Yeldā is a Brooklyn-based artist, author, and activist, known for women's rights and mental health advocacy. She is bilingual and multi-disciplinary. Her work focuses on identity, safety, and community. Yeldā is a celebrated voice of the Afghan diaspora, sharing stories of her culture and upbringing.
Welcome to 차 with Laura and Leah! Cha is a podcast and video series featuring conversations with our friends over tea. We are two diasporic Korean women who were inspired by Nina Simone's quote, “An artist’s duty is to reflect the times.” Cha is our offering to the collective and we hope our conversations inspire you to start having meaningful dialogues and reflections with your own communities. So make sure to brew a pot of cha and join our conversations about art, spirituality, culture, and liberation.
Please consider becoming a paid subscriber so we can continue creating this work together. For a one-time donation, you can Venmo Laura. For monthly support, you can join our Patreon. Thank you!
Mo is a Palestinian artist, author, digital creator, and father. He has been tireless in educating all of us on what is and has been happening in Palestine for 76+ years.
Welcome to 차 with Laura and Leah! Cha is a podcast and video series featuring conversations with our friends over tea. We are two diasporic Korean women who were inspired by Nina Simone's quote, “An artist’s duty is to reflect the times.” Cha is our offering to the collective and we hope our conversations inspire you to start having meaningful dialogues and reflections with your own communities. So make sure to brew a pot of cha and join our conversations about art, spirituality, culture, and liberation.
Please consider becoming a paid subscriber so we can continue creating this work together. For a one-time donation, you can Venmo Laura. For monthly support, you can join our Patreon. Thank you!
Mo Hamzeh's Instagram accounts keep getting banned :/
Welcome to 차 with Laura and Leah! Cha is a podcast and video series featuring conversations with our friends over tea. We are two diasporic Korean women who were inspired by Nina Simone's quote, “An artist’s duty is to reflect the times.” Cha is our offering to the collective and we hope our conversations inspire you to start having meaningful dialogues and reflections with your own communities. So make sure to brew a pot of cha and join our conversations about art, spirituality, culture, and liberation.
Please consider becoming a paid subscriber so we can continue creating this work together. For a one-time donation, you can Venmo Laura. For monthly support, you can join our Patreon. Thank you!
Jonathan Louis Dent is a father, Assistant Professor of Theatre, writer, consulting astrologer and numerologist, and an initiated priest of Ifá and Ò̩ṣun. He weaves ancestral wisdom with astro-numerological insight to support clients in navigating both personal transformation and collective shifts. With a rich background in theater and performance, Jonathan’s writing lives at the intersection of mysticism, politics, and the depth of the human experience.
In this episode, we talk about how the outer planet transits of Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto portend to a period of revolution. Jonathan and I discuss how to meet this historic moment with astrology.
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Sammy Kim (they/them) is a multifaceted individual: a queer artist, writer, healer, sex worker, community organizer, caregiver, and friend. From a young age, Sammy took on a caregiving role when their mother was diagnosed with Parkinson’s, moving in with relatives as her condition progressed. Seeing their mother struggle with her health, Sammy naturally came into a role of caregiving, grounding themselves in gratitude while extending empathy towards their family. By their pre-teen years, Sammy knew they were queer but felt compelled to hide it due to their Christian upbringing, even trying to "ungay" themselves to avoid eternal damnation. Operating out of fear, Sammy didn't come out to their parents until their mother approached them about it, by which time they had been living openly for three years. Although their mother struggled to accept this part of Sammy, she affirmed her love, signaling a need for more time to understand.
Through sex work, what began as a caregiving role to provide for men seeking to feel wanted eventually evolved into a way for Sammy to heal from their early childhood trauma of sexual abuse. Their work became a way for them to deeply question their relationship to the sexualization tied to their identities. As Sammy continues to unravel the many intersections of their experiences, they choose with intention to feel alive in the present, living in the joy that stems from simply being themselves without distraction.
Welcome to 차 with Laura and Leah! Cha is a podcast and video series featuring conversations with our friends over tea. We are two diasporic Korean women who were inspired by Nina Simone's quote, “An artist’s duty is to reflect the times.” Cha is our offering to the collective and we hope our conversations inspire you to start having meaningful dialogues and reflections with your own communities. So make sure to brew a pot of cha and join our conversations about art, spirituality, culture, and liberation.
Please consider becoming a paid subscriber so we can continue creating this work together. For a one-time donation, you can Venmo Laura. For monthly support, you can join our Patreon. Thank you!
We begin the episode with a recap of the July transits that correlated with some big news stories. Stephanie and I recap some of the predictions we got right. Make sure to have your pen and calendar ready to mark down some important dates. We cover the major transits of August 2025, which include Mercury going direct and a Venus and Jupiter conjunction! Happy solar return to the Leo and Virgo babies!
