Tacoma Refugee Choir Presents
2025 RALLY FOR PEACE
& WELCOMING
January 25, 2025, 2:30 PM
Drost Auditorium, Lincoln High School, Tacoma
Event Sponsors
Community Partners
Multicultural Child and Family Hope Center
Tacoma Pierce County Health Department
Program Notes &
Artist Biographies
Paul R. Nunn - Visual Artist
Paul Nunn is a Pacific Northwest artist whose work invites viewers to experience moments of awe through mesmerizing concentric circles. His art captures the essence of its subjects, creating hypnotic visual stories. Since 2017, Paul has been a passionate member of Seattle's creative community, collaborating with Urban ArtWorks and Base Camp Studios 2.
Instagram: @creativityinacan
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LQ Lion Dance Team
LQ Lion Dance Team is an enthusiastic youth group who are committed to further themselves in preserving the art of Lion Dancing and to provide cultural enrichment through the art of Lion Dancing to their local communities and beyond. The LQ Lion Dance team is part of the Lieu Quan (LQ) Youth Group based out of the Co Lam Pagoda in Seattle, WA. The youth group was established in 1976 with the goal of developing our youth members to be positively contributing members of society based on the teaching and practice of Buddhism. It is from this youth group that LQ Lion Dance was formed as venue for the members to learn more about Vietnamese culture, to contribute to the community by performing, and to help support the youth group through donations. Since its beginning, LQ Lion Dance has never been a commercial business; we operate much like a non-profit and all the leaders are unpaid and all donations are to support the temple and organization.
Website: https://lqliondance.org/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lqliondance/?ref=embed_page
Instagram: lqliondance
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"Peace Salaam Shalom"
by Pat Humphries and Sandy O
conductor: Kaelin Lor
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"We Are Here" by Tshishiku Henry
Tshishiku Henry is the Refugee Congress Delegate for Washington State. He was born in the Democratic Republic of Congo and arrived in the United States in 2018 after fleeing conflicts in his home country.
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Tshishiku is passionate about helping and working with immigrants and refugees. He works as an Employment Case Manager at Jewish Family Service, a nonprofit organization based in Seattle. Jewish Family Service delivers support to refugees and asylees, from resettlement through naturalization and works closely with newly arrived refugees by providing intensive case management services centered around civic, social and economic integration.
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While in Africa, Tshishiku worked with UNHCR and Plan International Malawi, providing services to refugees with a focus on the areas of human rights, child protection and gender-based violence. He founded a program to empower children by teaching them poetry and drama and encouraging children to raise their voices and speak on issues affecting them through performing arts. He also created a project that supports and transforms women to be self-reliant through manual work such as tailoring, knitting and small business, a position that allowed him to work with people from different backgrounds including Rwanda, Burundi, Congo, Ethiopia and Malawi.
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Tshishiku also worked as a journalist at a community radio in a refugee camp. He has a diploma in biochemistry from his home country and a certificate in business and entrepreneurship from Jesuit Common High Education at the Margins.
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"Everyone from Anywhere"
by Orlando Morales
conductor: Michael Green
"Don't Stop Resisting" by Tasneem Amir
About The Nile Collective: We are a community organization partnering with local non-profits, groups other organizations in efforts to initiate positive community, social, local, international and global awareness and action.
Instagram: @the.nilecollective
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Umunezero Cultural Dance Group
performers: Jacqueline Umubyeyi, Alice Umutoni, Nancy Uwera, Lisa Umulisa
director: Jacqueline Umubyeyi
Jacqueline Umubyeyi is an actress, musician and dancer from the Huye district, Southern Province, Rwanda. She has performed with Isoko Theater through the US, Canada and Europe, and has performed as a professional drummer and teacher at internationally known Green Hills Academy in Rwanda. She has also been a counselor for children and women affected by the Genocide of 1994. Her performing career has always been towards fighting against racism and oppression.
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"Facing the Challenge of a New Age"
Excerpted from a speech delivered by Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
at the First Annual Institute on Nonviolence and Social Change (1956)
recited by Prauper Jones
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"Lift Every Voice"
lyrics by James Weldon Johnson (1871–1938)
music by J. Rosamond Johnson (1873–1954)
soloist: Olivia Frieson,
freshman at Tacoma School of the Arts
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Multiculturally Minded
Executive Director: Usha Sahadeva-Brooks
Founder: Lea Green
Multiculturally Minded was founded in 2016, inspired by the birth of my multicultural son. I found myself asking, "Where is my local community that values culture and equity?" And that is how the organization was born when I created a Facebook page—Multiculturally Minded LC (Lewis County)—as a space for people in our area to share discussions and events centered around these important themes.
In 2020, during the surge of Black Lives Matter protests, the page became an active hub for discussions and a platform to promote local events. Over the years, MMLC has played a role in several impactful initiatives, including: Protests for Black Lives Matter, Stop Asian Hate, and justice for Josh Flores, Annual Juneteenth celebrations, Police accountability efforts, CIRCLE America book and film clubs, Celebrations of Our George Washington, the Black Pioneer, and MMLC monthly meetups. Our latest initiative, proudly supported by Inatai, focuses on encouraging greater civic engagement across Lewis County.
