Hey Garden(ers),
This Friday is Juneteenth, a day that commemorates the end of chattel slavery in the United States. In honor of that, on Saturday, June 20th at 5pm PT, for Bonfire (Black affinity space here in Garden) there will be a libations ceremony and broader discussion about Black solidarity beyond borders.
☀️Summer Solstice🌴 lands in Garden on Saturday! The schedule is here! We have a couple more surprises to be announced on the horizon and can't wait to see you there! Garden(ers) can RSVP here. If you'd like some Day Passes for BIPOC friends, not already part of Garden for this weekend's festivities, contact us by replying to this email. Or have your folks fill out this form.
⏰ Our events are generally listed in PST/PDT. Need help converting to your time zone? We recommend using World Time Buddy!
🗄️ US Folks, Get Your Money Back from the IRS!: The IRS has been sued (and lost in court) for charging interest and penalties to taxpayers for tax years 2020 through 2023 (aka during the National COVID-19 Emergency). If you owe/owed federal income tax debt (whether you paid for it or not!) during tax years 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023, you may be able to get that money back by filling out Form 843 if you mail it in *before* July 10th! You will not be eligible after that date! June 19th at 1pm-3pm PT, Gata will be showing folks how to fill out & submit the forms to help you get your money back! This event will be recorded. RSVP here
☀️ Our 24 hour long Summer Solstice event to welcome the sun and party down, will be happening June 20th-21st! From a Curses 101, to Taino Women Chiefs, to a Dance Party, Open Mic, Art Gallery Exhibitions, Juneteenth gathering, Scavenger Hunt and more, this annual festival is all online and inside of Garden! Garden(ers) can RSVP here! BIPOC friends of Garden(ers) can RSVP here. A schedule is here!
🛠️ Starting Thursday June 25th at 10am PT, join misha for tools for tending to our nervous (eco)system - intro to the Resilience Toolkit. This will be a 3-part series for quick, accessible somatic practices for stabilizing, reconnecting, and growing our capacity for healing and transformation. RSVP!
📝 Beginning Saturday June 27th at 1pm PT join Boba for Rooted, a fun and relaxed monthly space to explore a variety of poetic forms and styles. Think of this more like an informal poetry club / co-learning space. While there will be some prepared materials and prompts, this will be a much more collaborative space: we’ll learn from and celebrate each another’s experiences, perspectives, knowledge, questions, and creative instincts. Each "session" will have a short reflective groundings/meditation, followed by exploring some texts, time to write, and a no-pressure opportunity to share our writing. (Would love to have an optional ability to create a mini Garden anthology that could live on an internal padlet as example.) RSVP here
🦈For Shark Week (July 9th-12th, 4:30pm-8:30pm PT) we’ll be watching two shark-themed movies each day in the Up All Night room. Join us for classic, comedic, and animated sea flicks. Lineup: July 9th - 🦈 Jaws + 🌪️ Sharknado; July 10th - 🧪 Deep Blue Sea + 🐠 Shark Tale; July 11th - 🦖 The Meg + 🌊 The Meg 2; July 12th - 🚤 Open Water + 🏄🏾♀️ The Shallows. RSVP for Shark Week Film Fest.
❤️🔥 Get your haterade flavored marshmallows ready; the Garden Roast is back! 👺 You wanna roast colonizers? Your terrible boss? The concept of time? COVID deniers? Join Groovy on Sunday July 26th at 1pm PT for the toastiest Garden event of the summer.
Hating knows no limits… but there's a couple of guidelines (ethical hating, hello! 🤓):
☮️ No roasting Garden members.
🤐 If you’re roasting someone who is NOT a public figure, please don’t use personal indicators.
🙅♀️ No racism, ableism, fatphobia, or any kind of discrimination. Be creative!
🥊 Punch up, not down.
⏰ Roasts should be less than 15 minutes.
Ready to roast? Submit a topic here and check out our Roasting 101 guide for more information! RSVP here
🫁 Want to increase your lung capacity? Come to Breathing in the Knowledge Nursery! Every weekday at 9am PT. RSVP here!
🍿 Mondays, B will be hosting Black Movie Night, a now weekly movie (and show) night to highlight movies (and shows) made by, for, and about Black people. The media will generally be entertainment focused, but will also include nights where the intention is education. (Black Folks only.) RSVP! Next movie: a 2000's comedy
🏋🏾♂️ Movement Mondays: Need to stretch more? Commit to your physical therapy? Do some resistance training? Whatever your movement needs are, this is a weekly time to do your independent movement work, while also being around others who need to move with intention! Weekly on Mondays at 7:30pm PT w/ J Mase & Chanelle. RSVP here!
💃🏾 Co-Twerking is on Tuesdays at 3pm PT with Caroline! RSVP to get notified!
