Welcome back for Part 2 with Yaffa!
If you enjoy our conversation, please rate, review, and subscribe - it really helps with visibility.
Yaffa As is a trans Palestinian author, culture worker, organizer, and artist. Their work lives at the intersection of disability, immigration, queerness, transness, Palestine, and Muslimness.
Their focus on direct action and community care is incredibly inspiring, and over the past year alone, they have helped redistribute over $500,000 to queer and trans communities impacted by genocide.
They have written several books, host the BCSD podcast, and always remind us to imagine and build the utopia we all deserve.
Our conversation is an infusion of hope, which feels aligned with - and necessary for - the current moment. Enjoy Part 1.
PS Yaffa is offering an 8-week session called Organizing to a Living Utopia, built around their book Letters From a Living Utopia...details here!
Danny Park is an organizer, author, and founding worker member of Skid Row Coffee, a social enterprise pop-up coffeehouse and third space. Danny is featured in the documentary Liquor Store Dreams, a film by friend of the show So Yun Um. He is rooted in his community through organizations such as Korean Resource Center and Creating Justice LA.
I am so moved by Danny's work, presence, and perspective on all things. He is the embodiment of community, humanity, and service.
As fellow diasporic Koreans, it felt significant and potent that we spoke during 추석 - Chuseok - the Korean mid-autumn harvest festival. May our conversation be seeds of abundance, compassion, and liberation for all.
Vaimoana Litia Makakaufaki Niumeitolu Khalil is a painter, poet, and educator. She has painted 38 murals all over the world, from California to New York to South Africa and to Palestine. Her murals tell stories of the people who live in the community, reflecting the openness, vulnerability, and generosity of the human spirit.
Moana embodies her Tongan ancestry, her chosen family in Palestine, and her deep connection to life and the land. I hope our conversation uplifts your spirits and reminds you to create your own art in whatever way you feel called to.
Welcome back for Part 2 with essayist Helio - aka @jupiterbaal.
If you enjoy our conversation, please rate, review, and subscribe - it really helps with visibility.
Helio - aka @jupiterbaal - is an essayist and an educator, rooted in an immense love for all of life. His video essays have been a balm to so many of us during the last two years.
Our conversation spanned so many topics and trails of thought so it’ll be published in two parts. I am always learning so much from Helio and I hope you will too.
Blasian March Founder Rohan Zhou-Lee is an award-winning dancer, writer, speaker, curator, and community organizer. In 2024, they co-curated the Critical Connections exhibit with the Pace University Art Gallery and the George Stephanopoulos photo collection of the Civil Rights Era. In 2023, they became the first mixed race Black Asian admitted to the Open City Fellowship for Journalism at the Asian American Writers' Workshop. They are also a recipient of the 2024 PEN American US Writers’ Aid Initiative, 2023 FIYAH Rest Grant, 2023 New Yorkers for Culture and The Arts, 2022 Bandung Resident, they have written for Newsweek, Hyperallergic, Truthout, and more. They have performed poetry and dance as a reflection of their activism in the United States and the 2022 Unite Festival in Zürich, Switzerland. Spotlight features include CNN, NBC Chicago, USA Today, WNYC, AJ+, and more. Zhou-Lee has spoken at Harvard University, New York University, Yale University, Oberlin College, The University of Tokyo, the 2022 Unite and Enough Festivals in Zürich, Switzerland, and more.
As a performing artist, major credits include: Julius Eastman’s Joy Boy on trumpet (ChamberQUEER, 2021,) and for dance: Lovecraft Country (HBO, 2018) François & The Rebels (Public Theatre, 2023,) Over Here! (Triad Theatre, Off-Broadway debut, 2019) West Side Story (New Bedford Theatre Festival, 2018) and Bluebird from Sleeping Beauty (Victoria Ballet Theatre, 2019.)
Zhou-Lee holds a Bachelor of the Arts in Ethnomusicology from Northwestern University. Pronouns: They | Siya | 祂 | Elle, gender identity: Firebird.
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.
Links
Cha with Laura and Leah
https://open.spotify.com/show/1z194Dm1oJ1U9GzqvJ0dT9?si=b3effad8f6484e57
Firebird's Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/diaryofafirebird/
Firebird's Website
https://www.diaryofafirebird.com/
Laura Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/iamlaurachung/
Laura Website
Laura YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/@Laurakchung
Leah Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/leahsoojinkim/
Leah Substack
Leah YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/@leahsoojinkim
Links
Support us on Cha's Patreon
Venmo: http://bitly.ws/iXCS
Paypal: http://bitly.ws/iXCb
차 logo designed by grimeninja
Sarinya is the founder of Angry Asian Womxn - an organization centering safety, wellness, and community for women/femmes/gender expansive folks affected by anti-Asian ra cism and/or Isl amophobia. She was also the first ever Asian woman firefighter in the FDNY.
