Solidarity + Resources For Racial Justice
Posted On
06/03/20
Author
Dragons HQ
WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 156908 [post_author] => 1530 [post_date] => 2020-06-03 14:31:50 [post_date_gmt] => 2020-06-03 20:31:50 [post_content] => Dear Dragons Community, On Monday, May 25th—Memorial Day—George Floyd was murdered under the knee of a Minnesota police officer. In a country already reeling from the coronavirus pandemic, Floyd’s death compounded the pain of another open wound: the wound of American racism, an infection that has festered for 400 years. It oozes hatred and rage and violence. It blinds so many to the full, sacred humanity of Blackness. We write to you today to fight that infection. We know that Black Lives Matter. And in the words of instructor Caleb Brooks, “we know that George mattered, that he was imbued with the life force that every poet and theologian and artist and shaman has lived and died trying to translate into the broken languages by which we express our love and also our hate.” We write to grieve with you, and to join hands with you against the systems that killed George Floyd. We condemn the racist policies, white supremacy, and police brutality that killed George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, and innumerable others. White people and white-run organizations must actively work against the legacies of white supremacy, racism, settler colonialism, patriarchy and structural inequality upon which this country was built and that pervade the lives of Black and Brown people in the US every day. As an administrative team, we regret that it has taken us until now to make this statement publicly. We acknowledge that we benefit from these heinous legacies and have a responsibility to dismantle them. Our mission to build a just and equitable world requires sustained anti-racist action. We stand in solidarity with those demanding racial justice. We invite you, our community, to join us in the movement for sustainable transformation. Today, Dragons donated to Black Lives Matter 5280, a small organization on the front lines of the protest in Denver, near our headquarters. You can find more organizations to which our staff are donating, and more ways to get educated and involved below. The work of liberation is hard and at times may feel impossible. But, to echo James Baldwin, “in our time, as in every time, the impossible is the least that one can demand.” In solidarity, The Where There Be Dragons Administrative TeamRESOURCES TO GET EDUCATED AND INVOLVED
Thank you to Black-led activists who have created these resources, which we have pulled from various locations.READ
We encourage you to purchase your books from black-owned and African American-focused bookstores. You can find a list here.
06/03/20
Dragons HQ
WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 156516 [post_author] => 1530 [post_date] => 2020-03-11 10:04:38 [post_date_gmt] => 2020-03-11 16:04:38 [post_content] => We are filled with gratitude and excitement about announcing our first-ever U.S. based Dragons course. Introducing the Payahuunadü Nüümü Indigenous Nations Program, a 12-day course for Dragons and Nüümü students in California. This summer, eight Dragons students, ages 18-24, and four local Nüümü (Paiute) youth will learn together about Indigenous work to regain sovereignty over food, land, and water in Payahuunadü (Owens Valley, California). With a strong emphasis on developing tools for allyship, advocacy, and skills for social and environmental justice work, students will dive into topics like how to create good relations with the earth and human communities, Indigenous sovereignty over water, land, food and governance systems, and what decolonization would actually mean.Meet our brilliant course designers:
KRIS HOHAG
Kris Hohag is an educator, artist and native of the Owens Valley.Raised in Bishop as a citizen of the Bishop Paiute Tribe, Kris received his Bachelors degree in Sociology from the University of California, Irvine and his Master’s in Education in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Washington. His work has focused on language revitalization, youth leadership development, outdoor education and building bridges between diverse cultures to unite over our common love of water and land.A University and Rez-educated scholar and organizer, he initially built a solid reputation by working as a teacher in local schools and mentoring at-risk youth in Southern California, the Pacific Northwest and the Eastern Sierra. Over time and by example, he has proven to be an