Beloved Culture: a Philippine-American story of love of liberation

By Kristine Villanueva

On one hand, being Filipino-American means not fully knowing your roots, like the tribe your family first belonged to, what barangay your ancestors lived in. While this is a painful truth, it can also lead to finding new ways to keep the culture alive. In learning about my heritage, I felt more empowered to embody Filipinas in history who fought for liberation.

Self Care When Feeling Under Siege

By Denise Clay-Murray

At a time when you might feel under siege due to the world around you, taking a moment to show yourself some love is important. From an outwardly hostile presidential administration to the deaths of Black people at the hands of police against the backdrop of a global pandemic that hit Black and Brown communities disproportionately, finding ways to keep it together both physically and emotionally has become a priority for people of color.

Wellness entrepreneurs of Color; agents of change during pandemic

By Jos Duncan

A quest for healing led the mother of 3 to search inwardly for purpose and spirituality. By January of 2020, she and Kuan Young, a visual artist and photographer, had plans to open an indoor healing garden that would sprout more than 100 plants, a waterfall, sound bowls and welcome natural sunlight.

Essential Work: For Philly Artists, this past year was many things

This past year was many things. Every menacing adjective has been used to describe the novelty of this year, which was unlike any ever seen by most generations who care for this planet.

Many lines have been drawn throughout the course of this pandemic. The ones between young and old, sick and well, them and us, and notable for this meditation, essential and inessential.

When Self-Love Is Sanity: Free mental health courses to help you stay sane while standing up to racism

Challenging racism is exhausting. For Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and Asian communities, in particular, the pandemic has further unveiled racial disparities and systemic injustices in the United States. People of Color are often operating within spaces that uphold values rooted in white supremacy while being called upon to help solve diversity and equity issues. All of this, while dealing with their own personal, social, and cultural traumas… during a pandemic.

Reawakening: Bridging gaps to jumpstart life after incarceration

While Radee Hammett was incarcerated, he witnessed a tragic act of violence that shifted his perspective on the value of his life. He is now a community leader, who uses his experience with incarceration to bridge the gap between prison life and the outside.

Community Care in the time of COVID

Our capitalist-driven culture has promoted productivity, competition, and individual achievements as signifiers of success. We’ve been told, “if you want something done, do it yourself” and, “pull yourself up by your bootstraps.” We were taught that our ability to compete and achieve was where our self-worth lied. Then we realized we were dying inside.