⏰ Timestamps ⏰
Show Notes:
Connect with Awaken and Align:
Welcome to 차 with Laura and Leah! Cha is a podcast and video series featuring conversations with our friends over tea. We are two diasporic Korean women who were inspired by Nina Simone's quote, “An artist’s duty is to reflect the times.” Cha is our offering to the collective and we hope our conversations inspire you to start having meaningful dialogues and reflections with your own communities. So make sure to brew a pot of cha and join our conversations about art, spirituality, culture, and liberation.
Please consider becoming a paid subscriber so we can continue creating this work together. For a one-time donation, you can Venmo Laura. For monthly support, you can join our Patreon. Thank you!
Bianca Website Bianca Instagram Laura Instagram Laura Website Laura YouTube Leah Instagram Leah Substack Leah YouTube Cha Patreon 차 logo designed by grimeninja
Kalaya'an Mendoza is a Queer, Hard of Hearing, Filipino American human rights defender, street medic, and community safety and mutual protection trainer. He is an award-winning facilitator of holistic safety and security, as well as a recognized expert in disaster preparedness. He currently resides on occupied Lenape land. Kalaya'an serves as the Director of US Programs at Nonviolent Peaceforce, and is the co-founder of Across Frontlines, an organization that works with frontline human rights defenders.
He has inspired, trained, and mobilized thousands of activists in the US and abroad to advance human rights using nonviolent direct action.
Kalaya’an has worked his entire decades long career to help people use the resources they have to build the power they need to make the change they want to see in the world.
Welcome to 차 with Laura and Leah! Cha is a podcast and video series featuring conversations with our friends over tea. We are two diasporic Korean women who were inspired by Nina Simone's quote, “An artist’s duty is to reflect the times.” Cha is our offering to the collective and we hope our conversations inspire you to start having meaningful dialogues and reflections with your own communities. So make sure to brew a pot of cha and join our conversations about art, spirituality, culture, and liberation.
Please consider becoming a paid subscriber so we can continue creating this work together. For a one-time donation, you can Venmo Laura. For monthly support, you can join our Patreon. Thank you!
Welcome to 차 with Laura and Leah! Cha is a podcast and video series featuring conversations with our friends over tea. We are two diasporic Korean women who were inspired by Nina Simone's quote, “An artist’s duty is to reflect the times.” Cha is our offering to the collective and we hope our conversations inspire you to start having meaningful dialogues and reflections with your own communities. So make sure to brew a pot of cha and join our conversations about art, spirituality, culture, and liberation.
Fred Instagram Fred Website Fred Substack Laura Instagram Laura Website Laura YouTube Leah Instagram Leah Substack Leah YouTube 차 logo designed by grimeninja
We begin the episode with a recap of the June transits that correlated with some big news stories. Stephanie and I recap some of the predictions we got right. Make sure to have your pen and calendar ready to mark down some important dates. We cover the major transits of July 2025, which include Uranus' ingress into the sign of Gemini! Happy solar return to the Cancer and Leo babies!
⏰ Timestamps ⏰
Show Notes:
Connect with Awaken and Align:
Janea Brown is a liberation marketing strategist currently founding Earthlings Undone, a collective connecting frontline movements with content creators through proven systems. After building a successful influencer career (193K Instagram, 195K YouTube) working with brands like IKEA, Nike, and Target, Janea walked away from her $400K annual income to investigate alternatives to oppressive systems.
Having navigated 22+ jobs across seven industries, Janea now focuses on making anti-capitalist and decolonial solutions more discoverable through coordinated campaigns and resource sharing. Currently in its foundational phase, Earthlings Undone is conducting research and fundraising to amplify grassroots movements by providing liberation educators with ready-made campaigns while connecting system-weary audiences to existing alternatives.
As a fellow earthling exploring the art of breaking free from harmful systems, Janea shares capacity-aware pathways to transformation through her platforms. Her work aims to bridge digital organizing with becoming useless to systems of harm, supporting the collective journey toward becoming better ancestors for all beings and the planet.
Welcome to 차 with Laura and Leah! Cha is a podcast and video series featuring conversations with our friends over tea. We are two diasporic Korean women who were inspired by Nina Simone's quote, “An artist’s duty is to reflect the times.” Cha is our offering to the collective and we hope our conversations inspire you to start having meaningful dialogues and reflections with your own communities. So make sure to brew a pot of cha and join our conversations about art, spirituality, culture, and liberation.
Welcome to 차 with Laura and Leah! Cha is a podcast and video series featuring conversations with our friends over tea. We are two diasporic Korean women who were inspired by Nina Simone's quote, “An artist’s duty is to reflect the times.” Cha is our offering to the collective and we hope our conversations inspire you to start having meaningful dialogues and reflections with your own communities. So make sure to brew a pot of cha and join our conversations about art, spirituality, culture, and liberation.
