THE TERRA TEAM
(we are currently updating this page, so stay tuned!)
Traditional homelands of Southern Mono/Monache, Northern Paiute, and Newe (Western Shoshone)
Erin Monahan, she/her, Co-Founder, Contributing Writer, and Facilitator
Erin (she/her) is the co-founder of Terra Incognita Media. She is a writer, a trauma-informed mindset and businesss coach, a certified Trauma of Money facilitator, and rock climber based in so-called St. Louis, Missouri, the stolen homelands of the Osage, Miami, and Oceti Sakowin peoples. She is dedicated to living a life through a feminist, anti-oppressive lens and is most concerned with writing about the epidemic of toxic masculinity and labor rights within the outdoor industry.
Follow her on Instagram or visit her personal website.
If you could meet any person who's no longer alive, who would it be? bell hooks.
A talent that no one knows about? I’m really good at parallel parking.
On Sunday mornings, you can usually find me… researching/writing, listening to podcasts, drinking coffee naked on my couch and watching people play disc golf at the park across the street, dancing around my aparment…naked…and making almond, poppy seed pancakes!
What are you happiest doing when you're not working? Reading about astrology, pulling tarot cards, doing full/new moon rituals, catching up with friends, running, and climbing.
What would be your motto: Great writing requires lots of shitty first drafts.
Pet peeves: Men. Crumbs on a counter top and unswept piles of dirt…I’m a virgo rising.
In another life, I'm pretty sure I was a cheesy rom-com actress.
If I were a superhero, my superpower would be snapping my fingers and making delicious meals appear. I dislike cooking very much.
What's your nerd obsession? There’s a very specific way to clean my record player and I once gave my friend a 10-15 minute tutorial on it while we were drinking wine. We laugh about it to this day.
Christina Torres, she/her/Ella, Co-Founder, Editor, Contributing Writer, and Facilitator
Christina (she/her/ella) is a Kawaiisu-Paiute descendant of Tejon Indian Reservation and Chicana. Writing and riding in the unceded ancestral lands of the Munsee Lenape - Wappinger peoples in so-called New York. Zinester of Cyclista Zine, the feminist response to the cycling industry. Blogger of City Girl Rides. Mobility justice and recreation to rematriation advocate of Indigenous stewardship in the outdoors. Name the Change.
Follow Christina and Cyclista Zine on Instagram
Contributing Writers and Artists:
Carla Bell, she/her, Writer + Editor
Carla is a contributing writer at Forbes, with bylines at Ebony and Essence magazines, The Miami Herald, Electric Literature, and The North Star, first established by Frederick Douglass in 1847, and re-established by Shaun King in 2019. Locally, Carla’s work has been published by The Seattle Times, Crosscut, and others.
Carla's notable interviews include Bryan Stevenson, renowned civil rights attorney and New York Times best-selling author of Just Mercy; Emmanuel Acho, formerly of the Philadelphia Eagles and New York Times best-selling author of Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man; Benjamin Crump, civil rights attorney and counsel for families of Botham Jean, Stephon Clark, Michael Brown, Trayvon Martin, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor; Jane Elliott, educator and diversity trainer internationally known for the Blue Eyes Brown Eyes Exercise; Robin DiAngelo, diversity trainer and New York Times best-selling author of White Fragility; Bakari Sellers, politician, attorney, CNN commentator, and New York Times best-selling author of My Vanishing Country: A Memoir; and (Mrs.) Bob Bland, Co-Founder of Women’s March.
Carla's writings also contributed to an encyclopedia project of John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York and have been adapted and produced for the stage in New Jersey.
Whitney Sparks, Contributing Writer
Whitney Sparks is an artist, writer, and mother. Ms. Sparks writes about witchcraft, white oppression, and spirituality. Emerging from a context of queer Black single motherhood, she exposes racial and emotional labor, exploring boundaries, self care, and privilege. Her passion is to see reparations for slavery paid to Black people. The best place to find and support Whitney is at her Patreon. Her artwork has a Facebook page and Instagram @nomadonandchild.
KT, Contributing Artist
I’m an anonymous 25 year old queer artist from Memphis,TN trying to create space for others like me. I’m a jack of all trades when it comes to art. I can paint, illustrate, and more. My passion has been creating art since before I can remember.
Follow KT @KT_doesart for political Insta stories and of course, admiring and loving on all of their gorgeous art!
