S3E3 of Tatreez Talk: Advocating for Cultural Resilience with Sabrene
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SABRENE IS THE CO-DIRECTOR OF BALADNA WHICH HOSTS PALESTINIAN EVENTS FOR THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST COMMUNITY, A TATREEZ INSTRUCTOR, COMMUNITY ADVOCATE AND PROUD PALESTINIAN (@sabreneodeh).
Through her work, she helps foster a sense of community and cultural pride among Palestinians in the diaspora, providing a space to celebrate and preserve heritage. As a tatreez instructor, Sabrene uses embroidery to empower others, preserve heritage, and celebrate Palestinian identity.
Sabrene's dedication to uplifting her community reflects her passion for cultural advocacy and storytelling, bridging generations, and connecting people to their roots through this traditional art form.
You’ll hear about:
>> 0:41: Sabrene’s connection to Palestine
>> 4:31: Growing up in the Seattle Palestinian community
>> 6:34: Diving into Sabrene’s tatreez journey
>> 14:48: Activism by teaching tatreez
>> 20:56: Tracing your lineage through intergenerational tatreez connections
>> 25:50: Growing the Seattle tatreez community
>> 29:37: What’s next for Sabrene’s tatreez journey
>> 35:50: Sabrene’s major life lesson through tatreez
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Transcript
Amanne: Hi stitchers! Welcome to Tetris! Talk where we share conversations about Palestinian embroidery. I'm Amani here with my co-host, Lina, chatting with talented embroiderers and artists sharing their stories, inspirations, and the cultural significance behind their work.
Lina: On today's episode. We're chatting with Sabrene, the co-director of Baladna, which hosts Palestinian events for the Pacific Northwest Community, a Tatreez instructor community advocate and proud Palestinian. Welcome to Tatreez. Talk Sabrene.
Sabrene: Thank you for having me. I'm excited to be here.
Amanne: We're excited to have you. So let's dive in, and 1st start by asking you if you could share a little bit about you and your family's connection to Palestine.
Sabrene: Yeah. So
Sabrene: my name is Sabrene. Obviously, I was actually born and raised here in Seattle. And so
Sabrene: I talk a lot about whether I'm Palestinian or Palestinian American. I've shifted in my identity a lot of times, and this last year I've been a little bit more strategic about saying I'm Palestinian American, because they've been trying to erase us Palestinians from the Us.
Sabrene: So I am Palestinian American. My family is originally from Elmarha for those who don't know it's in the southern part of like the Jerusalem area so they were
Sabrene: unfortunately displaced during the Nakba in 1948. All 4 of my grandparents were from Al Malha my paternal side stayed in
Sabrene: the west bank, and they now live there. They still live there. To this day they were displaced to a refugee camp and still live in that same refugee camp. My mother's side was internally displaced. For many years. They went to Deir the 1 first, st and then eventually made it to Amman, and from there they made their way to the Us. After many years of one family member coming after the other. And then my grandparents came here and settled in Seattle.
Sabrene: Yeah. And then I was.
Amanne: Bored
Amanne: and growing up. What was your relationship to? Were you able to go back to Philistine? And what was your relationship like to your family that was still there.
Sabrene: Yeah, I when I was really young, my dad would go like every other year, and I wanted to go with him. I remember being so nervous while he was gone like so my parents were divorced, I would say, with my mom and and my mom's family, and I would just feel like, can somebody call my dad like I was like, 5 6, I'm like, is he going to be okay? Is he gonna cross? Okay? Is he gonna get to his family. And you know, at the time you didn't have social media where you can just check people's locations.
Sabrene: And finally, when I went back. I was in 5th grade, I believe.
Sabrene: And that was like the most life changing experience for me. I've never gone to a place
Sabrene: anywhere in the world other than my grandmother's house.
Sabrene: and like instantly felt at home.
Sabrene: crossing through the we have to go through the land crossing because my Dad has Hawiyya so crossing from Amman into Philistine like.
Sabrene: even when I was in 5th grade, I still understood, like there was a sense of like belonging that just washed over me like I was returning home. So I it's like you get addicted to that feeling like, I always want to go back home. So yeah, I went back 3 times from like 5th grade to 10th grade. And then I life got busy. I started working and went to college and stuff. So I actually went back for the 1st time as an adult
Sabrene: in 2023, in the summer of 2023, and I took my husband, who is Samoan. He's not Palestinian, and he wants to move there.
Amanne: Oh, it's not bad!
Lina: Yes.
Sabrene: It was like, I don't know it was so hot, so there's a little bit of like. I was miserable from the heat, but like, so so so happy to see my family and and just be around my people.
Amanne: Oh, I love that.