influential community voice while honing his chops as an entrepreneur and artist. Kris has worked with every tribal organization on his reservation serving Indian people across such central topics as education, economic development, language and culture, healthcare, and governance. He served a two year term on the Bishop Paiute Tribal Council, acting as Vice Chairman during 2014-2015. He currently sits on the Board of Directors for the local clinic in his community, Toiyabe Indian Health Project, as well as a rep for the statewide California Rural Indian Health Board. Several key projects he spearheaded or played a vital role in locally include the Bishop Tribal Youth Council; the Bishop Paiute Tribe’s Community Radio Station: KBPT 96.1 LPFM; the Eastern Sierra Writing Circle and Collective Language, a youth-oriented, monthly open mic and live show to build community and showcase local talent at the Wunut Novi Youth Media Arts Center. He is a founding member of the Payahuunadü Alliance, a grassroots family of stewards comprised of diverse voices united around a great love for the lands east of the Sierras known as Payahuunadü.KINSINTA JOSEPH
Kinsinta Joseph is the daughter of Patricia and Tom Joseph who met during the Klamath River Fish Wars of the late 1970’s. Her mother is Hupa (Na:tinixwe’) and Karuk from the Klamath and Trinity Rivers in Northern California. Her father is Nuumu and Newe from Pa’ha Gwae, the southern part of Payahuunadü (Owens Valley, CA). As a youth, she traveled across Native country with her parents and nine siblings, learning the importance of nation building. She grew up participating in social justice movements, spending much time at the state capitol trying to persuade the Governor’s office to restore the rivers, advocating humane policies towards our immigrant relatives and helping raise awareness of police brutality. Her family founded California Kitchen at Standing Rock, a movement to bring attention to the destruction that fossil fuels is admitting to the Earth. California Kitchen was organized to feed and house people through the cold winter. Kinsinta is the founder of PayaHupaWay, a Native Jewelry brand focusing on cultural activities such as gathering basket materials, reminding us of our connection to help restore the land. Payahupaway promotes a lifestyle grounded in songs and prayers that is reflective of her ancestral teachings. Kinsinta most importantly is a mother and a partner to a Nuumü man. They have been working on curriculum that prioritizes Nuumu Yadoha (Paiute Language) and Traditional Ecological Knowledge so that their daughter and future generations of Nuumü Youth have the opportunity to learn what is relevant to them, the community, and the Land. She is a founding member of the Payahuunadü Alliance, an indigenous-led grassroots team of stewards united around a great love for Payahuunadü.
CHARIS BOKE
B.A. English, Mills College; M.A. Social Sciences, University of Chicago; Ph.D. Anthropology, Cornell University Charis teaches with Dragons in Nepal and on Turtle Island (North America). In 2018, she completed her doctorate in cultural anthropology at Cornell University, where she studied, learned with, and wrote about herbalists, healers, and community organizers in the United States through an ethnographic lens. Her previous research as a student and Fulbright fellow in Nepal, between 2005 and 2009, focused on swayambhu or uTpati, self-arisen goddess worship sites. As an anthropologist, an herbalist, and a community organizer, Charis identifies as a scholar-practitioner, bringing these multiple perspectives on social justice and healing into her work as an educator. She draws on her background as an anthropologist of medicine, then environment, healing, and religion, and as a Buddhist practitioner whose attention to the world is shaped by the numinous and inexplicable. She seeks and makes magic alone and with groups, in the mountains and the deserts, always learning to listen better to what the earth has to say, a set of practices that she strives to share with others. She is also informed, in teaching and in life, by her long-term commitment to building socially and environmentally just relations. In that mode, she teaches as an “act of radical love,” to borrow bell hooks’ excellent phrase, seeking to guide students toward their own truest life-path through intellectual engagement and direct experience together. The broad goal of her work in and out of learning spaces is to provide people not only with historical and cultural frameworks to understand situations or places, but also with the relevant tools, experiences, and relationships to engage more deeply with the world we live in and all its challenges. She has deep roots in community organizing and activism, and sees her work as a mode of discovery not just about what our world contains, but about how to make it better. Learn more about sovereignty work and indigenous-led organizations:
