Three Ways is a series where we invite folks doing work in different fields, roughly representing science, politics and culture, to answer one question together. Our goal isn’t to settle the issue, but to gather multiple perspectives, to see if we can find new ways of approaching old problems and perhaps just as importantly to get into the habit of holding space for understanding one another, even when we’re coming from very different places.
In this installment, Jessica Aszodi facilitates a conversation with Brianna Tong, Nijmie Dzurinko, & Tori Larsen, unpacking the question: “What should be our most urgent priorities for change, and how can we move forward together?” The crew dives into the details of this broad question, exploring the ethics and strategy of building collective power toward liberation.
Nijmie Zakkiyyah Dzurinko is a working class Black, Indigenous and queer organizer and strategist of over 20 years from Pennsylvania. She is co-founder and co-coordinator on a volunteer basis of Put People First! PA, a base building human rights organization waging a campaign for healthcare as a human right. They are also volunteer co-chair of the Pennsylvania Poor People’s Campaign and a member of its National Steering Committee. Nijmie serves on the Executive Board of the National Union of the Homeless and is also a member of the University of the Poor and the Popular Education Project.
Brianna Tong is a singer, former? Organizer (formerly w/ The People’s Lobby), craft doer, and past/present emo living in Chicago. She sings in Bussy Kween Power Trip, Cordoba, and /je’raf/ and spent years organizing college students & young people.
Tori Larsen is a science educator, a researcher across many fields, an artist, and an organizer. Their work focuses on the ways in which science contributes to and is simultaneously a product of our society. They are presently working on projects that seek to bring an abolitionist and anti-imperialist lens to science and science institutions. They work with Free Radicals, the Science Workers Collective, and Chicago’s #DefundCPD campaign.
