Tales From Organizing
AFIRE has always fought for our basic human rights, particularly among our immigrant, domestic worker, queer, and trans communities. There are many ways to do this kind of work. At AFIRE, we organize, mobilize, and advocate. This allows us to create different opportunities for members, partners, and collaborators to join in. Here we can hear directly from AFIRE’s Organizing Director, Kaya Rial, on where the Organizing Program is currently, their experiences and observations, and hopes for the future.
How are things going in your program right now?
KR: It has been exhilarating to witness all the things that AFIRE has been tapping into, and all the things that have been tapping into AFIRE! AFIRE’s Organizing Program has been in a state of constant growth and movement over the past 10 months. It’s been incredible to be part of this and to witness it in real time. We’ve created a number of opportunities where Filipinx/a/o leaders can grow, learn, and organize for change. By the end of June 2025, we will have held:
five Seeding AFIRE spaces – our community education space where we collectively engage in topics that inform & impact our work, and reflect on & critically assess our personal connections to oppressive systems;
one Into the Weeds space – a subset of Seeding AFIRE where we dive deeper into a specific issue or piece of movement history;
two sessions (Fall and Spring) of the Tagalog 101 language course – a space where students learn the foundational aspects of conversational Tagalog;
one Baklaan event – a space for LGBTQ+ community members to connect and discuss issues that are being faced in the community;
two GoldenAgers performances – GoldenAgers is a space for elder members to connect through culturally relevant song and dance, and serves as a reminder that the spirit of leadership and the power to advocate for justice and liberation carries on with age;
two sessions for the pilot of AFIRE’s Actualizing Community Cohort – a learning space for the leaders in our community to develop a foundational understanding of oppressive systems & organizing
With all of [the changes coming out of the new administration], we have had to get real about the potential outcomes for some of our programming, and engage in tough discussions about what all might be at risk and what all we must be willing to release. But for the moment, I’m not too worried about having to make any drastic shifts to our programming.
How are you feeling in this moment?
KR: Oof. Exhausted. Terrified. Holding on to hope and the long-term collective vision.
Funding cuts are happening across the board nationally. Deepening divisions are occurring within our communities around the genocide and right to protest. All against the backdrop of a live-streamed genocide and famine, and everything feels uncertain.
I’ve had to get real with myself and be better about checking in with my own capacity. This role can feel overwhelming at times because of the amount of responsibility I feel like I have to carry, not just for the communities we serve and engage with, but for the greater movement itself, even if at those times I question whether what I’m doing is what I should be doing or whether I’m doing enough. I feel like I don’t really have a choice but to continue to invoke this realization within myself because at the end of the day, action is what keeps me moving forward.
I feel grateful to be able to work at an organization that is values-aligned with my own value system. Because of the nature of this work, I feel like my livelihood is constantly at risk simply because of my humanitarian beliefs, that every being on this earth deserves more and deserves better than what is being scrapped down to us by this unqualified administration and its unelected billionaires. On the other hand, there are definitely times where I feel completely numb and empty in response to the continued violence being carried out by the U.S. imperial project. I am human after all.
There is a reason why the struggle exists and it’s all by design – the structures that keep us in struggle and under oppression are the same from Chicago to Palestine to the Philippines – and I have to remember that we are never alone in this fight. There is indeed a shared responsibility that exists amongst the masses to fight for justice and freedom, to demand changes in oppressive and exploitative working conditions, to shift cultural narratives and beliefs from the individualistic to the collective. I mean, these things take time but everyday it feels like we are running out of time. I refuse to give in to the horrific, inhumane desires of the ruling class and wealthy elites. Am I terrified about the growing target on my back? Absolutely. Joy and grief ebb and flow in cycles, just as the sun and moon revolve in dance so that we may experience each day every day. Some days I move fast, and some days I move slow. But ultimately, I must keep moving. I cannot allow myself to become paralyzed in fear, otherwise they win.
What gives you hope for your programming in the future?
KR: Considering the absurdity and recklessness that continues to come out of this current administration – from brazen funding cuts, to the illegal detainment and deportation of lawful, documented residents and citizens, to members of the executive branch who have no basic common sense awareness of constitutional law – I’ve been trying to take it slow when it comes to envisioning what the future of AFIRE’s programming could become because there are just way too many factors that are out of my/our control. For the things we do have control over, we can do the best we can with the resources we have, and that’s really all that matters. But as I mentioned earlier, I’m not too pressed about it. Should I be?
Part of it for me is knowing that as long as the ruling class continues to hoard massive amounts of wealth as a means to maintain control, then the working class struggle must, therefore, also continue to materialize. I hope funders understand that this work must be sustained, regardless of whether it’s through the form of a nonprofit or an independent collective or organization, and make decisions to continue supporting small organizations like AFIRE that engage in liberatory work.
What is one thing you want to see for the Organizing Program over the course of this year?
KR: I am excited to witness the fruit of AFIRE’s first Actualizing Community Cohort. Actualizing Community is AFIRE’s newest body of programming within the Organizing Program. This program creates space for the leaders in our community to grow their skills and confidence to dismantle oppressive thinking, and forge a world in which our needs are met and we may all thrive and are free from oppression. The name of this program comes from the notion of community actualization, which is observed in the Siksika peoples of the Blackfoot Nation. Community actualization manifests through supporting one another to ensure members of the community have their basic needs met. Through this pilot cohort, I am hopeful that leaders in the community will be able to recognize the connections and pathways between AFIRE’s advocacy and organizing to the broader liberation movement, develop the confidence to identify and call out instances of injustice and oppression, and strengthen their skills to organize themselves and the larger AFIRE community towards justice and liberation for all.
