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Love Over Fear: Sanctuary 2025

Art and culture are powerful tools for healing, connection, and resistance—guiding us to create safe spaces and Sanctuary that honor and nurture our beloved community.

Since its launch in February 2024, the Love Over Fear campaign has been a vibrant force in Oakland—bringing together art, culture, and community action. Rooted in the spirit of Sanctuary, the campaign expresses our collective call for love, safety, and community investment, using creativity as a powerful response to harm and injustice.

We’re excited to announce that our Instagram Live series has relaunched for its second year! 🎉 Amina Lei continues to host the Love Over Fear conversations, introducing our new series: Reaffirming Sanctuary—diving into what it means to love and protect our communities. 💜🏡

As part of this work, we’ve been uplifting conversations around the Sanctuary movement—featuring reflections from our staff who hold lived experience and continue to shape this vision from the inside out.

In February, we kicked things off with IM4HI’s Co-Executive Director Rev. Deborah Lee, who reflected on recent events and the broader fight for Sanctuary. Since then, we’ve been honored to feature:

  • Danny Thongsy, sharing the power of Sanctuary through the lens of post-incarceration and immigration justice.
  • Jose Ruben Hernandez, reflecting on what Sanctuary means for undocumented communities and the fight for belonging.
  • Kelly Younger, speaking to how Sanctuary supports healing and stability for individuals directly impacted by detention and displacement.

Each story reminds us that the significance of Sanctuary lives in those most directly impacted.

Check out these powerful conversations on our Instagram page and learn how you can be part of this movement.

📸 Save the Date: Love Over Fear Sanctuary Photo Exhibit

We’re thrilled to announce our second annual Sanctuary Photo Exhibit, opening this April 2025 in Oakland!

Curated by Oakland-based cultural strategist B Dukes, this exhibit will be hosted at Art Together in Chinatown, featuring work by artists directly impacted by immigration. Their art explores how Sanctuary shows up in their lives and cultural practices, offering healing and protection for themselves and their communities.

Opening Day: Sunday, April 20


Closing Reception: Monday, April 28 | 6–8PM — An evening of art, food, and celebration with featured artists!

📍 Art Together, Chinatown Oakland 1200 Harrison St, Oakland, CA 94612
🔗 [Learn more about Art Together]

🎨 Featured Artists:

  • Lalin St Juste
  • Alfredo Calderon
  • Marybeth Soriano
  • Pablo Guerrero
  • Guillermo Medina
  • Chanthon Bun
  • Amina Lei
  • Katerine Giron

Love Over Fear 2023-2024 Recap: If You Missed Our Earlier Events, Catch Up Here!

2024 Highlights
This past year, we hosted Love Over Fear Oakland through IG live podcasts, photo exhibits and community concerts with the help of our Cultural Strategists!

If you didn’t have a chance to experience our earlier events, don’t worry—there’s still time to engage and explore the beautiful moments we’ve shared together. Here’s a quick look at what we’ve accomplished since the launch:

Instagram Live: Unveiling Love

Amina Lei’s podcast, Unveiling Love in Oakland: Stories of Community and Social Change, featureD powerful weekly conversations with Oakland leaders and community members. Catch up on the latest episodes or see the full video project available on our YouTube channel.

With the artistic vision and skills of Amina Lei, we created an Oakland Love Map that highlights parks, landmarks, organizations throughout Oakland that embody love and care for the city! Copies of the Oakland Love Map are available for the community to display in their homes, businesses, and organizations.

Interested in your own map? Stop by our upcoming exhibit on April 28 and pick up a copy!



Photo Exhibit: “Love Letter to Oakland”

Our first photo exhibit, Love Letter to Oakland,  launched on September 10, 2024, at the Freedom Community Clinic in Fruitvale, Oakland. Curated by B Dukes, the exhibit highlighted community leaders dedicated to fostering safety and care in our city.

Community Concert Series

Francisco Herrera’s Love Over Fear, El Amor Vence El Temor concerts have been a resounding success! Our most recent concert on June 22, 2024, featured incredible performances by Dyna Erie, Marimba Cultura Maya Todosantera, DJ Freaky Emo, and an open mic session. These concerts continue to bring our community together and celebrate the spirit of Oakland.

