Feb
24
to Feb 25

In Between with Between East, Los Angeles

Between East, Los Angeles 2/24/24

A Cultural Creative Experience بين

Join us for a first of its kind two day MENA-specific event that dives into inspiring conversations, showcases artists, and supports businesses from our community. The event is dedicated to inviting others to experience our culture while also creating a space to inspire and connect our community. We will be curating art, music, conversations, and experiences. A portion of proceeds will be donated to PCRF, and we're honored to have Slow Factory as our official Media & Culture nonprofit partner.

Sarah Bahbah for Forbes Magazine

Lina Makoul, “Shway Shway”

FEB 24, DAY 1: CONVERSATIONS (1PM - 6:30PM) + MUSIC PERFORMANCES (7PM - 11PM)

1:00pm: Doors Open

2:00pm: Opening Remarks

2:15pm - 6:15pm: Panels

  • The Digital Revolution: MENA Creatives in New Media

  • Navigating the Creative Landscape

  • MENA Creatives in Film & TV

  • The Rise of Arabic-Language Music and Identity

6:15pm: Closing Remarks

7:00pm - 11:00pm: Music Performances

  • MARO 7:00PM

  • LINA MAKOUL 7:40PM

  • SIMIHAZE 8:20PM

  • DJ HABIBEATS 9:30PM

FEB 25, DAY 2: MARKET + EXPERIENCES (12PM - 5PM)

12:00pm: Doors Open

Media Justice Talk by Slow Factory (time TBC)

12:00pm - 5:00pm: All day market and cultural experiences

12:00 PM - 5:00 PM

DAY 2 SCHEDULE | FEB 25

12:00 PM

Doors Open

12:00 PM - 1:30 PM

Deemie DJ Set

1:30 PM - 2:00 PM

Media Justice Talk by Slow Factory

2:00 PM - 3:00 PM

Thanks Joey DJ Set

3:00 PM - 4:00 PM

Narcy's "To Be An Arab" Album Listening

4:00 PM - 4:30 PM

"To Be An Arab" Talk with Narcy, Thanks Joey, P Thugg

If any person attending this event requires ADA accommodations, please email contact@betweeneast.com

Participating brand vendors:

Sarah Bahbah, Maktaba, Ya Habibi Market, Sanad, Wear Active, Kotn, Morcos Key, Harem Modern, Knafeh Queens, Sayran, Jazmin Saraï, Omayma Skin, Sahar Ghorishi, Niloufar Sabaa / Niloox, DEEBA, Naar Shatta, Kinrose Creamery, Tala Barbotin Khalidy, Love De La Vie, Zonzon Organic, Syk's Desserts, Qahwa Con Leche, Bodega Bazaar, Jaffa Coffee Roasters, Marwan Shahin, Los Androgynous, Sibz, Fouxx, Mama Lina Cooks, Habibi House, Queerabs, Noor Wa Layla

About Between East:

Between East is an entertainment company and community that celebrates Middle Eastern & North African art, creativity, music, and culture to reveal a new global identity. Our mission is to amplify the voices of MENA talent who are pushing the boundaries to shape culture and create a world where MENA communities are inspired, connected, and celebrated.

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Nov
14
6:00 PM18:00

Digital Sunset Teach-In: Organizing Care in Crise

EDIT: This event has reached capacity. We will be live streaming on IG at 6pm pst @seritacolette 11/14. Join us!

photo by artist Kelsey Crawford. Portland 10/19/23

Digital Sunset Teach-In: Organizing Care in Crises

Join Serita Colette, artists, creatives, healers and organizers as we come together to network and learn tools for our collective liberation. This event is free and open to all. We will be centering Palestinian voices, Jewish voices, Black and native voices, disabled folks, queer and trans folks, poor folks. This is NOT a place to debate whether the Palestinian people of Gaza and throughout Palestine, (our Palestinian siblings), have the right to live! This IS a space to organize care and build liberatory practices now! In partnership with SJP of Occidental College.

