Holding our Communities Together

A Southeast Asian & Latinx Community Retreat

Across the Bay Area, Southeast Asian and Latinx communities share many parallel histories — migration, cultural survival, family sacrifice, and the ongoing search for belonging.

At the same time, many of our communities are navigating a moment of deep confusion. Families and neighborhoods are experiencing fear, political division, and uncertainty about the future. People who share culture, language, and history sometimes find themselves on very different sides of how to understand what is happening in the world.

This retreat invites Southeast Asian and Latinx community organizers, educators, artists, and cultural workers to gather together for a weekend of reflection, relationship-building, and shared exploration. How can we hold space for our communities during moments of uncertainty and change?

Through the Moving Rasa Discovery Cards, participants will explore how embodied reflection, storytelling, and dialogue can help communities listen across difference, reconnect with cultural wisdom, and imagine new possibilities for solidarity and care.

Rather than debating positions, the practice helps people slow down, notice what matters, and rediscover the deeper values that sustain community. Participants will spend the weekend working cross-culturally with other organizers and ultimately offering Discovery Card circles for the wider community.

What We'll Explore

Over the course of the weekend, participants will explore questions such as:

• How do we support belonging within communities experiencing fear, division, and uncertainty?
• How can we listen across differences in political views, generational experiences, and migration stories?
• What wisdom do Southeast Asian and Latinx cultural traditions offer for community care and healing?
• How can organizers cultivate spaces where difficult conversations lead to deeper connection rather than fragmentation?

Working with the Prototype Deck

Participants will explore the Discovery Cards using early sketch prototypes. These sketches allow us to field-test the practice together as the final deck is being illustrated by an artist in Indonesia.

Who This Retreat Is For

This gathering is designed for:

• Southeast Asian and Latinx community organizers
• Cultural workers and artists
• Educators and youth organizers
• Community healers and facilitators
• People supporting belonging and well-being within diaspora communities

No prior experience with movement or facilitation is required.

All bodies and abilities are welcome.

What Participants Will Gain

Participants will spend the weekend working cross-culturally with other organizers in small group Discovery Card circles.

Through this process participants will:

• Experience a facilitated Discovery Card process for exploring real community questions
• Learn a simple circle format they can bring back to their own organizations and communities
• Build relationships across Southeast Asian and Latinx organizing communities
• Develop new approaches for navigating difficult conversations and political differences
• Help shape offerings that can be shared both within their communities and across cultures

By the end of the retreat, participants will have experience facilitating or participating in community reflection circles that support belonging, listening, and collective imagination.

Weekend Flow for Discovery Cards Facilitator Lab

Friday Evening – Opening Circle
Arrival, introductions, and grounding the retreat.

Saturday Day – Discovery Cards Facilitator Lab
Organizers work cross-culturally to learn and practice facilitating Discovery Card readings using the prototype deck.

Saturday Night – An Evening with the Discovery Cards
Potluck gathering and guided small-group readings open to the public. Retreat participants will host the circles and share the practice with the wider community.

Sunday Morning– Integration and Next Steps
Reflecting on their experiences and exploring how organizers might bring Discovery Card circles into their own communities.

Sunday Afternoon- Community Potluck across Diasporas

A chance to engage in shared meals and circles within and across diasporas around emergent questions of our times through Discovery Card Circles.

The Larger Vision

This retreat is part of a growing network of Discovery Card circles — spaces where communities can gather to explore real questions about belonging, identity, and the future through embodied reflection and shared inquiry.

Participants will help shape how these circles can serve their own communities and create opportunities for cross-diaspora dialogue and solidarity.

Our goal is to develop a shared language of listening and reflection that helps our communities hold one another with empathy, care, and collective resilience.