Kalfou: Community Centered

About Kalfou: Community Centered

Kalfou: Community Centered is a collective gathering space for dreaming together about what a better world might look like and taking action to make that world a reality. In each episode, we host a conversation among artists, educators, and activists about events in the current news cycle. Our guests illuminate the structural forces shaping the present moment and share examples of historical and contemporary activism, helping us understand how we got here and inspiring us with actions we can take to move forward. Kalfou is hosted by Dr. Felice Blake, senior editor of Kalfou: A Journal of Comparative and Relational Ethnic Studies, and is co-produced by Felice Blake and Rose Elfman. For transcripts, show notes, and more, visit https://kalfou.ucsb.edu/kalfou/podcast. For more information about the journal, visit https://tupjournals.temple.edu/index.php/kalfou/about.

Publisher

Felice Blake

Category

education · society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

5 Mar 2025

Latest episode

30 Jul 2025

Latest episodes

3 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   30 Jul 2025

   "We act in resistance through celebration": Irene Vasquez, Levi Romero, Natalia Toscano, & Nick Rivas on Refusing "the Vanishing" of Community Spaces

   Irene Vasquez, Levi Romero, Natalia Toscano, and Nick Rivas explore arts-based activism and community solidarity, highlighting the fight to preserve vital spaces like La Casita against gentrification in an interview.

2. 

   9 May 2025

   “Folks are already in motion, what can I offer?” Michael Castañeda, Jonathan Gomez, Jose Lumbreras, and Colleen Murphy on Staying Grounded with Community

   In Episode 2, scholar-activists Michael Castañeda, Jonathan Gomez, Jose Lumbreras, and Colleen Murphy join us to examine the complex relationship between ethnic studies departments and the communities we learn from, represent, and serve. We discuss education as a tool for both repression and liberation; steps toward building trust and cultivating a collective consciousness; and examples of work that gives us hope. For more information and a transcript of the episode, visit kalfou.ucsb.edu/kalfou/podcast. Follow us on Bluesky, X, and Instagram at UCSBKALFOU.

3. 

   5 Mar 2025

   "The only relationship I can have to the university is a criminal one": Safety, Repression, and Coalition with Amanda Ellis, Cherríe Moraga, Sherene Seikaly, Chelsea Lancaster, and Tara Jones

   For our inaugural episode, we are joined by five extraordinary scholar-activists—Amanda Ellis, Cherríe Moraga, Sherene Seikaly, Chelsea Lancaster, and Tara Jones—for a conversation on how women of color in education are responding to political repression, past and present. We discuss how our own educational experiences led us to political awareness, who is "safe" on campus and who is not, and how community, coalition, and art making help us imagine better worlds and build better futures. For more information and a transcript of the episode, visit kalfou.ucsb.edu/kalfou/podcast. Follow us on Bluesky, X, and Instagram at UCSBKALFOU.

Who has been a guest on Kalfou: Community Centered

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Irene Vasquez
• Levi Romero
• Natalia Toscano
• Nick Rivas

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Spotify

5.0 / 5

1 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 16 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

19

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

32