Facilitators
Learn more about our facilitators, who they are and what they will present. Each interactive workshop block will have three to four workshops presenting simultaneously.
Interactive Workshops Block #1
All workshops in Block #1 will be presenting on March 9th, 12:30pm-2pm ET
Room A: Calling Up Justice: Access Across Space and Time
with Claudia Alick + Jesenia M
Session Description: Calling Up Justice centers accessibility in everything we do. Disability Justice demands we produce in ways that are accessible in-person and remotely, live and asynchronous. In this presentation we will share best practices from several different types of remote and hybrid programming we have led in the past four years. It will include formal plays like Electra, community events like Festival of Masks and Virtual Pride, activist spaces like F* the Gala and emergent projects like our Virtual Protests. We'll share a variety of platforms, strategies and the awesome results you can produce for yourself.
Facilitator Bios:
Jesenia (Jess – N – ee – Ya) is a queer first-generation Indigenous-Venezuelan-American, AutiHD (Autistic & ADHD), living with Ehlers Danlos Syndrome. She is an artist, community builder and organizer, disability advocate, scientist, cultural producer and activist. She is the founder of One Free Community.com, an online community center helping decolonizing people connect to community and build mutual aid initiatives together. She serves as a Communications Producer with Calling Up Justice and regularly teaches workshops on conflict resolution, access inclusion, creating neuro-affirming spaces and more.
Claudia Alick (They/she) is a Black disabled performer, writer, intersectional inclusion expert, digital producer, educator, designer, director, and founder of Calling Up Justice.She is founding producer of the transmedia social justice company CALLING UP whose projects include Producing in Pandemic, The Every 28 Hours Plays, We Charge Genocide TV, Justice Producers. Her online racial justice practice is reaching thousands weekly. She is producing performances of justice on stage, online, and in real life.
Room B: tea as slow ritual, rejuvenating balm, & earthly play
with ori rue
Session Description: during our spacetime together, there will be opportunity to explore tea as a medicinal practice that also functions as a slow ritual, rejuvenating balm, and earthly play. i propose tea as 1) a slow ritual, meaning something that anchors us to our bodymindspirits throughout the day, when waking up, or going to bed; 2) a rejuvenating balm, meaning something that could tend to emotional and spiritual challenges; 3) earthly play, meaning a childlike, expanded connection with the herbs, land, and earth that support and nourish us.
as teas are generally safer entryways to herbal medicines compared to other herbal medicines such as tinctures, we may encourage ourselves and one another to explore and play and intuit with something as seemingly plain as a cup of tea. i will share 4 types of tea infusions that i am aware of and also briefly share a few herbs that can aid us during a covid-19 infection or in general to support ourselves, along with some contraindications that i know of. my intention is to expand our ideas of tea and set specific intentions with tea.
in addition, we will briefly discuss energetics, herbal steams, aromatherapy, and tea bathing. if wanted and able to, we may meditate and journal with our teas and herbs of choice with some prompts. there will also be spacetime throughout to share our own knowledges and experiences with tea as a way to decenter myself as the presenter and acknowledge the breadth of knowledges gathered with us.
Facilitator Bio:
ori rue ( [mirror pronouns] / they / [ask] / [some are secrets] ) is a poet, artist, and studier of herbalism who explores the queering of negative affects such as rage, grief, and fear. a childlike dreamer, ori is interested by the ways in which community bonds form, develop, and deepen. they are particularly passionate about cooking as choreography, release, and mutual aid. having been rejected from every publishing journal they have applied to and often times struggling to write, they turn towards their gestures, stretches, and voices. they consistently find themselves yearning to play, cuddle, and melt with soils, winds, flames, and streams. they have pining attractions with mosses, algaes, and fungis. they are learning how to tend to their bodymindspirits and rely on others to care for them as they care for others. currently, ori rue wants to study to do work as a street medic, birthworker, deathworker, and, and, and…
Room C: Building Capacity for Black Madness
with Ngozi
Session Description: Focusing on disability justice centering abolition, Black liberation efforts, and the pathologization of resistance through the ongoing global pandemic. Formatted in the pop ed spiral, my sessions are participatory. Using the collective wisdom of attendees in the session to build upon the offering. I plan to rigorously discuss anti-Blackness in organizing spaces, specifically disability ones, and the goal is to invite other marginalized folks into incorporating a lens of Black autonomy in their work and communities to anchor them.
Facilitator Bio:
Ngozi (they/she) is a Black mad hottie, with an organizing approach grounded in disability justice and Black autonomy. A crip and death doula, guided by theorizing within Blackness and disability justice, Ngozi is committed to building capacity and care for Black madness in their community. Previously focused on building organizing collectives with survivors and abolitionists, they were a core organizer of the No New Jails NYC campaign and continue to hold the line against fascism, eugenics, and COVID denialism.
Interactive Workshops Block #2
All workshops in Block #2 will be presenting on March 9th, 2:30pm-4pm ET
Room C: Collective Scream: Coping During COVID-19
with Ariana Brown
Session Description:
Our lives are forever changed by the upheaval, grief, and violence caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. As the virus continues to evolve, it is important we speak and connect with one another about how we are navigating everyday life. This gentle and generative poetry writing workshop asks participants to simply document what their lives have been like since the virus surfaced in 2019 in the form of list poems and rants. Ariana will provide guided prompts and discussion with the hopes of finding relief and release. After participants write about their experiences, they will have the opportunity to share their work aloud and commit to witnessing each other. You do NOT have to be a poet to participate in this session. Participants of all backgrounds are welcome. We will end the workshop by unmuting and screaming together!
Facilitator Bio:
Ariana Brown is a queer Black Mexican American poet from San Antonio, TX, now based in Houston. She is the author of the poetry collections We Are Owed. and Sana Sana. Her academic and poetic works explore queerness, Black personhood in Mexican American spaces, girlhood, loneliness, and care. Ariana is a national collegiate poetry slam champion, winner of two Academy of American Poets Prizes, and a recipient of a National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures Grant. She holds a BA in African Diaspora Studies and Mexican American Studies from UT Austin, an MFA in Poetry from the University of Pittsburgh, and an MS in Library and Information Science from the University of North Texas. She currently develops ethnic studies and ELA curriculum for high schools and colleges and teaches creative writing to teens in Houston. Ariana has been writing, performing, and teaching for over a decade.
Room B: Harm reduction, really: safer drug use in the Covid era
with Nadia Eskildsen
Session Description: Safer use tips and information for people who use drugs communally or alone while practicing covid protocols
Facilitator bio:
Nadia is a queer black southerner living in Appalachia and a first generation Arab-Caribbean. They’ve worked in harm reduction supporting people who use drugs to access safer use materials and low-barrier healthcare resources since 2019 and are a former sex worker, barista, and hobo. Their focus is on creating community collaborations with public health organizations to provide support for ongoing harm reduction efforts especially through the lens of the on-going Covid-19 pandemic and the rise of christofascism. Nadia is a passionate community organizer involved in the grassroots political endeavor of advocating for the rights and well-being of working class southerners of intersecting marginalized identities.
Room A: Non-competitive Improv For All Levels
with StormMiguel Florez
Session Description:
Come learn basic and fun improvisational comedy skills and games. You don’t have to have improv or acting skills. The goal is to have fun, cheer each other on, and make your scene partners look amazing. We’ll start by discussing basic principals of punching up (taking the air out of oppressive systems - yay!) vs. punching down (oppressive comedy that targets marginalized people - boo!). Our play will center liberation, joy, and community care.
Facilitator bio:
StormMiguel Florez is a trans, queer Chicane filmmaker whose work includes the "The Whistle" (2019, Producer/Director), "MAJOR!" (2015, Editor/Co-Producer) and "Vulveeta (2022, Co-producer, Editor, Actor). StormMiguel is currently working on his feature narrative directorial debut, "Welcome To Roswell," (comedic mockumentary) about a trans documentary filmmaker who goes home to Roswell to film himself coming out to his family as trans, but the town’s obsession with UFOs and aliens takes him and his crew in a whole other direction.
