BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//wp-events-plugin.com//7.2.3.1//EN TZID:America/Detroit X-WR-TIMEZONE:America/Detroit BEGIN:VEVENT UID:31104@arabamerica.com DTSTART;TZID=America/Detroit:20230603T140000 DTEND;TZID=America/Detroit:20230603T150000 DTSTAMP:20230523T002724Z URL:https://www.arabamerica.com/events/dear-cairo-my-dear-cairo-a-performa nce-by-zeena-pliska/ SUMMARY:Dear Cairo...my dear Cairo: A performance by Zeena Pliska DESCRIPTION:LOS ANGELES\, CA\n\n\n\n\n\nDear Cairo…my dear Cairo is a mu lti-media art exhibition combining photos\, videos\, a soundscape of Cairo \, Egyptian pop music\, and the reading of the children’s picture book\, Egyptian Lullaby by Egyptian/American artist/children’s book author Ze ena M. Pliska. The presentation is in conjunction with a photo exhibit of Cairo titled the same\, currently showing at the Los Angeles Public Librar y Venice branch (501 S. Venice Blvd.) and at the independent bookstore\, V illage Well Books and Coffee (9900 Culver Blvd.) with different photos at each venue and the release of Zeena’s latest children’s picture book\,  Egyptian Lullaby. It is the hope of the artist/author that this installa tion\, the photo exhibitions\, and Egyptian Lullaby will normalize Arab culture for those who are unfamiliar and celebrate Arab culture with those who are to counter the demonization and frequent negative portrayals in t he media.\n\nAbout the artist:\n\nZeena M. Pliska is a kindergarten teach er by day and a children’s book author by night in Los Angeles. Her blog posts can be found on www.teachingauthors.com. Her picture book Hello Lit tle One: A Monarch Butterfly Story (Page Street Kids) came out May 12\, 20 20. Egyptian Lullaby (Roaring Brook Press) was released April 18\, 2023.\n \nZeena is drawn to stories with BIPOC protagonists and stories of social justice because of her own lived experiences both as a social justice acti vist and as a brown woman in the US (her mother is Filipina\, and her fath er is Egyptian). For nearly 35 years\, her activism has taken many forms b oth locally and globally. Her work has specifically focused on justice for Latinx and Black communities. She has participated in direct street actio ns\, marches\, protests\, and demonstrations. She has acted as a legal obs erver for the National Lawyer’s Guild to ensure that others protesting w ere not silenced. She has lobbied in Sacramento and in Washington D.C. and worked on political campaigns to struggle against policies that intention ally harm BIPOC. She has worked as a community organizer\, struggling for educational justice on issues that harm Brown and Black youth. And she is a proud and active member of her labor union\, United Teachers of Los Ange les UTLA/CTA/NEA. As a visual artist\, photographer and theater director a nd children’s book author\, her storytelling primarily focuses on social justice issues that highlight the fact that she brings race\, class\, and gender/sexual orientation analysis to everything she does. Her blog posts can be found on www.teachingauthors.com. For more info\, see her at www.z eenamar.com or on social media: IG @zeenamar\, Twitter @zeenamar1013\, Fac ebook Zeena M. Pliska (author) or Zeena Mar.\n\n \;\n\nThis event is F ree &\; In-Person at Beyond Baroque. Masks are encouraged while inside our center.\n\nEvent attendees are expected to behave in a respectful and considerate manner while in our space. Beyond Baroque reserves the right t o remove individuals from our events\, virtual or otherwise\, if they are not respecting the space\, fellow attendees\, or performers.\n\nIf you can ’t join us in-person the event will be livestreamed on Beyond Baroque’ s YouTube channel at the scheduled time of the event.\n\nBecause this is a free event seating is limited. Please RSVP if you are planning to attend this event. We accept walk-ins\, but priority will be given to people that have registered. Limited seating is available\; we recommend arriving ear ly.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.arabamerica.com/wp-content/uploads/2 023/05/Screenshot-2023-05-22-at-8.24.11-PM.png CATEGORIES:Community,culture,Discussion,Lecture LOCATION:Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center\, 681 Venice Boulevard\, Los A ngeles\, CA\, 90291\, United States GEO:33.991326;-118.45888560000003 X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=681 Venice Boulevard\, Los Angeles\, CA\, 90291\, United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=100;X-TITLE=Beyond Bar oque Literary Arts Center:geo:33.991326,-118.45888560000003 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/Detroit X-LIC-LOCATION:America/Detroit BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20230312T030000 TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT END:DAYLIGHT END:VTIMEZONE END:VCALENDAR