with Serpentina

Abortion is an ancient practice that has coexisted with birth throughout history. Despite colonial narratives framing abortion as a "sin," it has always been a part of the human experience. This knowledge share is designed to equip you with the skills and knowledge necessary to support your loved ones during their abortion journeys.

with Dr. Samuel Bautista Lazo

In this knowledge share, Dr. Samuel Bautista Lazo will guide us through the history of his people, the Benzaa (Cloud People), known to the western world as the Zapotecs. He will share indigenous perspectives and stories passed down from his grandparents that trace back to the last ice age. The Benzaa have been stewards of the central valley of Oaxaca for centuries, adapting to the natural and cosmic cycles they have experienced.

with Dr. Sarah Nahar

In order for complex life forms to survive on planet Earth, people—especially those of us responsible for contributing to climate changes and benefiting from global inequality—must make significant transformations to how we live at a basic level. Human survival depends on access to water and food. We have rightfully given considerable attention to these essential human needs. But we have given far less consideration to the equally essential human need to release excess water and food from our system through urination and defecation. The line of research that I am proposing here seeks to address issues of disproportionate water usage, and the dearth of dignified, sustainable sanitation options and systems.

with Dr. tayla shanaye

Somatics, from the Greek root SOMA, meaning the living body in wholeness is an ancient lifeway embedded in animality. How we survive is a bodily process. It's an organic unfolding. Civilization and the project of colonial modernity has sought to dislocate us from this truth to uphold the Cartesian duality of the mind/body split that allows for systemic dominance to take hold. This knowledge share is an exploration into the body as a site and location of liberation. It is an experiential decoupling from systemic dominance in order to awaken into pockets of freedom.

with Yara Dowani

Join us for a storytelling knowledge share about farming in Palestine. Since 2016, located in Bil’in, Palestine, Om Sleiman Farm has been more than just a CSA farm; it's been a vital space for Palestinian connection to the land while reclaiming spaces of imagination through collective resistance and regeneration.

with Dr. Sophia Stamatopoulou-Robbins

This knowledge share traces Palestinians’ experiences of waste in the West Bank, but it has ramifications for understanding all of the lands under Israeli control, including Gaza. I explore what Palestinians’ improvisations for mitigating the effects of what I call a “waste siege” can tell us about Palestinians' approaches to time and collectivity, and how thinking through the category of ecology can help us understand those approaches. My talk offers an analysis unusual in the study of Palestine: it begins with the environmental, infrastructural, and aesthetic context in which Palestinians forge their lives. It describes a series of conditions: from smelling wastes to negotiating military infrastructures, from biopolitical forms of settler colonial rule to experiences of governmental abandonment, from obvious targets of resistance to confusion over responsibility for the burdensome objects of daily life.

with Dr. Chris Duvall

This knowledge share moves beyond rumors to outline the plant’s documented history, which underscores the importance of African knowledge in the currently dominant uses of the plant worldwide. Pan-African experiences are complexly entwined in the plant’s past. If you know that cannabis can be a smoked drug, that is ancient African knowledge; water pipes were anciently invented in Africa; enslaved people from Central Africa carried the plant across the Atlantic, and their words for the plant survive in English; hemp industries in many countries depended upon enslaved people; commercial marijuana industries depend upon seeds taken from Africa. Historical experiences such as these have been forgotten in modern societies, despite robust evidence of the foundational importance of African knowledge in shaping global interactions with the plant.

with Vivien Sansour

Oftentimes when Palestinian farmers put seeds in the ground, they mutter a quiet prayer, “may we eat and may we feed others.” This and many other linguistically profound sayings provide a lens into a cultural design based on the idea that our survival as individuals is connected to the well-being and survival of our community.

with Dr. Lyla June Johnston

Contrary to popular belief, Indigenous Nations were active agents within the ecosystem and sculptured entire bio regions into edible landscapes. Whether it's periodically burning grassland ecosystems with low severity fires to maintain habitat for deer, buffalo, antelope, etc, or building intertidal rock walls that catch sediment and warmer waters to expand clam habitat, native people have a number of innovative strategies for scaling habitat for edible plants and animals whom they often view as relatives.

with Antonia Estela Pérez

Join Herban Cura founder and herbalist Antonia Estela Pérez for an IN PERSON plant identification walk along the Mahicantuck River (Hudson River) in Washington Heights, NY, where will be meeting edible and medicinal plants and trees growing along the river.

with Amanny Ahmad

Bread is sacred, bread is holy, bread is life. In Palestine, and in Islamic society in general, bread is treated with reverence. Throughout history though, many horrors have been linked to wheat and bread, specifically.  This has global implications as wheat fields occupy more land than any other crop.  Life or death waits for whichever population is given access to or deprived of it. In this knowledge share, we will learn about bread as a weapon, staff of life and staff of death. We will learn how people have shaped the wheat, and in turn the wheat shaped the dough, the land and the people.

