The Coco Canary Newsletter
December 2025
Summary:
Exciting updates about new & current projects, arts-based methods and activity examples, a summary of the November 2025 Our Roles in Community workshop, and, as always, a social justice grounding & calls to action.
A Social Justice Grounding & Calls to Action
News
- ICE is in the Twin Cities, and a raid happened a mile away from my house: Community rallies after federal agents arrest 14 in raid on St. Paul manufacturer Bro-Tex Inc. (Sahan Journal)
- A local St. Paul resource I love and support: As SNAP cuts loom, St. Paul neighbors feed each other (MSR)
- Justice for Jamar: Outrage around Jamar Clark’s killing by police has rippled through the last decade (MPR News)
- Hurricane Melissa leaves a trail of destruction across Cuba, Haiti, and Jamaica + Recovery efforts continue in Jamaica after Hurricane Melissa devastated the island (Associated Press / NPR News)
All Eyes On
- Palestine/Israel: A ceasefire was signed and went into effect on Oct 10th, 2025, but there have been violations from both sides. Following the ceasefire, UN and partner humanitarian agencies have been able to scale up operations in Gaza, however, “as of November 6, Israel had only allowed just 4,453 trucks to enter out of what should have been 15,600 trucks–or just 28% of the 600 trucks per day stipulated in the Trump plan” (IMEU / OCHA / United Nations). OCHA also mentions that “ninety per cent of Gaza’s current population of 2.1 million people has been displaced, lacking access to sufficient shelter, food, life-saving medical services, clean water, education and livelihoods” (OCHA). Israel’s military operations in Gaza have resulted in the deaths of at least 376 Palestinians since the ceasefire took hold on Oct. 10 (PBS News). The Gaza death toll rises to 70,000 as repeated outbreaks of violence test the ceasefire (NBC News), and the Israeli military’s own data indicates a civilian death rate of 83% in the Gaza war (The Guardian). Lastly, “Palestinians in the West Bank are experiencing the highest rates of settler and state violence in recent history” (Jewish Voices for Peace), and B’Tselem continues to document the escalating violence from Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank (B’Tselem).
- Ukraine: The war continues, civilian deaths in Ukraine surge past last year’s toll (United Nations). Large-scale attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure have caused widespread and prolonged emergency power outages across most regions of the country, leaving millions without heating, water, or public transportation as temperatures plummet (OCHA).
- Congo: Since January, thousands of people have been killed and hundreds of thousands of civilians forced from their homes by armed conflict, flooding, and more (UN News, OCHA). A framework for peace was signed by the Rwandan-backed M23 rebels and the DRC government (BBC), but the situation is still dire.
- Sudan: “Since the civil war began over two years ago, more than 150,000 people have been killed, and about 12 million have been forced from their homes” (BBC). A majority of refugees escape to Chad, which is already impoverished (Al Jazeera). Nesrine Malik offers an excellent reflection and update about Sudan in her recently published article (The Guardian).
Calls to Action
- Anti-ICE organizing:
- Want to learn how to get involved? Attend Safety for Immigrant Communities and Justice for Essential Workers hosted by Unidos MN.
- Support a family directly impacted by the St. Paul ICE raid: Help Reunite Carlos with His Family
- Attend an anti-ICE March and/or Rally: If in MN, there is one this coming Saturday (12/20)
- Palestine:
- Sign this Petition: Act Now to Stop Home Demolitions in Umm al-Khair
- Watch: National briefing on the ongoing crisis in Gaza with If Not Now, Lara Friedman, and Ahmad Abuznaid. Zoom passcode is EhGHLb?6
- Congo:
- Support Congo by donating to Friends of the Congo, which sends all proceeds to basandja.org. They are doing amazing grassroots organizing work in Congo.
- Climate Justice
- Donate to help rebuild Jamaica: REBUILD.US is working with groups here in the U.S. who are aiding their families and communities back home in the Caribbean.
- Sign this petition: Ban fossil fuels from the Amazon!
- Sign this petition: Tell Congress Not to Speed Up at the Expense of Communities – Kill the Dirty Deal 5.0!
- Feel disheartened by authoritarianism? Check out Scot Nakagawa’s list of movies and TV shows that will educate and, hopefully, inspire action! I love his blog, too, BTW.
Molly (right) posing with Jessica Werner (left) and Sully Moreno (middle) in front of the Historic Chinatown Gate in downtown Seattle (11/2025). Photo taken by Jessica Werner.
Business Updates
1. NEW PROJECT: The Office of Sustainability & Environment (OSE) Foresting Seattle Neighborhood Team (Seattle, WA)
Exciting news! I started a new project last month with my dear friend and colleague, Sully Moreno, from Culture Shift Consulting, AND my new friend and colleague, Jessica Werner, from Moon Snail Consulting (see picture above). We will be working with OSE’s Foresting Seattle program to help them develop a Neighborhood Tree Action Plan for the Chinatown-International District (CID). Their main goal is to build tree infrastructure in the CID to help close the significant gap in tree canopy within the area. The main objectives of this project are:
- To co-develop a Neighborhood Tree Action Plan with the support of a group of local CID community members called the “Neighborhood Team” (NT).
- To design and implement a curriculum of hands-on, engaging NT meetings, assignments, and field trips that will both teach NT members about urban forestry practices and help collect feedback on the Tree Action Plan.
