Conscious Care
insight from Dr. Mi'Jan Celie Tho-Biaz
substack #44
Hi, I’m Bianca — Artist, Professor, & Creative Strategist in Los Angeles. In case you are new here or if a reminder could help, this newsletter began as an exploration of figuring things out, one day at a time. Upgrade to a paid subscription to make sure you never miss out on the really good stuff.
Hi All,
For folks who attended last week’s teach-in with WATBD - you can find our session summary here!
Thank you to my partners Mitzi and Roshannah from WATBD, and especially Maurice, from Friends of The Congo who joined us to share about their work and support needs. This won’t be my last collaboration with Mitzi, Inshallah.
But also a big thank you to all of YOU - who joined us for this session. I appreciate every note of encouragement and feedback. If you have any questions, needs, or are curious about future offerings please reach out.
Design Futures Week 4: Dr. Mi'Jan Celie Tho-Biaz
For week 4 my of new course “Design Futures: Lessons from Science Fiction and Social Justice” over at ArtCenter College of Design I was so thrilled to welcome my friend, Kennedy Center Citizen Artist, Documentarian, Public Speaker, and World Builder - Dr. Mi'Jan Celie Tho-Biaz.
Mi’Jan is a powerhouse, she most recently completed her 2023 - 2024 Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Fellowship at The Huntington, researching Octavia E. Butler’s archives. I’m currently prepping our students for a trip to visit the Octavia’s archive and Mi’Jan agreed to come share about her practice and some of the learnings blossoming from her time with Octavia.
To respect Mi’Jan’s practice and privacy I won’t be sharing content from her talk. But what I can highlight is the way that Mi’Jan came into our class as her full self.
A question she left our class with: if archives could be a site to honor and care for BIPOC ancestors - how might we provide conscious care?
Mi’Jan shared stories about her personal and professional life to demonstrate why it is important to center her values in her practice. She doesn’t just name power tensions between people’s histories and archival institutions, but owns her responsibility to inform and protect the people she’s collaborating with. As someone whose works engages with BIPOC communities, she’s included things like working with lawyers to clarify intellectual property rights as a part of her equitable stewardship practice.
Shut it Down 4 Palestine : March 2
On March 2, millions will march for Palestine against any invasion of Rafah - join together with people across the whole world. Find an action in your city at shutitdown4palestine.org
I joined my sib and labor organizer, Seo Yun at the Labor 4 Palestine action over Lunar New Year weekend. So rad to see so many teacher unions and campus reps there. If you’re an educator in Los Angeles, check out how folks from across industries have come together to organize the labor movement for Palestine.
I’m working on an essay to share here, so I might be a week or two before I send out another letter. In the meantime, take care.
Bianca
p.s. If you enjoy these weekly letters, please consider upgrading to a paid subscription. I appreciate all of you and read every note, message, and comment!