Navigating Internal Movement Tensions and Conflict

Oct 29

Written By UyenThi Tran Myhre

Co-host Adaku Utah is joined by Tamika Middleton from Women’s March, Mike Ishii from Tsuru for Solidarity, and Mónica Enríquez-Enríquez from Foundation for a Just Society to discuss how conflict can teach us about building deeper solidarity.

ABOUT THE GUESTS

Born and raised in Colombia, Mónica (she/her/they/them) is a queer migrant who lives in New York and has been working for gender justice and LGBTQI rights for fifteen years, including seven years in progressive and feminist philanthropy focusing on Latin America and the Caribbean. Prior to Foundation for a Just Society (FJS) Mónica worked for Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice as a program officer and associate director of programs to coordinate and support programs such as the Latin America and Caribbean and US anti-criminalization portfolios, the Global Arts Fund, and CommsLabs – a capacity building program on technology, media, and communications. Mónica holds a bachelor’s degree in International Relations from San Francisco State University and a Master of Fine Arts in Digital Arts and New Media from University of California Santa Cruz. Mónica believes in the power of grassroots movements, in artivism as a tool to imagine and create a more just world, and in interdependence as a way to heal and sustain our planet and our communities.
Michael Ishii is a yonsei living in NYC where he has split his time as a performing artist, organizer and clinician. Michael is the co-leader and co-founder of Tsuru for Solidarity and has been the co-chair of the New York Day of Remembrance Committee for 30 years. He is the chair of the New York Japanese American Oral History Project which received a 2018 JACS Grant, and he is a former president of the JACL, New York Chapter. Michael also serves as a volunteer for the Tule Lake Pilgrimage Committee and sits on the board for the Hudson Valley Park for Study and Reflection. He has written and performed spoken word and performance art pieces related to his family’s incarceration in the WRA camp, Minidoka, exploring themes of remembrance and healing from intergenerational trauma. He studied classical music at the Oberlin Conservatory and The Juilliard School, performing extensively as a french hornist with NYC orchestra and chamber ensembles for 20 years before moving to a career in East Asian medicine. Michael was the clinical chair for the University of Bridgeport Acupuncture Institute and now practices privately in NYC. He is currently a Ph.D. candidate studying Traditional Chinese Medicine with a focus on the ability of five phase nodal sounds to affect blood pressure in humans.
Tamika is the Managing Director of Women's March. She is an organizer, doula, midwifery apprentice, writer, and unschooling mama who is passionate about and active in struggles that affect Black women’s lives. Tamika has organized for abolition, reproductive justice, and for domestic workers’ rights. She is a founding member of the Metro Atlanta Mutual Aid (MAMA) Fund and JustGeorgia Coalition. She serves as a Movement-Led Advisory Board member of Cypress Fund and The Grove, a Community Advisory Board member of Critical Resistance, a Leadership Team member of the Kindred Southern Healing Justice Collective and as a member of the training team for BOLD (Black Organizing for Leadership and Dignity).