We Rise We Rise Production

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 & @RiverRoseRemembrance
Connect with Iman baylasanbotanicals.com & @BaylasanBotanicals
Direct 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 Nwankpa
Poetry by Darius Simpson of People’s Programs
Panel Moderator Yemi from People’s Programs
Panelists:
James Birch, Deputy Director, Anti Police-Terror Project
Dr. Cesar Cruz, Co-Founder Homies Empowerment, Founding Principal The Freedom School
Delency Parham, Co-Founder, People's Programs
Sound Tech: Frank Sterling aka Freewillin Franklin, with assistance from Mickey Mayes

Music:
Quantic - Cumbia Sobre el Mar, El Buho Remix
Gingee - Gong Spirits
Mos Def - UMI SaysLowkey - Free Palestine (Instrumental)

Get involved! Learn more & connect at WeRiseProduction.com/crosspollination
Become 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 ComplexLINKS
Follow @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-shamszad
Adrienne's website: https://adrienneshamszad.com/
BandCamp: https://adrienneshamszad.bandcamp.com/album/a-new-life
Adrienne's Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/adrienneshamszad

Somos Semillas, We Are Seeds: A Podcast about Indigenous Sovereignty & Collective Storytelling

This 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 Crossroads

In 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!

LINKS
Episode transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1EJgvzyqOU1EjHrnbyL54Wsw7ACIpemeSXUVVWhy8884/edit?usp=sharing

Our theme song of this podcast series is Sumergirse by @La.Clave.de.Sol

Connect 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/Mujeryselva

Podcast Art by @NicoleGervacio

Somos Semillas, We Are Seeds: A Podcast about Indigenous Sovereignty & Collective Storytelling

This 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 Shedding
In 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.

LINKS
Episode transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/164XnegLb2ZmaGKWdam-SQlEsY6p2iYyGtHQraHYc-Ak/edit?usp=sharing

Our theme song of this podcast series is Sumergirse by @La.Clave.de.Sol

Connect 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/Mujeryselva

Connect with Dr. Uzo Nwankpa: www.wellnesspromoters.net & www.theuzo.com & on IG @UzoNwankpa & @wellness_promoters

Podcast Art by @NicoleGervacio

Mia Mingus blog post: https://leavingevidence.wordpress.com/2022/01/16/you-are-not-entitled-to-our-deaths-covid-abled-supremacy-interdependence/