Movement Lessons from the First 100 Days

title graphic for May 2025 Solidarity Is This podcast, picturing the speakers and moderator. — In this episode, we share a recording from the first *State of Solidarity* gathering of the year. *Movement Lessons from the First 100 Days* explores what solidarity looks like during times of political upheaval and how movements are responding to the challenges of a new administration. We also highlight our new report of the same name, which offers strategies, practices, and insights to strengthen leaders, organizations, and broader movement ecosystems for the road ahead.

In this special episode, co-host Adaku Utah moderates a conversation with Oluchi Omeoga, Black LGBTQIA+ Migrant Project; Taja Lindley, All-Options; Ramla Sahid, Partnership for the Advancement of New Americans; and Nancy Nguyen, VietLead.

ABOUT THE EPISODE GUESTS

Oluchi (any pronouns) is a Minnesota-born organizer who still lives and organizes in Minneapolis, Minnesota today. Born from Igbo immigrants from Nigeria, Oluchi’s dedication to global Black liberation is seen through their work. Oluchi is a co-founder and founding Core Team member of Black Visions, a black-led local organization that centers Black Queer and Trans folks in Minnesota. Black Visions was instrumental in bringing Direct Action Organizing that's centered in a Black Radical Tradition. In 2020, Black Visions was central to leading the call for abolition after the brutal murder of George Floyd which catapulted the conversation around safety and abolition to the global stage.
Oluchi also co-founded the Black LGBTQIA+ Migrant Project or BLMP. BLMP envisions a world without forced migration, where no one is forced to give up their homeland, where all Black LGBTQIA+ people are free and liberated. BLMP is focused on centering and uplifting the power and brilliance of Black LGBTQIA+ migrants through organizing and membership development. In the last 5 years BLMP has built an active membership of over 250 directly impacted members, decarcerated one of the longest-detained immigrants in US history, advocated for LGBTQIA+ migrants at the US/MX border, and supported global Black organizing on the continent and beyond. Oluchi is committed to a Global, Black-Led organizing strategy that is centered around those who are most impacted.
Taja Lindley is a dynamic interdisciplinary artist and cultural worker with two decades of experience in policy, programming, and facilitation for social movements. She is most known for her performances, installations and podcasting addressing state sanctioned violence, reproductive freedom, economic sovereignty, bodily autonomy and our relationship with the past. In 2019 she was the inaugural Public Artist in Residence with the NYC Health Department and a 2020 A Blade of Grass Fellow working on a socially-engaged project to address the Black maternal health crisis in New York City.
Lindley has been actively engaged in social movements and has an experienced track record of successfully working with government as well as social justice and direct service organizations on policies and programming that impact women and girls, communities of color, low/no/fixed-income families, queer people, youth and immigrants. As a full-spectrum doula, she has supported hundreds of people having abortions and giving birth. In 2023 she joined All-Options as the National Programs Director, and in 2025 she was appointed Interim Executive Director tasked with leading the organization during a time of unprecedented transition.
PANA’s Founder and Executive Director, Ramla Sahid is committed to nurturing authentic, community driven campaigns to champion policies and practices that address racial disparities, expand protections, and promote belonging for refugee and immigrant families. Nearly ten years later, PANA is a San Diego regional leader and has a nationally respected voice on issues impacting refugees. Most recently Ramla has led efforts to secure 2.2 acres of community-owned and stewarded land to become a Refugee and Immigrant Community Hub. PANA is a model for civic engagement and advocacy strategies.
Prior to founding PANA, Ramla spent over a decade organizing campaigns to promote human rights, end youth incarceration, expand access to healthcare, and advocate for food justice. Her commitment to working in service and in-community with refugees stems from her own refugee experience. Ramla was born in Somalia and came to the United States with her family as a young child, and grew up in City Heights, San Diego.
Nancy Dung Nguyen currently serves VietLead as a Co-Executive Director and one of its co-founders. VietLead is a base-building organization in Philadelphia and South Jersey that develops culturally resilient and community driven solutions to improve health, increase sovereignty, and strengthen political power by developing “Vietnamese Leadership in Solidarity” with other working class communities of color.
Ms. Nguyen has 15+ years of experience in movement, organizing, and campaigns. She was the national campaign director with the Southeast Asian Freedom Network, supporting the launch of the Southeast Asian Relief & Responsibility Campaign, which calls for US accountability & responsibility for removing unexploded ordnances & cleaning up Agent Orange across Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam during the US Wars in Southeast Asia. She co-founded the Asian Pacific Islander Political Alliance (APIPA) – Pennsylvania's first state-wide C4, and has served on leadership and board positions with Freedom, Inc. (Madison, WI); 1Love Movement (National); Viet Left Power Project (National); the Alliance for a Just Philadelphia; Philadelphia Area Cooperative Alliance and the Folk Arts and Cultural Treasures Charter School (Philadelphia, PA).
She is now a mom of two, a caretaker of elder parents, and learning how to name and hold onto boundaries. She continues to base-build and organize the Vietnamese & Southeast Asian community towards a horizon where all can live in peace, dignity, and safety.