Lina: That is so powerful, that is so beautiful. How is the relationship with Palestinians in Seattle like? Were you in Seattle the whole time like up until today, or you've always been in Seattle like, how is the community there? Because I actually met, I didn't. We didn't say this in the intro. But I met Sabrene through Hala, who was on a previous episode. So I knew that you were Seattle based, but curious about kind of growing up in that community.
Sabrene: Yeah, it's
Sabrene: It's an interesting community. My, actually, my dad is a pretty big Palestinian activist here. So I grew up.
Sabrene: Taking to the streets. I was. I was a little one at all of the protests carrying the flags and banners. And it's funny when I see people.
Sabrene: especially in this last year, as I've seen, like other activists that are lifelong activists.
Sabrene: They'll like, look at me and they'll like they're like, I know your face. But you're like, you know, taller or bigger, or whatever. And I'm like, Yeah, yeah, I'm a means daughter. But
Sabrene: so that. So my dad has kind of also
Sabrene: instilled that connection of Philistine in us through his activism.
Sabrene: And then, of course, post 9 11. The activism turned
Sabrene: from not just being Palestinian, exclusive, but Muslim advocacy and he was very involved with like ensuring Muslim community was safe here.
Sabrene: There's some crazy things happening, as I'm sure you all know, with
Sabrene: wiretaps, people being detained, people not being able to get back into the Us. And
Sabrene: my dad would take us to all of the meetings with him. So like I learned a lot of these things as a as a really young kid. And I was really connected to I wouldn't necessarily say just the Palestinian community. But, like the activist community at large here, I think the Palestinian community here is large, ish
Sabrene: but it's definitely grown a lot with, like the tech companies that have
Sabrene: grown here. So there's we call it the East Side, which is like east of Seattle. There's a really big Muslim community, and a lot of like Arab in general, and a lot of the Palestinians live on that on that side. When my grandparents settled here in 1970.
Sabrene: They could probably count other families on one hand.
Sabrene: So and not just yeah.
Amanne: Oh, my God of families. So it's just grown exponentially.
Amanne: That's amazing. That's really cool to see that like transformation within your like diaspora community, too. So I want to veer the conversation a little bit, and kind of dive into your Tetris journey. When did Tetris come into your life?
Amanne: And how did it come into your life?
Sabrene: I mean, I've always been obsessed with my grandmother's like thobs, and like
Sabrene: I recognize a privilege that I have, that I grew up with my grandparents, because a lot of Palestinians in Diaspora don't have familial connections in that way, and so would always like share stories about specifically, specifically AlMalha. But like Ld. In general.
Sabrene: and you would see, like the value that they would place in their clothing in the hub like in the food. My grandfather would put his phone on his chest and listen to really old school classic music, and just sit there in silence, like listening to the music.
Sabrene: That's really where my obsession with the 3 started, because Tatreez would just wear the most beautiful like garments, and I would never see anybody else wearing anything like that.
Sabrene: And I would say, when I started actually being interested in stitching it was when I was a teenager. And actually what the name came from. Yeah, you both are nodding. You're like.
Sabrene: she came to the Northwest, actually with her mom and did a session here. And I ended up going with my stepmom and my little sister, and it was interesting. How like
Sabrene: it felt very familiar to stitch, even though I'd never stitched before in my life like I'd always threaded that this needles and stuff, but I've never personally stitched
Sabrene: and I I don't know. It was just like a very intoxicating feeling. I loved the feeling of it, the feeling that I was like connected somehow to my roots by doing it.
Sabrene: And like the second layer to that is
Sabrene: my stepmom actually has a Tatreez business. So she sells
Sabrene: Palestinian handmade embroidery from Bethlehem. So from the like local artisans in Bethlehem my family will send it to her. And she'll sell it here. And it's a really
Sabrene: like for her. It's really important for her to be able to support the local artisans there.
Sabrene: And you know the dollar stretches like in Philistine. We can sell something here for like 10 times the price, as it would be sold in Philistine.
Sabrene: and that's not to say like we're exploiting. It's just like it. The dollar is different, right?
Amanne: Let's also, let's also remember, like, it is a lot of labor that these artisans are putting in. So they should be paid a fair price. So yeah, I appreciate that.
Sabrene: Well, and and some people here in like the us, you know, even when we're talking about the dollar they're like, why is this pillowcase like $65. And then we talk about.
Amanne: Overall. Yeah.
Sabrene: Yeah, I trust me.
Sabrene: You know, I just saw Dina's post about how much the thobe the film you made would have been. And I was like, listen.
Sabrene: Over a thousand dollars, and also priceless.
Lina: Percent. Yep.
