Solidarity Is This Podcast - Cross-Racial Solidarity

How do we build and protect cross-racial solidarity for the long term? In this episode, co-host Adaku Utah explores this question with Alvina Wong (APEN); Anna Castro (Transgender Law Center); and Janis Rosheuvel (Building Movement Project).

ABOUT THE EPISODE GUESTS

Alvina Wong is the Basebuilding Director at the Asian Pacific Environmental Network (APEN). In her role, she supports strategy and capacity development for the local organizing projects in Oakland, Richmond and South Bay/Harbor Gateway Region of Los Angeles. Building member-led fights against pollution and displacement of low-income and working-class Asian immigrants and refugees while building their leadership within the environmental justice movement. They lead the teams in intergenerational organizing towards community governance and power at the neighborhood, city, and regional levels, and has led campaigns to stop evictions of SRO tenants and win major community benefits. As a somatics practitioner, she works to integrate healing modalities into organizing as a way to build deeper, more sustained power for our movements. Alvina began organizing in the Chinese immigrant community as an Eva Lowe Fellow at Chinese Progressive Association, San Francisco before starting as APEN Oakland's community organizer in 2012. Prior to this, she spent eight years in youth development around education access and youth incarceration issues. Alvina loves baking, the Pacific Ocean and reading graphic novels.
Anna Castro is the Principal Narrative Strategist at Transgender Law Center where they lead the Trans Agenda for Liberation Narrative Lab. Their ability to organize across movements developed when they served as communications and campaign lead at the ACLU of San Diego & Imperial Counties, Mi Familia Vota, and Transgender Law Center. Anna also worked with the SolidarityIs program at Building Movement Project where they trained on social change ecosystem roles and transformative solidarity practices.
Janis Rosheuvel is a Black immigrant who was born in Guyana, South America. She currently serves as the Executive Director of the Building Movement Project. For over two decades, Janis has organized with communities most impacted by injustice, following their lead and demanding just and right repair for past and ongoing harms. Previously, she helped to build strong collaborations and accountabilities in philanthropy at the Solidaire Network where she advanced a liberatory learning and evaluation process fostering deeper movement partnerships. At Solidaire she also helped raise and move over $40M to movement organizations working on a range of intersectional issues including racial and climate justice, land protection, sovereignty and stewardship, decarceration, housing and tenant rights, and reproductive justice.