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[post_title] => PRESENTING: THE INDIGENOUS SOVEREIGNTY PROGRAM IN PAYAHUUNADÜ [post_excerpt] => We are filled with gratitude and excitement about announcing our first-ever U.S. based Dragons course. Introducing the Payahuunadü Nüümü Indigenous Nations Program, a 12-day course for Dragons and Nüümü students in California. [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => open [ping_status] => open [post_password] => [post_name] => presenting-the-indigenous-sovereignty-program-in-payahuunadu [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2020-04-30 16:09:06 [post_modified_gmt] => 2020-04-30 22:09:06 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => https://www.wheretherebedragons.com/news/ [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw [categories] => Array ( [0] => WP_Term Object ( [term_id] => 653 [name] => Global Community [slug] => global_community [term_group] => 0 [term_taxonomy_id] => 653 [taxonomy] => category [description] => Featured International People, Places, Projects. [parent] => 0 [count] => 47 [filter] => raw [term_order] => 7 [cat_ID] => 653 [category_count] => 47 [category_description] => Featured International People, Places, Projects. [cat_name] => Global Community [category_nicename] => global_community [category_parent] => 0 [link] => https://www.wheretherebedragons.com/news/category/global_community/ ) [1] => WP_Term Object ( [term_id] => 640 [name] => Dragons Instructors [slug] => dragons_instructors [term_group] => 0 [term_taxonomy_id] => 640 [taxonomy] => category [description] => Featuring the words, projects, guidance and vision of the community of incredible staff that make Dragons what it is. [parent] => 0 [count] => 12 [filter] => raw [term_order] => 9 [cat_ID] => 640 [category_count] => 12 [category_description] => Featuring the words, projects, guidance and vision of the community of incredible staff that make Dragons what it is. [cat_name] => Dragons Instructors [category_nicename] => dragons_instructors [category_parent] => 0 [link] => https://www.wheretherebedragons.com/news/category/dragons_instructors/ ) [2] => WP_Term Object ( [term_id] => 651 [name] => Announcements [slug] => announcements [term_group] => 0 [term_taxonomy_id] => 651 [taxonomy] => category [description] => Announcements on: New Programs, Surveys, Jobs/Internships, Contests, & Behind-the-Scenes Activity. [parent] => 0 [count] => 25 [filter] => raw [term_order] => 15 [cat_ID] => 651 [category_count] => 25 [category_description] => Announcements on: New Programs, Surveys, Jobs/Internships, Contests, & Behind-the-Scenes Activity. [cat_name] => Announcements [category_nicename] => announcements [category_parent] => 0 ) ) [category_links] => Global Community, Dragons Instructors ... )03/11/20
Dragons HQ
WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 156242 [post_author] => 21 [post_date] => 2020-02-07 13:37:40 [post_date_gmt] => 2020-02-07 20:37:40 [post_content] =>![]()
Did you catch this episode of Dragons podcast featuring Dragons Instructor Rich Brown on the subject of migration between Guatemala and the US?
Bub Vernon (Dragons Indonesia Semester Alumni) and Rich Brown discuss:
02/07/20
Dragons HQ
WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 155475 [post_author] => 21 [post_date] => 2019-10-15 15:34:08 [post_date_gmt] => 2019-10-15 21:34:08 [post_content] => The following is an excerpt of a recent letter that Executive Director Reed Harwood sent to Dragons instructors, past and present. It offers some history on the new Bishop Paiute Scholarship, which is the result of a relationship between Dragons staff and the indigenous tribe that lives near the site of Dragons annual staff orientation in the Eastern Sierra Nevada mountains.![]()
Dear Instructor Community:
“I believe in gatherings” said Paul Chaves, a member of the Bishop Paiute Tribe. “And when you gather good people… that’s powerful. This is powerful.” We shared a canopy of stars, the dusty forest floor, and the piñon breeze. We gathered in the current and ancestral home of the Paiute: the Payahuunadu, aka the Owens River Valley, aka the annual site of Dragons Staff Orientation in the Eastern Sierra.
