Courageous Conversations
Join us virtually on October 7 at 4pm PDT for Courageous Conversations: An intergenerational discussion about racial justice and cross-cultural solidarity in our community. This must-attend event is presented by YR Media with generous collaboration and support from Hella Heart Oakland.
Come and experience original multimedia work by our YR Stars, ages 14-24, and hear the inspiration behind the work from the diverse group of content creators themselves. Then join a panel discussion with YR Media, Hella Heart Oakland, and the Brotherhood of Elders Network.
Storytellers
Dive into these stories about cross-cultural solidarity by our YR Stars.
Xion Abiodun: Let’s Talk Black and Asian Solidarity
Christian Romo: Reimagining Music Theory
Osiris Harden: Malcolm X Birthday Celebration
Panelists
Pendarvis Harshaw
Pendarvis Harshaw is a journalist from Oakland, California. He's a graduate of Howard University's School of Communications and UC Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism, and an alumnus of YR Media. He is the director of the documentary film, TDK: The Dream Kontinues and the author of OG Told Me, a coming of age memoir about his upbringing in Oakland. He currently works at KQED, where he writes about arts and culture in Northern California, and hosts a radio show and podcast called Rightnowish..
Huong Nguyen-Yap
Huong Nguyen-Yap (she/her), is an active member of Hella Heart Oakland Giving Circle, focusing on strengthening and improving the health and wellness of Asian/Asian American women and girls in Oakland – particularly refugees and new immigrants. She currently works as the Director of Community Investment at Women's Foundation California where she is responsible for spearheading the Foundation’s grantmaking and convening strategies. Huong’s experience also includes working as a clinical social worker for community-based organizations and youth development programs.
Ricardo G. Huerta Niño
Ricardo G. Huerta Niño is the Senior Initiatives Officer at the San Francisco Foundation for the Great Communities Collaborative, a network of organizations and agencies that together envision and advance a socially equitable economically prosperous, and environmentally sustainable 9 county Bay Area region. He has also worked as a consultant to nonprofits, local governments, regional agencies, and philanthropic foundations. His most recent work has been as a consultant for city planning and community engagement focused on racial equity, housing, transportation, workforce development, and pandemic response efforts. Ricardo served as Policy Director for Collective Impact in the Mayor’s Office in Oakland, leading multi-sector collaborative projects focused on education and youth development, using a social indicators approach focused on health, wealth, education, safety, and housing. As a consultant for local governments, school districts, regional agencies, and community development corporations, Ricardo helps develop community-driven collaboratives for engaging residents in urban planning practices and decision-making. His experience also includes working in philanthropy as a program officer and consultant focused on a range of issues including immigrant and refugee rights, environmental justice, leadership development, criminal justice reform, and multi-sector collaboratives. Ricardo is a faculty member at UC Berkeley in City & Regional Planning and in Global Poverty & Practice, where he is also a Chancellor’s Public Scholar in the Public Service Center’s American Cultures Engaged Scholarship program. Ricardo also works and volunteers for the African American Latino Action Alliance, and he mentors many students from a range of disciplines as well as young professionals.
Arnold X. C. Perkins
Arnold X. C. Perkins served as Director of the Alameda County Public Health Department in Oakland, California from 1994 through 2006. As Director he provided leadership and management of the administrative, research, epidemiology, program, and policy activities of the Department. During his tenure, the Department’s budget increased from $55 million to over $107 million, serving 1.4 million people. His diverse background also includes positions as a foundation program officer, advisor and trustee; non-profit organization executive director; high school teacher and principal; family counselor and advocate; and college teacher, researcher, and administrator. He is a member of the Brotherhood of Elders Network, and a former Board Member of YR Media. Married, with four sons, Mr. Perkins is an avid traveler, fly fisherman, and basketball spectator, and enjoys gardening and raising orchids.
Marina Tanaka-Wong
My name is Marina Tanaka-Wong and I am currently a senior at Oakland Technical High School.
I am half Japanese and half Chinese and am born and raised in Oakland. Some hobbies that I have are basketball, watching Korean dramas, and learning languages. I was in the YR media Core and Bridge program from 2020 winter to 2021 spring, and I was a video intern during the summer of 2021. I currently use Youtube as a source of output for my videos.
Xion
My name is Xion Abiodun. I am from Oakland, and currently reside there. I graduated from Madison Park Academy in May, and I am now in college. I am a journalist for YR Media and Black New World Media. I also have my own business where I sell a variety of things, mostly natural cosmetics. If people want to check it out my business instagram is @xiscollections.
Onessa Sharufa
My goal for my documentary was to show first-hand experiences from my family members involved in the Black Panther Party. I wanted them to be able to give people insight on what it was like to live as a Panther everyday and the requirements necessary for the lifestyle. This is my third documentary and my personal favorite.
Participating Organizations
YR Media
YR Media equips youth, primarily BIPOC, with an immersive media arts education, top industry mentors, paid career-track employment and holistic support services. Young people leverage these offerings to become civically engaged citizens driving systemic change and disruptors that diversify the traditional media landscape by creating stories, art and music that matter. We place power in the hands of young content creators, especially those from historically underrepresented groups, and ensure their diverse voices lead the way in shaping the future of our world.
Hella Heart Oakland
Hella Heart Oakland (HHO) is a diverse group of like-minded individuals who live or work in Oakland. By pooling our own funds and motivating our networks to give, we support local projects and organizations that are working to improve the Town we love. We’ve worked to strengthen and improve the health and wellness of Asian/Asian American women and girls in Oakland - particularly refugees and new immigrants. Just recently, we led discussions on Black and Asian solidarity in response to the Anti-Asian Hate crimes and are continuing to further expand our work to include more discussions and projects that acknowledge our common histories of oppression and resilience and build bridges between our communities.
Hella Heart Oakland on Facebook and Instagram.
Brotherhood of Elders Network
The Brotherhood of Elders Network is an intergenerational network of men of African ancestry who foster environments where Black boys and young men are empowered to flourish.
We advocate for males of African ancestry from infancy to adulthood.
We leverage our resources and relationships to benefit Black boys.
We maintain cultural connections to our African heritage.
We advance and preserve the health and wellness of our families and communities.
Brotherhood of Elders Network on Facebook, and Twitter, and Instagram, and Youtube.
