South Queens Women's March

Join us virtually on Tuesday, September 24 at 6pm as we host guest speakers William Barreto and Amanda Valiente in a workshop to educate on the relevance of sales skills beyond traditional sales roles and explore the practical applications of techniques in personal and professional life that will enable effectiveness and success. To register visit tinyurl.com/sqwmsales ! This discussion will be moderated by our Co-Director of Youth and Professsional Development Programs Nicole C. !

Last Thursday we held our mid-year re-vision board event! Participants joined us to revisit their intentions and goals for the year - because it’s never too late for that. At the event, which was led by our art director Amelia, we took the time to discuss the importance of checking in on our goals and setting intentions for what we’d like to achieve for the remainder of the year! We also wrote letters to ourselves to open on December 31. Thank you to all the participants of this event for making it as special as it was. Check the last slide for a special SQWM vision board that each participant contributed to 💕 📸: Angelie Ragnauth for South Queens Women’s March

Last week, our team members Debora Chaitlall and Nerissa Martinez participated in the APIAVote Leadership Summit and Presidential Town Hall in Philadelphia, PA along with APA Voice NY! At the Leadership Summit, we attended informative panels to gain perspective and strategy on how to most effectively engage with members of our community, especially that of Asian Americans! We learned the importance of building trust and relationships within our community through initiatives, programs, and resources. At the Presidential Town Hall, we heard from local and national leaders including Representative Judy Chu, and Vice President Kamala Harris where they discussed the importance of AANHPI visibility and participation in the upcoming general election. We at SQWM are very grateful to both @apavoicenewyork & @apiavote for the opportunity to participate in these initiatives and conversations surrounding civic engagement in our communities! #vote2024 #nycvotes #aapivisibility #election2024 #apavoicenewyork #civicengagement

In June, Parnita Basnet and Tahiyah Hussain, members of South Queens Women’s March and APA Voice attended the conference “New York Redistricting: What Happened and What’s Next?” The conference explored what the 2014 constitutional amendment changed for the redistricting system, the chaos it led to, and lastly what changes and constitutional reform are needed before 2030. Mohamed Amin from the Caribbean Equality Project discussed how Richmond Hill and South Ozone were fractured into multiple assembly districts, proving how redistricting is a racial and immigrant rights issue. He explained how the community gathered and organized, wrote Op-Ed’s and met with over 35 assembly members to demand inclusive, representative, and fair maps. However, their voices were silenced and ignored by the Independent Redistricting Commission. “We must explore strategies to reform the IRC. Historically, black and brown communities are the ones to continue to experience racial gerrymandering,” said Amin. Some ideas for reform included creating and accepting shared guidelines that communities should be mappable, recognizable, identified ahead of time, and cannot be created to solely further political interests. Liz OuYang from APA Voice emphasized that there needs to be a truly independent commission where legislature can not have the final say in the maps. OuYang also exclaimed the need for the IRC to account for the diversity of NYC. “It should not take the court a special master to have communities be respected and heard,” said OuYang.

On June 22, we partnered with Abuela Neighborhood Maintenance to clean up Liberty Avenue in South Richmond Hill! For a long time, we have been hearing complaints about the amount of litter and garbage strewn along this Avenue and we wanted to do our part to keep it clean. Together our volunteers joined Abuela Neighborhood Maintenance to pick up many full bags of garbage all while in a scorching heatwave. We are grateful that these efforts are supported by NYC Council Speaker Adrienne Adams who has been a steadfast supporter of our community cleanups for years. A special thanks to Angela Miskis and her team for ensuring we all had what we needed to make this cleanup successful. We can’t wait to do this again!

