Voices on the Side

Cera is a Diné (aka Navajo) woman, artist, and creator whose love of her Native identity inspires her labor of social justice and her solidarity with all oppressed people. She is a wealth of indigenous wisdom and a keeper of Native narratives.

This conversation has stayed with me ever since we recorded it. There is so much I did not and do not know when it comes to the history and current events of our indigenous kin here on Turtle Island. I’ve known enough to not celebrate Thanksgiving, but not enough to understand that our Native population continue to be systemically harmed and erased. 

Cera speaks with such love for her nation and clan and reminds us that Native people are not a monolith. She challenges stereotypes and the limited concept of the biological family, and explains the direct connection between Palestinians and Native Americans. She is unapologetic and unwavering in speaking up for the liberation of all. Her love of humanity and community is ever clear. 

I do want to offer a *trigger warning* that we discuss crimes and brutality against Native people, a fact that is too often ignored or denied. I believe these are stories that we, especially those of us who are guests on this land, all need to be aware of. It is only through awareness that we can effect change.

We talk about the horrors of “boarding schools,” the mass harm of Native women, and Hwéeldi — the Long Walk. Cera shares so much on her platforms, and it was incredibly illuminating to have this conversation with her.

P.S. My introduction here is the longest yet, so if you want to get right to the conversation, fast forward about 15 minutes!

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Yejin is the cutest comrade you could ask for in the movement for collective liberation. Through her clarity, honesty, and TikTok dances, she makes anti-oppression work look simply irresistible. They are also an equity and justice coach, consultant, and practitioner in service of community care.

This is such a joyful conversation, which is a testament to Yejin’s expert ability to guide connections and hold space. We laugh a lot, which I feel like I sometimes need to be given permission to do during such painful times for our kin throughout the globe. Yejin talks to us about translating shame into a new way of being, rather than staying stuck in feeling angry or disconnected.

We talk about our respective experiences in re-identifying with Koreanness, defying stereotypes, and arriving to Truth — even if that arrival feels too late. 

Our conversation went long so I’m offering an extra 20 minutes over on Patreon (free 7-day trial), where Yejin talks about going private on Instagram (she’s currently public as she fundraises for Yamen’s family so follow her now!) and unmasking from her neurodivergence. 

Enjoy the cutest and most chaotic — Yejin.

Cami is an author, artist, and embodiment practitioner dedicated to creating networks of care and livable futures. Their book Tending Grief is an embodied guide to being with grief individually and in community through practical exercises, decolonized rituals, and Earth-based medicines for healing.  

Our conversation is a compass for how to move forward in radical honesty and hope as we find ourselves living in, as Cami says, these Babylonian times. We talk about the normalization of numbness and the various flavors of supremacy, and we compare our experiences in the US and the UK. 

Cami talks to us about growing up in a spiritual family and with an early pull to social justice. I love their somatic wisdom, their framing of grief as generative, and their call for us all to be in community.
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Judy is a certified hypnotherapist, mindfulness and meditation practitioner, somatic activated healer, and psych researcher. Our conversation touched upon so many experiences and thoughts, frequently through the lens of our shared Korean roots.

I want to offer a trigger warning for this episode as we talk about mental illness including suicidal ideation and childhood abuse. Although we talk about these topics in the context of our survival and healing, I recognize that it may not be comfortable for everyone.

Judy explains the theory of the orchid child versus the dandelion child, which looks at how siblings raised in the same household can be affected completely differently from each other. We also discuss the idea that western therapies are not designed for eastern minds and the need for cultural competency within any healing path. Judy helps us understand how hypnosis works to heal, and I love that we ultimately land on the thought that individual healing has to happen within communal healing. As ever, we realize that we are all connected.

Over on our Patreon, I’ve included a slightly extended episode where at the very end, Judy leaves us with some regulating exercises that you can try. You can sign up for a free 7-day trial to check it out, and let us know in Apple Podcast Reviews what other bonus content you might enjoy that we can bring you on Patreon!

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Joon is a hospital chaplain, author, but perhaps most importantly — a father. A fellow Korean American, we share and understand a lot of each other’s experiences growing up with immigrant parents, in the ever liminal third space between cultures and identities. We talk about the contradictions of our culture, with a history of aligning with the oppressed amidst the continued toxic elements of collectivism such as overbearing authority. 

I want to offer a trigger warning for this episode as we talk openly about mental illness including PTSD as well as abuse. We share some painful memories and Joon expresses that it is hard for someone with PTSD to give into joy, and in these moments of the conversation, there is gratitude in having survived and in breaking the cycle alongside all the heartache we continue to hold and live with. 
I believe in the healing power of connection and in saying out loud what happened to you. We talk about these serious issues with compassion and understanding, and I deeply hope that this episode will help others.
Joon’s book — As Long As You Need — is about grief, something we all experience, perhaps never more so consistently and collectively than over these last 10 months. He talks about the dehumanizing impact of oppressors hijacking the grief of the oppressed and the important role of grief in our liberation. 

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Rev. Mo is an interfaith minister, meditation teacher, and trained clairvoyant. Mo also intentionally goes by another name, Hilal, the story of which he shares in the episode. 

Mo is Palestinian Bahraini, and we talk about his experience navigating his layered identity, from his grandparents having been displaced in 1948 to continually being in a constant state of immigration and exile. 

This is a spiritually uplifting conversation, with Mo encouraging us all to trust our inherent intuitive abilities while recognizing the dichotomy of our very existence as spirit in body. It’s an ongoing loop of tension but Mo reminds us that the more we decolonize our hearts and our minds, the clearer our actions will become in order to liberate ourselves and each other. 

As a bonus, I will be booking a reading with Mo soon and I will share parts of it on my Patreon to give you a glimpse of his work as a clairvoyant. In the meantime, please enjoy the celestial human that is — Mo. 

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Voices on the Side with Leah Kim is a podcast centering marginalized identities as an antidote to oppression and supremacy. We invite a variety of guests to be in conversation together, from revolutionary thinkers, writers, and artists to folks and friends sharing stories rooted in their personal history. 

We share our hope in imagining a freer and safer future for all — an existence that is rooted less in individuality and more in community. Our themes include collective liberation, decolonization, and solidarity with the oppressed. 

If you’re enjoying and learning from our show, please consider rating, reviewing, and following. You can also support us on our Patreon and follow Leah on Instagram.

Tiffany is an artist whose work is centered on liberation. Through her painting, writing, and music, she leads with so much love for humanity. She reminds us that hope is a discipline, no different to the discipline and practice that goes into any creative process.

We talk about what it means to truly be in community, and how challenging this can be while we are beholden to existing in oppressive systems. Tiffany challenges the model minority myth (and even made a T-shirt!) and how this separation of marginalized identities creates and upholds harm. 

Our conversation also dives into lots of feelings, from collective horror as we bear witness to what is happening in Palestine, Congo, Sudan, and elsewhere in the world to the impact of unhealed trauma to how we imagine and create a more sustainable world. Tiffany talks about the importance of building the capacity to hold our heartbreaks alongside our hope — together.

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Paris is a mother, yoga teacher, and doctor. Born in Russia of Iranian descent, Paris has Muslim and Jewish family while she herself is a practicing Hindu. Perhaps this is why she embodies tolerance through different identities and ideologies. 

Amidst a resounding silence throughout the yoga and wellness world, Paris has been a steady and unapologetic voice for humanity. In our conversation, we talk about the rupture that is happening when people who consider themselves spiritual turn away from the live-streamed suffering of others. We talk about this being colonial spirituality, extracted from its cultural context and roots, rife with toxic positivity and spiritual bypassing. 

Paris explains that it is precisely because of her yoga practice and study of yoga principles that she feels she must center the oppressed and call for the liberation of all. It is the difference between being connected to your heart and coming from ego. 

Please enjoy the at once down-to-earth and ethereal — Paris. 

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Joon Ae is a Korean adoptee, mother, and writer. Estranged from her adoptive family, community means everything to her. She cultivates intersectional and justice-centered spaces such as Constellation and Voices and recently held an auction for the Abu Dayer family to escape genocide. If you enjoy and learn anything from this episode, please consider donating — even $1 helps.

Joon Ae and I talk about the need to de-normalize adoption and the beauty of a chosen family, and she refers to Kit Myers’ forthcoming book, The Violence of Love. We also talk about trauma and trauma mining. For our extended conversation on mental health, please consider joining the podcast’s Patreon, starting at just $3.

We challenge the existing systems of oppressive ideologies and academia, and Joon Ae reminds us of the importance of also envisioning and creating what could be. Abolition isn’t just an ending…it’s a beginning of something different. 

Please enjoy the vibrant and honest — Joon Ae.

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