Sticking Together and Fighting Back: A Workshop with Dean Spade
Salon HALA, is a queer local art salon inspired by Salon Paris. This edition guest is author and organizer Dean Spade.
Sticking Together and Fighting Back: A Workshop with Dean Spade
Co-hosted by Mama Ganuush & King LOTUS BOY | Performances by ZAK, Shams w/ Dabka Drag and Drums
Organizer and author Dean Spade as a guest at Salon HALA will lead “Sticking Together and Fighting Back,” a workshop on mutual aid and collective resistance, on Monday, October 26, 2026, 6–9 PM at The Lab (2948 16th St., San Francisco, CA 94103).
The evening is co-hosted by Mama Ganuush and King LOTUS BOY.
Mama Ganuush (they/them) is a trans Palestinian performance artist, filmmaker, and organizer based in San Francisco. They are the founder of the Heritage Activists and Liberation Artists (HALA) Collective, a radically queer collaboration of artists dedicated to Palestinian liberation and all people fighting colonialism. HALA produces Salon HALA, a queer art salon in the spirit of the Parisian art salons of the past-an immersive, celebratory event that blends live performances, community recognition, and interactive games to uplift queer voices and engage in radical joy through art, music, and movement. Salon HALA benefits the Bay to Gaza Mutual Aid Collective, with proceeds directly supporting healthcare and education initiatives in Palestine. Mama Ganuush’s work weaves Palestinian folk art, Egyptian golden-era dance, and theatrical clowning into a vision of queer Palestinian liberation.
King LOTUS BOY is a shapeshifting, transgender and nonbinary, unapologetically disabled, Chinese-American drag king and anti-disciplinary artist based in occupied Lisjan Ohlone land (Oakland, CA). Ze is the first openly disabled and Asian winner of the San Francisco Drag King Contest and serves on the boards of Oaklash, the Drag and Spirituality Summit, and the Stacey Park Milbern Disability Justice Fund.
Performances will feature ZAK and Shams w/ Dabka Drag and Drums, bringing Palestinian folk dance and percussion into the space as a living practice of cultural resistance and collective joy.
The workshop addresses urgent crises-war, ecological destruction, immigration enforcement, and patriarchal violence-while building resilient communities for long-term liberation. Spade, author of *Mutual Aid: Building Solidarity During This Crisis (and the Next)*, will share practical strategies for collective care and sustained movement work.
About Dean Spade: Trans activist, writer, and associate professor at Seattle University School of Law; author of *Mutual Aid* and *Normal Life: Administrative Violence, Critical Trans Politics, and the Limits of Law.
Event Details:
- What: Sticking Together and Fighting Back: A Workshop with Dean Spade
- When: Monday, October 26, 2026 | 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM
- Where: The Lab, 2948 16th St., San Francisco, CA 94103
- Tickets: Sliding scale. Free for Indigenous people or anyone with cost barrier.
- Ages: All Ages
Join us for an evening of learning, strategy, and collective power. Now is the time to stick together and fight back.
Media Inquiries: Mama Ganuush| [email protected]