Kalaya'an Mendoza is a Queer, Hard of Hearing, Filipino American human rights defender, street medic, and community safety and mutual protection trainer. He is an award-winning facilitator of holistic safety and security, as well as a recognized expert in disaster preparedness. They currently reside on occupied Lenape land. Kalaya'an serves as the Director of US Programs at Nonviolent Peaceforce , and is the co-founder of Across Frontlines, an organization that works with frontline human rights ...
Jul 18, 2025•1 hr 11 min
Fred is a Yonkers, NY raised three-time New York Times and USA Today bestselling author. His books include a poetry collection, We Alive, Beloved and his most recent title, a YA novel, This Thing of Ours . Fred's writing and philanthropic work go hand-in-hand and he has been recognized by many organizations including Forbes 30 Under 30, Comic-Con, and The Root100 and has worked with fortune 500 companies and presidential candidates on their DEI efforts. Welcome to 차 with Laura and Leah! Cha is a...
Jul 18, 2025•1 hr 11 min
Rand, aka officialjakegyllenhalal, is a beloved voice in our movement for collective liberation. From LGBTQ+ rights to Free Palestine to resisting from within the belly of the beast, Rand has been committed to using her platform to educate and to inspire. She also reports for the Adalah Justice Project. In this episode, we talk about what community means and the importance of being curious about others. Rand also shares a couple stories from her visit to Palestine last summer. Rand's IG Rand's l...
Jul 02, 2025•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 100
Janea Brown is a liberation marketing strategist currently founding Earthlings Undone, a collective connecting frontline movements with content creators through proven systems. After building a successful influencer career (193K Instagram, 195K YouTube) working with brands like IKEA, Nike, Target, Janae walked away from her $400K annual income to investigate alternatives to oppressive systems. Having navigated 22+ jobs across seven industries, Janea now focuses on making anti-capitalist and deco...
Jun 30, 2025•52 min•Season 1Ep. 10
Cassandra is our Restie Bestie! She is a neurodivergent Vietnamese-Chinese daughter of refugees. As a somatic healing facilitator and liberatory rest educator, Cassandra guides tired and trauma-impacted organizations, communities, and individuals to rest. Cassandra's mission is to uplift rest as a necessary modality for collective healing and social change. Her holistic approach examines the cultural erasure of rest, integrates the spiritual as well as scientific pillars of rest, and helps peopl...
Jun 11, 2025•1 hr 6 min•Season 1Ep. 9
Suzy is a Palestinian-Californian fashion designer whose parents instilled in her a strong Palestinian identity. She has been drawn to traditional Palestinian clothing and textiles since her youth. After studying Fashion and Textile design at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, Suzy designed a modern interpretation of the traditional Palestinian thobe which was showcased at the UN headquarters in NY. Suzy uses Tatreez to bring about awareness and to share the beauty of Palestine. Her...
Jun 04, 2025•1 hr 3 min•Season 1Ep. 8
Devon is a father, musician, and educator committed to the fight for collective liberation. Our conversation is no holds barred when it comes to critiquing the systems that prop politicians and celebrities over the people. Devon’s moral clarity is at once inspiring and grounding - we are so grateful to be on this timeline together with him. Welcome to 차 with Laura and Leah! Cha is a podcast and video series featuring conversations with our friends over tea. We are two diasporic Korean women who ...
May 28, 2025•1 hr 7 min
Kim Saira (she/they) is a multidisciplinary artist, storyteller, sound bath practitioner, and community organizer exploring realms of community care through creativity and self-reflection. Welcome to 차 with Laura and Leah! Cha is a podcast and video series featuring conversations with our friends over tea. We are two diasporic Korean women who were inspired by Nina Simone's quote, “An artist’s duty is to reflect the times.” Cha is our offering to the collective and we hope our conversations insp...
May 26, 2025•1 hr
Pam Brown is a multi-faceted writer, activist, and wellness entrepreneur whose activism includes protesting the Iraq War with African American Women United for Peace & Justice, Occupy Wall Street, and the Occupy Student Debt Campaign. Pam was also the co-host of the WBAI/Pacifica Radio Morning Show and an adjunct professor of sociology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and The New School. Ever the academic, she has degrees in Philosophy, Media Studies, and Sociology. Pam traveled to Oc...
May 14, 2025•58 min
Nadia Irshaid Gilbert is Palestinian from the American south. She is a creative director, chef, immersive and visual artist, and storyteller. She is also a trained Reiki Master and embodiment facilitator. Nadia combines multiple modalities of study in her life’s work, producing visual media and facilitating multi-sensory experiences that invite us all to dive deep and transform. She believes in changing the world through our grounded, open hearted presence. Nadia’s food, presence, and spirit are...