Dragons and the Bishop Paiute forged a connection in June of 2018, when a small group of Dragons instructors visited the Paiute tribe on their land in Bishop. The Dragons delegation had collected seeds from Bolivia, Peru, Guatemala, Madagascar, Thailand, India, Laos, and Mexico for the Paiute’s Food Sovereignty Program. Later that week, a small group of Paiute representatives visited Dragons Orientation at the mouth of Rock Creek. We broke bread, they wondered and laughed at our “Talent Show,” and in Paul’s words a “friendship and allyship” was born. This year, we again participated in their Food Sovereignty program. They shared a meal with us at the our orientation campground, performed traditional songs and spoken word poetry at our talent show, and returned the next day to sell artisan goods at our global market.
Paul told me the ancient myths of the condor and the eagle, and the connections between his people and the people where the Andean condor flies. His people have always been global travelers. “The Paiute are a sovereign nation,” he said, “and our voice is needed at the global table. We’re getting there, but our youth need more global perspective and connection.” I felt the call of reciprocity pulse through my body. The ancestral home of the Paiute has held us for decades, and the Dragons community can now support the Paiute in gaining access to global engagement.
This fall, the Dragons Fund created a scholarship: the Bishop Paiute Scholarship. This annually-awarded, full-ride scholarship will support Bishop Paiute youth on Dragons programs.
As a Dragons staff member, you have received inspiration and solace from the Payahuunadu, the land of the Paiute. You believe in the power of global education. You know how vital it is to have indigenous representation at the table, as we navigate the survival of our collective history.
Over the next four months, Courtney Zenner Campbell* and Briana Bellamy* will guide the Dragons Fund’s “Ten Scholarships in 2020” campaign, which includes our goal to provide one full-ride summer scholarship to a Bishop Paiute student. Their campaign is just beginning, and they will need your help. If the spirit moves you to support this scholarship, when donating, simply write “Bishop Paiute Scholarship” in the “Add Special Instructions” section.
You will hear from Briana and Courtney soon about this important initiative. Thank you, in advance, for considering this effort.
Reed
*Former Dragons instructors and administrators, Briana Bellamy and Courtney Zenner Campbell currently manage the Dragons Fund and its fall “Ten in 2020” campaign. Their goal is to raise money for ten full scholarships for students who could not otherwise afford to participate in a Dragons program. You can learn more about the Ten in 2020 campaign at www.DragonsFund.org, or by reaching out to Courtney ([email protected]) or Briana ([email protected], 510-990-0271).Ps. Want Dragons blog updates sent directly to your inbox? One email a week. Nothing markety. Unsubscribe any time. Subscribe to Dragons Blog and stay connected to the community. ❤️
[post_title] => Dragons ED, Reed Harwood, on Gatherings & The *New* Bishop Paiute Scholarship [post_excerpt] => An excerpt of a letter that Dragons Executive Director, Reed Harwood, sent to Dragons instructors to offer history on the new Bishop Paiute Scholarship... [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => open [ping_status] => open [post_password] => [post_name] => dragons-ed-reed-harwood-on-gatherings-the-new-bishop-paiute-scholarship [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2022-04-23 16:42:38 [post_modified_gmt] => 2022-04-23 22:42:38 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => https://www.wheretherebedragons.com/news/ [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw [categories] => Array ( [0] => WP_Term Object ( [term_id] => 641 [name] => About Dragons [slug] => about_dragons [term_group] => 0 [term_taxonomy_id] => 641 [taxonomy] => category [description] => Press, Essays from Admin, and Behind-the-Scenes HQ. [parent] => 0 [count] => 43 [filter] => raw [term_order] => 10 [cat_ID] => 641 [category_count] => 43 [category_description] => Press, Essays from Admin, and Behind-the-Scenes HQ. [cat_name] => About Dragons [category_nicename] => about_dragons [category_parent] => 0 [link] => https://www.wheretherebedragons.com/news/category/about_dragons/ ) [1] => WP_Term Object ( [term_id] => 651 [name] => Announcements [slug] => announcements [term_group] => 0 [term_taxonomy_id] => 651 [taxonomy] => category [description] => Announcements on: New Programs, Surveys, Jobs/Internships, Contests, & Behind-the-Scenes Activity. [parent] => 0 [count] => 25 [filter] => raw [term_order] => 15 [cat_ID] => 651 [category_count] => 25 [category_description] => Announcements on: New Programs, Surveys, Jobs/Internships, Contests, & Behind-the-Scenes Activity. [cat_name] => Announcements [category_nicename] => announcements [category_parent] => 0 [link] => https://www.wheretherebedragons.com/news/category/announcements/ ) ) [category_links] => About Dragons, Announcements )
