RAMADAN: Community + Love + Enlightenment

<p><b>I</b>n this episode, I had the great honor to sit with Ashley J. May of the Grassroots Morning Garden Project for an enlightening conversation about Ramadan, Eid al Fitr, Dhul Hijjah, and Eid al Adha.<br/><br/>The religious or spiritual traditions that we are brought up with are often the only ones that we celebrate or have any knowledge of, for our entire lives. However, there is such value in learning about the traditions, and the meanings behind the traditions, of the cultural groups that differ from our own. Ashley&apos;s work focuses on nature-immersive parent-child groups, community-engaged research, and collective care. In our conversation, Ashley talks about how she and her family prepare for Ramadan, as well as how they celebrate the festival of Eid when Ramadan is over. We also spend time discussing the inspiration behind Ashley’s book, Thirty Sunsets and a Moon, and what she hopes this volume brings to people. Ashley gives a number of other resources which will help those of us who are new to this topic, but she also highlights the fact that there are so many different voices within the Muslim faith and the best way to learn about other people is by engaging with them directly. We should all learn from Islamic practices and be open to bringing others into our fold.<br/><br/>Ashley J. May is a mother and ethnographer living on the unceded Tongva lands commonly known as Los Angeles, CA. She is the Founder and Project Director of The Grassroots Morning Garden Project that aims to liberate families and organize parents and their children around spaces of freedom through a co-constructed model for holistic, nature immersive parent and child groups, community-engaged research, public scholarship, and collective care.   <br/><br/>Her graduate training is in research and evaluation--specifically in early childhood and community care contexts.  She has over 20 years of experience in education and holds a Child Development Site Supervisor Permit from the California Department of Education.  She is a member