I am now based in Tacoma, I've recently launched a new Facebook page—Multiculturally Minded PC (Pierce County)—to serve this community with the same mission of fostering connection, cultural celebration, and equity-focused action.
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"AIE A 'Mwana"
by Daniel Vangarde and Jean Kluger
Swahili lyrics by Blackblood
conductor: Bhagirath Bhatt
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Aimee Khuu
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Aimee Khuu is a passionate advocate for immigrant and human rights. She is the Executive Director of Tacoma Community House, a nonprofit in Tacoma with 113-year history of serving immigrants and refugees. She served in leadership roles at Providence Health and Services as executive director of international programs for 8 years and chief of health equity for home and community care programs where she both designed and implemented programs to serve underserved populations and led systems change.
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She holds a Master's Degree in Public Affairs, Nonprofit Management from University of Washington. She serves on the Board of Directors for Southwest Youth and Family Services for the past 6 years, an organization committed to providing resources for low-income families and youth. She is also a mother of two wonderful toddlers and likes to dance any time that she has the opportunity.
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"Foolish Man Who Removed Mountains"
by Chris Iijima (1948–2005)
soloist and conductor: Katia Marynevich
soloist: Sander Lazar
instrumentalists: Natalie Ghayoumi (Flute), Seema Martinez (Clarinet)
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Chris Kando Iijima (1948–2005) was a lawyer, educator, legal scholar and musician. In the 1970s, Iijima, Joanne Nobuko Miyamoto, and "Charlie" Chin, were the members of the group Yellow Pearl; their 1973 album, A Grain of Sand: Music for the Struggle by Asians in America, (originally recorded on Paredon Records, now Smithsonian Folkways) was an important part of the development of Asian American identity in the early 1970s. AsianWeek columnist Phil Tajitsu Nash stated that when hearing the album Yellow Pearl perform live, "From Boston to Chicago to San Francisco to Honolulu, Asian-derived people who had been classified in the Census as 'Other' suddenly realized that they had an identity, a history, and a place at the table."
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"Lean On Me"
by Bill Withers (1938 – 2020)
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Tacoma Dance Studios
performers: Lea Green & Steven Chith
Tacoma Dance Studios is about embracing your inner dancer, no matter your appearance, size, shape, gender… there is a dancer in all of us. We have made Tacoma Dance Studios inclusive to all people, because dance isn’t just fitness. Our instructors are incredible and here to give you confidence and skills to become the dancer you’ve always wanted to be.
About Steven Chith: My name is Steven. I've been dancing over 18 partner dances since 2014 and started teaching in 2017. I love to choreograph and perform in front of an audience and introduce the world of partner dancing to as many people as possible. I even transitioned from a lucrative decade-long career as a software engineer to focus solely on my dance business and haven't looked back since.
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Website: https://shlackand.dance
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About Lea Green:
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Melannie Denise Cunningham
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Melannie Denise Cunningham is the Founder and President of Peace Works United, an organization dedicated to promoting peace through education, economic empowerment, and cultural literacy.
With a dynamic career spanning federal, state, and local government roles, academia, grassroots activism, broadcast production, and entrepreneurship, Melannie has consistently championed anti-racist community building. As Principal at The Cunningham Network, she offers consulting and coaching services to businesses, groups, and individuals aiming to enhance intercultural relationships and eliminate racism in various settings. Her firm specializes in intercultural development coaching, strategic talent searches, facilitating conversations on race and systemic oppression, and organizing educational tourism trips and business ventures in Africa.
In 2018, Melannie was honored with the Greater Tacoma Peace Prize for her work in racial reconciliation, leading her to attend the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, Norway. This experience inspired her to produce the documentary "Peace Queen," which won a Northwest Regional Emmy Award. Her community involvement includes board roles at Northwest Harvest, Tacoma Sister Cities Association, and Tacoma Urban Performing Arts Center (T.U.P.A.C.). She also takes pride in her 43-year membership in Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.
Melannie holds a B.A. in General Studies from Washington State University, a Certificate of Training in Broadcast Production Technology from Bates Technical College, an M.B.A. with a concentration in Entrepreneurship from Pacific Lutheran University, and an M.A. in Organizational Leadership and Change from Fielding Graduate University. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Organizational Development at Fielding, exemplifying her lifelong dedication to learning and leadership.
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"Everyone Can Love Someone"
by Trésor John, Nathalie Bajinya & Erin Guinup
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Musicians
Joey Phillips (Drum Set)
Charles Brown (Bass)
Willie Garza (Percussion)
Orlando G. Morales (Piano)
Crew
Alex Meeker (Production Assistant)
Diane Tilstra (Company Management)
John Huddlestun (Projections)
Sound and Mixing: Dmitriy Yemelyenov and PROFIGROUP LLC
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Rally Planning Committee
Ran Owyang, Iuliia Didkivska, Natalie Ghayoumi, Julie Staples, Kath Ross, Marsha Mutisi, Kate Modic, Diane Tilstra, Lucia Guerrero Flores, Gidget Griffin, Caroline Brandau, Jamie Kelly, Maurice Lekea, Leiani Sherwin
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Special Thanks
Lincoln High School and Tacoma Public Schools