Oxy Arts

Tuesday, November 14th: 6-8pm

Bhavana/Intention: While a genocide and ethnic cleansing takes place in Palestine our awareness toward what matters most is often weaponized against us to fuel stagnation, despair, hopelessness or worse collusion. We are consumed by gaslighting and manipulation, isolation and grief. These times call for navigating oppressive systems with focused care and intention through the lens of organizing, healing justice, mutual aid, and carework. We each have adept wisdom that naturally flows outward when we are well resourced. We cannot fight fascism, white supremacy and create the change we wish to see in the world in isolation. We need each other. This is an opportunity to gather and dream up another world for all now.

Accessibility: This event is Free and ADA accessible. If you need support accessing or entering the building please email: seritayoga@gmail.com. Masks are required🙏🏾

Please stay home if you are feeling sick. No photography or recording of any kind is allowed throughout the duration of this event without written consent. Let's continue to honor and care for each other.

This event is taking place during the "Iridescence of Knowing," exhibition, giving participants a chance to familiarize themselves with Tongva voices here in L.A. working toward landback, visibility & safety, decolonizing and more!

Graphic by artist Melanie Cervantes, @melaniecervantes


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Oct
14
6:00 PM18:00

Save the date: The Price of the Guru at OXY ARTS with SERITA

Serita will be holding a very special teach-in at Oxy Arts of Occidental College on in Los Angeles, CA

photo by Melanated Minds in Los Angeles

The Price of the Guru

Limiting our exposure to spiritual vampires, spiritual bypassing. Knowing how to assess domination and control in spiritual spaces.

How does spiritual activism play a vital role in our collective care web and freedom practice?


Join Serita as we dive deep into a discussion of healing, access, and how to build a better world together.

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Apr
30
10:00 AM10:00

Wellness Covening Panel

GenderJustice Wellness Covening Panel

Sold Out!

Serita will be speaking alongside other gender expansive and trans folks leading the way in the wellness world.

This event is part of The GJLA Center’s TGI Healing & Wellness Convening and is currently sold out.

Photo by Qurissy

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Apr
28
12:30 PM12:30

GenderJusticeLA X SeritaYOGA

Every last Friday of the month GJLA is having open office hours for our TGI community to share space and collaboratively envision what THE GJLA Center can look like. RSVP here: bit.ly/GJLATGIF

  • Drop in anytime between 10:30am-7pm.

  • Meet the GJLA team, get some free PPE, purchase some of our limited edition "Protect Trans Youth" "Protect Trans Elders" shirts


  • This TGI Friday (April 28th) we are joined by special guest Serita Colette who will lead a FREE 90 minute Rest & Liberation body movement session 10:30am-12pm. 

  • We will provide a couple of yoga mats, but we highly suggest you bring your own

What to expect:Asana, somatic,breathwork, nidra

A period to rest, reflect, practice, meditate, 20 minute savasana & guided relaxation, build some agni (fire), build more discernment, create a resolve to cultivate a more active self preservation practice each week that works for you now. Connect and receive!

More on Serita:  @seritacolette   www.seritayoga.com

Serita Colette is a nationally recognized queer, gender expansive Malayali-American healer and educator on occupied Tongva-Gabrielino land. Their work intersects Ayurveda, Yoga, Rest and Liberation, gender-race-class-sexuality, disability justice, mutual aid, and the arts.  Serita’s teachings are an inner call to action, shifting from body attainment to dharma, understanding emotions and using our power skilfully so that we may all be free.  Their studies in Yoga, Ayurveda, Gender, Anthropology in Social Justice and Seed Sovereignty have shaped their call to embody dharma as our inherent vehicle toward collective liberation. 

Serita started the first people of color yoga practice in Minneapolis, Mni Sota  in 2015.  Over the last 7 years Serita founded and continues to lead Rest & Liberation Retreats for Black and native people, trans and queer people, disabled and poor folks and folks living on the margins.  Serita’s work has been recognized by Rolling Stone Magazine, Netflix, The National Education Association, Castanea Fellowship, Mereba’s “Jungle Journals,” National Young Farmers Coalition, Experience Life Magazine, Dream of Wild Health, Pride Magazine, Women’s Press, and more.  When not teaching they co-create meditation music, voice over and performance art.