Sabrene: Yeah, but we have that conversation with a lot of customers where we have to explain to them. Actually, their hand stitched people are not actually very familiar with handmade embroidery in general. So it clicks for a lot of people that oh, this takes a lot of work to do. So yeah, that's kind of how I started but I didn't actually continue stitching, because life
Sabrene: and so in 2023, when I went back to the blood. My.
Sabrene: it's I love telling the story. If any of my students are listening to this ever they're going to be like. So when you tell this story all the time, and it's true I do, but
Sabrene: it's the best way ever.
Sabrene: I walked into my aunt and uncle's house.
Sabrene: and you know they have the 2 living rooms right. The one you can't sit in, the one you can't sit in was like, ma mind blowing. I was like, what are all of these
Sabrene: pillows and wall hangings and the table runner. And I'm looking at my aunt. And she's like, Yeah, I made all of them. And I was like, there's no way, there's no way you sat and made all of these, and she did a lot of she told me, like I made this with my pregnancy, and I made this with, you know she had all these stories to tell about them.
Sabrene: And so I was like, Can you teach me like, teach me how you, your techniques and all of that. And so
Sabrene: what I didn't realize what I did put together was that she's a principal.
Sabrene: So she was like, Okay, be downstairs tomorrow at 9 Am. And I'll have shay and like.
Sabrene: you know, whatever ready for you. And so me and my little sister went downstairs at 9 Am. For 3 days straight, and we had, like an intensive course with her.
Amanne: I love this.
Sabrene: It was so good, and what was the best part was, they were like my aunts were in the kitchen, and they were making warak Diwali. And so they were rolling the diwali and me, or the warak, and me and my sister were listening to like really old school Palestinian music, and they're like these girls are more Palestinian than we are.
Sabrene: So it was just a whole vibe like. And so, yeah, I've been hooked ever since.
Sabrene: yeah, so that's kind of the story.
Amanne: Yeah, I love that. It's really special to be able to have a deeper dive with. With your family members, too.
Lina: Yeah. And also, does she offer these classes?
Lina: We go for a 3 day intensive.
Lina: You said something.
Lina: I've always die.
Amanne: Take it to three's class.
Sabrene: Yeah, you? Oh, I would. I would love for her to start doing that. I think that she's wrapping up her principal
Sabrene: job soon. I think I'm hoping she's retiring soon. So I'll pitch it to her like. Listen, I I'm teaching glasses because of 3 days with you. You should do this.
Amanne: There we go! There we go!
Lina: And it's and it's the vibe. It's the wily being rolled next door, and the old. I love it. I love it.
Amanne: That's too funny.
Amanne: So I want to talk a little bit, too. So okay, so you in 2023, you really got back into it, and like, where has your Tetris journey taken you since then?
Sabrene: Oh, man, I wish it had taken me to more stitching. But I have not had a chance to stitch honestly.
Sabrene: I can actually show you. Do you mind if I show you what I've been working on.
Amanne: We'll have to share pictures on social media for people.
Lina: So also, that's a good reminder, because I would like photos of your Tita's thwab.
Sabrene: Oh, yeah. Okay.
Amanne: And your aunt's house.
Sabrene: Bye, bye.
Amanne: The the room with all the.
Lina: All of the things. Yeah.
Sabrene: Yeah. So when I left, when I left my aunt, the same aunt gifted me this pillow because I was so obsessed with it right.
Amanne: Beautiful.
Sabrene: It's so pretty! She handmade this.
Amanne: That's dish on Ida fabric.
Sabrene: It is. It's it's.
Amanne: Wow!
Sabrene: And then the back is obviously like pillow
Sabrene: And so I said, You know what like, I'm gonna make my aunt proud, and I'm gonna make another pillowcase and listen.
Sabrene: This is so sad, but I've been stuck in the same place for the last like.
Lina: You have a long way to go.
Amanne: Everyone we need to motivate to get this done.
Sabrene: I stopped, taking.
Amanne: Tiffany and girl.
Sabrene: I know I stopped to get to my daughter's classes because it stayed in the same spot for so long.
Sabrene: but honestly like
Sabrene: the any free time that I have. I filled with activism any free time that I've had, I filled with like hosting events, teaching, teaching. And so for me, personally, I just have not had a lot of time to do stuff that I want to do. It sounds very sad, but like I'm very proud of my activism. So it's not like I don't want it to come off like, Oh, I'm so sad for myself.
Sabrene: But I'm hoping that I will be able to start stitching very soon and finish this pillow. And actually, that's already called dibs on it. So I don't even get to keep
Sabrene: shit.
Amanne: We? Well, we want you to document the journey of maybe that'll help motivate you to to finish and like, keep stitching.
Sabrene: Hoping, so.
Amanne: It also seems like I mean, you're still engaged with the art through teaching. And so how did that came come to be? I know you mentioned like the 3 day intensive with your aunt.
