JESSA CALDERON
LOS ANGELES COUNTY, 2021 - 2022
Jessa Calderon is of the Tongva and Chumash Nations which are original peoples in areas of Southern California. She is a singer, songwriter and hip hop artist as well as a massage therapist, energy worker and hypnotherapist. She also holds the position of Coordinator of Indigenous Oceans and Waters Protector Programs for Sacred Places Institute. She is a paddler on the ocean with her Chumash relatives. The ocean holds a deep and sacred meaning to her heart. On her journey she wants to educate in healing as a means to protect her and all bodies of life including other water sources, plants and people.
Jessa Calderon, in partnership with Chicxs Rockerxs and Sacred Places Institute for Indigenous People, will be working with the community to bring awareness to environmental justice and healing. Jessa will teach a series of songwriting workshops focusing on crafting lyrics that creatively express the personal and community effects of larger ecological disasters. The workshops will culminate in an event to celebrate and perform these songs with all of the participants.
CULTURE HUB
Chicxs Rockerxs South East Los Angeles (CRSELA) amplifies the voices of trans and gender expansive youth, girls, and artists from communities of color through music, mentorship and social justice to empower themselves and their communities.
SOCIAL IMPACT INITIATIVEs
Sacred Places Institute for Indigenous Peoples (SPI) is an Indigenous-led, community-based organization and fiscally sponsored by the Sierra Health Foundation Center. SPI advocates for environmental, social and cultural justice and works locally, regionally, and globally to build the capacity of Native Nations and Indigenous Peoples to protect sacred lands, waters, and cultures. SPI works with Native Nations, Elders, traditional cultural practitioners, Indigenous organizations, environmental justice groups, universities, artists, youth, and others to protect environmentally and culturally significant places, practices, and ideologies and create paradigm shifts that support environmentally and socially just systems that assure the continuation of Indigenous cultures for all time. SPI collaborates with Native Nations and Indigenous Peoples working at the front lines of environmental, cultural, and social justice in California, around the country and throughout the world.