“Growing oral histories by and for our peoples”
- Micah x Ireon
Origins Story Circle
for RIRJ Boston
Micah Rose ~ first grown with Ireon Roach
Project Description
For this RIRJ project, Micah held a story circle with seven creatives who collaborated on the first Radical Imagination for Racial Justice Boston cohort: Chandra Méndez-Ortiz (MassArt), Karen Young (RIRJ Advisory Group), Shurvina Heraldo (RIRJ Street Team), Kara Elliott-Ortega (Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture), Ceci Méndez-Ortiz (MassArt), Fabiola Méndez (Negrura), and Husain Rizvi (Games For Justice). This circle began an oral history of RIRJ’s inaugural year in Boston, and serves as an archive of reflection and dreaming for RIRJ’s next iterations.
Screenshot of the story circle gathering on zoom
smiling faces of Micah, Karen, Kara, Ceci, Fabiola, Husain, Chandra, and Shurvina
Story Circle Intro
This video shares the history of Story Circle Lineage that Micah learns in practice with Márquez Rhyne
Video of Ire’s responses in our original application to RIRJ
Our collaboration served as foundation for the story circle manifestation.
Artist Bio
"Micah x Ireon is the team of Micah Rose and Ireon Roach”
Micah (they/she) is kindling soft ferocity, in ode to titas and cousins and lolas who teach and tend to love. They share lineages like story circles, yoga, and taiko as paths for communal care. She conjures at Arts Connect International, helping brew artist-led experiments as a co-director of emergence. They collab in public, with chosen families, and at hubs like the Cultural Equity Incubator, Pao Arts Center, The Theater Offensive, Luya Poetry, Company One Theatre, and The Design Studio for Social Intervention. Toward Lumad sovereignty on her motherislands, Rose worldbuilds with Liyang Network and weaves an Instagram avatar @micah_pdf.
IG: @micah_pdf
“maraming salamat for the tender moons gathering online with beautiful creatives ~ experimenting with ways to enjoy virtual space together has nourished and inspired, and made space to flex and grow fluidly.”
- Micah x Ireon
This cardboard offering maps ideas that shape Micah’s story circle lineage/practice.
The fractals of text read:
“where are we to go from where we have been?” –ire
a popular education spiral
1. start with peoples’ experiences
2. look for patterns
3. add/remember info + ideas
4. practice skills, strategize, plan for action
5. apply in action
the word ‘radical’ stems from the Latin radix meaning ‘root’
who/ and how are (y)our roots?
we fill each others’ cups
every valley the presence of depth and air
“we are each other’s harvest we are each other’s business we are each other’s magnitude and bond” –Gwendolyn Brooks
the circle: sacred Indigenous technology woven across space + time
gossip is spoken is oral history is lineage is ancestral way we heal is burning harm is seeding love is divine birthright
story circles equally share the time we give chismis and ask us to witness + respect one another’s truths
source ~ mana ~ kapwa ~ chi ore. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
TAYO - cardboard map of process: visual artpiece that shares some stories and inspirations for this process