On Belonging

an audio series to connect us

Coming Fall/Winter 2023…

On Belonging: an audio series to connect us, part conversation and part storytelling, hosts carla joy bergman and Jamie-Leigh Gonzales ask their guests to explore why so many of us are feeling called to find a deeper sense of belonging, whether with our ancestors or to the land where we live, and beyond. In the many landscapes across the world, each of us walk pathways that take us to the edges of possibility, finding belonging and thriving along the way.

The series will centre the storytellers and their journeys. Each episode will be a dynamic blending of the guests’ story or interview with music, soundscapes, and poetry.

On Belonging will explore finding belonging as a way of not only healing ourselves, but healing relationships with each other — of connecting with our lineages, but also connecting across difference, including at times beyond bloodlines.

This timely work is done in resistance to the pernicious and ever-present impacts of white supremacy and colonialism. With this show, we are having deep conversations about our personal journeys in a way that connects us — resisting the cult of individualism, and resisting nationalism and the way it feeds fascism. 

Part of finding belonging is also about tuning into who we are with in this time and space, making kin across our differences, celebrating the now.

Why now? In the face of rising authoritarianism, fascism, and new forms of colonial oppression, questions of who we are, where we come from, and how we can be in relationship with each other are coming to the fore. These stories will show another way to find connections, to create resistance while thriving, and to find the cracks in the structures that seek to divide us.

Show art by Julie Flett.

Contributors

In motion graphic of person near a tree. They are wearing a jean jacket and glasses. The image is cut off at their waist and their arms are out to the side. They are spinning, captured in a still photo.

carla bergman

is an independent scholar, filmmaker, writer and mom. She has spent the past two decades working with community to create collaborative multi-media platforms that range from print to films.

A person centred in the frame looks directly at the camera. They are wearing a beige sweater and the image is cut off at their thighs. They are on a pink background.

Christa Couture

is an award-winning performing and recording artist, a non-fiction writer, and broadcaster. She is also proudly Indigenous (Cree), disabled, a mom, and queer.

A black and white photo of a person facing to the right of the image. Their left arm is lifted, the hand resting on a wall in front of them. They are wearing a patterned shirt with flowing sleeves. The image is cut off at the hips.

Jamie-Leigh Gonzales

is a Portuguese/Squamish mother, filmmaker, podcast creator, photographer, and poet living on the stolen land of the Coast Salish people. She loves the Land and the stories that come from it, and she celebrates Ancestors from here and afar.

A black and white image of a person looking directly at the camera. They are wearing a black shirt with white polka dots and the image is cut off at the bust.

Walidah Imarisha

A historian at heart, reporter by (w)right, rebel by reason, Walidah Imarisha is an educator, writer, public scholar and spoken word artist.

A person looks directly at the camera. They are wearing a black shirt and the image is cut off at the bust. There is a fence and trees in the background.

Tasha Kaur

is a settler of Punjabi descent living on the unceded territory of Squamish, Musqueam, and Tsleil-Waututh Peoples. She is passionate about exploring how creativity and social change overlap.

Black and white image of a person looking directly at the camera. They are wearing a dark shirt with no sleeves and the photo is cut off at the bust. The background is out of focus trees

Margaret Killjoy

is a transfeminine author and editor currently based in the Appalachian Mountains. She spends her time crafting and complaining about authoritarian structures.

A person is looking directly at the camera. They rest their chin on their left hand, which has some visible tatoos. They are wearing glasses and a dark top. The image is cut off at the shoulders.

Lara Messersmith-Glavin

is an editor, performer, and coach based in Portland, Oregon. Her own writing focuses on women, science, mythology, and commercial fishing in Alaska, where she grew up. 

A person is looking up and to the right of the photo. They are wearing a white top with no sleeves. The image is cut off at the waist and the background is a pink gradient with white stars

Shaunga Tagore

is a writer, astrologer, performer, and brown femme queer unicorn co-creator with the Universe.