About the webinar:

 

Together we are stronger.

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In a time where we are being forced into isolation, our communities are re-membering how important Solidarity is in relation to the Structural/Colonial Oppressions that do not have the whole of our community's interests in mind and heart. This is a time for us to confront where divisiveness in our communities have existed, and for us to confront within ourselves why we have allowed those divisions to persist in the pursuit of liberation.

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We are being asked to hold each other in community more intentionally than ever before and we will gather to be in conversation, and relation to the ways we have perpetuated divisiveness in our communities and have been struck by colonial trauma within our closest circles, that have pinned us against each other, when in truth we NEED EACH OTHER for liberation to ever be possible.

We will be looking at the protocols and guidelines of people's movements that have kept them sustaining liberation movements in some of the most dire moments of human existence, and we will re-member what solidarity looks, feels, and can be like in this New World that is unfolding.

Join us as we take a moment to confront the ways we have severed relationships and left circles of solidarity because of the influences of Colonization- particularly because of our attachments to Capitalism.  And as we create visions and begin planning for a coming future that returns us to each other in the pursuit of True Liberation.

Facilitator Bios:

Jana Lynne "JL" Umipig is the daughter of Rosemarie Caldetera Umipig and Godofredo Peralta Umipig. A 2nd Generation Ilokana, born and raised in the Kingdom of Hawaii and currently living on Lenape Territory (in the Bronx, NYC) JL received her BA in Theatre at the Claire Trevor School of the Arts at the University of California, Irvine (where she spent 3 years organizing with the collegiate organization Kababayan) and her MA at New York University in Educational Theatre for Communities emphasizing participatory, social justice oriented theatre. She also studied Physical Theatre and Mask work at the Commedia dell’Arte in Arezzo, Italy. She has a certification with the Empowerment Institute through the role as a founding member of the Global Justice Institute at El Puente - one of the leading Afro-Latinx education and community activation organizations.

She has traveled to communities throughout the world sharing her cultivated knowledge of processes that activates and support self and community healing and empowerment. Particularly, JL has committed herself to bringing the presence of her ancestors from the Philippine diaspora into every space, with cultural teachings and practices being implemented in all of her work. She is the creator of The Journey of a Brown Girl and Raised Pinay reflective of her “Theatre as Ceremonial Liberation” and “For the Movement Theatre” pedagogies. She also is the creator of Kapwa Tarot, a diasporic Pilipinx divination tool that has been exchanged across the US and all over the world including Singapore, China, Australia, France, the UK and the Philippines

She is a core member of The Center for Babaylan Studies and a practitioner at Minka Brooklyn. Through these central communities in her life extends sacred space for Pilipinx Kapwa seeking to learn and remember healing practice, ritual/ceremony and knowledge connected to our ancestral traditions. She has been uplifted in her Spiritual Learnings Indigenous teachers from the Philippines and throughout the Global Diaspora.

Currently JL is a founding Theatre Teacher creating a 4 year Revolutionary Theatre Program at a high school in East Brooklyn where she works to “Rehearse Revolution” with her students and prepare them to enact change for liberation in their lives and the world.

Webpage: www.janalynnecreativeproductions.com
Instagram: @jlcreator
Facebook: Jana Lynne Umipig

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Olivia Gail Labalan Sawi is the daughter of Nati Labalan Sawi of Magallanes, Sorosogon, and Michael Balanon Sawi of Sunnyvale, California, by way of Rosario, La Union. She was born and currently resides on Ohlone Territory (Sunnyvale, CA) in a multigenerational household. Olivia is an educator and academic, a healer, musician, a martial artist, momma, and more. 

 

She has been involved with the Center for Babaylan Studies since 2010 and has been a Core Member since 2017. After attending the first CfBS International Conference, she began volunteering and has been involved ever since. Olivia has her Master's in 20th Century History, where she focused on Labor Movements and Filipino-American History. Before that, Olivia received her undergraduate degree in Theatre Arts from the University of California, Santa Cruz. Olivia studied healing arts at Cypress Health Institute in Santa Cruz, California and the Body Therapy Center in Palo Alto, California. She grew up a musician, and has played kulintang music since 2010, studying and performing with the late Master Danny Kalanduyan and his students. 

 

For over 25 years, Olivia has studied various martial arts and combat sports and is currently a purple belt in Brazilian Jiujitsu under Milton Bastos. She is also one of the facilitators for Survival Arts in the Bay Area, in addition to being a NASM certified personal trainer and Level 1 Precision Nutrition Coach.

 

Olivia is the proud momma to her son Kalayo, whom she raises with her wife Annie. Olivia’s life experiences help guide her desire to assist people in searching for their deeper meaning and purpose, and in achieving their full potential. 

 

Email: o.g.sawi@gmail.com

Instagram: @oliviaofdoom

Facebook: facebook.com/oliviaofdoom

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