Our guest is Dany Srey-Snow, whose parents were both born in Cambodia. Her mother has Khmer and Thai ancestry and her father has Khmer, Chinese and Viet ancestry. Dany currently resides in Seattle, Washington, on occupied Duwamish Lands.
In this deeply moving episode, Dany vulnerably shares the painful and courageous story of her family's journey from Cambodia to America/Turtle Island, as refugees escaping the Cambodian genocide. We unpack the many layers of emotions that are held inside the body through the generations as a consequence of carrying this heavy history, including grief, anger and the messier emotions that are hard to tie a neat bow around.
Dany shares some of the challenges of growing up in the US as a girl of Cambodian descent, and how she is working to heal herself from the physical to the spiritual level to help create a healthier, more healed world for herself and others.
You can find Dany's work here
Our fifth guest is Glecie Caballero
Glecie’s parents are both from the Western Visayas in the Philippines, and Glecie was born, raised and still lives on Ohlone Land, San Francisco, America (Turtle Island).
In this powerful episode, Glecie not only shares how detrimental the impact of colonization was on her family, but also how the patriarchal and colonial Catholic culture in which she was consequently raised taught her to silence her truth and her voice. This led to years of silence both before, during and after experiencing childhood sexual abuse. She shares how it felt to finally share her truth with her family, and how she started to decolonize her mind, body, spirit and feminine sexual energy through rediscovering her voice, power, and indigenous ancestral practices.
Our fourth guest is Paulina Davie
Paulina’s parents were both born in Cambodia. Her mother is of Cambodian ancestry and her father has both Cambodian and Chinese ancestral roots. Paulina was born and raised in California and currently lives on Northern Chumash Land.
In this episode, Paulina shares the challenges and deep value of having such a rich yet heavy ancestral heritage, given Cambodia’s traumatic history. She tells us what it was like growing up in California to parents of Cambodian descent, and how she was perceived when she went back to visit Cambodia on a solo trip. We talk about the complexity of straddling two worlds yet feeling like we never truly belong in either, and how Paulina has found deep compassion for herself, her parents and other people through her journey of healing.
Find Paulina’s work here and @paulinadavie
Our third guest is Mengwen Cao
Meng was born and raised in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China and currently lives in New York, United States, a.k.a. the ancestral lands of the Lenape, also known as Lenapehoking.
In this episode, Meng shares some poignant stories from their family members and ancestors, as well as one of the Chinese mythological stories that shaped them. We explore what it means to be someone who was born on their ancestral lands, but now lives in the United States, where Asian people are still considered an ethnic minority and have to face the persecution and violence that this can bring. We touch on how European ‘influence’ left its mark on some of the prevailing cultural mindsets that still impact people today, and how Meng is ultimately reclaiming their body, mind and spirit from systems of oppression. We speak of opening our hearts and embodying wisdom, which is something Meng does so powerfully.
Our second guest is Isabel Bagsik
Isabel’s ancestors originate from the Philippines, which is where she was also born before moving to Turtle Island with her parents. She lives in Tamien Nation Land, aka San Jose, California.
In this episode we explore the goddess mythology around Mayon volcano from Isabel’s ancestral lands. She shares more about growing up in America as a Filipina and how she started learning about the colonization of the Philippines. We dive deeper into how she started reclaiming her culture and heritage, as well as some of the nuances of being brought up in so-called ‘developed’ countries. We discuss the Christian colonization of the Philippines and how that’s impacted the culture. and we end with words of encouragement for those who may also feel removed from their ancestral cultures and lands and are working on reclaiming their roots.
Our first guest is Laxmi Hussain
Laxmi is a Londoner, born and raised. Her mother comes from Ilocos Norte in the Philippines, and her father is from Ahmedabad in Gujarat, India. They met in England in the 1970’s.
In this episode we explore Laxmi’s connection to her ancestry on both her maternal and paternal side, and how fragmentation through colonization and migration impacted these connections. She shares how her parents met, what they did and how she grew up. We explore how she’s reclaiming her roots and which side she feels culturally closest to, as well as aspects of colonization she has struggled with. We end by speaking about the world she wishes to help create for those who come after us.