- To design and implement community-wide feedback gathering events to fine-tune the Tree Action Place
- To write and publish the Neighborhood Tree Action Plan!
I was hired as an advisor for this project, specifically to provide expertise in arts-based methods development and urban forestry practices (i.e., to help translate complicated urban forestry stuff to the NT and consultant team). We are starting NT meetings this month! So, I will update you all on how it goes in my next newsletter.
A collage made by Sully during a November 2025 taskforce facilitation
2. Community-Based Participatory Audience Research (CBPR) with the Hazardous Waste Management Program in King County (Seattle, WA)
Sully Moreno from Culture Shift Consulting and I have been working with the Hazardous Waste Management program in King County (HAZ Waste) on an audience research study since July 2024. Our end goal is to co-develop and implement a community engagement plan with community members and HAZ Waste staff. We finished Phase 1 this summer, which used a community-centric arts-based methodology called Photovoice. If you want to learn more about what we did, you can: (1) check out this blog post written by HAZ Waste or (2) read the publicly available final report!
Well, we started Phase 2 a few months ago, and have already had two great meetings with our taskforce participants (one in-person and one virtual). We used arts-based activities and methods in both meetings. The arts-based methods and activities we used were: Four Corners, Collage, and Found Poetry. See below for more details on how they were implemented.
- We used Four Corners as an icebreaker. In this movement-based activity, you ask a question with four possible answers, and have folks go to the corner of the room that represents their answer. It’s a great way to get people to mix and mingle, and give them something to talk about in their corner. You can also ask evaluation or research questions relevant to your project and collect basic quantitative data in a fun way!
- We used Collage as an arts-based method. A collage is a visual piece of art made from other materials. We wanted this activity to connect with Phase 1, so we used the photos and photo captions from our Phase 1 Photovoice activity—magazines and other collage materials were also available—and had folks make collages inspired by the four key themes that emerged from Phase 1. The collages were beautiful, and the discussion was rich. This activity helped us compile the initial themes for a message map, a tool for structuring a communications campaign or product.
- In our most recent meeting, we utilized Found Poetry as an arts-based method. Found Poetry is where you take words or phrases from source materials and reframe them into a poem. Our goal was to begin developing a message map. The two sources we used were: (1) Key words and phrases that emerged from the collage activity discussion, and (2) a relevant excerpt from the book Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teaching of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer. The participants wrote amazing poems, and the discussion yielded some powerful initial ideas for the message map.
Other Business Updates
The November Our Roles in Community Workshop was a huge success!
In February, my friends and I facilitated a workshop titled “Our Roles in Community: Past, Present, & Future.” We had 13 folks come to reflect on the roles they’ve been playing in their community; Discuss learnings, challenges, and why these roles may or may not serve them and/or their community anymore; and dream and decide how they want to engage in community organizing moving forward.
A participant shared, “I was exposed to a roomful of folx involved in social justice work, most of whom I’ve never encountered ~ refreshing! Never in my life did I think to look back at the ‘history’ of my activism. I’m still sitting with this and using it to help me be more articulate about what work I am currently doing and wanting to do.”
We hope to facilitate again in 2026, and there were even requests for a virtual option. I’ll let you all know when the next workshop will be!
Coco Canary’s 2025 Annual Narrative
Earlier this year, I published the Coco Canary 2025 Annual Narrative. It is a brief report summarizing business highlights, as well as my volunteer work and other fun activities that keep me busy. Read the report here!
Personal Update
Fall & Winter Joy With Friends, Family, & Community!
Above are images of what I’ve been up to since my last newsletter, and below are image descriptions from top left to bottom right:
Image 1: Molly extending an arm above a young Giant Sequoia tree (photo taken by Jessica Werner). I hope to revisit this tree many years from now and see how tall it gets in my lifetime. Just imagine how big this tree will be when it reaches the ripe old age of 3000 years!
Image 2: Molly and her partner, Michael, holding a crocheted granny-square blanket they made for Molly’s twin sister’s baby. It is important to note that the granny squares had already been made when we started crocheting (my mom had bought them at a sale over a decade ago).
Image 3: 4 people on a stage. Two musicians from my band, Tree & Co., are sitting in chairs with their guitars, and two puppeteers are on the floor, preparing a shadow puppet show to accompany the music. We are planning to make a music video! You can find our music online on Bandcamp or streaming on most music streaming platforms (Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and more)!
Image 4: A blurry photo of a group of people (children and adults) dancing on a stage in front of a large audience. Michael and I take dance classes at Young Dance, and they asked for volunteers to perform at a conference they were invited to. We volunteered and had a fun time!
Image 5: A picture of a carved pumpkin and a carved turnip. Molly felt inspired to carve a turnip this year because that’s how her Irish ancestors would ward away not-friendly spirits!
Image 6: Molly and Michael holding a wreath they made at a friend’s wreath-making party.
Let’s Stay Connected!
To keep up to date with my business news, connect or follow me on Linkedin. Don’t forget to follow our newsletter below! And, of course, if you know of anyone who may benefit from our services, send them our way. Referrals are what make the world go round.
In Community,
Molly O’Connor (she/her/hers)
Founder, Principal Consultant, Arts-Based Evaluator, and Community-Based Participatory Researcher
email: moconnor@cococanary.com
website: cococanary.com
