Zina's Buqalah

Excerpt:

"We the 3arabs, the villains from distant lands in so many of your action films, the terrorists and their oppressed wives, the enemy of the free world and your human rights… those of us who apparently keep traumatizing the west, who will be asked to reassure you (time and time again), that yes we are on your side, that we didn’t all compulsively become monsters on Sept 11th, or that indeed, Islam does come from the word pe...

In this episode, we sit with Raheem Divine 🎙️ - a poet, journalist, sociologist & educator born & raised in Oakland, Califas. We spoke of the legacy of the Black Panther Party, the town’s charm & the ways it operates as a portal, the role of culture & the importance of a holistic approach in movement building & liberation. @raheemdivine ‘s work sheds a light on sex trafficking in her hometown, & the ways ...

This episode was recorded live at La Peña Cultural Center, as part of a benefit show for displaced families in Palestine, Sudan and Congo.

Podcasts guests include Turha'ak from Community Ready Corps, Tina of Gabriela Oakland, Maisa of the Palestinian Feminist Collective, Jesus from Stop Cop City Ohlone Lands, and Haneen of the Sudan Tapes Archive.

We’re continuing to build across nations & movements for liberation. We have...

This episode was recorded live on May 4th, at the Eastside Arts Alliance in Oakland, Califas - at the "Seeds of Resistance" benefit show. Juan from @burnthewagon and I had a vision - of bringing both of our podcasts to a live audience, on the same day. To amplify voices from different nations & liberation movements, because this political moment is really asking us to connect & build deeper. Really humbled to h...

A rich episode with Nadya Tannous, host of Arab Amp Folktales.

Nadya is a passionate community organizer, writer and researcher, born and raised in the Bay Area (Unceded Ohlone Territory), with a focus on refugee rights, inter-community empowerment, and returning land to the people and people returning to the land. She is a Creative Partner of Donkeysaddle Projects and is a member of the Arab.Amplify Team through Temescal Arts Cen...

In this episode, we hear from photographer and prison abolitionist Nick DeRenzi. He takes us back to his first days with a camera, and through the years as an artist, community organizer, and movement documenter. They say a photo can tell a thousand words, and Nick doesn't stop there. Listen in for a sneak peek of his upcoming film project, which is both a testament to the beauty and resilience of the Bay Area community and als...

In this episode, Vick takes us back to the beginnings of the Sogorea Te' Land Trust, breaks down the history and importance of shellmounds (sacred burial sites) for the Ohlone peoples, and calls on us to (re)build our relationship with the land. They take us back to the first missions that were built and the religious trauma that ensued for California natives. She gives us some insight into local resistance efforts, inspiring land ...

To kick off this season (an ode to those born and raised in the Bay Area), Khafre Jay takes the mic. He's a change-maker, community organizer, nonprofit worker, and Hip Hop Artist . As a Bay Area, Hunters Point activist fighting for racial and socioeconomic justice, he empowers community members to use their voices and resist structures of inequality—and he does so in large part through Hip Hop organizing. His passions for musi...

This season is for those born and raised in the Bay Area, for their stories, contributions and lived experiences. For their expectations and their demands; especially from those of us who are guests and settlers here. Guests will include artists, healers, educators, community organizers and culture workers. 

Tune in, follow this podcast on Instagram, and tell a friend or two. 

Beats produced by local artists and musicians...

This podcast is both a call to remember what’s always been sitting deep within our bones, and an invitation for new stories to emerge. It's an opportunity to speak ourselves and our futures into existence. It’s for the stories that you’d never hear about in school, for the words that move us along both in healing and liberation… and it’s most definitely a nod to our ancestors.

Shoutout to all the amazing guests (and artists) that m...

Edxi Betts is a Black, Blackfeet descended trans Pinay multi media insurrectionary artist and organizer. She is also a creator and self distributer of zines, as well as a published writer. She creates both art and media for the sake of propagating resistance culture, counter narrative, and collective liberatory projects that spark discourse, sources of healing, critical thought, dialogue, mutual aid and direct action. 

In this...

Jackie Fawn has always been drawing and at one point couldn't stop herself from drawing during her lunch breaks. Today, you can see her art all over Turtle Island... from street murals to café walls and t-shirts and across many indigenous-led frontline struggles. 

For me, this indigenous and Filipina (Yurok, Wasiw and Suriganonon) baddie is one of the most important visual artists of this generation. Jackie’s illustrative...

In this episode, Ashley breaks down the spiritual nature of birth keeping and what it means to carry the legacy of her granny midwife from the south. She calls to a collective remembering of the ancestral knowledge and practices that have been passed on for generations, and of deep breath practices that genuinely nourish us. 

We also talk poetry, slam circles, and the magic that happens in spaces where one feels truly seen and...

For this episode, I sat down with Victoria "Kiki" Fajardo of Studio X, a women of color owned and operated recording studio in Oakland, Califas. 

She is a recording and mixing engineer, an archivist in sound restoration and preservation. Her focus is in creating a great and comfortable recording and mixing environment where the creative process is collaborative and in the direction that you desire. Kiki shares that a focus in ...

In this episode, Dioganhdih (they/them) breaks down the process of self-releasing an entire hip hop album through their label Do it Ourselves Records. The 2-spirit indigenous lyricist, MC & producer, hailing from the Akwesasne Mohawk nation, speaks of the tensions at the border that is crossing their ancestral Haudenosaunee territory, of leaving and then coming home to the rez as a queer person, and the intentions behind starti...

Welcome to the 2nd episode of the first season of Zina's Buqalah! 

In this episode, I sat down with Diyala Shihadih of the Palestinian Youth Movement. Born and raised in the Bay Area, this Palestinian community organizer breaks down the history of the occupation of her homelands, the importance of stories and symbols (like the olive tree you can see painted across many murals like this one created by Black Panther OG Emory Dou...

We have Chirelle LeTrese as our guest for the first full episode of the first season of Zina's Buqalah.

And what a gift this first episode has been. We speak of collective story-making, connecting the physical to the spiritual, inner child healing, soul journeys, intersectionality, and how dominant culture has tried to erase our ancient memories while keeping us confined to single stories. 

She drops so many gems in this one. ...

Pronounced "Zeena's Boo-kaa-laa". A buqalah is a clay water pitcher used to tell the future, and the poem that is recited during the ritual. It's an ancient tradition held down by aunties, grandmas, and elders across Algeria today. The poems were recited in darija, an Algerian Arabic vernacular that remains a mystery to most foreigners. This has allowed my people to protect themselves against foreign occupation and colonization. Tu...