May 07, 2025•59 min
Joél Leon also known as Joél L. Daniels, is a Bronx born and raised performer, father, author, and storyteller who writes and tells stories for Black people. Joél specializes in moderating and leading conversations surrounding race, masculinity, mental health, creativity, and the performing arts, with love at the center of his work and purpose. He is the author of Book About Things I Will Tell My Daughter, God Wears Durags, Too, and Everything and Nothing at Once: A Black Man's Reimagined Soundt...
May 01, 2025•1 hr 3 min
Jungwon Kim is an award-winning writer and cultural worker. She is also a communications leader, organizational strategy consultant, and journalist who has dedicated her professional life to human rights and environmental advocacy. As Head of Creative & Editorial at the Rainforest Alliance , she directed a multimedia team of writers, videographers, and graphic designers. Earlier in her career, she served as the editor of Amnesty International USA ’s human rights quarterly that featured the w...
Apr 23, 2025•1 hr 25 min
Our first guest on Cha is our friend, Naley by Nature. Naley is the founder of NaleybyNature , an independent project to document stories from different corners of the world. She is a filmmaker, producer, and writer and is currently working on bringing greater awareness of the Palestinian genocide to Western audiences. Born and raised in New York, Naley studied media and journalism at Iona College. With the rise in social media, Naley was drawn to all the perspectives traditional media fails to ...
Apr 17, 2025•49 min
Welcome to 차 with Laura and Leah! Cha is a podcast and video series featuring conversations with our friends over tea. We are two diasporic Korean women who were inspired by Nina Simone's quote, “An artist’s duty is to reflect the times.” Cha is our offering to the collective and we hope our conversations inspire you to start having meaningful dialogues and reflections with your own communities. So make sure to brew a pot of cha and join our conversations about art, spirituality, culture, and li...
Apr 17, 2025•16 min
Alexandra is a somatic artivist dedicated to liberation through somatic education and care, mahayoga, body temple dance, and ritual arts. Although we recorded this conversation a few months ago, everything we discuss is as relevant as ever, especially as we try to stay grounded amidst these times. Alexandra and I talk about our yoga practices, processing the grief of witnessing gen ocides, and community. Oh — and our shared love of the moon! TW: We talk about mental health issues including OCD, ...
Apr 17, 2025•56 min
Sarah is a Tony-winning performer, writer, and director and the host of the America, Who Hurt You? podcast. As a Black woman from a multicultural background, she is devoted to building a movement that promotes collective healing and affirmation for all people, starting with Black women and femmes. Our conversation was in the wake of the election results, and both Sarah and I were navigating the weight of what was to come. Sarah’s guidance to stay grounded through grief and fear is crucial for al...
Feb 06, 2025•1 hr
Some thoughts as we enter into this year. May we all find ourselves and one another. We’ll be back with full episodes soon. Let’s stay in touch: Substack or my blog
Jan 29, 2025•14 min
Jonathan is a father, writer, professor, astrologer, numerologist, and diviner. This was a magical conversation about so many real life issues through the lens of spirituality and through nerding out (in Jonathan’s words) about astrology. From politics to systemic oppression to spiritual practice, we exchange thoughts on all the intersecting aspects of being human. Jonathan gets real about his own emotional state post-election and we talk about the need to connect with those that we are in disag...
Dec 23, 2024•1 hr 16 min
Rolla is an award-winning filmmaker, a Sundance alumna, and a Palestinian American with deep, maternal roots in Jerusalem. She is the founder of the Safina Filmmaker Project, an initiative to raise the voices of Palestinian filmmakers through free artistic mentorship. We talk about what it takes to continue to ignore and be silent about the suffering and oppression of others, the way we as a society are lulled into complacency, and the hope we have in seeing the world come together as it has nev...
Dec 13, 2024•1 hr 3 min
Devon is a father, musician, and one of my favorite voices of collective liberation. At a moment in time where the divide and conquer method of the oppressor seems to be at an all-time high, Devon’s analysis on the need for moral consistency through all our various struggles is incredibly important. We talk about what it means to be living in a propagandized country and having empathy for those who are still asleep. Devon talks through the difference between performative “activism” versus truly ...