📔 Quiet-ish Reading Club / Connect (QRC) 💜💛📚 meets Tuesdays at 6pm PT! QRC - Garden Edition is where we chill together in mostly quiet company of 45 min reading blocks. Bring your own: book, audiobook, article, magazine, comic book, training manuals, graphic novel, paperwork/forms, poetry, etc. anything you’d like to or need to read. Most of the time will be us practicing sustained silent reading (SSR) in cozy, quiet company together. We will take occasional breaks to chat and socialize - mics optional. Like to be kept up-to-date on QRC meet-ups in Garden? Fill out this interest form. RSVP here
🎥 Name That Movie (Night!) is Wednesday at 5:30pm PT! This week's movie is a queer drama classic about a Chinese-American lesbian and her traditionalist mother who are reluctant to go public with secret loves that clash against cultural expectations.. Think you know what it is? Come thru and find out! RSVP via the visit page.
🪷 Stretch it out as Caroline leads us in a weekly afternoon Yoga sesh Fridays at 3pm PT by streaming a yoga video from YouTube and following along. Videos will be between 25-45 minutes long between easy to moderate pace. Drop ins are always welcome! RSVP via the calendar on the visit page.
🐱 Hello Kitty Island Adventure Meet Up w/ Gata! Calling all Hello Kitty Island Adventurers and sanrio fans! We are hosting a game night bi-weekly to play Hello Kitty Island Adventure. Whether you're on a switch, on steam, or another playing platform, come through and hang out. We will be swapping gamming tips, visiting each others islands and more! See you there Friday June 19th at 5pm PT! (We will also be showing Aggretsuko (2018) while playing games or for folks who maybe don’t wanna play games but just wanna watch the show with us!)
🧛♀️ Let's Rock n' Roll all Bloody Night! Season 3 of Interview with The Vampire is officially here to tell the villain origin story of the dramatic, messy and passionate anti-hero, The Vampire Lestat. Starting in June, we'll be meeting every Sunday to watch Lestat de Lioncourt’s rise as the "world’s first immortal rock star”. Follow Groovy on Sunday June 21st at 4pm PT to continue season 3🩸. *Content warnings here*
🫂 The next session of Chronic Illness and Long Covid Support Group will be Thursday June 18th from 5:30pm-7:30pm PT with Chanelle! Navigating everything that comes with chronic illness can be difficult - from managing symptoms to experiencing grief over missing your pre-illness life. This is a peer support space where we can share our feelings about living with any chronic/long-term illness, including long COVID, during an ongoing pandemic. RSVP here!
✍🏽 Are you an aspiring writer? Come join The Storytellers' Anthology which is every other Saturday at 1pm PT (next session is June 20th), hosted by Louis! This group is created for writers who want feedback and constructive criticism on their unpublished literary works, especially for those looking to publish their piece, but just need an extra pair of eyes and encouragement. All genres are welcomed and encouraged. RSVP to attend here.
🎭 Places, theater nerds! At Do You Hear the Garden Sing? we watch musical theatre movies, pro-shots (and some slime tutorials) every other week. This is a space to nerd-out about musical theater, enjoy some tunes and even share some hateful takes ;) Our next watch will be I am Frankela (2025), a Mexican stop motion animated musical dark fantasy film about a young aspiring writer who is approached by a prince trying to save his kingdom. Come join the curtain call on Saturday June 20th at 5pm PT! RSVP!
🏳️⚧️ At our first Trans Meetup, the group was unanimous in deciding that Trans Meetup will be a monthly occurrence. Every fourth Sunday in Garden, at 2pm PT will be a day that Trans folks have made! The next meetup will be June 28th! Join us by RSVP'ing here.
😷 Hang out, chill and play games with Black folks who take COVID precautions at Bonfire in Garden! The next Bonfire will be Saturday June 20th at 5pm PT RSVP here.
☕ Sunday July 5th at 1pm PT, Garden will be hosting its next Social Hour series. Each Social Hour will typically feature a 15-30 min rant// talk// presentation// performance from a Garden member on a subject of their choosing as well as time for folks to meet other members in a casual hang out space with games and activities. Want a place to share your random idea, your new poetic works, to present something special, get feedback or even host at a Garden Social Hour? The format is flexible as needed, and can be a space to practice facilitation skills for those wanting a friendly place to try something new. Want to share your topic at the next, or a future Social Hour? Send us your proposals here! RSVP to attend here.
💻 Do you work from home and sometimes feel a little too isolated from others? Come Co-Work with us in Garden! We are a 24/7 drop in space for folks to join to co-work silently, listen to music, play a game or chat amongst each other in the chat box.
