An affinity song circle in Portland, Oregon presented by Sing People Sing! specifically for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC)

THE VENUE:

This event is taking place in the Center for Joy at Sabin CDC, an affordable housing community that works toward social equity by stabilizing & improving the livability of culturally-diverse Portland neighborhoods, with a special focus on African American households, by encouraging community partnerships for local economic development, and by offering youth & senior programs.

We are so grateful for the generosity of Sabin CDC in offering us this space for our event.

Please use street parking to respect the use of parking specifically designated for residents in the area.

The door entrance to the Community Space is accessible from the sidewalk on Alberta St. and is ADA accessible.

EVENT DETAILS:

6:30-7pm arrival, we will sing from 7-9pm

All ages welcome

$10-40 sliding scale

Pay what you can. No one turned away for lack of funds.

We request that you REGISTER ONLINE IN ADVANCE through Humanitix. We will absorb fees, so there are no hidden, added costs for you. This will just help us track attendance and better prepare. You are also WELCOME TO DROP-IN and pay at the event (cash or Venmo).

Your contribution offers reciprocity to the organizers, support staff, and song leaders of this offering as well as the living descendants of original caretakers of the land on which this event will take place.

Your contribution helps to keep this event sustainable and regenerative. If financial resources are limited, we offer a pay what you can ticket option. And of course, no one is turned away. If you’d like to offer reciprocity in other ways, please reach out to the facilitators. (i.e help with set/clean up, or other skills/offerings)

DESCRIPTION:

We invite you to this singing gathering FOR BIPOC COMMUNITY and mixed heritage folks to experience the power of song as medicine, as a tool for liberation, and to simply fill your well of joy and connection. We believe singing is a birthright and welcome all levels of experience. We teach songs on-the-spot, usually through call and echo, that are sourced from the modern community singing movement or have come through the song leaders themselves.

This offering is evolving in response to the emergent needs and alive energy of the community showing up to it. We often include moments of authentic sharing and community connection to inform, weave into, and deepen the experience of song.

We may sing some songs in Spanish or other languages.

We may invite a space for song-sharing from the community.

We hope you will bring the wholeness of who you are to this embodied experience of singing with full permission to be in movement, grief, laughter and more.

We understand that this country has a legacy of taking cultural / musical gifts from BIPOC folks and using them inappropriately, out of context, or for profit. We will do our best to sing songs with permission, to acknowledge context wherever possible, or simply NOT sing certain songs if it feels at all harmful. We also understand that many of us have connections to community singing through religious contexts. This may still be meaningful or may be alienating. To create more inclusivity, we will avoid explicitly religious content. We do invite a spiritual space but do our best to sing from common ground.

WHO THIS SPACE IS FOR:

This singing event for BIPOC and mixed heritage folks. As part of registration, you will be required to answer a few questions. If you drop-in to the offering and you are new, we will ask you these questions in-person. If you have ALREADY answered these questions in the past, you DO NOT have to answer them again. Just put "already answered" or just simply put "--" in the response field.

If you are still unsure whether this space is for you, know that we welcome anyone who experiences dehumanization, discrimination, restricted access, the harm of implicit bias and micro-aggressions for their non-whiteness whether that be expressed in their familial upbringing, way of speaking, name, or physical features. We are doing our best to hold a sanctuary where those accustomed to code-switching and trauma-response strategies can rest, grieve, and feel safe expressing their joy.

If you are struggling with the pain of not knowing where you belong, I assure you, you belong to community singing. Please understand that this specific offering is to allow BIPOC community a chance for deeper resourcing where, in most other spaces, extra energy is spent tending to the stresses and disadvantages, the wear and tear on the soul, of navigating pre-dominantly white spaces and living inside of white supremacist culture, mentality, and institutions as a non-white person.

If this offering is not a fit, please consider attending one of Sing People Sing!'s all-inclusive events, currently happening every other month.

REGARDING COVID-19:

If you are not feeling well, please stay home. You can request a refund for any Covid-related situations. Masking is not required for this event. We encourage you to mask and distance to your own comfort level and will hold a culture of respect for the choices everyone makes to take care of themselves.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT & TITHING:

We acknowledge that the land upon which we will sing is the traditional territory of the Multnomah, Wasco, Cowlitz, Kathlamet, Clackamas, Bands of Chinook, Tualatin, Kalapuya, Molalla, Grande Ronde and many more tribes.

A portion of donations will go to the Native American Youth and Family Center (nayapdx.org) to support our local indigenous community.

WHAT WILL BE PROVIDED:

Water and hot tea (This is a no-alcohol event)

Chairs

Restroom facilities

An outdoor area to get fresh air

WHAT TO BRING:

A water bottle or travel mug, if you can

A notebook, if you like to jot down inspiration or song information

Your voice

Your open heart

Your whole truth

YOUR HOSTS:

Ríomas (RiYo for short, they/them), previously known as Shireen Amini, is a queer, trans masculine, Puerto Rican-Iranian artist, facilitator, and culture builder based in Portland, Oregon. Creating at the intersection of music, healing, and activism, they are guided by a belief that music, especially voice and rhythm, can reawaken in us what modern culture has forgotten: how to grieve, grow, and feel our power together. Ríomas crafts artful, participatory songs that invite realness, tenderness, joy, and transformative energy, drawing from roots, pop and folk textures, respectfully from Black and Afro-Latin lineages. Through their song circles and educational offerings, Ríomas empowers people to trust their musicality and engage music as a living practice for cultural healing and social change. They are the founder of Sing People Sing!, a queer and BIPOC-led community song circle series in Portland, author of the course Drum Song Reclamation, and leader of an emerging band collective bridging high-level musicianship with community participation. Their first community song album Gather Your Resilience: Medicine for Liberation is set to release in early 2026.

darlissa andrea (all pronouns) is a Puerto Rican, Hawaiian and Cape Verdean American vocal artist and community builder. Her powerful vocals and fierce, grounded presence bring community into connection and belonging. Darlissa's songs are centered around land, liberation, and shifting culture. With deep care for this world, Darlissa’s music invites us to remember who we are, heal together, and imagine a more whole and liberated future.

Contact the host of BIPOC Community Sing - August 4th