UTOPIA SCHOOL 2021 FREE SCHOOL AND SOCIAL SPACE
We invite you to join us at Habitable Spaces this week Sunday, November 14th through Saturday, November 20th for Utopia School. The project is a free week long skill-share school and collaborative learning space headed by Jamie Idea. For a complete list of classes and descriptions check out UtopiaSchool.net or click the link below to download class schedule PDF (1 MB).
CALENDAR OF CLASSES
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 14th
(At Habitable Spaces)
9 AM
Tai Chi + Qigong
10 AM
Brewing: How to brew your own beer and other thoughts on life.
11 AM
Muscle Care and Assisted Stretching In A Chair
1 PM
Sewing @ Teatro de Artes De Juan Seguin
3 PM
Reading Group: Our Sacred Maíz Is Our Mother: Indigeneity and Belonging in the Americas by Roberto Cintli Rodriguez
4 PM
¡Pachanga! Learn to Dance Salsa, Cumbias, Tejano, Redovas, Chotis and Country Two-Step (@ Teatro de Artes de Juan Seguin)
6 PM
Intro to Benefits of Living with Bees
7 PM Entertaining Simply: A Farm to Table Dinner With Drink Pairings 8:30PM Musical Performance by Pam Reyes MONDAY, NOVEMBER 15th 9AM Tai Chi + Qigong 11:00 AM Reading Group: Our Sacred Maíz Is Our Mother: Indigeneity and Belonging in the Americas by Roberto Cintli Rodriguez 12PM Community Centers & Collective Spaces -- The Importance of Alternatives 2PM How to Make Goat’s Milk Cheese 3PM Using Kitchen Tools and Toys for Self-Care 5PM Rap is a Fine Art Form: Lyricism 7PM Fundamental Building Blocks: Tools and Design 8PM Utopian Cinema: Spaceship Earth TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 16th 9AM Tai Chi + Qigong 10AM Emergency Preparedness: Introduction + Emergency Communications 12PM Reading Group: Our Sacred Maíz Is Our Mother: Indigeneity and Belonging in the Americas by Roberto Cintli Rodriguez 2PM "The Passions Are Proportional to the Destinies": A Critical History of Utopian Socialist Communities in 19th Century America 4PM Classic Body Work Using Oil 5:30PM Sewing @ Teatro de Artes De Juan Seguin 7PM Rap is a Fine Art Form: Lyricism 7PM Fundamental Building Blocks: Foundations and Framing 8PM Utopian Cinema: True Stories WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 17th 9AM Tai Chi + Qigong 10AM Bio Architecture with Cobb and Adobe 12PM The Californian Ideology: A Reading Group 2PM Stretch It! 5PM Rap is a Fine Art Form: Lyricism 7PM An Open Discussion on Climate Change 7PM Fundamental Building Blocks: Lesson 4 8PM Utopian Cinema: A Place Called Chiapas THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 18th 9AM Tai Chi + Qigong 10AM Emergency Preparedness: Water Harvesting and Emergency Subsistence 1PM How Much Time Does it Take for Fossils to Turn Into Fuels? 3PM Reading Group: Our Sacred Maíz Is Our Mother: Indigeneity and Belonging in the Americas by Roberto Cintli Rodriguez 4PM Rap is a Fine Art Form: The Art and Design of Performing Through Style — Fashion from Found Materials 6PM A Mixed Bag of Hands-On Self-Care Techniques 7PM Fundamental Building Blocks: Lesson 5 8PM Utopian Cinema: Shorts Night FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 19th 9AM Tai Chi + Qigong 12PM Architectures of Desire: Part 1 1PM Ravioli Making 3PM Reading Group: Our Sacred Maíz Is Our Mother: Indigeneity and Belonging in the Americas by Roberto Cintli Rodriguez 4PM Empowerment of the People: How to Get Involved in Government and Politics and Feel Empowered to Shape our Democracy 6PM Utopian Cinema: The Neverending Story 7 PM Fundamental Building Blocks: Lesson 6 8 PM Utopian Cinema: Who Invented the Yo-Yo, Who Invented the Moon Buggy? SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 20th 10 AM Tai Chi and Qigong 11 AM Wild Yeast and Sourdough 12 PM Unconventional Approaches to Drawing: A Drawing Class for All Ages 2 PM How Cultural Work through Public Pedagogy can be the Oxygen that Breathes Life into a Community (Lecture) 4 PM Musical Performance: Accordion by Alejandro L Guerra, on behalf of Teatro de Artes de Juan Seguin 4:30PM Rap is a fine Art Form: The Art and Design of Performing Through Style: Fashion from Found Materials 6-10 PM Infinities 480i — Interactive Light Installation by Chromadetic (Jonathan Sims) 6 PM Architectures of Desire : Part 2 7 PM Utopian Cinema: FernGully: The Last Rainforest 8 PM Utopian Cinema: Blossoms of Fire (Ramo de fuego)
Land Acknowledgement
Habitable Spaces occupies unceded ancestral, traditional and contemporary lands of numerous bands of Indigenous peoples-collectively known as Coahuiltecans. According to the Indigenous Cultures Institute in San Marcos, "possibly as many as 600 Native American groups were populating what is now central and southern Texas and northeastern Mexico when the Spanish invaders first arrived. Some historians erroneously report that these bands 'disappeared.'] The Coahuiltecans did not 'disappear.' Many were driven off their lands, enslaved or forced into labor in encomiendas. Coahuiltecans continue to live in their ancestral lands today and continue to preserve their culture and sacred knowledge throughout south Central Texas and Northern Mexico. Colonialism is a current ongoing process, and we need to build our mindfulness of our present participation."3
What is a Land Acknowledgement?
We have chosen two pre-written texts which we feel clearly express our understanding of what a land acknowledgement is and why they are important. "An Indigenous Land or Territorial Acknowledgement is a statement that recognizes the Indigenous peoples who have been dispossessed from the homelands and territories upon which an institution was built and currently occupies and operates in. For some, an Indigenous Land or Territorial Acknowledgement might be an unfamiliar practice, but it is a common protocol within Indigenous communities in the United States and is a standard practice in both Australia and Canada."2 "It is important to understand the longstanding history that has brought you to reside on the land, and to seek to understand your place within that history. Land acknowledgements do not exist in a past tense, or historical context.
"The Coahuiltecan people, believe life on earth began thousands of years ago, as the people, followed the great deer spirit from the underworld through the Sacred Springs in San Marcos, TX. Indigenous peoples have origin stories like ours of how the world came to be. These stories tie indigenous peoples not only to their ancestors, but to traditional territories and culture. While it is important to acknowledge the land and our people in this are Yunthat being a motto) bf are atis tand tbatay. We now all have ties to this land, and we all call this land our home on Tap Tai (Mother Earth). We come together from the four directions as, musicians, educators, scholars, friends, family, and most importantly, as human beings, Pilam (The people). So, it is all of our responsibility to come together as one in a good mind, all with a passion for our talents, our fields, our students, and our calling to take care of this land. This honors the generations of the past, unites us in the present, and guides the generations yet to arrive. My people, like many other Indigenous nations, have always called ourselves the people, as to separate ourselves not by race, not by political party, or differing religion, but from our brothers and sisters that have four legs, that fly, that swim, or that slither. We are ali interconnected. We all share a relationship. We all share the responsibility."
-Adam J. Alejandro, People of the Sacred Waters
1 From the Indigenous Cultures Institute. To learn more and donate, visit
2 From the Shoreline Community College Ray Howard Library Website: https://library.shoreline.edu/LandAcknowledgement/definition
3 Northwestern University, From the Native Governance Center
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