🌍 People Powered is now accepting applications GLOBALLY for two programs that are shaping the future of democracy around the world. Whether you're looking for support for your climate action project, or a space to explore the challenges your participatory process is experiencing or reimagining how decisions are made, there's a path here for you. // The Climate Democracy Accelerator (CDA) is a six-month program that prepares governments and civil society organizations to plan and implement participatory processes for a just climate transition, with a focus on renewable energy and regenerative agriculture. Participants work with a dedicated mentor to design action plans where decision-making power and solutions are driven by the communities most affected by climate change. The program includes live sessions, workshops, country-based peer groups, and access to People Powered's Participation Playbook. Participants receive a $10,000 grant, and five outstanding action plans will receive an additional $15,000, totaling $25,000. // The Rising Stars Mentorship is for emerging leaders eager to deepen their participatory democracy impact. It offers five structured calls with an experienced mentor drawn from People Powered's global membership network. Whether you are planning a new participatory process or facing challenges in an existing one, mentorship provides a space to gain an external perspective, refine your approach, and receive practical guidance at critical moments in your work. APPLY TO BOTH PROGRAMS BY 5PM UTC JUNE 26th
💼 Simply Business is offering grants of $5k to US based small businesses via their Big Dreams Grant fund. Applications are due by June 18th.
🌈 Accessible Virtual Pride: Get ready to join us for an unforgettable experience at Accessible Virtual Pride on July 4th-5th, 2026! We're thrilled to invite you to a celebration of diversity, inclusivity, and love, uniting the LGBTQ+ community and our allies in a safe and COVID-conscious environment. Sign-up, Read More, Buy Merch, Promote! // Produced by Calling Up Justice, One Free Community, and Catalyst Consulting, our event is dedicated to promoting justice and accessibility, ensuring everyone can participate regardless of their ability to attend in person. Inspired by the story of "Stone Soup," every aspect of this event is a labor of love, with volunteers dedicating their time and talents to create something truly special. Join us in making history by supporting our Accessible Virtual Pride and helping us create a space where everyone feels seen, heard, and celebrated. Sign up to be invited, get involved in organizing, perform, share art, vend, or support us in creating this amazing Accessible Virtual Pride event. 🌈Hope to see you there!!! 🌈
✊🏾 Liberation Medicine School is searching for a grant writer! A little about us: we are a geographically-unrooted Black Trans healing, disability, and immigrant justice collective working to divest from the medical industrial complex by creating our own health/care ecosystems for and with our diasporic Afro-TGNC communities. We are seeking two skilled grant writers to support us with resourcing our work. Compensation is per grant, up to $1750 at $50/hour, with expectation of 4 - 6 written proposals per year. We welcome remote applicants based in the U.S. You must have access to a working computer and internet connection. Learn more here and apply ASAP here.
💾 Last week we put out a call for laptop/desktop donations for fellow Garden members and we already were able to pair someone with a donated device! THANK YOU all for your kindness and care! We are still on the hunt for 2 more laptops/desktops for Garden(ers) that need devices for their work and/or to connect with the community here in Garden. If you/your organization have a device or two to spare, simply reply to this email. 🙏🏽
📖 The Black Trans Prayer Book, is organizing a Trans Book Fair, where we will be connecting virtually with Trans folks, and our solidarity partners, from all over the US and beyond, while also distributing physical books by Trans Authors to Trans people! If you/your org would like to support this work (attend // fund // be featured // etc), there is a form for that here! We are looking for people and organizations who would like to help us make this happen!
🥐 If for whatever reason, you are in the US and find yourself, or someone you care about, to be food insecure, here are three sites to find food banks where you/they are: Food Finder, FindHelp and Feeding America. If these are not resources you personally need, please share with your folks.
🍉 Centering Palestine has a zoom every Tuesday at 5pm PT, along with other resources to show up for Palestine available here.
😷 World Health Network has a weekly call to organize community members against mask bans every Friday at 12pm PT.
📢 As a follow-up to the Anti-Blackness sessions GenDoc facilitated with us a few months ago, she has graciously provided this Notes on Anti-Blackness write-up which shares some key takeaways about how Anti-Blackness shows up in BIPOC spaces and what non-Black folks can be doing to support dismantling that.
🌻 We are continuing to open Garden up to more community orgs who would like to share space with us here. If you are part of an org that may benefit from office/event space here, please email info@meetatgarden.com
🎉Want to host your birthday, or the birthday of a friend in Garden? Check out our Birthday Guide and email us!
💌 Don't forget, we can design and host non-Garden virtual events too.
Until next our avatars meet,
🪄Al , 🪻J Mase & 🪴Kwaku
PS: Have a one-time-event or a recurring event and need a place to host? Email us at info@meetatgarden.com!
Garden is a free 24/7 space, but it does cost money for us to maintain it on Gather.Town. If you'd like to donate to this work, consider throwing some money in the pot here. To send donations directly through our 501c3 fiscal sponsor, email us!