Dec 09, 2024•1 hr 21 min
Lena is a Palestinian Christian in the diaspora whose roots go back to Bethlehem. She is a mother, trauma therapist, and author. Our conversation weaves in and out of our thoughts about what true solidarity means, the way our relationships have changed over these last 14 months, and what being Palestinian means to Lena. As a mental health professional, Lena’s perspective on what motivates someone to speak versus stay silent is illuminating. As a Palestinian, her stories about her history and her...
Dec 04, 2024•1 hr 12 min
Alisha is a Korean adoptee, mother, therapist, and educator. She was born in South Korea, grew up in Michigan, and now lives in NYC, where she has a private practice and small-batch pasta business with her husband. Alisha was the Korean American Story 1st Place Winner earlier this year for her piece “ Loss, Love, and Liberation .” Alisha talks to us about growing up as a transracial adoptee in a small, rural town and the internalized whiteness that she started recognizing and healing from once s...
Nov 21, 2024•55 min
Sarinya was the first ever Asian woman firefighter in the FDNY and is the founder of Angry Asian Womxn, an organization centering safety, wellness, and community for women, femmes, and gender expansive folks affected by anti-Asian racism and Islamaphobia. Angry Asian Womxn is currently running a fundraiser for mutual aid to Gaza until 11/22/2024, and especially for any Sanrio lovers - I highly recommend checking it out! We talk about Sarinya’s experience almost stumbling into organizing as well ...
Nov 16, 2024•1 hr 3 min
Kiki is an author, illustrator, and geographer whose parents immigrated from Guatemala. Her book, Palestine 1492: A Report Back , takes us on a journey through history, geography, and political theory through the language of memoir. In our conversation, we share our personal stories about who we used to be, how we woke up, and who we are becoming. In this reflection, we emphasize the need for compassion, understanding, and forgiveness for those who don’t yet see the Truth. Kiki shares her though...
Nov 14, 2024•1 hr 22 min
Toi is an impact strategist and single mother to four boys. She is the founder of Loving Black Single Mothers , an organization creating ecosystems of care centering the needs and the support of Black single mothers. Through all of Toi’s work, she is building new ways of living, being, and caring for each other. We talk about motherhood and the nuclear family as institutions held up by the patriarchy, white supremacy, and capitalism. Toi directs us to identify where our issues, challenges, strug...
Nov 08, 2024•1 hr 3 min
Welcome back to the second half of our conversation with Mohamed, which brought me back into a feeling of being back at school learning from a beloved professor. I think this is an important piece of our work for liberation — the ability to be in beginner’s mind, to listen — truly listen — to one another. Mohamed at once describes the problems with our world as well as how we can work — together — to overcome, transform, and build anew. For those of us here on Turtle Island, there are real, tang...
Nov 04, 2024•53 min
Mohamed is a North African-Egyptian Muslim settler of color on Turtle Island. He is an interdisciplinary activist-scholar of Indigenous, Black, critical race, and Islamic studies, as well as gender, sexuality, abolition, and decolonization with extensive fieldwork experience in the Middle East-North Africa, Asia, and Turtle Island. He is a professor and the author of Islam & Anarchism: Relationships & Resonances . In this first part of our conversation, we discuss the meaning of identity...
Nov 01, 2024•56 min
So Yun is a Korean American filmmaker. Her debut film Liquor Store Dreams is an incredible and intimate portrayal of two Korean American children of liquor store owners in Koreatown, Los Angeles, who set out to bridge generational divides with their immigrant parents. The film pulls us back to the 1992 LA riots, which is a personal, heartbreaking childhood memory for many of us. In this conversation, So Yun shares that her inspiration and motivation in filmmaking is rooted in witnessing and expe...
Oct 25, 2024•1 hr 4 min
Briana is a liberation mentor, a speaker, an academic, an Earth minister ceremonialist, and so much more. She is on a mission to liberate herself, others, and the planet by returning to earth-wisdom and has created The Earth Temple’s Liberation Mystery School , a community of tender revolutionaries building new systems of liberation for all. In our conversation, we talk about the spiritual industrial complex — a world that we both know quite well — and how we can find ways to heal and resource o...
Oct 18, 2024•1 hr 35 min
Teresa is a mother, performer, yogi, and storyteller. Born in the Philippines, she emigrated to California as a child, but the motherland eventually called Teresa back. She now raises her 3 boys in Manila with her husband. We recorded our conversation in September 2024 with hopes of my publishing the episode ahead of the Global Mala Project , which was created with the mantra of uniting the global yoga community together with service and collective action. Aligned with the United Nation’s Intern...
Oct 14, 2024•1 hr 19 min
