Kindred Connections Collective
Event Information
Event Line Up
5:25 – Welcome
5:30 – Rita DeMornay (drag)
5:40 – Vivian Valmonte (drag)
5:50 – Reading of the Names, Candlelight Vigil
6:30 – Aura Valdes (poetry)
Community Share
7:00 – Ayün Akilah (collective breath)
7:15- Mo LaFlo (music)
7:25 – The Vamp Natalia (drag)
7:35 – Sammy Beaux (drag)
7:45 – Ash Wednesday (fire and poi)
8:00 – Community Dance Party w/ DJ Rayo
Other Happenings In The Space
Community Altar Building & Art Activity – Supported by Sophia Mayorga and Vee Contreras
(All supplies will be provided, please feel free to bring offerings)
Fascia Jiggling (healing) – Willbliss Kim
Yoga (healing) – Shawna Shawnté
Teach-in (solidarity poli-ed), Kristen Godfrey
Food and Beverage
Food – Ensenada Street Food
Beverages – Stash’s Juice Joint
Coffee – Coffee Mucho
Community Resource Fair
Mariposas Sin Fronteras, Colectivo de Familias Arcoiris, Building Out Safer Spaces, Southern Arizona Senior Pride, Tucson Queer Outdoors, Transitions Acupuncture, Tucson Abortion Support Collective, Sonoran Prevention Works, Peacock Mental Health, Tucson Bail Fund, PUES Collective, No More Deaths – No Mas Muertes, Pima County Health Department, BICAS WTF, Indivisible Tohono, Emerge Center For Domestic Violence, LGBTQ+ Alliance Fund, Community on Wheels (COW), Community Foundation of Southern Arizona.
Vendor Fair
Flowing Waters Soap Co. LaHES Creations, Jenko’s Jewelz, Hollow Vessel Bodywork, Alturas, Maggie My Lab, So Gay Crochet, You Got Moxie!
Event Photographer
prentiss wolfe
Sponsors and Supporters
Event Sponsor – Emerge Center Against Domestic Abuse (Adobe Level)
Event Funding – Arizona Commission on the Arts, 2025 FEST Grant
Additional Support – Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona and Community Donations
Flower Supplier – Arizona Flower Market
Event space donated by YWCA of Southern Arizona, House of Neighborly Services.
Virtual Watch
The link will go live a little before 5 pm on Wednesday, 11.20.24. Please come back and visit us then.
You will also be able to watch some portions of TDOR via Kindred Connections Collective on Instagram.
TDOR Event Crew
Altar Bearers
Sophia Mayorga
Sophia Mayorga is a multimedia artist who resides on Tohono O’Odham lands.
Free Palestine,Free Lebanon, Free Sudan, Free Congo, Free Haiti and Free all oppressed peoples!
Vee Contreras
Vee Contreras (they/them). A Two-Spirit Indigenous Queer who was born and raised on the ancestral lands of the Pascua Yaqui y Tohono O’odham people.
I am a gentle-healing guide that is open to meeting you anywhere along your journey of self-discovery and health awareness.
Healers and Knowledge Sharers
Willbliss Kim
Willbliss is an aspiring midwife and artist. They learned touch bodywork called fascia jiggling from midwives and bodyworkers Gabby Stargazer and Nicole Franklin Morales as an initial step towards the Spinning Babies certification. They were blown away at how low-impact it was for the provider yet how impactful it was for the client. Through the years, they have given fascia jiggling to pregnant and/or grieving community members to reach deep relaxation quickly while also clearing blockages related to fear, grief, or anger. Earlier this year, they mixed this practice along with symbology and crystal therapy for frontline liberation workers in pop-up clinics and will be providing this mixed medicine for those attending our healing clinic event who would like a session.
Shawna Shawnté
Shawna Shawnté is a queer, non-binary femme who was inspired to share yoga with their community after developing a practice while supporting incarcerated family members. They are passionate about sharing yoga as a spiritual and physical practice to build resiliency, clarity, joy and connection in marginalized communities.
