Ayaan Natala is a community member turned Independent Organizer. We explore how different individuals can explore their journeys and processes of finding ways of resistance that are accessible. Away from organizing on the front lines Ayaan shares the importance of knowing and finding the balance between taking care of ourselves as we hope to take care and resource other members of our community. The title borrows words form a quote from Audre Lorde who pioneered the term self care that says “Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.”  Find her work Forgotten Youth Elders (https://preview.shorthand.com/0SAQ3lpKkUoRP46G) among other BIPOC storytellers on the Reckoning with Race: A Storytelling Initiative by Living Cities + Living Media.

This episode was recorded on 6/22/2021.

“Mental Health In Minnesota” is produced by NAMI Minnesota. Visit us online at https://namimn.org/.

All music used in this episode came from the song “The Way” produced by MIKE LEITE and made available via a Creative Commons license.

Loops were created from various sections of “The Way.”  Find the full song by MIKE LEITE via the following links:

“The Way” song page on SoundCloud:  https://soundcloud.com/mikeleite/the-way-instrumental

Mike Leite’s additional music on SoundCloud:  https://soundcloud.com/mikeleite

Mike Leite’s YouTube Channel:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC43d6_zlCOZUWz42z5asZkQ/about

Creative Commons license info:  https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/