Content Warning: death, grief. For multiply marginalized people, dealing with death in our communities due to institutional violence, mental health crises, war, and chronic/terminal illness is just a reality of our lives. For me, creating grief ceremonies and offering spiritual counsel to the bereaved is part of my healing justice practice. On top of that, […]
Archive | Blog
RSS feed for this sectionFresh Friday: Niyog
Image Description: A black-and-white ink drawing of a coconut tree. The roots of the tree are entwined with a giant humanoid skull and a skeleton of a serpentine creature with wings. The word NIYOG is off-centre, with the “I” being represented by the trunk of the coconut tree. At the top left corner is Lukayo’s […]
Throwback Thursday: Why I Wear Black
I had other pieces I wanted to release this week on Thursday and Friday, but due to the death in the Ontario pagan community, I’m moved to post my poems on grief. Consider this your content warning. (The original piece was written in the summer of 2009 and called “Slam Noir”. This is the updated […]
Workshop Wednesday: Calling Out and Calling In
Both posters were made using Canva. This Workshop Wednesday, we’re going to explore the tricky subject of call-outs and call-ins, a.k.a. giving feedback, using the two posters above. Here’s what we’re going to cover: Where these posters came from Benefits of using these posters How to explain these posters Problems and controversies with these posters […]
Troubleshoot Tuesday: 3 Tips on Dealing with “The Other Place” Derailment in a North American Context
There you are, a facilitator in Canada or the United States, sitting in a circle or at the front of a classroom, explaining the history of oppression and colonialism, or why racism and white supremacy is basically synonymous, when someone raises their hand– or often times straight up interrupts you: “But what about China’s history […]
Musings Monday: Nanay Myrna Pula
Photo taken from the Manila Times: https://www.manilatimes.net/manila-collectible-features-…/…/. Image description: A smiling brown-skinned woman with black hair wearing beaded and hand-stitched regalia. The word “Nanay” means “mother”, and is a kind of honorific when referring to Nanay Myrna Pula. She is a tribal Elder of the T’Boli people, a culture bearer, and storyteller of epics. She […]
Fresh Friday: To the Waters & the Wild
New song and artwork! Fun fact: This song actually came to me in a dream from my Ancestors. I was watching a music video in the dream, and I was shocked to discover that the video was of myself, performing this exact song with a pop punk band. When I woke up, I remembered most […]
Throwback Thursday: Confessional
Note: The original was written in 2006 but this is the updated 2018 version. Content warning: gender dysphoria, cisgenderism, allusion to sexual assault This room is my confessional And you are all my witnesses That I am afraid – I am fucking terrified To be…a woman That I am terrified I’ll never be a good […]
Workshop Wednesday: Anti-Oppression Learning Tools
In any anti-oppression workshop you’re giving, remember that you have to teach your participants the following: What is privilege and oppression? How can I be less oppressive? How can I be a good ally? How can I put on inclusive events? How can I make my group or organization less oppressive? How can my group […]
Troubleshoot Tuesday: 3 Ways to Learn The P-Word
Whether you’re running a presentation for your job, doing a workshop for your community, or trying to have a conversation with that “friend” (you know which one I’m talking about), you may have to struggle with explaining the word that gets 25% of people’s back’s up: privilege. (Note: I am not a statistician, so when […]