Sabrene: Yeah. I mean, honestly, October of last year was so jarring. And
Sabrene: very, very soon after that we started Baladna
Sabrene: and simultaneously. We were also working on the Seattle ceasefire resolution. So like advocating on our city council level for them to call for a ceasefire and through one of those meetings.
Sabrene: I'm Ahala, and I was like the you know, the Seattle community, I said. It's
Sabrene: large, Ish, but it's pretty small, like everyone kind of knows who everyone is. And so we did public comment at Seattle City Council. And I was like, Who is this fiery Palestinian who's like, you know she's like tatted. She has her vest, I'm like, who is this? And she's like going in on Seattle City Council and for so long.
Sabrene: And I'm not saying this is like, right or wrong, but we've all been conditioned to like be the nice Palestinians, you know, like the 2 State solution, like, you know, you want to be their friends so that they recognize your humanity. So I have not been around a lot of Palestinians who like with their whole chest will go in on people who are not right like we. We have conversations at home, we have conversations
Sabrene: in the public for so long. And this was like October, November. I'm like Dang she's going in. So anyways, I pulled her into the advocacy we were doing with the Seattle City resolution. And in one of the Zoom Meetings I like see this like this motion. I'm like, what is she doing? So I text her, and I'm like. Are you stitching right now during this political meeting? What are you
Sabrene: love you, Hannah?
Sabrene: And she ends up sending me a picture of what she worked on, and it was Handala, and like a paraglider, and I was like.
Sabrene: I am obsessed with you, I was like, listen, so how do you feel about doing Tatreez classes together. I was like, we need to bring this to the world. And so that's really how it started with the Tatreez classes. We did it as a collaboration from Baladna and Seattle resistance to threes. But the actual main goal of this Tatreez classes, of course, is to
Sabrene: like celebrate the art and talk about
Sabrene: how like beautiful it is, and all the joy that comes with that. But actually, it's like a resistance class. And we say, like capital R. Resistance. Because how don't people come into our class like I'm going to learn how to embroider? It's like, No, you're going to learn about resistance, and us claiming indigeneity to the land, and how we have ties to it and evidence of it through. And actually, you're going to be donating
Sabrene: your ticket sales are going to Gaza. So like it was just. It hit so many different avenues that we really cared about, and most importantly, it was being able to support Palestinian and Gaza. So Tatris was just one of the ways, many ways that we, as a community, wanted to support Palestine.
Lina: So wait. Can you tell us more a little bit about like what what people were told before they walked in, and then what they left with, because it sounds like, almost they didn't realize that you guys were going to go into all of that through Tatreez as kind of the tool of doing it. Did I understand that right.
Sabrene: Yeah, I mean, they're just like flyers that say to three's classes are like, Come, learn about Palestinian embroidery, right? And so
Sabrene: for many people, many people who came to our those classes we've never met before, so they don't know
Sabrene: like how proud had. And I are of being Palestinian. Anybody who knew us knew what they were walking into. They knew we're not just going to have those classes. We're gonna be talking about Philistine and our love for it and all that good stuff. But yeah, there were a lot of people who are like, Oh, I want to find a way to give back to Palestine like I wanted to bring my friends to your classes. I told my daughter about it, my nieces whatever. And so they, a lot of people just started showing up.
Sabrene: And it's about a 30 to 45 min presentation about
Sabrene: the history of the trees, and how Palestinian women in particular, have used it as a form of resistance, and we take it all the way through.
Sabrene: I would say, like mainly the early 2 thousands. But we go back in like early 19 hundreds, early? 2 thousands, and had has some tidbits like historical tidbits about like even like thousands of years ago.
Sabrene: So so yeah, I just don't think that people really understand everything that is Palestinian is historical, is political, is it? Is all of the things because we've been forced for it to be positioned in that way when actually, it's beautiful art like, that's actually what it is. It's actually our clothing right?
Amanne: And.
Sabrene: So I don't. We don't try to like trick people, but I just don't think that they realize what they're walking into.
Amanne: Yeah.
Sabrene: That makes sense.
Amanne: No, I think that I that totally makes sense, and I love that you put it that way, because you know, Lina and I always have these conversations with each other, with other people around, like what the role of is in Palestinian resistance, what the role of culture is. And I love. How you guys are presenting these classes even, it's like.
Amanne: Yeah, this is an art form. But like, guess what? It's Palestinian art. So it's going to be. It's a part of the overarching Palestinian resistance movement, because keeping our art alive keeps us alive and keeps our history alive. And that's exactly what the Federal colonial State wants to erase. So I I personally love that that is a part of
Amanne: your closet seems like a very
Amanne: a very thought out part of the class which I think is really important.