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!
Cha with Laura and Leah Podcast
차 logo designed by grimeninja
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!
차 logo designed by grimeninja
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 :/
차 logo designed by grimeninja
Solonje is lovingly known as the Weed Auntie, leading the fight for cannabis equity by putting community first. Solonje is a Brooklyn-based humanist, pleasure activist, and entrepreneur committed to carving out intentional space for marginalized voices in the world of weed.
Raised by Caribbean immigrants in the suburbs of Newton, Massachusetts, Solonje learned from an early age how to turn the things that made her stand out into a super power. After spending her early career in event production and DEI consulting, she brought her unique skill set to the emerging cannabis industry to transform its glaring equity obstacles into inclusive opportunities.
One of Solonje's latest creations is her hemp jumpsuit, which you can find here.
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!
차 logo designed by grimeninja
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!
차 logo designed by grimeninja
Samar is the artistic/founding director of Yaa Samar! Dance Theatre (YSDT) and is based in Palestine and NYC. Samar graduated from the Ailey/Fordham BFA program under the tutelage of Kazuko Hirabayashi and her work has been performed in 19 countries on four continents. YSDT's mission is to create invigorating performance and education programs that expand access to and promote understanding through the arts. They celebrated 20 years this June.
Our conversation is rooted in curiosity about each other's cultures, appreciation of the multiple functions of art, and enduring hope for liberation.
Bianca is an award-winning sociologist, speaker, and author of Unassimilable. She is completing her PhD at Rice University, where she researches the intersections of race, religion, and politics. She is published in top academic journals and has been featured in major media outlets.
Over the last decade, Bianca has served Asian American community organizations and taught Asian American Studies. Through her work in academia and the community, Bianca is committed to the praxis of solidarity and collective 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.
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!
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. They currently reside 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.
They have 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!
차 logo designed by grimeninja
Fred is a Yonkers, NY raised three-time New York Times and USA Today bestselling author. His books include a poetry collection, We Alive, Beloved and his most recent title, a YA novel, This Thing of Ours.
Fred's writing and philanthropic work go hand-in-hand and he has been recognized by many organizations including Forbes 30 Under 30, Comic-Con, and The Root100 and has worked with fortune 500 companies and presidential candidates on their DEI efforts.
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!
차 logo designed by grimeninja
Rand, aka officialjakegyllenhalal, is a beloved voice in our movement for collective liberation. From LGBTQ+ rights to Free Palestine to resisting from within the belly of the beast, Rand has been committed to using her platform to educate and to inspire. She also reports for the Adalah Justice Project.
In this episode, we talk about what community means and the importance of being curious about others. Rand also shares a couple stories from her visit to Palestine last summer.
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, Target, Janae 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 coordinates campaigns and resource sharing. Currently in its foundational phase, Earthlings Undone is conducting research and fundraising to amplify grassroots movements by providing educators with ready-made campaigns while connecting systems-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.
Cassandra is our Restie Bestie! She is a neurodivergent Vietnamese-Chinese daughter of refugees. As a somatic healing facilitator and liberatory rest educator, Cassandra guides tired and trauma-impacted organizations, communities, and individuals to rest.
Cassandra's mission is to uplift rest as a necessary modality for collective healing and social change. Her holistic approach examines the cultural erasure of rest, integrates the spiritual as well as scientific pillars of rest, and helps people discover what their bodies need to feel safe enough to slow down. Cassandra is committed to building a world where love and liberation are the dominant culture
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.
차 logo designed by grimeninja
Suzy is a Palestinian-Californian fashion designer whose parents instilled in her a strong Palestinian identity. She has been drawn to traditional Palestinian clothing and textiles since her youth. After studying Fashion and Textile design at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, Suzy designed a modern interpretation of the traditional Palestinian thobe which was showcased at the UN headquarters in NY.
Suzy uses Tatreez to bring about awareness and to share the beauty of Palestine. Her latest collection - Freedom Fighter - is a political and humanitarian expression, implementing indigenous fabrics and innovative textile design to pay homage to the past with eyes to the future, hand-embroidered by Palestinian women refugees.
In our conversation, Suzy shares learnings from and stories about her friend and mentor Wafa Ghnaim (@tatreezandtea), who is a dress historian, writer, and educator.
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.