In 2023 he staged a live improv show introducing the Welcome To Roswell core cast and characters to a masked audience. StormMiguel is also an event producer, a life-long musician, and actor. His first acting role was at the tender age of ten in the made for TV movie, “Police Woman Centerfold.” He’s originally from Albuquerque, NM and has lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for over 25 years.
Interactive Workshops Block #3
All workshops in Block #3 will be presenting on March 9th, 6:30 PM - 8:00 PM ET
Room B: Workshop title: Navigating Top Surgery in the 'American' Healthcare System as a BIPOC Transmasc Person in an Ongoing Pandemic
with Cooper Lee Kidd
Session Description:
An interactive workshop brainstorming and discussing ways to navigate top surgery in the context of an ongoing pandemic in the so-called 'United States.' Will discuss ways to mitigate risk and have healthcare systems listen to your needs. Will include Cooper's experiences navigating the system and how they maintained COVID safety and needs as a disabled person.
Facilitator Bio:
Cooper Kidd(they/them) is a neurodivergent, non-binary, queer person of Korean descent who is currently living on the Stolen Lands of the Lenni Lenape. They enjoy challenging the status quo, continuing to grow, and climbing outside on large rocks. Professionally, Cooper's work centers on LGBTQ+, BIPOC, and other marginalized groups. They are passionate about using data to help people and others in their communities envision a world beyond the confines of the capitalistic, heteropatriarchal one we currently exist in. They have in the past taught a class on LGBTQ+ communication to upper-level undergraduates at the University of Maryland, College Park, led research studies on the use of technology and HIV prevention at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, and created trainings on the importance of pronouns at Swarthmore College. Currently, they work at a large corporation working with technology and do organizing work on the side. You can learn more about them at: cooperleekidd.com.
Room A: Workshop title: Revolutionary Astrology 101 (praxis)
with kay, darling
Session Description:
This event is for all astrology enthusiasts who want to deconstruct and expand beyond pop and/or traditional astrology and into the anti-colonial, holistic understanding available within this practice--integrating time, space, land, language, relationship, and self-study. Join kay for this cosmic conversation, as we build new meaning into astrology with the multiply marginalized (including other-than-human beings) at the CENTER of our analysis and delineations. Active participation isn't required, and folks are welcome in their wholeness. There's no expectation to show up in any particular way. Together we’ll be adding to a living document to come back to at any point of our continuing understanding and application of astrology and/or our revolutionary action.
Facilitator Bio: kay, darling (kay!/they/we/she) is a nomadic sleepy sun child and daughter of Assata with a deep reverence for the cosmic dance of time and the sacred responsibility in community. kay's community includes so many beings and spirits, and in this incarnation she's taken the form of a beautiful Blackwoman in a bodymind with ever-shifting limitations and strong sensations. kay loves reading the planetary charts of fellow humans as physical manifestations of moments in time, and you can connect with us through our practice, Cosmic Healing, if you'd like to co-create meaning with them in this regard. to read more about what kay's about, you can read her on kaydarling.substack.com or to just connect you can find kay on IG @itskay.darling
Room C: Workshop title: Long COVID, disability justice, and narrative change
with Emi Kane and Gabriel San Emeterio
Session Description:
The panoply of complex chronic illnesses, some of which are triggered by COVID and other infections, is a BIPOC issue, disproportionately affecting low income, queer and trans, and working class folks.
Narratives that mystify these conditions serve institutions to minimize our valid concerns, circumvent prevention measures, and avoid providing care for those whose health has been affected by the pandemic and the inequities it exacerbates. When we contextualize such injustices in a history of infection-associated complex chronic illness that preceded COVID, people can find community, learn coping strategies, and become involved in the ongoing struggle for disability justice.