with Dr. Mazin Qumsiyeh

The current genocide being committed on the Gaza strip is an ongoing case of the ways militaristic violence disposes of land and people. Our interests as environmentalists are the effects of war (including pre-war activities, active war, and post war impact). Here we review impacts on the Palestinian environment from activities since 1948 (establishment of the state of Israel): pre-occupation (such as training sites, military bases, military installation), during occupation (use of different munitions, pollution, altering habitats), and post-occupation (unexploded munitions, groundwater pollution, devastated landscape).

with Ria Ibrahim

While soy is an ancestral plant that humans have been in relationship to for thousands of years, with the rise of colonization, soy was commodified and became a cash crop, to this day soy continues to be exploited and abused, creating devastating impacts on ecologies such as the Amazon rainforest. How do we come back into right relationship with soy?

Join Ria as she shares her relationship and knowledge of historical and indigenous food preservation practices. Learn about tempeh preservation and fermentation from Lakawali, a village of South Sulawesi Indonesia. These traditions have been passed down through generations of Ria's family and her village, where soy has been a major protein source for thousands of years.

with Alaa Abu Asad

In this knowledge share we will start with ‘Wild Plants of Palestine’, which follows journeys of observational tours to collect photos and information about Palestinian flora, questioning the territorial extension of what is meant by the term “Palestinian”. The video-essay stands on insignificant topographical features of the (postcolonial) landscape in the West Bank. It also addresses photography as a practice and tool of distributing and restricting information at once.

Then we will move to an ongoing research called ‘The Dog Chased its Tail to Bite it Off’ on unwanted species, mainly known as invasive species. The reading in three acts traces the history of the Japanese Knotweed plant (Fallopia Japonica), actual policies, national campaigns of combat and control, social / economic / political effects, the conflation between natural and national history, and most importantly the language (whether verbal or visual) used when talking about the plant and other invasive species. It also imagines alternative ways of living with these species via raising questions about mass production ethics, exploitative forms of economy, and a common future. To be followed by a performative reading of the plant's history, and a Q&A session.

with Renée Camila

Within a dominant culture that is so conflicted about reproductive rights, it’s not surprising that many of us feel disconnected from our creative potential. Traditional knowledge understands the pelvic region as the seat of our power: a source of creation that connects us with ancestors, with our potential, and with the great mystery. This is where manifestation seeds, where we can draw upon the resilience of our lineages, and where we hope to heal insecurity.

During this workshop we will explore ways to work with Plant Spirit Medicine to connect, restore, and strengthen this sacred part of our bodies. We will unpack ways to work energetically with herbal medicine to clear a path for a spiritual, emotional, and spiritual fertility. This class is appropriate for anyone interested in birthing ideas, businesses, creative endeavors, revolutions, babies, and more. All bodies and genders welcome.

with Dr. Lila Sharif

This 2-hour knowledge share brings together an Indigenous perspective on olives from Palestine where they were cultivated over 7000 years ago. Moving from a studied analysis of the olive tree, we will explore plant preservation in the Palestinian diaspora, cooking practices geared at working people and moms inspired by Palestine’s olive oil, and an interactive session on the process of making and distributing olive oil in ways that are consistent with these thousands-year-old traditions brought to the world by our ancestors. We integrate joyful music sung at our October olive harvests in Palestine.

with Antonia Estela Pérez

Join us in Austin, Texas for a three hour IN PERSON knowledge share. Begin the new year learning how to make herbal tinctures and herbal teas to support our personal and collective resilience. During our three hour time together we will learn about and build relationships with many herbs that we can integrate into our daily lives. We will be weaving in observation, all of our senses and creativity as we create our own blends geared towards our own personal and community needs to support us in our stress, grief, and nervous system regulating. All participants will take home their own curated 4oz herbal tincture and herbal tea blend. This is a great workshop if you are just beginning your herbal journey or curious about learning to make herbal remedies. During our preparation time we have the honor of infusing our herbs with a DJ set by Fabi Reyna of Reyna Tropical.

with Arvolyn Hill

The life of Abolitionist Harriet Tubman is one of liberation and incredible ecological knowledge. Her relationship to the land and her understanding of bioregional herbalism was one of the many skills Harriet used in rescuing enslaved people. Harriet’s herbal practice was embedded in her journeys to liberation and are just becoming more commonly known. In this knowledge share we will learn about Tubman's role as one of the most important herbalists of her time while also learning ways to tap into and reclaim our own relationship with plants though developing deep plant connections and a bioregional herbalist approach.

with Maebh Aguilar

An exploration into what it means to hold Irish ancestry in the wake of colonialism. Who is really Irish? This knowledge will center Irish people of color in exploring their Irish heritage. Using thematic ancestral foods, plants, and animals from Ireland as guiding stars -- we will explore Irish history, socio-political context surrounding modern Irish identity, overlapping identities and foodways, solidarity movements between Irish people and global marginalized communities, and connections to land. Participants of all backgrounds are welcome.

with Sophie Strand

For most of human history, myth was a durable mode of knowledge transmission, kept alive and resilient by the breath-laced web of communal storytelling. Just as we plant a seed in soil, so were vital pieces of agricultural and ecological lore planted into stories that were built to survive environmental and social collapse.