They completed Yoga Pod’s 200 hour yoga teacher training in April of 2024 and Yoga Pod’s new teacher continued education program in July of 2024.
Kristen Godfrey
Kristen Godfrey (they/them) is a community organizer and revolutionary socialist. They are a member of Tempest Collective. Kristen is also a social worker and has worked alongside LGBTQ+ young people for ten years.
Holding Space
Aura Valdes
Aura Valdes (he/they) is a Queer Disabled Trans poet & activist based in Tucson AZ. His work and presence are an interruption to the conventional norms and binaries. Aura has become known for creating spaces that prioritize care and invite self-expression. See more at their website auravaldes.wordpress.com
In a recent Prayer/ poem he wrote “ . dear Trans, Queer, Gender non-conforming Intersex 2- Spirit- Watching this community breathe on its own sits intimately parallel to the origin of my words. We are generational Tales, we belong everywhere.”
Ayün Akilah
Ayün Akilah is a Full Spectrum Doula & Psychic Clairvoyant dealing mostly in the death realm.
They practice energy healing using Usui Reiki on the Master level.
Sitting with Ayün is sitting with the depths of yourself.
May we be led to each other and Descend to the Alturas within.
Performers
Sammy Beaux
Sammy Beaux is the curvy Bratz doll of Tucson. She is a energetic and talented beauty that is sure to catch your attention. She is your current MISS TUCSON PRIDE 2025. Hold on tight and enjoy the ride!
Vivian Valmonte
Ash Wednesday
Ash Wednesday is a local Tucson fire spinner, flow artist, drag king, stagehand, and all-around weirdo. Bringing you a dash of dark and sexy, with a side of danger, you can always catch this undead cholo performing with their Lilith coven and Carnival of Flames fire troupe.
Mo LaFlo
Mo LaFlo is an innovative multi-faceted individual recognized for their ability to channel raw emotion and transformative energy through words. Known for his poetic lyricism, LaFlo has written and created powerful anthems, including one for the podcast Dem Bois, which amplifies the voices of trans men of color, as well as another anthem for the non-profit organization IamYou360, dedicated to empowering underserved youth and families in Arizona. Mo LaFlo’s work stands at the intersection of activism and artistry, creating soundscapes that inspire and uplift.
Rita DeMornay
Rita DeMornay is a 25 year old Indigenous/Chicana trans woman born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona. She is member of the federally recognized Indigenous tribe The Akimel O’otham Pee Posh community also known as the Gila (Hee – La) River Indian Community.
Rita is a professional female impersonator of 6 years. She enjoys cosmetology, performing, pageantry and being an advocate for her LGBTQ community. She is the Inaugural Miss Desert Rose 2025, and will be competing for the title of Miss Phoenix Pride 2025 in march of next year. She is known as a dancing diva when performing. However, she enjoys capturing the audience by emotion, her beauty and slaying a lip sync.
She can be found performing all over the valley of Phoenix, as well as raising funds for the Phoenix Pride Scholarship. Please give Rita a follow to find out how you can help support Rita to be the next Miss Phoenix Pride & where you can support her in any upcoming events!
The Vamp Natalia
The Vamp Natalia – a Trans Drag, Burlesque performer, the creator and host of Lilith: A dark Erotic Arts Showcase.
She’s native Tucsonan working in the community for over ten years. She combines eroticism, self-expression, and entertainment to adult audiences all over southern Arizona.
DJ and Photographer
DJ Rayo
prentiss wolfe
prentiss wolfe’s (they/them) photographs celebrate the beauty of community power and the delicateness of everyday life. They are trans, queer, neurodivergent, nonbinary, white, a survivor, of Jewish ancestry, and are fiercely pro-Palestine. They uplift stories and lives of people who are queer, trans, Two Spirit, intersex, Indigenous, Black, Asian, disabled, and abuse survivors. They also facilitate conflict work, workshops, somatic trauma work, and are an abolitionist.
Funders, Sponsors, Supporters, and Suppliers
Community Resources
Vendors