Lina: That's amazing. I think maybe I have a question for you. That's a little bit shifting gears. And it's kind of based on like the thing that you said at the very beginning of this episode, which is that you recognize the privilege of growing up with your grandparents. And so, you know, for many Palestinians in diaspora who don't have that privilege.
Lina: you know. How can they tap into Tatreez as a way of tracing their lineage and connecting to their heritage like, where would you advise people to start who maybe don't have a family member who can show them and teach them Tatreez, and sometimes their grandparents like. In my case, my grandparents, my grandmother never really practiced tatreez anyways so like, even though I have access to her as an individual, I didn't access through her.
Sabrene: Oh, well, I mean, that's kind of the beauty of social media like there's pros and cons to everything. But I mean both of you are
Sabrene: incredible in the advocacy that you guys do in bringing
Sabrene: Tatreez to our communities in a very accessible way, in a way that honors the art, and also teaches.
Sabrene: I think, that, like it, seems like a very inaccessible craft or like I don't know historical like piece of context from Philistine, but there are just so many different resources that people can tap into which I'm sure that you all are all are tapped into, and we provide that to our students as well, because
Sabrene: a 2 h workshop with like an hour after to just stitch together is not long enough. Right? So we point people to like. We point people to. Of course. Wafa to you all like we're not the first, st and we're not going to be the last, and we have not paved the way for for by any means we we very much recognize that we're just part of this larger collective that is trying to keep Tatreez kind of at the forefront of
Sabrene: of Palestinian art and and culture. I think that also there are so many different
Sabrene: ways that we all, as community can bring people to like this intergenerational
Sabrene: kind of setting. I I would say
Sabrene: something that I've been really interested in doing, and when I did my master's. It was Covid, so I couldn't actually do the Capstone project that I wanted to do. But part of the capstone project that I wanted to do was connecting the younger generation with like the deaths of the of the community. Because I saw this gap like I'm sure my grandmother loves all of us as her grandkids.
Sabrene: but I'm sure she wants to hang out with people that like are at her level. You know that she can talk about that. She can talk about recipes with whatever like, whatever she wants to talk about, and not always be like teaching people about herself and her and her culture and her life, and and like a step further than that.
Sabrene: I know that there are a lot of
Sabrene: both generations who would love grandkids to share stuff with, and young kids who would love grandparents to learn from. And so I would love to create a space that is intergenerational, in which we have cooking classes. We have classes around, and what not even necessarily like that that is teaching. But talking about like
Sabrene: I say this a lot. Now that I know how to stitch.
Sabrene: There is no way that always used to say. I used to sit around with my friends, used to like, eat bizar and and drink like share coffee and gossip, and I'm like I can't even.
Sabrene: I can't even do one of those things.
Amanne: No stitching was actually being done at these sessions.
Sabrene: Yeah, I was like you were doing all of that. And like creating beautiful flows like, there's no way that
Sabrene: And so just hearing those kinds of stories and being able to like she was just. She's just.
Sabrene: She just so loved her time in Manhat that it's like a
Sabrene: it's like a magical time for her, you know, everything was possible. It was like the most beautiful place on earth. The people were amazing. I mean, that's that is going to be ingrained in her mind
Sabrene: for life. It is. She's 86 now, right? So.
Amanne: One.
Sabrene: I just think that
Sabrene: the older generation being able to share that with us. Is is gold like there's nothing that can ever replace that.
Amanne: Yeah.
Amanne: oh, yeah, that is really special. I think if you have elders, you know near you, or even that, you can talk to. It's important to to talk to them and hear those stories and get that from them while we still have them around.
Amanne: And I, you know I like how you talked a little bit about community, and you know, kind of being able to to get connections within building this community. And with you, and had teaching Tatreez locally like, how has your Tatreez, like your local Tetris community, like grown and evolved.
Sabrene: Yeah, I've seen multiple workshops pop up in the last few months which is really exciting. We also have brought in like we call them our Og students, the folks that have come to like multiple sessions where they're at the 1st session, who actually are way more skilled than we are, and we tell them all the time, like you guys are, I don't know about Hella definitely more skilled than me in a lot of ways.
Sabrene: And so in the last few sessions we've actually brought them in to kind of be like table captains or help out while we're doing instruction.
Sabrene: What's wild while you're teaching is like
Sabrene: knots come out of nowhere, and they're the most difficult knots. And when you have, like 60 students in a class, I'm like, wait like we. We have to do everything by step. Now, it's like, Okay, thread your needle, stop your 1st stitch, stop! And we learned it the hard way, because there are some knots where it's like Hollis. You can't get it out, you know.
Sabrene: And so I think that it's been really beautiful to see, like other people.
