Events By Quarter
Race & Religion
Connecting With Your Ancestors - A Conversation with Juju Bae
Juju Bae and Dr. Terrell Winder
MCC Theater and Lounge
Join author and priestess Osunfunmilola, also known as Juju Bae, to discuss the importance of ancestral veneration, communion, and honor during Black History Month. In her latest book, The Book of Juju: Africana Spirituality for Healing, Liberation, and Self-Discovery, Juju highlights the deep societal need for inclusive and affirming spiritual traditions that are accessible to all humans. In this lecture, we will discuss often historically marginalized spiritual systems and how they might be accessed for deeper healing, knowledge, and ancestral support. After the discussion, Dr. Terrell Winder will lead a Q&A, followed by dinner. This event is in collaboration with the Office of Black Student Development (OBSD), African diasporic Cultural Resource Center (AdCRC), and Black Women’s Health Collaborative (BWHC).
Co-Sponsors: Office of Black Student Development (OBSD), African diasporic Cultural Resource Center (AdCRC), Black Women’s Health Collaborative (BWHC)
Children’s Day Event – Around the World in a Day
Orfalea Family Children's Center
Join the Multicultural Center and UCSB Children's Center for a day of traveling the globe, no plane ticket needed! Around the World in a Day gives kids a playful, hands-on way to explore cultures from near and far. With their own Passport to the World, they’ll stop by different cultural discovery zones hosted by UCSB student organizations, picking up stamps as they listen to stories, participate in creative projects, and experience new traditions. It’s an afternoon meant to spark curiosity and imagination and to celebrate identity. Come take a trip around the world, right here in the community!
Orfalea Family Children's Center, West Campus Lane, UCSB Santa Barbara, CA 93106
Co-Sponsors: UCSB Children's Center, West Campus
Cup of Culture
quwa’ & Saving the Foothills- Land Back and Restoration in Santa Barbara
Ernestine Ygnacio-De Soto, Marianne Parra, and Robyne Redwater and Professor Summer Gray, moderator)
MCC Theater
A special film screening event featuring quwa’ and Saving the Foothills, two documentaries highlighting Chumash history, land preservation, and the contemporary LandBack movement. quwa’ explores the story of a lost Chumash island in Goleta Slough, followed by Saving the Foothills, which chronicles the community effort to protect San Marcos Foothills from development.
A Q&A discussion, moderated by Professor Summer Gray, will follow the screenings with Chumash community members Ernestine Ygnacio-De Soto, Marianne Parra, and Robyne Redwater. Afterwards, enjoy dinner and conversation with fellow attendees.
- Ernestine Ygnacio-DeSoto is a well-known and respected Chumash Elder for the Goleta, Santa Barbara, and Montecito areas. She is recognized by the Santa Ynez Reservation, where her family’s photo is displayed in the cultural hall. She is the daughter of Mary Yee—the last native speaker of the coastal Chumash language and a renowned Chumash storyteller. Ernestine’s grandmother was Lucretia Ygnacio. Her mother, Mary Yee, worked closely with John Peabody Harrington to document and preserve the Chumash language and culture. Ernestine’s nephew, James Yee, holds a master’s in education and is currently pursuing a PhD in Chumash linguistics. Ernestine herself worked for many years as a mental health nurse and has authored several books. One of the stories she grew up hearing—the “Sugar Bear Story”—was later turned into a book that she both wrote and illustrated. She remains active in speaking her native language and practicing Chumash basketry. Ernestine’s 4X great grandfather was Chief Yanonali. Ernestine Ygnacio-Desoto’s family is one of the oldest documented Chumash families to still reside on ancestral lands.
- Marianne Parra is Chumash with lineage to Santa Ynez, Goleta, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, and Ventura.
Marianne spent many years from early childhood to late teens on the Santa Ynez Reservation with family, learning and practicing culture and being connected with elders. Family and building connections within her communities have always been very important. She has a lengthy background in the medical field and doing volunteer work with domestic violence survivors. Her education in forensic psychology is on hold while she explores Chumash ethnobotany and other areas. Marianne is the granddaughter of a Chumash healer/medicine woman who first shared stories with her regarding pygmy woolly mammoths in the area long before any had been discovered - Robyne Redwater
- Summer Gray is an interdisciplinary social scientist focused on coastal adaptation and the inequities that arise in response to climate change. Her book, In the Shadow of the Seawall, examines the social and environmental implications of seawall construction on coastal communities, providing a critical analysis of adaptation strategies that often deepen existing disparities. As a cinematic sociologist, she uses documentary filmmaking to explore environmental values and systemic injustices, combining in-depth interviews with visual storytelling.
Co-Sponsors: AiiCRC and AiiSA
Trauma-Informed Community Care Workshop
Macala “Kala” Lacy, LMFT & CYT
MCC Lounge
What is trauma-informed care, why does it matter, and how can it be applied in our relationships? We all want safe communities, but they aren’t created by chance. We need tools and practices that produce deep understanding, intention, and care. Join us for a workshop facilitated by Macala “Kala” Lacy from The Well Healing, where we’ll explore key principles of trauma-informed care and how to use them authentically to cultivate our communities. This workshop will support participants' conceptualization of trauma, its impacts, and the application of intentional approaches to build safer spaces.
Macala “Kala” Lacy (pronounced kay-uh; pronouns: she/they) is a licensed yoga-psychotherapist (licensed marriage & family therapist and certified yoga teacher) and one of the founders of The Well Healing, with her ancestors as the other co-founders. Kala wholeheartedly believes that she was given this life to support the healing journeys of LGBTQ+ Black and people of color. She uses her knowledge and experience as an LMFT & CYT to provide resources for physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual wellness to historically oppressed communities across the nation. Kala considers it her responsibility to provide, fight for, and challenge conceptualizations of care in oppressive spaces. They remind us that by centering our individual and collective health, we ensure sustainable resistance in a world designed to destroy and disconnect us from ourselves and each other.