Ever been to a sound bath? The act of a sound bath can recalibrate how the body exists among all of the disruptions of life, making you feel more relaxed and calm. We all could use some of this! This month’s South Queens Women's March Feel Good Friday will be a free virtual healing sound bath by Luciann Berrios, also know as 2 Feathers! Luciann, who is from Queens herself, is a reiki master, internationally certified meditation guide and sound practitioner. We are so excited to host this workshop facilitated by Luciann. Join us on May 31 at 6:30pm. To register, visit the link: tinyurl.com/sqwmfeelgood to secure your spot! About our Facilitator: Luciann Berrios aka 2 feathers, is a six time published poet, women’s empowerment advocate, Reiki Master, internationally certified meditation guide and sound practitioner. She studied under the guidance of renowned practitioner Jackie Cantwell who is a resident of Deepak Chopra Global, George MacPherson of “Sound of the Times”, Recording artist and Sound practitioner Luna Maye, sound Practitioner Lynda Arnold, co-founders of Awarehouse, Sound Therapist Devi Mambouka and more. She has published works in the US Library of Congress that she compiled, curated, edited and contributed to, in an effort to empower the voices of BIPOC female and nonbinary persons. Her collection is entitled Women of Eve’s Garden. She is chair of a Puerto Rico based wellness center for domestic violence survivors, Women in Need PR. She facilitates sound meditations not only for group sessions, but also private one on one sessions as well as for a community grief support group in Queensbridge with Transform America. She is also an honoree of the Black I Am awards, where she was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award from Americorp and the Office of the President for her volunteer service. As someone from Latin and indigenous culture, Luciann feels that music and sound is one of the staples of our communities. It is her hope and vision to bring these types of healing modalities to Black and Brown communities and cultures that don’t necessarily feel welcomed into westernized wellness spaces. Luciann also providing the healing power of sound to those experiencing cancer diagnosis, hospice care and the medical staff who serves these individuals. She is registered with and accredited by Meditation Alliance International. #soundbath #soundhealing #reiki #meditation

On May 4, we sponsored the 4th Annual Grow Together Conference at South Jamaica Infinity Garden organized by NYC Parks Green Thumb. We had a wonderful time engaging with so many community members about our work, including many youth who visited our rock painting station! Some of the rocks will remain in the garden itself which is such a welcoming and healing place for local residents to visit. We enjoyed every moment of the conference, from the people to the food to the film screening and more! Gratitude to our partners for organizing this important event year after year. Here’s to sustainability, climate justice, and unity in the community.

Earlier this month, our outreach coordinator Sacha Sulaiman joined a historic panel at the inaugural NYS AAPI Summit in Albany! The Caribbean Equality Project (CEP) convened several speakers to examine the history of indentureship, its impact on labor exploitation and resistance, and the growing Indo-Caribbean community in New York. Per CEP, “these descendants of indentured laborers now contribute to New York’s ethnic diversity and economy, which fosters cultural competency, strengthens cross-racial solidarity, combats anti-Asian hate violence, builds political power, and ensures representation in public education.” Panel Speakers: Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani Mohamed Q. Amin, Executive Director, Caribbean Equality Project Shivana Jorawar, Co-Director, Jahajee Sisters Sacha Sulaiman, Outreach Coordinator, South Queens Women’s March Jessica Balgobin, Community Initiatives Manager, Chhaya CDC Panel Moderator: Felicia Singh, Director of Policy and Government Relations, Coalition for Asian American Children and Families The panel was sponsored by Assemblymember Khaleel Anderson. #IndoCaribbean #AAPIHeritageMonth #caribbean #lgbtq #genderjustice #mentalhealth #colonization #indenturedservants #guyanese #trinidadian #surinamese #jamaican

This past Tuesday, members of our team were at CTEA High School in Ozone Park raising awareness about menstrual hygiene for Menstrual Hygiene Awareness Day which is May 28! We led various art activities, encouraged students to share period stories and distributed period supplies including pads and condoms! At SQWM we strive to break the silence and end the stigma around menstruation 🩸 We are grateful to our partners at SAYA for opening up these spaces for us to shift narratives around so many topics including menstruation! #letsbreakthesilence #periodfriendlyworld #menstrualhygieneday #menstualhygieneawareness

🌟 Join us in reflecting on our latest workshop on Intergenerational Trauma and the Effects of Colonization on Indo-Caribbean and South Asian Communities with the incredible Miranda R. Deebrah, LMSW. As a passionate Guyanese immigrant, Miranda considers it an honor and calling to provide essential therapeutic services to Indo-Caribbean people both in NYC and back home in Guyana. 🌍❤️ Miranda is pursuing a specialization in ancestral and intergenerational trauma healing, specifically for the global diaspora of Indo-Caribbean people and Descendants of Indian Indenture. During the workshop, she delved into the profound impacts of colonization, shedding light on how historical trauma continues to shape our lives today. Through powerful discussions and shared experiences, we explored pathways to healing and resilience. ✨ Check out highlights from this transformative event! 🙌🏽💬 #SQWM #IntergenerationalTrauma #HealingOurRoots #DiasporaHealing