June 2025 Issue 2
- Cultures Connecting
- Jun 15
- 5 min read
Radical Self-Care and Community Connections Workshop is on June 18th
The world may feel heavy for many of us with the dismantling of crucial federal agencies, ICE raids, attacks on protestors, and more. During this time of fear and uncertainty, it's easy to lose hope. This is why self-care and community connection is more important than ever.
By nurturing our emotional well-being, honoring personal sovereignty, and fostering a sense of community, we can better prepare ourselves to confront and counteract injustices. It is through these practices that we can maintain the bandwidth and capacity needed to continue advancing DEIB work, standing strong together, and making a lasting impact.
The second in our workshop series, Radical Self-Care and Community Connections, on Wednesday, June 18th at 9-12pm PT/12-3pm ET, will be an opportunity to connect and reflect so that you can learn how to re-energize to better care for ourselves and our communities.
The workshops in this series can be taken as a stand-alone or together. The third and last workshop in our series, Finding Hope in Uncertain Times, is on June 26th at 9-12pm PT. We hope you’ll join us!
Celebrate Juneteenth
Juneteenth was first established on June 19, 1865 when news of the Emancipation Proclamation reached Galveston, TX two and a half years later. Juneteenth became a federal holiday in 2021 but has been celebrated for over a century.
The abolishment of slavery has a long and complex history, which you can dive into in the educational video below by historians Karlos K. Hill and Soraya Field Fiorio.
There are events throughout Seattle and beyond to celebrate Juneteenth including the ones listed below. This is not an exhaustive list. Please visit the calendar list at the end of this newsletter and our community calendar for more Juneteenth events. If you know of any others we can add to our calendar, please let us know!
Culturally Responsive Practices for Black Students Pt. 4
We've been sharing this conversation between our co-founders Ilsa Govan and Caprice Hollins on culturally responsive practices for Black students in our newsletter issues. We are back with part 4, which is about acknowledgement and respect. Visit our blog to watch part 1 here, part 2 here, and part 3 here.
This conversation is from an interview Ilsa did with Caprice to help inform her current studies as a doctoral candidate in the Leadership for Learning program at the University of Washington.
Judy Lee is awarded 4Culture Grant for Art Project on Marginalized Bodies
Judy Lee, our Project Manager, was awarded at 2-year grant from 4Culture totaling over $14,000 for her next art project, Embodied Rebirth. This project is a multi-disciplinary, community centered project that explores the experiences of living in marginalized female and nonbinary bodies. An art show is scheduled in 2027 and will take visitors on a journey from empathizing with the individual-level pain of living in marginalized bodies, and the ways we contribute harm, to a proposed collective path to healing.
As part of Judy's community care advocacy work, she also secured $14,000 in project funding from 4Culture for the art gallery The Fishbowl, which centers queer, trans, and BIPOC artists, as well as successfully supported several other nonprofits through the grant writing process, including Seattle Stories, a first-person storytelling project designed to humanize unhoused Seattleites.
If you live in a marginalized female/non-binary body and are interested in participating in Embodied Rebirth, please reach out to Judy at webelongseattle@gmail.com.
Ways to Take Action for Change
No Kings Protest on June 14th
The No Kings Protest on June 14th is in response to Trump's plan to hold a military parade in Washington D.C. on this date, which is also Flag Day. Protests are planned throughout the U.S. and you can find your local event here.
The Seattle event is at Cal Anderson Park at 12:00-3:00pm. There will also be protests throughout the Puget Sound region including Kirkland, Federal Way, Everett, and beyond.
Mobilize Your Community to Stand Against ICE
Action Network is providing two Zoom sessions designed to help you learn how to mobilize your community to stand in solidarity against ICE. Click on one of the dates below to RSVP to the sessions:
Support the Immigrant Community with NWIRP
The Northwest Immigrant Rights Project (NWIRP) is holding a virtual session on June 24th to update us on the latest issues impacting our immigrant community. This will also include a brief Know Your Rights presentation.
The webinar will be in English from 5:00-5:45pm PT and in Spanish from 5:45- 6:30pm PT. Register here.
Healing in a Time of Chaos Workshop
Our colleague Karena L. Hooks is offering her workshop, Healing in a Time of Chaos: Releasing Resistance, on June 21st at 10-1pm PT / 1-4pm ET.
This virtual workshop is a space to pause, reflect, and release using talk, reflection and embodied practices to navigate these challenging times. Visit the event page to learn more and register! Sliding scale pricing available.
Working with Anger: Free Virtual Somatic Practice
Dara Silverman of Embodying Racial Justice is offering a free virtual workshop on feeling and moving our anger. In this session, you will practice feeling and allowing anger to run through the body and be with what arises.
Join the workshop on June 26 at 5pm PT/8pm ET by registering here on Zoom.
Upcoming DEIB/Social Justice Events
For details on these and other events, workshops and conferences happening in the social justice space, visit our Events Calendar. If you have an event you would like us to share, please reach out to us!
6/15: Duwamish Tribe: Climate Circles at Herons Nest
6/15: The Tender Work: An Ongoing Affinity Circle for People Identifying as White
6/17:Â Beyond Diversity 30th Anniversary with Glenn E. Singleton Austin
6/17:Â Race Forward: Building Racial Equity: Foundations Virtual
6/17:Â Disability Unbound: A Lecture Series
6/17: NAMI BIPOC Support Group
6/18:Â Advancing DEIB: Radical Self-Care and Community Connections*
6/18: Organizational DEI Audit Demo with Anima Leadership
6/18: Take Action to Mobilize Against ICE
6/18:Â Atlantic Street 24th Annual Juneteenth Celebration
6/19:Â 22nd Century Conference: Forging a People-Powered Democracy
6/19:Â NAAM Celebrate Juneteenth
6/19:Â Tukwila Juneteenth Commemoration
6/19:Â Juneteenth Festival at Jimi Hendrix Park
6/19:Â Celebrate Juneteenth at Mercerdale Park
6/19: SURJ Abolition Action Hour
6/19:Â Tacoma Juneteenth Commemoration
6/19:Â Creative Justice NW: Juneteenth Freedom Day
6/19: NAMI LGBTQ+ Support Group
6/20: Black Night Market
6/20:Â Take Action to Mobilize Against ICE
6/20: Juneteenth Community Celebration at WOW Gallery
6/21:Â Kent Juneteenth Celebration
6/21:Â Healing in a Time of Chaos: Releasing Resistance
6/21:Â 9th Annual Juneteenth Celebration at Othello Playground
6/21:Â Columbia City Night Market
6/22:Â Auburn Juneteenth Celebration
6/22:Â Songs of Black Folk at McCaw Hall
6/24: Race Forward: Decision-Making for Racial Equity
6/26:Â Freedom Lifted: Shared Power in Supervision
6/26:Â Advancing DEIB: Finding Hope in Uncertain Times*
6/26:Â Working with Anger: Free Virtual Somatic Practice
6/29:Â Seattle Pride Parade
...and so much more! Visit our Events Calendar to see the most up-to-date full schedule.
*Cultures Connecting workshops.