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Apr
1
to Aug 1

Serita Colette for Intersectional Environmentalist

👉🏾 Intersectional Environmentalist

Serita’s work on cultivating space for people was hand selected as a feature for Intersectional Environmentalist, an non-profit committed to developing and improving transparency and reciprocity with our community and partners in an effort to co-create meaningful impact for people + planet. Our commitment to shifting the narrative of environmental storytelling to center diversity and joy will continue to be rooted in the values of the environmental justice movement and our community.

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Mar
18
1:00 PM13:00

Digital Sunset: A New Series by Serita Colette

Digital Sunset:
A Rest and Liberation Practice by Serita Colette

Digital sunset grants us pause to collectively break from our screens and be in relation to our body and the living breathing world around us. It’s about consciously finding time to align with our planet's sun and moon by reducing the glare and noise that comes with daily phone use. It effects things like how we communicate, building unsustainable levels of urgency, noise, expectations, mental health, and physical capacity.

When we break from screens we are consciously stepping away from this noise. As we cultivate safe shared space again, desire for safety, kinship and ease remains a collective priority for many, but so too the ability to return to our truest selves.

Join Serita Colette in a one of a kind practice and meditation experience just in time for the Spring Equinox. This is about rest, reclamation and collective care. Digital Sunset utilizes the sibling sciences of Yoga, Ayurveda, and Dharma to rest in the gentle awareness of now.


What to expect:

Masks are mandatory and you must be vaccinated. We must care for one another :)

2hr practice mostly seated, and lying down with props: pranayama, meditation, dharma talk, journal, rest

Wear comfortable clothing

Turn your phone off or place on silent unless it’s an emergency

Let go of body attainment as much as possible and come as you are


Policy:

1. Anti-Blackness, transphobia, homophobia, racism, sexism, ableism or any other harm will not be tolerated.

2. Tickets are non-refundable. If you can't make it please notify at seritayoga@gmail.com so we can move folks from the waitlist to an open spot

This will sell out. Sign up today!

Serita Colette smiling in orange shirt outside in summer time

Serita Colette captured by photographer Qurissy in Los Angeles 2023

About Serita:

Serita Colette is a nationally recognized queer, Malayali-American healer and educator on occupied Gabrielino-Tongva Land. Their work intersects Ayurveda, Yoga, rest and liberation, gender-race-class-sexuality, disability justice, mutual aid, and the arts.

Serita’s teachings are an inner call to action, shifting from body attainment to dharma, understanding emotions and using our power skillfully so that we may all be free.

In the last five years of her 8 + years teaching Serita has been focusing on Rest & Liberation Retreats for Black and indigenous people, trans and queer people, brown folks, disabled folks and folks living on the margins. They lead in-house retreats, trainings and panels for non-profits, firms, fellowships and universities. Their work has been recognized by NEA, Pride Magazine, Rolling Stone Magazine, National Young Farmers Coalition, Castanea Fellowship, Experience Life Magazine, and more. When they’re not teaching and consulting, Serita creates meditation music, voice over and performance art in Los Angeles.

www.seritayoga.com @seritacolette


All content is the original property and work of Serita Colette, except where specified. No derivative works/adaptations, printing, or republishing, without authorization by copyright owner

**With ticket purchase, participation, or attendance, you hereby acknowledge & allow the use of photos and videos of you and/or your dependents to be used by SeritaYoga & Serita Colette for immunocompromised, disabled folks who cannot attend. This content may be edited for promotional material to ensure the cultivation of more space like this.



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Nov
24
to Jan 24

Shunya Rest Practice for Tracee Stanley!

We are entering the season of slowing down.

It is a time for resting, receiving, and hunkering down.

It’s for days spent by the fire or never getting out of bed. For the days where the snow silently falls. For quiet sun-filled mornings. For the time of dreaming and imagination.

Even if you can’t put the responsibilities of your life on hold, your dedicated rituals and practice will open up space for you to sink into the bliss of dormancy.

 

Serita Colette has teamed up with renowned teacher and friend to create a beautiful rest practice for the new season. New Music and meditation composed by Serita to support you in the coming new year!

