides, the Cal Shakes podcast.Hosts: SK Kerastas and Tierra Allen. Guests: Aimee Suzara, Ronald Flannery, Anjali Lynn Nath Upadhyay, and Cal Shakes community partner Causa Justa :: Just Cause.For more, including full transcripts, visit calshakes.org. or weriseproduction.com.Here’s the conversation.