Feature ROUGH DRAFT

Write at least 150 words or more for the rough draft of your 500-word feature. Include at least one of your three interviews in the rough draft. KEEP in MIND: The rough draft is a work in progress and you will be adding more to the story and improving it for your final draft.


With their right hands on their hearts, everyone on the Zoom call exhaled, releasing the tightness in their chests and the turbulence in their minds. 

“We don't get to do that very often,” said public speaker and social activist Thea Monyeé. “Because our lives are structured within the same system that we are trying to tear down.” 

This “heart clearing” exercise is one of Monyeé’s favorite ways to tackle an action-packed day filled with social activism work. 

Monyeé is a self-identified Black women creative and spiritual healer who guided attendees on bridging mental health in the midst of social change during her webinar on March 2. 

“The work of putting your body on the line to face hatred, to face systemic oppression is violent. It's jarring,” expressed Monyeé.

Monyeé recalls her time as a therapist at California State Los Angeles when student activists were protesting against conservative speaker Ben Shapiro and in effect, experienced negative symptoms like agitation, isolation, and sleep deprivation. 

She emphasizes the importance of acknowledging these tensions that come along with activism work and giving it space and time in one's body and mind. 

“The freedom that you've made possible for others can't happen if you're ignoring your own need for connection and for health and well-being,” advises Monyeé. “Enjoy the life you are fighting for.”

~ ~

“Often in activism work we are looking at the belly of the beast, we are staring in the eyes of a person who may not see me as a person.” 


Maileen Mamaradlo, a public health senior at San Jose State University, related to Monyeé  “I definitely feel it as an Asian American and Pacific Islander woman living during these times."

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