Sabrene: Even other Palestinians, be able to really embrace their culture in a way where they don't have other outlets to do that in.
Sabrene: We also
Sabrene: offer like through Baladna. We also offer community gatherings for the same reason. So we actually have one. This weekend where the the point of the community gatherings is to build connections and to find Palestinians who maybe have similar interests, as you or like, are interested in learning things together. And so we have really tried to create this environment in the Northwest that.
Sabrene: like, you don't have to feel ashamed or feel like you're behind, because you didn't know very much about your your culture, your heritage, or because your parents or grandparents were too traumatized to talk about it. Whatever the reason is that maybe you're still like at 0 or 10 of your learning journey. Everyone is welcome, and for those of us who have been like lifelong on the front lines, or Palestine, really stepping into leadership positions where we are
Sabrene: creating safe spaces for people we are breaking some of the generational cycles that we've seen. We've been a part of where all Palestinians are welcome. Everyone who supports Palestine is welcome, but specifically focusing on the Palestinian community, regardless of differing opinions, regardless of
Sabrene: who you support who you don't support. Whatever the case may be. We're actually much stronger united. And so whether that's uniting over whether it's uniting over cooking, whether it's uniting over kids classes, whatever that looks like.
Sabrene: We've really been intentional about creating spaces like that. And Hala, also host. The 3 circles. And specifically she does Palestinian only the 3 circles. And it's to create those bonds with each other as Palestinians.
Sabrene: And to like.
Sabrene: you know, there's there's things that you can say to policies where we just get it, you know. And then we have the 3 circles, for, like the the greater community to to join in on
Sabrene: But I've seen it evolve in ways where, like there's group chats where there's no Palestinians in the group chats. And there's people that are just like with friends, group chats, or whatever. And they're meeting up at cafes and doing together. It's it's just really sweet. And I think, especially when folks who have attended our classes send us their art. And they're like so proud of what they've done. They also are very aware, because we make sure that they're aware that they learn this through advocating for.
Sabrene: And that's that's at the core of our classes, like we are here specifically to advocate for Philistine, and if that's not what you're here for, like, you know, maybe this isn't the space for you.
Lina: That's amazing. That's amazing. So what is next for your journey? I know you were here on your pillow. We're gonna get that done 2025 right.
Amanne: We're gonna post on on social media. So we can, everyone can hold you accountable, the entire
Amanne: community. We'll be checking in.
Sabrene: That's what will be pumped.
Sabrene: What's next for my toll? Three's journey, I mean.
Sabrene: I don't know. I have seen you encouraging people to make their own thobes, which seems like such a far journey for me. But I was talking to data about it the other day because we did a waste campus class.
Sabrene: and she was like correcting me on everything. Mainly because I was speaking in English, and she was like, no, no, this is what it's called in autobi
Sabrene: so she was just like we used to get the mark, and we used to get the the different panels, and then we'd stitch them together. And so, anyway. So she made it seem a lot easier than
Sabrene: yeah.
Sabrene: it is. So maybe I don't know. Maybe working on my first, st though, would be my my next journey, but that seems like a big step from a pillowcase to a soap.
Lina: Well, that was actually my literal journey. I went from pillowcase, learn how to sew, how to make the pillow, and then I jumped to the thobe, so maybe
Lina: the sign. It's Naseeb. I think you should do it.
Sabrene: Yeah, I would.
Lina: Get it. You should learn directly from Teta. That's so beautiful.
Sabrene: I know. Oh, my gosh! She she wishes! I think, the reason why. Actually she wants the pillowcase is because she was sharing with me how she wishes that she could still see the needle like the holes and stuff.
Amanne: Yeah.
Sabrene: And she also has an injury, so she can't actually like twist her wrist very much. So I I can tell when I'm sitting in front of her, that
Sabrene: it like activates a part of her.
Lina: She's supposed to.
Sabrene: Talking about her childhood again. And she starts telling us stories. Even my mom one time was like, she never tells me these stories. And I'm like, Yeah, it's okay, start stitching with me. And you'll hear these stories.
Sabrene: So it's yeah. I think it's just really special. But
Sabrene: we'll we'll see, I also am really interested in like this is a a super tangent, but
Sabrene: I'm really interested in like finding ways to be more size, inclusive, for, like in general. You can only see my head. So it's not really a good example. But when I went to the bed last year, 1st of all, I'm 5, 7, which I don't think is very tall, but there, it's super tall, because the dresses would not pass my ankles.
Amanne: Oh no!
Sabrene: Yeah, trying to find.
Lina: That's so funny, actually, that you're saying like when you said size inclusive. That wasn't what I was thinking.
Sabrene: Yeah, well, I was. I'm talking about both Hi and.
Lina: Okay.