In this session, we will discuss our experiences as disabled and chronically ill BIPOC during a time where our narratives and experiences are being overlooked, not just in mainstream conversations about this pandemic, but within COVID-specific conversations and advocacy. We will contextualize our experiences within the disability justice movement, and in the longer arc of experience with complex chronic illness.
Facilitator Bio:
Gabriel San Emeterio, LMSW (they/elle/she/he) is a queer and disabled Mexican activist living with HIV, Myalgic Encephalomyelitis ME/CFS, and other complex chronic conditions with a passion for disability justice and liberatory community work. They are Senior Fellow and co-founder of Long COVID Justice.
Emi Kane (she/her) is a chronically ill educator, researcher, editor, and organizer, and co-Director of Long COVID Justice. She believes that relationships of trust are the most important political tools we have, and tries to live and work in ways that reflect that belief. She is also a former National Collective member for INCITE, a feminist of color anti-violence network and a proud member of the Allied Media Projects board of directors.
Room D: Imperialism and Disability in the Philippines
with Jenni M
Session Description:
I aim to use this session to inform attendees with a brief history of imperialism in the Philippines and its direct connection to disability, illness, and death in the Philippines, including the current political situation of the country today (as a semi-colony under "US" military occupation). I then will examine the history of disease and disability in the Philippines currently and historically under various regimes, including looking at prominent examples of injuries and disabilities created from the martial / military regimes and capitalist corporations brought about from imperialism.
This includes the tens of thousands of tortured and injured people from the first Marcos dictatorship as well as the case of Brandon Lee, an activist from Turtle Island who was disabled by an attempted assassination from the Philippine military and had to be flown back to the "US" for medical treatment. We will also look at the case of the recent Mindanao landslide, in which 27 Filipino people are dead, 110+ (currently) are missing, and thousands were evacuated due to capitalist neglect.
I will also include how leading causes of death throughout history in the Philippines involved largely preventable diseases such as pneumonia -- and now COVID-19.
Lastly, I will draw comparisons between imperialism's effect in the Philippines and other Southeast Asian countries, such as Laos and Cambodia, to further understand how genocide and disability are intertwined. Discussion will ask participants how they see this analysis applicable to Sudan, Congo, Palestine, Armenia, Turtle Island, or other cultural areas currently/historically experiencing genocide.
Facilitator Bio:
Jenni is a Filipino organizer in COVID-safe, anti-imperialist spaces. She considers it the highest honor to work with communities that resist oppression and exist as the better world we hope to create, and she would like to thank the organizers of PS4LF Convening for being a part of that world.
Image description: Simple digital drawing of avatar with long dark hair, light brown skin, navy long-sleeved shirt, and a smiley face made of two dots and a large crescent smile against a light yellow background.
Interactive Workshops Block #4
All workshops in Block #4 will be presenting on March 10th, 2PM - 3:30 PM ET
Room C: Loving Our Longings: Re-imagining Suicidal Ideation thru Community Care
with Rachel Ricketts (she/they)
Session Description:
In a global society that ostracizes & oppresses us, having suicidal ideation (SI) can actually be our bodymind’s wise response to an unwell world – especially for those of made most marginalized. SI is often demonized & deemed an individual issue of mental health when it is increasingly a reflection of sick social standards, and deprivation of care & community such as the denial of COVID and COVID-conscious care.
For those of us who give a f*ck about intersectional equity, healing & liberation these are often isolating times - even within our social groups or movements. This intense physical and social isolation, paired with denial of community care & a collapsing planet, can naturally create suffering or desires to die.
This session is an opportunity to:
(1) come together in sacred, judgment-free, peer-held space to acknowledge our collective pain & grief - including SI,
(2) release shame & understand our suffering is often rooted in our beautiful longings for a better, more caring world for ourselves & the collective and
(3) re-imagine our SI as a pathway to better understand & support ourselves, our suffering & who/what we really care about.
