Event description

Sing People Sing! QUEER AND POC-LED COMMUNITY SONG CIRCLES in Pdx

with special guest Kele Nitoto

ABOUT SING PEOPLE SING! ALL-INCLUSIVE:

We invite you to this queer and poc-led singing gathering (open to all) 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. 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 aim to create an integrated space rooted in understandings of our historical context and current social realities. No matter your gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, abilities, immigration or housing status, you are welcome, wanted, and needed here.

Our gathering is focused on singing and will have designated percussion support. You are welcome to play provided percussion instruments upon invitation.

ABOUT SONG CONTENT:

We understand that this country has a legacy of taking musical gifts from other cultures 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 harmful.

We also understand that many of us have previous 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. You are never expected to sing anything that does not feel resonant or aligned for you.

Unless clearly alerted ahead of time, you can expect that songs will not include sexually-explicit content.

THE VENUE:

This event will take place at the Historic Alberta House, an event space intended for all, with a focus on reaching and engaging voices from our community that have been disproportionately impacted by social, economic, and racial injustices in Oregon.

Street parking. Biking, walking, use of public transit, and carpooling are encouraged wherever feasible.

ACCESSIBILITY:

The building is ADA accessible throughout the first floor (where all activity will take place).

There may be clapping, snapping, screaming, wailing, or big laughter. If you have a particular sensitivity to sound, please consider this knowing you are welcome and encouraged you to find ways to take care of yourself amidst this environment.

EVENT DETAILS:

Arrival: 6:30-7pm

Singing: 7-9pm

This is a no-alcohol event

All ages welcome

$15-45 sliding scale

Pay what you can / No one turned away Ticket: $0-$14 >> enter Access Code: CARETICKET

Your contribution offers reciprocity to the organizers and song leaders of this offering, the living descendants of this land, and helps to keep this series 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 contact host (i.e help with set/clean up, or other skills/offerings)

REGISTER ONLINE IN ADVANCE. We will absorb $1.29 fixed fee and split percentage fee (50/50) with you. Our ticketing platform Humanitix donates 100% of profit from your booking fee to children's charities.

COMMUNITY CARE:

If you are not feeling well, please stay home. 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. In the case of having to stay home because of feeling ill, contact host before the event starts to receive a full refund. No refunds will be offered if contact is made after the event.

Kids 12 and under are free and do not need to register (must be accompanied by an adult)

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

Chairs

Restroom facilities

WHAT TO BRING:

A water bottle and/or hot tea mug

Any clothing layers and supports you need to to help your body feel comfortable

Your voice, your open heart, your whole truth

OUR GUEST SONGLEADER:

Kele Nitoto is a second generation African-American percussionist and singer. Born and raised in Oakland, Kele Has studied with Masters of many styles. Over the last 30 years, Kele has performed throughout the country with dance companies, bands, teaching workshops, classes, summer camps, retreats, ceremonies and celebrations.

Currently Kele performs with the Singing the Bones, Lydia Violet, Idris Ackamoor and the Pyramids, and Wildchoir, sharing the stage with the likes of MaMuse, Climbing Poetry, Rising Appalachia and Melanie DeMore. He is currently holding classes and Song Circles in Oakland.

YOUR HOSTS:

Shireen “Riyo” Amini (they/them) is a queer, trans, Puerto Rican-Iranian American, earth-loving song creator, rhythm maker, and community facilitator based in Portland, Oregon. As a human, they carry a deep commitment to their own liberation path and vision of a more just world. As an artist, they believe strongly in music’s power to propel cultural revolution. Shireen blends pop, rock, hip hop, latin, and roots sensibilities with socially-conscious themes as a singer-songwriter and creates modern medicine music for community singing. In song circles, they hold transformational space, leading joyful, groove-based songs, evoking tenderness, and often engaging participants in the rhythm and ceremony of it all. Stay tuned for Shireen’s first community song album in-the-works, tentatively titled “Gather Your Resilience: Medicine Songs for Liberation."Shireen also teaches drumming, leads workshops, and facilitates grief ritual as part of her community-based music empowerment project Shireen Amini Music Medicine.

Darlissa Andrea (she/they) is a Puerto Rican, Cape Verdean, and Hawaiian singer-songwriter, community facilitator and life coach. She focuses on bringing folks together through self development, connection, community collaboration. Check out her website.