10/15/19
Dragons HQ
WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 155148 [post_author] => 21 [post_date] => 2019-07-11 13:17:26 [post_date_gmt] => 2019-07-11 19:17:26 [post_content] => Dear Friends, Recently one of our dear friends and colleagues, Iván Nogales, passed away unexpectedly. Ivan was a true visionary, bringing theater and the arts to countless young people across Bolivia and beyond.Over the years, dozens of Dragons groups have passed through El Alto and collaborated with Teatro Trono in one form or another. If you had the unique opportunity of visiting this inspiring space and getting to know Trono through Dragons, please consider sharing a donation to keep this space open and accessible to others. These kinds of community partnerships are at the heart of what we do, and now we are called upon to give back to one of our core communities in Bolivia. This is what reciprocity, or Ayni, looks like!
Every donation, small or large, counts. Please consider contributing to our campaign to help keep Iván's legacy alive. ¡Que viva Teatro Trono!My deepest gratitude to all who are called and able to contribute and help spread the word. ¡Jallala Teatro Trono! ¡Jallalla Iván! Sincerely,![]()
From the GoFundMe Page:
"Iván Nogales was the founder of Teatro Trono and COMPA (Comunidad de Productores en los Artes) in El Alto, Bolivia, two initiatives that work to bring about social change through the arts and theater. Teatro Trono has touched the lives of countless young people, families, international students and visitors, and people around the world who believe in the transformational potential of artistic expression in all its forms.
We are launching a campaign in solidarity with the Trono community so that Iván's work and vision can live on. Teatro Trono provides workshops and community projects for low-incomes populations in La Paz and El Alto who otherwise would never have access to artistic outlets, including theater, music, dance, film and radio, and so much more. Trono runs two cultural centers in El Alto, poetic spaces built on the fringes of El Alto through decades of creativity, love, collective action, and recycled materials. Teatro Trono now finds itself in a moment of profound loss and restoration after Iván's passing, and needs our support in keeping Iván's vision alive."
Learn More or Donate to the ¡Viva Teatro Trono! In Loving Memory of Iván Project
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07/11/19
Julianne Chandler
WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 151754 [post_author] => 21 [post_date] => 2017-09-25 15:44:54 [post_date_gmt] => 2017-09-25 21:44:54 [post_content] =>Dragons Community Grant Fund
In an effort to give back to our incredible community partners, Where There Be Dragons manages Community Grant Fund. This fund awards grants to community organizations based on a comprehensive application process. Ultimately, the goal of the fund is to provide community organizations with financial support for local projects and to provide a mechanism for Dragons administration, instructors, and students to give back to the places that so generously welcome Dragons participants. All applications are reviewed by a Community Grant Fund Committee and awarded on an annual basis. The Dragons Community Grant Fund is supported by under-budget funds from student programming. At the end of each term, 100% of seasonal total under budget funds will be designated to support the Dragons Community Grant Fund.
Grant Proposal Guidelines
Giving Philosophy
Through community grants Where There Be Dragons hopes to help address needs and opportunities in the communities in which we work, and thereby better fulfill our organization’s mission statement and core values. Emphasis is placed on supporting projects that will have many beneficiaries, are community-oriented, and will have a continuing benefit to the community.Funding
Grants range from $500-$5,000 per applicant. Dragons reserves the right to adjust the amount awarded to grantees at their discretion.Eligibility Criteria:
Grants are available to any community member or community organization that meets all of the following criteria:
09/25/17
Dragons HQ