Foster Village • Portland

Sound of Rest Tour: Uplifting the Voices of the Unrested

April 8 | 1 PM to 4 PM | Sound of Rest Song Circle

April 9 | 1 PM to 4 PM | Breaking Down Barriers Workshop

UPDATE: If you are on the Song Circle Waiting List, please come! Weather is good enough to be outdoors today.

Waiting List: In the event of rain, venue can only host 12 people. If you are unable to get one of those first 12 spots for the song circle, please sign up for the waiting list just in case weather permits for our event to be outdoors. There is also an event on Friday night with both Aaron Johnson and Shireen at another Portland location...reach out to the organizer with the "Contact Organizer" button if you would like the link to that ticket page. 

Sound of Rest Song Circle

April 8 | 1 PM to 4 PM

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Joining us for our song circle: Shireen Amini! Shireen Amini (non-binary using she/her in English, elle in Spanish) is a queer, Puerto Rican-Iranian American, Earth-loving singer-songwriter, percussionist, and song leader based in unceded indigenous territory known as Portland, Oregon. While holding transformational space, Shireen leads infectious, soulful, and groove-based community songs, often engaging her participants in rhythm, because she believes strongly in music’s power to propel cultural revolution. She also teaches drumming, leads workshops, and facilitates grief ritual as part of her community-based music empowerment project Shireen Amini Music Medicine.

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The Sound of Rest Song Circle is a song meditation centering black voices uplifted to interrupt the trauma story of Unrested Labor. This is an opportunity for us to be in prayerful meditation and a slowing down of what it means to absorb a collective commitment to supporting folks that have been navigating the state of being Unrested in their resource gathering.

This is a mixed space event, both people of the global majority and allies are welcome. The meditation will support holistic thinking on how to make resource gathering happen in a rested state in communities that have historically had to fight for survival. The event will also help break down what it means to be an ally, a key supporter, an anchor person, and a disruptor of the Unrested Labor trauma story, not just this weekend, or this month, but as a part of a life practice.

Unrested Labor is the acknowledgement of the slavery and post slavery exploitation of black labor that is often unvalued, untracked, and unsupported. Generations of black bodied people have been at the bottom of capitalism tiers to the benefit of those at the top. Unrested Labor is recognizing the work of people of the global majority that have labored for countless hours with no rest, often while required to be at a high level of performance with a low level of nourishment.

Breaking Down Barriers Deep Dive

April 9 | 1 PM to 4 PM

Being close to blackness is the deepest, most personal aspect of working with systematic racism. When we are guided by a facilitator, we can identify and root out our habits, biases, and histories that are holding us back from being close to African heritage people. Through asking better questions of ourselves, our families, and our communities, we can transform the world around us.

Many white-identified folks may not consider themselves racist and yet may have hidden or underlying biases that are creating a barrier between themselves and black people in their community. These barriers prevent us from really truly seeing blackness, from being close to blackness, and from advocating for true change. Aaron Johnson will facilitate this group, helping white-identified folks to reflect and discover personal, community, and cultural barriers particularly as they affect white controlled spaces.

Here is some of the key thinking at play for this workshop:

• Understanding your positionality profile as an individual and community
• Understanding “Will you marry me?” questions, unfair questions, story questions and when and how to ask them
• “The park bench” scenario: A critical analysis of complex racism when black people are simply being full humans in public, landing the program and deeply considering next steps

COVID-19 Check-in

Masking in indoor settings is preferred; performers/facilitators will be unmasked after rapid testing prior to the event. Masks are optional in outdoor settings. 

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