We Rise

Today, on Nakba Day, we’re honored to share a very special interview with you. Nakba Day commemorates the mass displacement of Palestinians that began on May 15, 1948. “Nakba,” the Arabic word for “catastrophe,” refers to the forced expulsion of more than 750,000 Palestinians and the destruction and depopulation of over 500 Palestinian villages, towns, and cities by Zionist militias and, later, th...

In this episode, we dive into a powerful conversation about what it means to live in diaspora. As people whose homelands are shaped by ongoing struggle and displacement, we reflect on how living away from our ancestral lands informs our identities, relationships, and sense of belonging. Lubna & Tina illuminate our histories of migration and displacement from Falasteen & the islands known a...

In this episode of Rising For Our Motherlands , we take listeners on a guided tour of two of Oakland’s most powerful and politically significant murals: the Oakland to Palestine Solidarity Mural (completed in 2014) and the SUMUD: Resistance Until Liberation Mural at Uptown Body and Fender (completed in 2024). Oakland to Palestine Solidarity Mural In the first part of the episode, we walk listeners...

What does it mean to be  an artist for the people ? In this episode of Rising for Our Motherlands, we talk with muralists and cultural workers Cece Carpio and Chris “C” Gazaleh about making art in movement spaces — from the Philippines and Palestine to the murals that filled downtown Oakland after the George Floyd uprisings. Cece Carpio uses acrylic, ink, aerosol, and installations to tell stories...

In this episode, we traveled north to Remagination Farm on Eastern Pomo and Lake Miwok land—also known as Kelseyville, CA—ancestral homelands of the Pomo people. There, we had the profound honor of sitting with Dr. Robyn Magalit Rodriguez, whose life and work reflect a deeply powerful and life-altering return to the land. For so many of us rooted in homeland struggles, this return is a dream—an ac...

In this episode we speak to Nadia Barhoum, founder of Thurayya - an initiative to cultivate Palestinians seeds and keep Palestinian crops alive in diaspora. We traveled to her farm in Petaluma where we were able to sit down and talk about what farming means, the significance of seed saving and the dream to build spaces for Palestinians to exist within each other. ABOUT NADIA Nadia Barhoum is the f...

Rising For Our Motherlands is a project born from deep commitments to our people, our homelands, and to one another. This episode features a conversation between friend, kasama, and early collaborator of Rising For Our Motherlands, Nadya Tannous, and co-host nicky, as they reflect on their pivot points, their shared history of organizing, and what it means to build across movements and motherlands...

Rising For Our Motherlands is a podcast about our love for our people, our lands, each other. Our first season draws connections from Palestine to the Philippines and illuminates our interconnected struggles. In this first episode, we introduce the vision and power behind Rising for Our Motherlands . You’ll get to know our hosts, Maisa and nicky — with a special cameo from our audio producer, Cat...

In the Spring, the Herring Protectors -- an Indigenous women-led grassroots movement -- invited We Rise and our friends at Movement Generation to what is known as Sitka, Alaska or Sheet'ká Kwáan for the yaaw koo.eex, a Lingit ceremony honoring the herring and Lingit ways of life. In the last episode of this series, we return to Totem Square with Louise, honorary Movement Generation member Ila, the...

In the Spring, the Herring Protectors -- an Indigenous women-led grassroots movement -- invited We Rise and our friends at Movement Generation to what is known as Sitka, Alaska or Sheet'ká Kwáan for the yaaw koo.eex, a Lingit ceremony honoring the herring and Lingit ways of life. In part two, we spend most of our time with the Kaayani Sisters Council, led by indigenous women wisdom keepers, learni...

In the Spring, the Herring Protectors -- an Indigenous women-led grassroots movement -- invited We Rise and our friends at Movement Generation to what is known as Sitka, Alaska or Sheet'ká Kwáan for the yaaw koo.eex, a Lingit ceremony honoring the herring and Lingit ways of life. In this series, we share teachings from our time together in Sheet'ká Kwáan. We honor grief, confront colonialism, navi...

Rising For Our Motherlands is a podcast series about our love for our homelands, our people, and each other. Our pilot season draws connections from Palestine to The Philippines, and illuminates our interconnected struggles in our homelands and as people in diaspora. In this series we will dig deep into our roots as artists and organizers, building political resistance to oppression, granddaughter...

