Discussion Topics

TaikoPEACE: Partnerships in Empathy And Creative Empowerment

Facilitated by PJ Hirabayashi and Iris Shiraishi

We invite participants to co-create a space which ignites awareness, unpacks vocabulary/definitions, offers/develops tools and launches connective actions with our communities through the powerful lens of compassionate empathy and active hope.

Centering Taiko Values Against the Influence of White Supremacy

Facilitated by Roy HIrabayashi and Sydney Shiroyama

Taiko has gone beyond its original roots as a drum from Japan and as a cultural art form from the Japanese American communities. As our community diversifies and cultural expectations shift, how can we make strides toward equity and inclusion while respecting the North American taiko history and values? This group will explore how the influence of white supremacy can lead to cultural appropriation, and discuss ways to assess our values and promote wellness in the taiko community.

Discuss the Police

Facilitated by David Wells

A discussion of police corruption and brutality, as well as the challenges to purifying the institution of law enforcement. Discussion to include personal experiences as well as historical examples.

Anti-Blackness in the Taiko Community and Asian American Community

Facilitated by Jennifer Weir

I'm no expert, but I think we need to do a deep dive here as a community in order to be in true solidarity with the black lives matter movement and community.

Eating Bitter, Tasting Sweet

Facilitated by Tiffany Tamaribuchi

Sharing personal experiences of racism and discrimination, exploring the impact on our lives past & present, and embracing and working with the feelings to fuel our own creative process and re-define our presence and place in the world. Working through fear/anger/resentment/shame/sorrow toward a sense of well-being, hope, and empowerment. Movement/Rhythms/Vocalization.

Exploring/Expressing Identity through Drawing Meditation

Facilitated by Yurika Chiba

Tackling the task of untangling "knots" around identity, internalized racism, otherness, action, when words can't always get there directly. Some of us need a little more time to process. We can start with one knot at a time. This will be a hands-on session, some parts of it in silence.

Giant Steps: Art and Social Change

Facilitated by Stan Shikuma

Every person and every movement needs Inspiration, Sustenance, and a Vision to help energize and drive them/it forward. Art can provide that when based on lived experiences of the oppressed and expressed as a cry for justice. Let's discuss how taiko artists/how taiko as an art form can contribute to the movement for Black Lives.

How Do We Lead with Empathy in the Global Healing of Anti-Racism?

Facilitated by ManMan Mui

In the process of dismantling practices that are born out of colonialism, it is inevitable for us to admit that we are both the victim and victimizer of systemic racism. The process includes a mixture of shame, vulnerability, and courage. Why do we get defensive? How do we approach criticism and frustration? How do we practice empathy as a tactic to heal? How do we hold space for ourselves and others to grow? Reference materials related to Non-violent Communication will be incorporated.

How can we be in movement and conversation with our older generations?

Facilitated by Ian Berve and VIcky Zhang

How do we listen and learn from our elders, within our Taiko groups, families, places of work, and larger communities, while productively and empathetically contributing our perspective? As part of the younger generation finding our places within the movement and conversation, we hope to discuss with others navigating similar questions. Sharing resources, discussing strategies, starting conversations

Liberation from Internalized Racial Oppression

Facilitated by Michelle Fujii

Our creativity is essential to our survival and it is the blueprint to liberate our fullness centered on our cultural truths. In this BIPOC/API space, we will name and unpack internalized racial oppression with the lenses on the individual, cultural and institutional. How has this impacted us? How can we design new strategies? Reference materials from the People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond will be incorporated as well as readings from the book, Emergent Strategies, by adrienne maree brown.

Orientalism in Taiko

Facilitated by Joe Small and Tamiko Ooka

Edward Said's concept (and book), Orientalism, explains and critiques the framing of 'Eastern' cultures as an exotic 'other by a Western Colonialist lens. While taiko has often been deployed and celebrated as a way to combat stereotyping, particularly of Japanese, Japanese American, and Asian American communities, both presenters and practitioners may exotify, (mis)appropriate, or selectively interpret the art. Our sensitive conversation is twofold: 1.) Developing an awareness of issues within and surrounding the taiko community regarding Orientalism and systemic racism, and 2). Imagining possible ways to de-Orientalize or decolonize taiko at multiple levels (individual, community, educational, artistic creative performance)

Self-Awareness as a Platform for Living Values: Recognizing and Leveraging Feelings and Beliefs that Motivate and Sustain Activism Practices for White Allies

Facilitated by Olga Ehrlich

In the face of the horrific events like the recent murder of Geroge Floyd, it's difficult not to feel compelled to take immediate action. Joining together with friends and strangers alike in our communities to stand against racism, to advocate for justice and inclusivity can cultivate feelings of purpose and mission. However, sustaining a 'practice' of activism can be a rollercoaster of emotions and experiences. We will use brief mindfulness and writing exercises combined with small group discussion to explore our identities as vulnerable humans in a safe space.Then we will embrace our identities to create sustaining plans for activism.

The Marathon Sprint: Leadership for the Long Haul for the API (Asian/Pacific Islander) Community

Facilitated by Karen Young

The world needs us well rested and in good shape. More than self-care, we must understand how our own liberation work is deeply intertwined with the work for a just society. Our social justice practice can't be about 'helping' or doing the right thing for others without also understanding the damage to ourselves and our own communities. In this session we will unpack where our cultural patterns, the model-minority myth, and history of racism as APIs in the US colludes with a white supremacist, anti-Black system that sets us up to fail as we lead this work. Our unawareness leads to burn-out, not being able to ask for help, resentment, and perpetuating unhealthy models of leadership.

The Personal Politics of Taiko

Facilitated by Linda Uyehara Hoffman and Deborah Wong

The personal is political, and we will offer some handles for how to retrain ourselves to think of taiko as political. In conversation #1, we will begin by discussing the personal – how/when/why each of us came to consciousness (probably more than once). In conversation #2, we will discuss how taiko is racialized. How can we acknowledge that and choose to reroute it? In conversation #3, we will generate actionable practices for how taiko can CHANGE accepted thinking about race and structural racism. Along the way, we will repeatedly ask ourselves whether falling back to the position that taiko is available to ‘everyone’ is a way to deracinate it and thus displace its power to challenge white supremacy.

Unpacking Whiteness and Privilege to Engage with Authentic Allyship and Conversation in White Spaces

Facilitated by Amy Naylor

As a person of privilege, it is often the case that we have not needed or been prompted to explore our identity and history with depth. Understanding the complexity of our place within a system built on oppression (and smaller social contexts too) is essential in our journey towards being a stronger ally. During these sessions we will dig deep into the many layers of our identities in order to find a stronger grounding and tools to engage in the wider conversation.

Solidarity 101 for Beginners: Building Consciousness and Taking Baby Steps

Facilitated by Izumi Sakamoto

Anti-oppression work must begin by understanding ourselves. We are born into a society filled with inequalities and discrimination, and socialized into it from childhood. As a result, unless we un-learn oppressive conditioning, we carry unawareness and unknowingly perpetuate oppression by not understanding our histories and having consciousness of what's going on. In this session we will cover the basic concepts of anti-oppression theory, critical consciousness, and allyship drawing from the social justice-based approaches fostered by fore-runners of taiko community from both the US and Canada (PJ & Roy Hirabayashi; the Asian Canadian Coalition) as well as Paulo Freire (Brazilian educator) and Black Feminist Thoughts.