Larissa Nez, she/her, Co-Facilitator of Interrupting Oppression Workshops and Contributing Writer
Yá’át’ééh, shí éí Larissa Nez yinishyé. Hashtł’ishnii nishłį. Dziłtł’ahnii báshíshchíín. Táchii’nii éí da shicheiii. Tótsohnii éí da shinálí. Ákót’éego Diné asdzáán nishłį. Hello, my name is Larissa Nez and I am Diné. I am of the Mud People Clan and born for the Mountain Cove People Clan. My maternal grandfather is of the Red Running into the Water People. My paternal grandfather is of the Big Water People. I am from the Navajo Nation and I attended the University of Notre Dame from 2007-2012 to obtain my B.A. in Sociology and Art History. I am a Youth Advocate at the Native American Youth & Family Center and I am also a student at Portland Community College furthering my study of Sociology. Additionally, I am a representative on the PPS Ethnic Studies Oversight Committee, where we are developing curriculum for Ethnic Studies courses that will be available for all PPS students in 2019. My greatest passion is supporting Indigenous people and communities and empowering them to reclaim their identity, culture, and voice. I enjoy traveling, sports, music, art, and nature. Check her out @canoecanoa
Lorenzo JW Fox, he/him, Co-Facilitator of Interrupting Oppression Workshops and Contributing Writer
Lorenzo (he/him) is originally from Kentucky, and works to incorporate a social justice lens in to all areas of his life, including his work as a professional animal trainer, specializing in aggressive behavior, trauma recovery, and mediation.
In 2018, Lorenzo became a co-facilitator of Terra Incognita Media's "Interrupting Oppression" workshops after being inspired by the outreach and commitment to social change in this community.
He lives in Portland, Oregon.
Check out his gram: @lorenajw_x
Dani Miller, Contributing Writer
Many know me as Dani, my url for my Patreon is my Ndn name Ižaŋžaŋwiŋ which means "Bright Star Woman " in Dakota language. I chose to include my name as a reminder of who I am doing this work for; Not only for myself, but for the betterment of my people. I have a passion in expressing my identity and resistance through writing. My journey in writing began while I attended the University of North Dakota (2008-2014), where my involvement in community organizing my senior year, and my major in Indian Studies, gave me courage to express my resistance and really embrace my Native identity as a Očeti Sakowiŋ (Dakota) Wiŋyaŋ. I am passionate about sharing my experiences as a Native person who grew up displaced in suburbia (Southern Maryland) and the ways that embracing uniqueness relates to the larger scheme of societal structures.
Kima Nieves, Contributing Writer
Kima Nieves is an Urban and reconnecting Indigenous writer, advocate and Mother in Virginia.
Follow her @amkonning and contribute to her Patreon to be among the first to read her sharp, analytical, socio-cultural critiques first!
Nia Abram, Contributing Writer and Co-Editor
Nia Abram is a writer, activist, creator, and realist with a degree in Environmental Policy from Colorado College. She believes that black and brown voices will lead the movement to a more equitable, sustainable planet. It is her goal to examine, understand, and move through the complex identifiers that make one “progressive” in order push for a more radical and intersectional movement that incorporates accountability. As a black queer woman she seeks to go beyond just cultural critique, and also focuses on themes of solidarity and support by finding joy and excitement in the beauty of her people and culture.
Follow her on Instagram: @bad_gal_nini and check out more of her work on her website niaabram.com.
Alyssa Denay Carter, Contributing Artist
Alyssa Miller is a (soon to be) graduate from Colorado College with a degree in Studio Art with an emphasis on textiles, performance, and printmaking/painting and a minor in Race and Ethnic Migrations Studies. Her work addresses the embodiment of and performance of intersectional identities, bodies in spaces and places in bodies, a sort of inherited cultural memory, and both literal and metaphorical processes of shedding skin using weaving sculptural textiles out of nylon monofilament as well as using layering and collage techniques.
Give her a follow on her Instagram: @alyssadenaycarter
Clio Cy, Contributing Artist
Cy is a queer non-binary cyborg filmmaker, 2D artist, and writer with a degree in Film and Media Studies from Colorado College. Their work focuses primarily on sexuality and intimacy through a intersectional feminist lens. They seek to both learn and break free from rigid constraints of identity (and society) and use their work as a method of exploration and exhalation. Through the power of shock and awe, they hope to transform the world around us and make it a safer place for black, brown, and queer people.
Give them a follow: @cyberwitch666
fēnix grace, Contributing Writer
fēnix grace is a writer, film-maker, interdisciplinary artist, and facilitator. They are an apprentice to the arts of “grieving and dreaming” and to the arts of healing trauma in the body. As a queer, white, and neurodivergent being, they seek to dismantle/compost internalized & externalized white supremacy, ableism, classism, and homo/transphobia through their life and work. They are passionate about reclaiming kinship with the ecological world and moving from a place of belonging and co-liberation. Creating art is a way they give space to the oceans they feel inside.
You can follow their evolving work here, and check out their Instagram @born.of.trees
Myriam Gurba, Contributing Writer
Gurba is a high school teacher, writer, podcaster and artist who lives in Long Beach, California. Her most recent book, the true crime memoir Mean, was a New York Times editors’ choice. Publishers Weekly describes her as a “literary voice like none other.” Gurba co-hosts the AskBiGrlz advice podcast with cartoonist, and MariNaomi. Her collage, digital artwork, and photography has been shown in museums, galleries, and community centers.