We begin the episode with a recap of the May transits that correlated with some big news stories. Stephanie and I recap some of the predictions we got right. Make sure to have your pen and calendar ready to mark down some important dates. We cover the major transits of June 2025, which include Jupiter's ingress into the sign of Cancer. Happy solar return to the Gemini and Cancer babies!
⏰ Timestamps ⏰
Show Notes:
Connect with Awaken and Align:
Welcome to 차 with Laura and Leah! Cha is a podcast and video series featuring conversations with our friends over tea. We are two diasporic Korean women who were inspired by Nina Simone's quote, “An artist’s duty is to reflect the times.” Cha is our offering to the collective and we hope our conversations inspire you to start having meaningful dialogues and reflections with your own communities. So make sure to brew a pot of cha and join our conversations about art, spirituality, culture, and liberation.
Camille is an astrologer, musician, writer, civil servant from Washington, D.C. To her, Astrology is a marriage of the human condition with the cosmic condition. As above, so below. As below, so above. Over several years, she has seen hundreds of clients and has built a practice that celebrates that connection to the cosmos. Her consults are steeped in the soulful concepts & archetypal poetry of Evolutionary Astrology & are informed by the technical & traditional techniques of Hellenistic Astrology.
Laura adds to Camille's body of work on Neptune & the Black condition. This episode is dedicated to Neptune - the God and Goddess of the sea, of dreams, and of imagination.
Laura’s hypothesis: Neptune is the illusion and belief that White is superior; when in reality, White People don’t truly believe this. Whiteness is deception and theft. You do not steal from People of the Global Majority if they are culturally and economically poor. Neptune, depending on the natal position or by transit, can inflate someone’s ideal of themselves. Throughout history, a group of people subjugated another group by casting a veil over them to make them believe they are less than.
In reimagining Neptune, Neptune is seen as a malefic through the cis-hetero patriarchal white supremacist lens because Neptune is anti-capitalist. A Neptune transit can awaken someone to their true essence and in turn, reclaim their sovereignty and agency.
⏰ Timestamps ⏰
00:22 Introducing Camille Michelle Gray and her interest in Neptune
5:19 Some facts about Neptune
7:04 Camille’s Neptune significations
8:17 Laura’s Neptune significations
8:32 Richard Tarnas’ Neptune significations
12:36 Laura’s Neptune hypothesis
13:36 Camille’s work Neptune and the Black condition
18:36 Neptune and mythology
26:26 Neptune as assimilation
29:50 Neptune as psychedelics, plant medicines, and cultural appropriation of spiritual practices.
30:53 Neptune as Hollywood and Film
31:40 Neptune in Aries
34:47 John Randolph’s chart - The Nottoway Plantation
38:38 Neptune in Aries historically
39:48 The Emancipation Proclamation in 1863
45:22 Neptune predictions for the moment
49:44 Ryan Coogler and Sinners
1:01:47 Beyonce and Cowboy Carter
1:04:28 Kendrick Lamar and the Superbowl
1:07:38 Camille’s predictions for Neptune and politics
1:11:46 Saturn and Neptune in Aries
1:17:54 How to work with Camille
Show Notes:
Connect with Awaken and Align:
Welcome to 차 with Laura and Leah! Cha is a podcast and video series featuring conversations with our friends over tea. We are two diasporic Korean women who were inspired by Nina Simone's quote, “An artist’s duty is to reflect the times.” Cha is our offering to the collective and we hope our conversations inspire you to start having meaningful dialogues and reflections with your own communities. So make sure to brew a pot of cha and join our conversations about art, spirituality, culture, and liberation.
Welcome to 차 with Laura and Leah! Cha is a podcast and video series featuring conversations with our friends over tea. We are two diasporic Korean women who were inspired by Nina Simone's quote, “An artist’s duty is to reflect the times.” Cha is our offering to the collective and we hope our conversations inspire you to start having meaningful dialogues and reflections with your own communities. So make sure to brew a pot of cha and join our conversations about art, spirituality, culture, and liberation.
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In this episode, I break down Ryan Coogler's natal chart and the significant transits he was going through when he was inspired to make the film Sinners. I also break down the symbolism in the film and how that is reflected in Ryan's natal chart and transits. I hope you enjoy!
⏰ Timestamps ⏰
1:14 My intention for doing this
6:08 Movie stats and background
20:58 Ryan Coogler’s Natal Chart 39:23 Transits
46:06 Ryan’s 2nd and 8th houses
48:56 Ryan Coogler and Michael B Jordan Synastry
55:07 Themes and symbolism in Sinners
Show Notes:
Connect with Awaken and Align:
