Cha with Laura and Leah

Sarinya is the founder of Angry Asian Womxn - an organization centering safety, wellness, and community for women/femmes/gender expansive folks affected by anti-Asian ra cism and/or Isl amophobia. She was also the first ever Asian woman firefighter in the FDNY. 

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 inspire...

Yeldā is a Brooklyn-based artist, author, and activist, known for women's rights and mental health advocacy. She is bilingual and multi-disciplinary. Her work focuses on identity, safety, and community. Yeldā is a celebrated voice of the Afghan diaspora, sharing stories of her culture and upbringing.

Welcome to 차 with Laura and Leah! Cha is a podcast and video series featuring conversations with our friends over tea. We are two ...

Mo is a Palestinian artist, author, digital creator, and father. He has been tireless in educating all of us on what is and has been happening in Palestine for 76+ years. 

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 t...

Solonje is lovingly known as the W33d Auntie, leading the fight for can nabis equity by putting community first. Solonje is a Brooklyn-based humanist, pleasure activist, and entrepreneur committed to carving out intentional space for marginalized voices in the world of w33d. 

Raised by Caribbean immigrants in the suburbs of Newton, Massachusetts, Solonje learned from an early age how to turn the things that made her stand out into a...

Sammy (they/them) is a multifaceted individual: a queer artist, writer, healer, sex worker, community organizer, caregiver, and friend. From a young age, Sammy took on a caregiving role when their mother was diagnosed with Parkinson’s, moving in with relatives as her condition progressed. Seeing their mother struggle with her health, Sammy naturally came into a role of caregiving, grounding themselves in gratitude while extending e...

Bianca is an award-winning sociologist, speaker, and author of Unassimilable. She is completing her PhD at Rice University, where she researches the intersections of race, religion, and politics. She is published in top academic journals and has been featured in major media outlets.

Over the last decade, Bianca has served Asian American community organizations and taught Asian American Studies. Through her work in academia and the ...

Kalaya'an 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 Fro...

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 cand...

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...

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...

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...

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 conversatio...

Kim (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...

Pam 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 P...

Nadia 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...

Joél 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 ...

Jungwon 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 Int...

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, Na...

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 ch...