UPDATE: Please note that this is now a 90-minute event, from 4PM - 5:30PM Pacific time. 

DESCRIPTION

In recent years, we have seen more and more people beginning to wake up to the reality that our current capitalist, market system of economics is unsustainable and the source of much suffering and destruction. Yet, it is so pervasive that one community member once reflected that “it’s easier to imagine the end of the world than it is to imagine the end of capitalism."

The competition that leads to fractured relationships, the hyper-individualism that leads to isolation and the hoarding mentality that leads to poverty and the destruction of earth’s ecosystems are no longer tolerable. And yet, it seeps into our communities, nonprofits and social movements because it is all we’ve ever known.

At the same time, communities all over the world are reclaiming ancient practices that are rooted in earth’s natural systems of reciprocity, generosity and sustainability. The Gift Economy is one such model.

The Gift Economy is an experiment that has taken root in many individuals, communities and organizations throughout the world with many different manifestations. For many, it is a way to help bridge the gap between the reality of the world we live in, and the vision of the world we want to create.

Part Two: Panel Discussion & Conversation
Saturday, January 29th, 2022 - 4PM-5:30PM PT

In part two of the series, we will hear from three people who have woven the Gift Economy into their work. We will hear about their understanding of the principles and values of the Gift, the nuts and bolts of how they have used the system, and it’s benefits and challenges.

We will hear about how this system is being utilized to support an individual practice, a nonprofit organization, and a community driven yoga studio.

Panelists:

Cassandra Shaylor, East Bay Meditation Center
Cassandra is an activist, attorney, and artist based in Oakland. She is currently the Development Director at the East Bay Meditation Center, where she has the honor of supporting the flow of financial resources to a BIPOC-centered community through the gift economy. She is the co-founder and former co-director of Justice Now and a co-founder of Critical Resistance, both abolitionist organizations focused on dismantling the prison industrial complex and building a world without prisons. Her academic and written work has focused on issues of people in women’s prisons, abolition, and the intersections of race, sexuality, gender, and punishment. She is passionate about artmaking and spending time with her fierce and funny 9-year-old daughter.

Pranidhi Varshney, Yoga Shala West
Pranidhi is the founder of Yoga Shala West, a community-supported ashtanga yoga studio in West Los Angeles. She is also mother to two courageous and wise little beings. The thread that runs through all her work is the desire to build community and live from the heart.

LiZhen Wang, Astrological Counselor
LiZhen is an astrologer, facilitator, and food-grower based in Huchiun (Oakland) and Taipei. They have been a counseling astrologer since 2014, and they recently started the Astrology for Social Movements project to bring astrology into conversation with abolition. In addition to research and 1-1 counseling, LiZhen also teaches a 3-month program called ON PURPOSE: An Astrological Discovery of What You’re Here For. It is their life's delight to listen to the planets -- Earth, Moon, and beyond -- and to help others tune in as well.

This event will happen virtually using the Zoom online conferencing platform. If you are not familiar with this platform, click here for instructions.

THIS IS AN EVENT BEING OFFERED IN THE GIFT ECONOMY. NO FEE IS BEING REQUESTED, BUT DONATIONS TO EAST POINT PEACE ACADEMY ARE WELCOME.