Sabrene: Sizing, like, I think a lot of the stores go up to like 4 or 5
Sabrene: and yeah people, I would walk in. And I mean I love my people, but I was getting judged I'd walk in, and people be like, we don't have anything your side. It's like Dang, can you at least soften the blow a little bit? But yeah, when I got married to like this was in 20
Sabrene: 21 when we had our actual wedding.
Sabrene: I was trying to find just white and red like I, that's all I wanted was white and red, and you could not had on. My stepmom's sister went to like every store, and you could just not find anything white and red that was size inclusive. So I wore Burgundy, Burgundy and gold. But yeah, I'm really interested. I don't know what that looks like, and that's obviously not like me stitching
Sabrene: that looks like you making your own soap. Well.
Amanne: Good start for sure.
Amanne: Our.
Sabrene: But like for the broader community.
Lina: Yeah, yeah.
Sabrene: More. Yeah, I would love to see more girls that look like me being able to find thobes for their pendant nights and their graduations and their, you know, all the things so.
Amanne: I wonder if you could like? I know you mentioned like obviously your stepmother has. She brings in Thwab from Bethlehem like.
Amanne: I wonder if there's like an opportunity for you to work directly with. The women and the artisans that she works with there to kind of create your own line, almost like.
Sabrene: That would be amazing. I to be honest with you the stuff that she gets mainly because I think it just is made so much faster. They're like scarves and pencil cases
Sabrene: and pillowcases and those kinds of things. I think they can just turn it over so much faster.
Amanne: Hmm.
Sabrene: But I mean I would love to get in touch with like manufacturers even that, just even if they're not handmade in their.
Amanne: -
Sabrene: She made like just getting out in the world and be being more accessible, I think, is important for Palestinians and Diaspora, who don't have that instant connection, like even people in Chicago, or like like y'all don't know the struggle. The Northwest has nothing for Palestinians. We don't have cafes. We don't have like nothing for clothing, we don't have any of it. So I'm just yeah. I just want everyone to be able to. If they want to engage with Palestinian culture, that they have the options accessible to them to do so.
Amanne: Okay, we're gonna we're gonna work on this.
Sabrene: Yeah.
Amanne: Like, we're gonna we're gonna do some encouraging because I feel like there's an opportunity for you to help more people wear beautiful tattoos. So I think we should do this.
Lina: Yeah, I I can see a follow up episode when you launch something. So we will definitely be discussing that keeping in touch. I love that.
Sabrene: Thank you. Thank you. Yeah, I'm excited. We we have a lot of work we're doing. I I didn't share this, but I actually work for
Sabrene: actually work for a legal nonprofit right now that I pitched a job to them because there's so much hate and discrimination for our community right now that I was like, I need to get out of my role, which I loved. But I need to get out of my role because the community needs somebody that is advocating for them. So I can't even imagine starting a new project right now. There's so there's so much like
Sabrene: on top of my Tatreez classes in Baladna like there's just so much work that
Sabrene: it needs to be done. I can't wait for the day where I can start like a passion project like that. So I'll definitely keep you guys posted.
Amanne: Alright. Well, one step at a time. But you know, we're still gonna encourage. We're still gonna encourage.
Sabrene: Yeah, I love it. Thank you. Thank you.
Amanne: Of course. Okay. So
Amanne: we always like to ask people around this idea of what are the major life lessons that you have been able to gain from Tetris.
Sabrene: Hmm!
Sabrene: That is a really good question. I mean, obviously, like, patience is one that is just everyone has to learn. I don't have. I didn't have a lot of patience. And I'm learning but like life lessons on on a much deeper level is
Sabrene: what like solidarity and what showing up looks like through
Sabrene: like tangible means, I would say, is, it has been a huge lesson, because.
Sabrene: like I said, we, of course, we focus on the threes. And of course, we focus on
Sabrene: the the beauty of it, and the art and the joy and and all of the beautiful things that we know it is but
Sabrene: hearing
Sabrene: community members say, I have a Palestinian friend, and I want them to hear about how they can trace their lineage
Sabrene: to like to find out where their family was really from. Because, like my family, they live in Bethlehem. But if you look at you would never know they're from Jerusalem, right? So that's if those are only pictures that I had. Unfortunately, that's where my like my ancestry would stop. I wouldn't know too much about it.
Sabrene: So I think that, like
Sabrene: the lessons that I I've learned are the ways in which we can take beautiful cultural crafts.
Sabrene: and not only resist through it, but like offer
Sabrene: people, pieces that are missing in their lives like, imagine not knowing there's so many people in the world that don't know where they're from because of colonialism. And being able to trace your lineage through art is
Sabrene: like that's like the coolest. I don't know. I think that's the coolest thing ever.