Sunyata to Rest and Receive with Serita Colette

Shunya शून्यता, is voidness, a meditative state vital for our mind to drop out of “everything all of the time” and into nothingness. You can think of times in your life when you’ve had too much going on and felt constrained, exhausted and bound. Much like our experience in deep sleep, yoga nidra provides us with akash, the space of nothingness to drop into deeper states of rest so that we may emerge more limitless and free. Rest and receive.

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Jun
26
10:30 AM10:30

Yoga on the Beach for People of Color and Accomplices

SOLD OUT! Thank you everyone who shared interest. We are keeping it to under 35 people this round. If there is a space/location that speaks to you for an event like this one please email: seritayoga@gmail.com, and thank you for your continued support!

Bring your mat, towel, water and comfy clothes and come practice!

This is an all levels practice prioritizing Black people, Native people and people of color. White accomplices and white passing folks are encouraged to donate to @serita-colette on Venmo!

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Jun
25
9:00 AM09:00

Sold Out! Queer Hike LA X SeritaYoga PRIDE

Join me and Queer Hike Los Angeles for a beautiful breathwork, meditation and hike in
Rancho Palos Verdes!

Meeting Date: Saturday, June 25th, 2022

Meeting Time: Check in 9am, Breathwork, Meditation, Yoga Asana by Serita Colette @seritacolette, then hike!

Meeting location: 2 Park Pl, Rancho Palos Verdes, CA 90275

Trail Information: Palos Verdes Bluffs Trail

Sunday 9am







What To Know Before You Go:

  • Masks are highly encouraged. Please stay home if you have any symptoms or have been exposed to anyone who has contracted Covid-19.

  • Please wear hiking boots or shoes with grip and ankle support

  • Dress in layers to handle sun exposure and changing weather conditions.

  • The trail is about 3 miles roundtrip with about a 500 ft elevation gain. It is very beginner friendly and is more of a nature walk with some incline at the end. We will be taking several breaks throughout the hike to make sure everyone is okay.

  • Plan for a 2-2.5 hour hike and please let us know if you have any health concerns that might put you at risk during our hike. Safety is always a priority and we encourage everyone to listen to their body and limitations. We are not liable for any injury that may occur.

  • Bring plenty of water and snacks for yourself.

  • Leave no trace! Please take home whatever trash you might have with you.

  • This location offers some paid street parking closer to the trailhead. Please note a reservation must be made and paid for beforehand on the following site. https://rpvca.gov/1424/ParkMobile

  • .There is also free parking on Crenshaw Blvd/ Crest Rd. Please arrive early to secure a parking spot as they tend to fill up quickly. Carpooling is highly recommended if coming with others. DO NOT PARK AT THE DEL CERRO PARKING LOT.

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May
15
10:00 AM10:00

SOLD OUT! Spring Renewal: Restoring Your Vitality through Yoga and Ayurveda

THIS EVENT IS SOLD OUT.

To stay up to date on events follow: Serita on IG

Sunday May 15th 10-12pm

Center for Performing Arts Mpls

SUN ROOM

Address: 3754 Pleasant Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55409

Phone at CFPA: (612) 821-9202

Join Serita Colette as she returns to Minneapolis to lead Spring Renewal. This is an opportunity to revitalize your mind and senses. Spring is a time to clean and clear our houses and our minds. Nature's display of renewal as new seeds emerge is a gentle reminder to dust off our mats, energize our bodies and feed our hearts desire. Carve out this time for yourself this season to focus on self preservation.

Wet, damp, cloudy, rainy days can leave us feeling lethargic, doubtful, anxious and melancholy. This practice will reignite your vitality and energy, build your fire and find focus.

The yogic tradition offers a wellspring of Dharmic wisdom to bring us closer to the sacred aspects of life. In this workshop, Serita will guide you through mantra, pranayama, asana, dhauti, yoga nidra, and their off-the-mat application.

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May
10
to May 14

SOLD OUT! ROOT RESTORE REIMAGINE Retreat for Women of Color

This retreat is sold out! Follow me here Serita for future retreat dates!





