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In honor of Black History Month, Tricycle is presenting a special video series, “Teachings for Uncertain Times,” featuring 13 teachers of color, here on our blog, Trike Daily, throughout February. The videos are free to watch.

In the following video, Viveka Chen talks about “waking up” while watching the aftermath of Michael Brown’s death in Ferguson.

“I remember . . . tuning into what was happening in Ferguson, Missouri as people were taking to the streets,” Chen says in her talk. “Something was called from me . . . it was not appropriate to just be a voyeur.”

Chen also speaks about self-care practices for activists, such as knowing when to “activate” and respond, and when to take rest periods so our emotions are not constantly “on.”

Download a transcript of this talk. It has been edited for clarity.

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Watch other videos in the “Teachings for Uncertain Times” series