B.A.L.A: BIPoC Ancestral Love as Arts

Consulting & Community Arts Nonprofit Organization

bala for healing: reclaim. restore. radically love.

Mission

Our mission is to promote & uplift the inner-healing of current & generational wounds experienced by the under-resourced QTDBIPoC (Queer, Trans, Disabled, Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) community members through innovative Arts practices rooted in ancestral traditions & radical divine love. The word “bala” means “strength” and “welcome” in a South Indian language/dialect called Tulu, which varies in pronunciations. We are recalling the strength and welcoming nature of our ancestors.

BIPoC Ancestral Love as Arts (BALA) is fiscally sponsored by For Black Girls Inc.

We offer five Arts practices: 

  • Narratives of Transformative Love: an arts-healing workshop to reclaim one’s identity

  • Prema Nalikke: Tribal Yogic Dance Mediation  [translates to “divine-love dance” in Tulu]

  • Chandre~Kamala Decolonized / Indigenized Yoga [translates to “moon-lotus” in Tulu]

  • BALA Publications of BIPoC artists in mixed-genre work in an online journal

  • Specialized Community Workshops: co-created workshops where we cater to both what the community wants & what is possible by us

Narratives of Transformative Love

The incentive of Narratives of Transformative Love practice/workshop(s) is to amplify inner-healing by identifying & breaking down internalized oppression to recreate a positive and authentic self-image. We believe in using art and writing to address past wounds/traumas, judgements, negative criticisms, and societal expectations in order to heal and transform our identity to reflect our strengths and develop radical self-love & forgiveness. Using various QTDBIPoC-centered ancestral roots, we took to the arts to help heal ourselves and our community by changing the negative narratives created by others to redefine us for us. We shift away from the white-supremacity standard of normalcy and embrace our true inner selves to build a sense of solidarity in community and create advocacy for our communal needs. We aim to empower people by giving them a voice to articulate their true identities in their own words and visions in order to create a personal and institutional change.

Chandre~Kamala Decolonized / Indigenized Yoga

We will bring sessions of secular decolonized yogic practices, Chandre-Kamala Decolonized / Indigenized Yoga, which means “moon-lotus” in South Indian dialects to symbolize the ever-changing forms within us and our resilience as well as the practice of yoga which has been culturally appropriated in Euro-centric systems and South Asian brahmanic systems.  We will start by raising awareness on the current appropriation of yogic practices within casteist and racist systems. Then we will embark on different types of breathing techniques, yogic poses, and meditation with secular affirmations. These yoga practices are designed for bodies with all different abilities, and can incorporate usages of chairs and other needed support. Private classes available upon request.

Prema Nalikke: Tribal Yogic Dance Meditation

We will bring sessions of an innovative tribal yogic dance meditation: Prema Nalikke, which means “divine love dance” in South Indian dialects, where we practice authentic dance movements that allow participants to move to their own rhythm and inner-calling. The incentive of "Prema Nalikke: Tribal Yoga Dance Meditation" is to build a practice of dance and movements which honors our inner-journeys and ancestral callings where we physically release our pain and embrace our strengths & joys through a series of collaborative moves. Through different series of both guided decolonized yogic & South Asian dance movements, and allowing participants to embrace their own inner-soul moves, we will co-create an homage to our ancestors and ourselves. These dance movements are designed for bodies with all different abilities, and can incorporate usages of chairs and other needed support. No dance experience is necessary.

BALA Publications

As an initiative to support the work of BIPoC artists, we developed a partnership to publish online a variety of mixed genre work of both established and emerging BIPoC artists.

Specialized Community Workshops

We aim to co-create with our community members to meet their needs and design workshops suited to support the growth and the healing of our collective.

Founder | Director | Kin~Creator :

Prema Bangera

Bangera was the founder and executive director of a grassroots nonprofit organization, Teen Voices Emerging, which carried on the legacy of the 25-year-old nationally established youth magazine called Teen Voices. 

She has 15+ years of experience working in the community with a trauma informed lens. She was selected by the Boston Women’s Fund as part of the cohort for their 2022 Women of Color Leadership Circle in partnership with the Boston Foundation. 

BALA was founded as a way to utilize the personal healing journey to create innovative arts healing practices through ancestral roots, and remind others that the personal is political. As we have evolved, so too has this work, and it has taken time to arrive at this point. - it is a reminder that we can accept ourselves as we are now and let the love flow inwards.

And we believe in the power of healing our own selves. As the revolutionary poet June Jordan once said, referencing our BIPoC beings and hearts, "We are the ones we are waiting for."

Past and Current Partnerships

Cooperative Artists Institute,

Boston Center for Youth and Families (BCYF),

Boston Public Schools,

Boston Public Libraries,

Boston University,

Boston Teachers Union,

Teacher Summer Institute,

Massachusetts Poetry Festival,

Peabody Essex Museum,

Asian American Resource Workshop,

Democratic Socialists of America,

Midway Journal,

Dreamcatcher Initiative Inc.,

Boston Kroc Center,

Sociedad Latina,

Countryside Community Center in India,

The Bodhi Tree School in India,

Kibera Kids Club in Kenya

and more