Rest & Liberation: Sankalpa with Serita

Organized by Dancer, Artists and Organizer Alanna Morris!

Join me and a group of healers from across the diaspora to experience deep healing and centered inner work on our own island in the Northwoods! This magical place is just 2.5h outside of the Twin Cities.



photo by Nancy Musinguzi





Main House + four fully furnished cabins with updated kitchens

Kayaks, canoes, water activities, hiking, lounging, resting!



Other healers on hand: thai massage, radical herbalism

https://www.alannamvt.com/rrrwr2022

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Dec
24
4:00 PM16:00

Christmas Eve Restorative Yoga with Serita Colette

Photo by Nancy Musinguzi

On Christmas Eve I will be leading a 60-minute free restorative yoga practice on ZOOM

Eventbrite Link HERE

My peoples healing traditions have supported me a great deal when I’m feeling it all and need guidance.

Guided relaxation is not only soothing, but helpful to our nervous systems when we can’t do it all ourselves.

Everyone is hitting their limits right now and could use a helping hand. I feel called to be here. Join me this Friday for deep restoration.

12/24/21 | Zoom | 4pm pst/6pm cst/8pm est

Open to all bodies, no experience or expensive gear required. No discrimination or hatred among us.

PROPS: 2 Blankets, pillows, and a place to lie down and gently stretch and contract your physical body, slow down your breath and rest.



*Image captured by Nancy Musinguzi

If you have the capacity donations help support future practices ofor community care like this one! venmo: @serita-colette | cashapp: $seritayoga

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Oct
3
1:00 PM13:00

Trans Equity Summit 2021

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Serita will be offering Yoga Nidra for the second year at the Trans Equity Summit.

For more information, please visit:

https://www2.minneapolismn.gov/media/content-assets/www2-documents/departments/8th-annual-Trans-Equity-Summit-program.pdf

Serita photographed in the Californian desert 2019

Serita photographed in the Californian desert 2019

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Jul
29
5:30 PM17:30

Yoga Nidra with Tracee Stanley's Empowered Life Circle

From Tracee Stanley and ELC


“We are delighted to have the divine Serita Colette as our special guest on July 29th - 6:30pm - 8pm MT Serita will be in short conversation with Tracee and then lead us in a yoga nidra practice. 

More from Serita: ‘Yoga Nidra is an experience into deeper planes of awareness that transcend the material world.  For the purpose of this discussion we will focus on the experience of “shunya” in yoga nidra: void or nothingness as a means to counteract the digital news cycle/doom cycle we subconsciously embody when we get swept up in the currents of change. 

What does this deeper state offer on a mental, physical and spiritual level to our body and being and how can we utilize this practice to re-align toward our purpose to ourselves, our community, and our planet?’”



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Apr
30
5:00 PM17:00

HYPERNOVA Finale LIVE from The Cedar Cultural Center

Hypernova Art Promo by Studio 400 artist Patricio De Lara

Hypernova Art Promo by Studio 400 artist Patricio De Lara


Dear ones,

The loss of Black and brown life all this time is agonizing.  We want to name injustice.  It’s constant.  We need to abolish the police.  We need to wonder at what is possible for us, our elders, our kids, our planet.  Justice is more about where we go honoring those taken from us than what we do to make system of injustice permeable.

We know the people doing the absolute most to keep us safe are Black, brown, queer, indigenous people, trans people, disabled, nonbinary, asian, poor and chronically ill.  From the frontlines to zoom calls in bed, mutual aid, protest, and care.  All of it.  

We know that if all we end up doing is “doing,” we can never wonder at what’s truly possible for us beyond.

If possibility lies in space then we must find it.  

Space is liberatory.

Space is open.  Space can feel vulnerable, but there’s growth there.  Space is the dissolution of binaries, hatred and despair.  Space is infinite.  

.We envisioned HYPERNOVA as a space of possibility for Black and brown people.  It’s about where our minds can go when we let art lead.  