It will include facilitated peer-sharing space to be witnessed, affirmed & supported, meditation, accessible breathwork & journaling prompts/reflections to support ourselves and each other. It is for all BBIAPI but will center queer, trans, crip/disabled & mad/neurofabulous Black & Indigenous folx. Note: This session doesn’t replace professional mental health support & may be activating/detrimental if you’re actively suicidal.
Facilitator Bio:
Rachel Ricketts (she/they), is a sacred soul in a multiracial Black, queer, highly-sensitive, disabled, neurofab & badass femme body. I’m a Virgo sun & only child of the late Suzette - a chronically ill & disabled Jamaican immigrant, single mom & my champion.
As an author/storyteller, speaker, healer & sacred space holder I share my vision & wisdom on a variety of topics, like community care & intersectional equity (especially those *most* marginalized), all centering and in service of Black & Indigenous solidarity, liberation and healing.
My work is rooted in Afrofuturism, abolition & alchemy. I envision a world where Black & Indigenous folx are and feel deeply cared for. And I help you, especially my Black & Indigenous bbs, remember your innate wisdom & unlock the love, dignity and divine feminine power that systems of oppression tried to take from you. Learn more at www.rachelricketts.com or @iamrachelricketts.
Room B: But Can I Pay My Rent Tho?!? Strategies for Being a Sustainable Artist During Pandemic Times
with J Mase III (he/him)
Session Description:
Without art, there can be no movements. Yet, artists are often unrewarded for being the drivers of change, which has created a culture of unsustainable practices. This workshop will make space for artists to develop long-term strategies towards a life supported by their creative work. Participants in this session are artists and cultural producers of all disciplines who are ready to build a career from their practice while maintaining COVID safety.
Facilitator Bio:
J Mase III is a Black/Trans/queer poet, educator, author and filmmaker. He is head writer of the theatrical production Black Bois and the short film Bad Theology. J Mase is author of And Then I Got Fired: One Transqueer’s Reflections on Grief, Unemployment & Inappropriate Jokes About Death as well as White Folks Be Trippin’: An Ethnography Through Poetry & Prose and Josephine: a trans story of biblical proportions.Winner of a Lambda Literary Award for Transgender Non-Fiction and a Sundance Uprise Fellow, he is co-director of the forthcoming documentary, the Black Trans Prayer Book. A co-organizer of Pandemic Solidarity for the Long Future, his most recent work Is Your God a Violent God?: Finding a Theology for Survivors is forthcoming from Bembe Press. Find out more at www.jmaseiii.com
Room A: Literary forms for brain fog, low spoons and neurononcompliance during an ongoing pandemic
with hanta t. samsa
Session Description:
There are countless reasons we may have fallen off our poetic practice in the fifth year of pandemic and accelerated collapse, nevertheless our writing is our wholeness and to it we must return. This session offers a path of return to our creative writing practices.
This generative writing workshop is for neurodivergent and neurononcompliant poets, writers with brain fog and low spoons, and writers who’ve never resonated with ableist, western supremacist linear thought. We will sample literary forms and modes that favor and flatter non-linear thought, “unfinished” thoughts, forgetfulness, and cripped and sickened writing.
We will free-write with the help of generative, playful writing prompts, and share our writing (if we want to). You are welcome to follow and listen along without writing—a resource document of forms, examples, writing exercises, and discussion will be sent out after the session.
Facilitator Bio:
hanta t. samsa is a genrequeer, transgenre poet and writer who situates his work in a genealogy of autofiction, ecopoetics, transpoetics, and post-colonial futurisms. he holds an MFA in Fiction from Bennington College, and an MFA in Poetry from Virginia Tech. his writing appears or is forthcoming in smoke and mold, Boston Review, Kenyon Review, Salt Hill Journal and elsewhere, sometimes under his dead name. hanta is a 2023 LAMBDA Emerging Voices Fellow. his micro chapbook, Transcolonial Poem, is forthcoming from MAYDAY Press in 2024.