Rejecting the antiseptic impulse of the dominant culture’s bent on exterminating alternative epistemologies, let us compost our favorite myths, folklore, and narratives with ecology, science, somatics, and poetry. Hijacking the tools of material reductionism for our feral creations, we can glimpse into the inner worlds of lichen, fungi, rainforests, and songbirds, understanding that the most important stories right now are always more-than-human.

Finally, let us retell cultural myths and personal stories knowing that, like an ark, they may carry our most precious relationships and seeds of practical wisdom, through the floodwaters and tectonic shifts of tomorrow.

With Antonia Estela Perez

In this 2 hour IN PERSON knowledge share we will be diving into the world of herbal teas and infusions, while being surrounded by water inspired artwork created by Rosemary Reyes. Water is one of the oldest and most accessible menstruums for preparing medicine and a wonderful way to begin your journey with plants. We will be learning how to prepare overnight herbal infusions to support your nervous system and overall well being, the difference between an infusion and decoction, and how to dry herbs in your home. Participants will leave our time together with their own personalized herbal tea blend.

with jiordi rosales

Over a century of fire suppression has changed California from a fire-ecology to a fire-climate; meaning its continued suppression and the fear it generates makes up the atmosphere we live in, the air (or smoke) we breathe. Inevitably, the fear inherent to climate catastrophe and impending wildfire evacuation impacts our ability to place-make and form the long-term relationships necessary for resilience. While growing numbers make the exodus out of the West to escape the smoke, we ask: What is right relationship to fire? How do we stay with the smoke and how do we orient to the timescape it is truly asking of us?

with Darich Perez

In this five hour in person knowledge share, we will learn to make four different fermented beverages; herbal sodas, ginger beer, kvass and mead. We will explore an array of fermentation techniques, harvesting wild yeast, lacto fermentation and how to incorporate in our fermentation practice. We will become intimate with our micro environment and learn to recognize them as part of us. We invite you to join us in using our intuition and our sensory ability to create and share what the invisible world of microorganisms is moving us to do. Each participant by the end of our time together will take home 3 different ferments to continue deepening relationship with them. We will spend 5 hours becoming deeply intimate with bacteria within us and outside of us.

with Kai Delgado Pfeifer

During this knowledge share we will explore Filipinx food as a medicine for our inter generational legacy of revolution & healing in living relationship with the land. We will explore the socio-economic conditions of why the Philippines is an agriculturally rich ancestral land yet most of our people are landless. In the past 50 years, the sacred plant of Rice who forms the foundation of our agricultural traditions has been especially harmed and distorted through legacies of imperialism and industrial genetic modification.

with Dori Midnight

As we prepare to open the gates to the Jewish new year, come dip a finger into the honey pot of ancestral wisdom about the magic of apples, honey and sweetness. We will relish in ancient texts, tales and sacred practices from the Talmud to the kitchen to the wilds, with our hearts, tongues and intuitions as guides. The workshop will be abundant with lush slides, delicious text study, optional break out rooms/personal reflection time, and collective, connective ritual practice. Join us as we re-enchant our honey drenched traditions to sweeten the paths towards healing and liberation for the year ahead.

with Dr. Sha'Mira Covington

In honor and appreciation of the history, knowledge, and leadership of Black farmers and land stewards, this knowledge share sheds light on the richness of Black culture in what is contemporarily called “sustainability”. The mainstream sustainability industry has purposefully excluded Black history from its teachings, but in a conversation about race and power, Sha’Mira illuminates how Blackness, spirituality, and sustainability are interconnected and a part of a long legacy of Black liberation praxis.

with Christine Mahoney

For many people the Caribbean is synonymous with boombastic music; bold flavors and a vibrant culture. However, most folks are not aware of the varying cultures and influences that create what we know as 'the Caribbean'. Through this knowledge share with will journey through the history of how Caribbean Food came to be.

with Dr. Kelsey Dayle John

Horses have been a part of human history, but we rarely ever consider a critical look at our horse/human relationships. This presentation will look at equine histories using a decolonial lens. Human/animal relationships play a significant role in helping us understand our own worldviews, and the structures and ideas that influence our relationships and interactions with the more than human world.