Stay Connected & Follow us on Instagram

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Events

Next Action in Dublin – Join Us on April 16

* Para español: haga clic en el botón español en la esquina superior derecha de la página, encima del ícono de búsqueda*

From Harm to Liberation: A Faith-Led Action to Stop ICE Expansion 

Details:

📍 Location: the Gates of FCI Dublin Women’s Prison (corner of 8th St. and Arnold), Dublin 94568

*Accessible by BART ( 35 min walk / 5-7 drive away from Dublin/Pleasanton Station) 


📅 Date: Wednesday, April 16, 2025


Time: 5:30 pm – 7 pm 

* Parking across the street at Santa Rita Jail.

*Accessible via BART (1.5 mile walk) A car shuttle will be available from Dublin/Pleasanton BART Station) Please request in RSVP form.

* Participants are invited to bring lawn chairs or something to sit on to ease prolonged standing.

*Restroom and vending machines available in the lobby of Santa Rita Jail.

As we move towards liberation and renewal in this holy season of Ramadan, Passover and Easter, join us in prayerful action to reject ICE’s plans, uplift women survivors, and demand a world without detention.

Love Demands We:

  • Honor and uplift survivors of FCI Dublin
  • Demolish and Permanently Close the facility 
  • Reject all ICE Detention in Dublin 
  • End the terror against immigrant communities
  • Transform the land to meet community needs

This action will be a sacred gathering of faith and resistance, featuring: Interfaith solidarity with Jewish, Muslim, Christian, and Buddhist leaders offering blessings and reflections with live music and prayer.

🎨 ART BUILD – Monday, April 14 | 4–7 PM

Join us to co-create beautiful visuals to Keep ICE out of Dublin- for the vigil and other actions coming up!

📍 Location: Climate Justice Arts Project Studio
Bridge Art & Storage, 23 Maine Ave, Richmond, CA 94703

🅿️ Street and accessibility parking available

🎭 We’ll create banners, signs, and art to use at our interfaith vigil on April 16

☀️ Dress for outdoors and painting (aprons provided)

🍎 Snacks and refreshments available – bring something to share!

We need your support to keep the momentum going! YOUR financial support can help make this event possible and sustain the campaign to keep FCI Dublin closed!

Together, we will make sure that FCI Dublin remains closed for good!

Previous Action on March 1:

On Saturday, March 1st, over 500 individuals of community and interfaith leaders gathered in Dublin, CA, to stand firmly against ICE’s plans to reopen the notorious FCI Dublin federal prison as a detention center. The rally, held at the corner of Dublin Blvd. & Arnold Rd., was an unforgettable display of solidarity, as the community came together to say NO to ICE detention and demand the safety and dignity of all people.

Survivors of FCI Dublin and ICE detention and their loved ones shared powerful testimonies, exposing the horrific abuses inside detention centers: sexual abuse, medical neglect, retaliation, solitary confinement, and family separation. The message was clear—we will not allow FCI Dublin to be turned into an ICE detention center!

The rally gained significant media attention, including coverage from SF ChronicleCBSABC 7KTVUKPFA (19:48 – 23:23) , and NewsWeek. We waved banners, held homemade signs, chanted, exchanged flyers, and committed ourselves to continuing this fight because the fight is far from over!

Categories
Events

Summer Celebration!

Download the flyer in English and Spanish:

Summer Celebration: Honoring Leadership & Embracing Transition 

Date: Saturday, June 21

Time: 3:00 – 5:00 PM

Location: St. John’s Presbyterian Church of Berkeley
2727 College Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94705

Join us in ritual to mark this co-executive director transition as we also celebrate YOU & all of the leaders who bring your gifts and power to the Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity. 

This gathering is an opportunity to honor the past, embrace the future, and uplift the collective wisdom to reimagine new ways moving forward. 

This event is also a fundraising opportunity to sustain and strengthen our work. Your support helps us continue building a more just and liberated future.

🔗 RSVP by June 13th: bit.ly/IM4HIsummercelebration

This event is also a fundraising opportunity to sustain and grow our work. Your generous contribution will help fuel this next chapter of transformative, faith-rooted organizing.