For our final show hosted by our beautiful friend, she’s artistic director and artist Marcela Michelle and has carried us through our galaxy voyage. Together we present: poet/powerhouse Su Hwang.  “Su Hwang is a poet, activist, stargazer, and the author of MN Book Award Bodega

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And last but not least, we are excited to announce that FPA will give the final performance of the series Live! from The Cedar Cultural Center 7pm Friday April 30th!  This is going to be intimate and healing.  We love her music and expression and so will you.  Tune in live at www.Publicfunctionary.org  Save the link- you’ll want to set a reminder. 

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Photo by alan de leon taverna

Venmo: @Miles-Jamison | IG: @booboo3000000

Performer:  Booboo is a Non-binary, Black trans woman, interdisciplinary producer and musician based out of Minneapolis, MN.  One of her main goals is to elevate the voices and visions of Trans Black artists in Minneapolis and beyond.

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Apr
30
11:30 AM11:30

Reimagine: Table Talk with Serita

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In this Table Talk, explore what it means to be part of the vastly diverse South Asian diaspora and how that intersects with ancestral grief and spirituality.

The panelists and audience will be invited to share how ancestral grief shows up in their lives in these times, where do they draw strength from? Living across lands and generations, what does their spiritual path look like, and how does it inform living through loss and making meaning.

Photo by Nylon Saddle

Photo by Nylon Saddle

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Feb
27
5:00 PM17:00

HYPERNOVA EP: ONE

Art by Patricio Delara

Art by Patricio Delara

Presented by Ryan Stopera, Nolan Morice & Serita Colette w. Public Functionary

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For over a year, we have been stuck inside a repetitive simulation, isolated from friends, music, dance & connection. 

Join us for a journey to a new dimensional space to experiment, kick back & get free. Each episode will feature poetry & performance, followed by a community artist talk back. 

STARRING: Music Performance by Booboo, Poetry by Donte Collins and dance by Shapeshift Mpls

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Episodes and talk hosted by Marcela Michelle, artistic director at 20 Percent Theater Company.

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Livestream the series episodes right here at the scheduled time. Join us after each episode for an artist talk-back via Zoom. Link to be provided during the live stream.



https://publicfunctionary.org/hypernova

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Feb
7
12:00 PM12:00

Women's Foundation of MN Innovators Convening


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Leading healing justice practices rooted in Ayurveda and the Yogic tradition for the qtbipoc cohort

The Women’s Foundation of Minnesota:

Investing in Innovation to Drive Gender & Racial Equity in Minnesota

As a statewide community foundation, we make grants, invest in research, advocate policy, and forge cross-sector partnerships to ensure community-based, community-led solutions across Minnesota.

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Jan
15
1:00 PM13:00

Hubert Humphrey School & Future Services Institute

Serita will be leading a dharma talk on collective healing, inner activism and speaking truth for HHS Finale Summit: Redesign for Whole Families.

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The Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota is one of the United States' top-ranked professional public policy and planning schools.
For more info visit:
http://futureservicesinstitute.org/

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Oct
25
9:00 AM09:00

Healing Ourselves: Meditation & Talk for Ted X

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https://tedxminneapolis.com/

Closing Reflections and Ceremony by Serita Colette

We often idealize peace, coming into the light, spiritual enlightenment as the absence of afflictive states and yet true liberation requires us to name what we are feeling, process, rest, digest and heal.  This meditation is about surrendering to our truth.  We are living in the largest global movement and fight for Black life.  If you are not caring for yourself, you will not make it.  This meditation honors our commitment to inner activism, and showing up in the world to fight for all beings from our highest truth.

Sunday Oct 25, 2020 11am

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May
3
11:00 AM11:00

May Day Mpls 2020 CHRYSALIS

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Broadcast starts at 11a via KFAI RADIO
& In the Heart of the Beast Facebook Page
MORE INFO HERE
I will go on at 11a CST with my debut single and practice


FROM HOBT and the MayDay Council: We have been in a chrysalis year working to design a more equitable and accessible MayDay Celebration. Now, collectively, we find ourselves in a moment of Chrysalis in Quarantine. In this time of physical distancing, we know now more than ever that MayDay lives IN the community. We, all of us, ARE MayDay! And we will continue to create together in this time of quarantine.

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