Sabrene: So I think that in a lot of ways I've seen outside community members.
Sabrene: kind of offer that to Palestinians specifically
Sabrene: but I think the biggest. The second part to that is like, it doesn't take a lot
Sabrene: for us, as Palestinians to like
Sabrene: create beautiful community that is empowering, that is loving, that is, caring, that holds each other and allows us to really like, take a beat, and
Sabrene: through each thread that we're stitching create roots, I think, to our.
Sabrene: to our land, to our, to our culture, to our the claims that are, you know, we're trying to. They're trying to erase us. And I think through each stitch, it's like
Sabrene: we're pushing back on that. And so seeing Palestinians come to our classes, and and do Tafris with us, and have these conversations about how they're even more proud to be Palestinian once they learn about Tatreez. I think those are like the life lessons that I've left with. When I am done with my Taub I will have so many lessons, though, about
Sabrene: like how what I've learned through stitching. But a lot of it is vicarious through community, because that's that's been my part. This last year.
Amanne: Yeah, I mean, I think the community is a big part of that threes too.
Sabrene: It was.
Amanne: And overall. So but I also think that this means
Amanne: even more reason for you to start your dog like you gotta get into your wisdom. Era.
Sabrene: Oh, my gosh! When my aunt, like my aunts, they all follow like everything that I'm doing, and it's cute, because sometimes they'll reach out, and they'll be like, you need to be careful, like whatever I'm like. You guys are telling me to be careful like, no, this is, I'm I'm fighting for, for my people don't worry about me, but
Sabrene: it's cute when they see like the Tatreez stuff, and even my uncles, who are like they're like the biggest jokesters they're always like between them and my dad. Everyone's always clowning on me about like.
Sabrene: And Hannah had the same experience with her family. We're like, are you sure that you're like qualified to teach something? And I'm like they're listening to me because they saw my journey when I was like drinking the show and like trying to stitch properly that yeah, they don't know. They haven't seen the the progression that I've that I've reached here in the Us. So I'm excited to go back one day and show them my skills. So we'll see.
Lina: I love this so much. That's amazing. Sabrene. Thank you so much for joining us. It's been such a pleasure chatting with you and hearing about your journey. Where can everyone find you and follow you? Get in touch with all the things, especially if they're in Seattle.
Sabrene: Yeah, my Instagram is very easy. It's just my 1st and last name, Sabrina. And
Sabrene: our organization's name is Baladna. So it's @baladna.pnw, we mainly use Instagram for my, the org. I mainly use Instagram
Sabrene: because I'm 30, but really 90 when it comes to technology. So we don't have to talk about it. But yeah, I'm really bad at responding, but hit me up. I eventually see it, and we'll send you all information for people messages all the time about upcoming events. We always post our events on Instagram. So that's that's the best place to to find us.
Amanne: Amazing. We'll go ahead and include that in the show notes. Thank you again. Sabrine.
Amanne: Yeah.
Sabrene: Thank you both, and thank you for everything that you all are doing for the community, but, like the Palestinian community at large, and I hope you all know how much it means to us, as Palestinians.
Amanne: You're saying.
Lina: Thank you.
Amanne: Thank you.
Amanne: I'm so glad that we had Sabine on. We're able to chat with her about her today's journey, and I'm definitely going to continue to encourage her to explore this opportunity. Like I love, you know, I know it was just at the kind of the end. But I love the idea of her being able to make the threes more inclusive, and have it
Amanne: on the, on the bodies of more Palestinians.
Lina: Yeah, no. 100, I agree. And you know, if there clearly is a need, and I think who better to fill that void than a fellow Palestinian who practices. I think that would be so powerful. I really liked your idea actually of kind of tapping into her her stepmom's business, too. I think that's a really cool place to start, at least to explore.
Amanne: Yeah, we'll talk to her more about it. We're gonna we're gonna we'll be the big sisters, though, like convince her.
Lina: The seeds have been planted.
Amanne: Right right. I also do. I really love. She also said this kind of towards the end. But I really loved what she was talking about like how cool it is to be able to
Amanne: understand your lineage and your history through art. And that's just just saying that, I think, is really interesting perspective on, and how tatreez is a form of Palestinian storytelling. So I'm glad that she she mentioned that because I think that's going to definitely stick in my head for a while.
Lina: So so good as always as always. Well, thank you, guys so much for listening to another episode of tatreez talk. We want to hear about your tatreez journeys, so please share your stories with us at tatreeztalk@gmail.com, and we might just have you on an upcoming episode. Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast. On your favorite listening platform and be sure to leave a 5 star review. You can follow me @Linasthobe, and Amanne at @minamanne, and of course follow the pod at @tatreeztalk. We will talk to you guys soon.
