Kansas City Oasis

Featured speaker: Natasha Ria El-Scari Community moment: Audra Alexander Musical guest: Mark Lowrey (https://jukeboxxmedia.com/portfolio/mark-lowrey/) Zoom link: https://success.zoom.us/j/3448335044 About the speaker: Natasha Ria El-Scari has been a writer, Cave Canem fellow, and educator for over a decade. Her poetry, academic papers, and personal essays have been published in anthologies and literary and online journals. She has opened for and introduced many great writers, singers and activists, and has been featured at a host of universities and venues nationwide. Born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri, Natasha has a BA from Jackson State University and an MA from the University of Missouri-Kansas...

Featured speaker: Adrian Zink Musical guest: Jessica Paige (https://www.facebook.com/JessPaigeMusic/) Community moment: Amanda Worthington Zoom link: https://success.zoom.us/j/3448335044 Kansas' storied past is filled with fascinating firsts, humorous coincidences and intriguing characters. Many have been lost or totally forgotten, often exiled to the pages of old diaries, archived newspapers and overlooked legal files. Adrian digs deep into the Sunflower State's history to reveal stories such as the first woman mayor in America, a town named after a World Series-winning baseball player, the story of the Kansas-bound madman that shot John Wilkes Booth and the invention of a most dangerous new version of polo...but...

Zoom link: https://success.zoom.us/j/3448335044 Featured speaker: Aaron Guerra, "Board Games and Role-Playing Games: Staying Connected While Social Distancing" Musical guest: Coleen Dieker https://www.facebook.com/coleendiekermusic/ Community moment: Nathan Bailey About the speaker: Aaron Guerra is a longtime member of Kansas City Oasis who has been playing games off and on for at least 30 years, including thousands of different board games, dozens of different role-playing games and even live-action role-playing games. This year, despite the pandemic, Aaron has made a resolution to introduce as many people as possible to modern board games and role-playing games. Join us as he informs us how to...

Zoom link: https://success.zoom.us/j/3448335044 Featured speaker: Katie Griffin Hill: Preclinical to clinical biomedical timelines Musical guest: Mark Pagano http://seefiredogroll.com/ Community moment: Gary Blakely About the speaker: Kati Griffin Hill (pronouns: she/her) has worked in research and development for 20 years. Her primary interest is in developmental and reproductive toxicology. She loves to travel, run, and spoil her menagerie of pets, included a retired laboratory cat.

Zoom link: https://success.zoom.us/j/3448335044 Featured speaker: Janey Rivzi, "Celebrating 5 Years of The Oasis Network and What’s Next" Community moment: JJ Cantrell Musical guest: Bráulio Bosi (https://www.facebook.com/bosibraulio/) About the speaker: Janey Rizvi is a founding member of The Oasis Network. He is a Pakistani-American and former Muslim who became a freethinker in 2007. Janey served on the Houston Oasis board of directors for seven years in various capacities, including marketing, governance, finance, and as the board secretary. He serves on the Marketing Committee for The Oasis Network and is a contributor for Oasis Gaming. Janey attends Galveston Bay Oasis on the...

Zoom link: https://success.zoom.us/j/3448335044 Featured speaker: Erik Stafford, "The meaning of Juneteenth, the impact of the Underground Railroad and the Emancipation Proclamation Reconstruction on Kansas City, and the origin of the police force" Musical guest: Jeff Harshbarger (https://music.ku.edu/jeff-harshbarger) Community moment: Hannah Keim Erik Stafford will discuss the meaning of Juneteenth, the impact of the Underground Railroad and the Emancipation Proclamation Reconstruction on Kansas City, and the origin of the police force. Erik is a native of Kansas City, Missouri. He and his wife, Carla Stafford, have three daughters. After graduating from Raytown South High School, Erik remained in Kansas City to...

Zoom link: https://success.zoom.us/j/3448335044 Featured speaker: Tykebrean Cheshier, organizer of Tulsa BLM movement Musical guest: Mike Dillon (https://www.facebook.com/TheMikeDillonBand/) Community moment: Melissa Leytem About the speaker: Tykebrean Cheshier is a 21-year-old college senior who is passionate about helping her community and making Tulsa one. She is the organizer of Peaceful Rally TULSA.

Zoom link: https://success.zoom.us/j/3448335044 Featured speaker: Preston Mitchum Musical guest: Joslyn Rose Community moment: Jason Radford About the speaker: Preston Mitchum (he/him) is a Black and queer civil rights advocate, writer, and public speaker. He is the Director of Policy of URGE: Unite for Reproductive & Gender Equity. As Director of Policy, Preston shapes state and federal strategies and policies that center the voices and leadership of young people in the South and Midwest. Prior to joining URGE, Preston served as Senior Legal and International Policy Analyst with Advocates for Youth, the Senior Policy Analyst at the Center for Health and...

Zoom link: https://success.zoom.us/j/3448335044 Featured speaker: Annie Lawler, "Chubby Plant People: Introduction to the Weird and Wonderful World of Succulents and Cacti" Community moment: Mark Dixon Musical guest: Sage Cornelius (https://www.facebook.com/ragewitsage/) About the speaker: Annie Lawler is a succulent lover, author, artist, and the founder of Chubby Plant People, an education-based group for succulent lovers and artists, combining her passions of both art and plants to create expertly curated arrangements, hand-painted terra cotta pots, stunning plant photography, and educational posts, articles, videos, and workshops! She's been studying plants for the better part of five years and is currently working on a...

Zoom link: https://success.zoom.us/j/3448335044 Featured speaker: Jack Cooley, "The Evangelical Exodus: Why Evangelicals Are Leaving" Community moment: MK Mustard Musical Guest: The Royal Chief (https://www.facebook.com/TheRoyalChief/) Jack grew up in Wichita, Kansas, and moved to Kansas City in 2015. He was a son of a fundamentalist baptist pastor, raised in a religious homeschooling cult, and was an evangelical pastor for 20 years before deconverting in 2018. Jack now uses his experience in evangelicalism to help those who are leaving the faith, through social media and leading support groups for Recovering from Religion. He lives in the city with his foxhound, Dexter Morgan,...