Free Minds Free People Free Minds Free People

At Free Minds Free People 2019, Sarah Ha, Taiyo Na, Noreen Rodríguez and Ed Cummurang sat down with mk to talk about their perspectives as Asian American, and Pacific Islander daughters and sons, students, and educators. The diversity of the communities, cultures and identities of people who are collectively referred to as Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, is named and demonstrated in their conversation. The topics range from the importance of disaggregating data to better see and respond to the experiences of students, the Model Minority Myth, whiteness and anti-Blackness, mental health and their personal experiences of ethnic studies (and life without it).

In this episode we bring you the voices from women that are organizers and mothers from across the country: MK, Liza, Erica, and Carolina. We cover what it means to be a mother and an organizer, the demands that are placed on organizing mothers, and the lessons that our children teach us about the world. We also visualize together the world that we need for our children, where a critical education, dignified housing, and a healed mother earth is necessary for communities to raise and take care of children. This episode was recorded at the 12 Years Free Exhibit during the 2019 Free Minds Free People Conference in the Twin Cities.

In part 2 of this episode , we continue to hear from Belinda, Lisa, and Okaikor, mk offers us Arundhati Roy's question of “What will we take in our little luggage through the portal of our current mass transition?” Belinda, Lisa and Okaikor both reflect on the conditions that allow systemic oppression to continue and share their thoughts on reimagining a more humanizing and just world.