Live from Oakland International Airport, members of AROC (Arab Resource & Organizing Center) Action, Bay Area PYM (Palestinian Youth Movement) & the US Palestinian Community Network (USPCN), along with other local leaders, gathered in solidarity demanding an end to all shipments of military cargo from ports of Oakland to Israel and an Oakland Arms Embargo on Israel. We Rise joined to docum...

In early May, on the morning of the kuu.éex --a nightlong ceremony in celebration of Tlingit ways of life, to honor relatives, and in this specific gathering, the herring -- we circled round a coffee table, folks on the floor, in chairs, cozied up on the couch and listened to Deloole & Rochelle talk about protecting Indigenous sovereignty in the Yukon river water shed. They share about the imp...

In autumn of 2024, a diverse crowd of artists, activists, and community members gathered at the New Parkway Theater on occupied Ohlone land known as Huchiun for a private screening co-hosted by the Center for Cultural Power and Movement Generation. Excited to immerse themselves in stories of climate justice, the audience came for the debut of two short films: Remembering Our Way Forward by Lily Xi...

Enero Zapatista is an autonomously organized month-long series of events commemorating the Zapatistas' January 1st 1994 uprising. The aim of the events is to gather and form connections through Zapatismo and the Zapatista struggle, across calendars and geographies. We Rise has been attending these events all month to record and document the series. On this episode, we bring you this timely convers...

Welcome to the third and final episode from our Crosspollination community block party series Roots of Justice: Protecting the Land, Protecting the People . As you probably know, we’re sharing this event out in 3 episodes. You can listen to episodes 54 and 55 to hear the beautiful opening ritual and the first part of the conversation with our panelists: moderator, Dr. Rupa Marya, and speakers Laye...

Welcome to part two of our final iteration of the Crosspollination community block party series Roots of Justice: Protecting the Land, Protecting the People . Because of the fullness of the dialogue, we’re sharing this event out in 3 episodes.  Listen to episode 54 to hear the beautiful opening ritual, featuring musical artists Sam and Nikbo, and our own co-director, co-conspirator nicky. We’re so...

In this political moment, we are so grateful to share with you the final episodes of our Crosspollination series. In these transformational times of simultaneous pain and potential, may we continue to weave & fortify our relationships with ourselves, each other, our ancestors, with land, with water and the other beings that call this earth home.  May these conversations support you and your lo...

La Madre Tiarra of Auspicious Acoustics introduces Blessed Assurance: Auspicious Acoustics grassroots fundraising initiative for their work with the Parents, Families, Caregivers and Loved Ones of Ascended Young Ones, aka The Angel Baby Constellations (ABCs). We Rise invites you to listen to our dear friend & collaborator, Tiarra as she shares about her beloved Angel 🌸Cherry🌸, her personal i...

Welcome to this conversation between Co-founder, Layel Camargo, Wellness Practitioner, Erica Gibbons & Artist in Residence and Somatic Scribber Kate Morales, of Shelterwood Collective. We Rise is honored to be in community with Shelterwood, a queer, trans, black, indigenous, people of color-led land stewardship project located on unceded Kashia and Southern Pomo territory in so-called Cazadero...

Welcome to part two of our recording from our June 8th Crosspollination community block party, Diasporic Care: We Show Up for Each Other .  Because we had so many incredible guest speakers on our panel, we are breaking this conversation up into parts one & two. If you missed part one, we highly encourage you to listen to We Rise podcast episode 50, Diasporic Care , which includes a beautiful o...

Diasporic Care: We Show Up for Each Other Welcome to Part 1 of 2 of this live recording from our Crosspollination community block party series. This event took place on June 8th, 2024. This episode features our opening prayer* with Dr. Uzo Nwankpa , & the beginning of our speakers panel, featuring the brilliant hearts & minds of: Sarah O'Neal, Oakland-based poet & organizer Lubna Morra...

Join Layla K. Feghali of River Rose Remembrance & Iman Labanieh of Baylasan Botanicals for a timely conversation about Layla's newly released book, The Land in Our Bones . Highlighting lineages of herbal resilience, diasporic stewardship, and unraveling the rippling impacts of colonial violence on our earth and communities, this book about people and traditions of the Levant offers relevant fo...

Crosspollination is a block party series created by We Rise Production with the purpose of strengthening and deepening existing connections and initiating new ones, after the changing culture and community landscape Oakland experienced in years of social distancing and pandemic. Our themes will deepen into an exploration of how WE TAKE CARE OF US. We Take Care of Us is a phrase that comes out of B...