Monday, December 14, 2020: Examining the crisis of the child care system in the US

This Monday December 14th on KPFA Radio’s  "Women’s Magazine" we look at how racial Capitalism and Patriarchy have created a punitive underfunded child care system in the U.S. where the  the average hourly wage of child care workers is $10.72 per hour,  many of the women in need of child care are black and brown women and few get any government support in accessing child care.  This system is informed by the history of slavery in the U.S. where women’s job to reproduce the work force is required but never supported.  And the reality in our neoliberal economy is that many women especially women of color are the essential workers during covid and are working 2-3 jobs just to survive and yet rarely getting any government support for child care.

Today we talk to Marcy Whitebook from the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment at UC Berkeley, Clarissa Douthard with Parent Voices Oakland and Loira Limbal director of the award winning documentary about child care “Through the Night” that shows how caregivers balance the demands of “women’s work” while navigating systemic racism, sexism and classism in the U.S. today. This beautiful film is available online at https://www.throughthenightfilm.com/ and is also showing at the Roxy Theater locally.

Click here to listen to the show. 59:50 min 

This week is fund drive for KPFA  so please call  KPFA Radio at 1.800.439.5732 or online at KPFA.org and donate any amount you can to help keep voices like this and stories about women on the frontlines stay on the air.  It is because we are a listener sponsored station that we can have these radical and unheard  voices on the air.  So please call and support KPFA.  And please share this announcement with others. 

Thank you 

Lisa Dettmer 

Monday, May 4, 2020 - Vylma V presents May Day 2020 and Mental Health in the Era of the Pandemic, COVID-19

How’s your mental health holding up as we continue to shelter in place? Did you get a chance to recognize MayDay 2020? Join 1st Monday of the month host, Vylma V, as she takes a look at what happened during Friday’s May Day 2020 recognitions across the Bay and also takes calls with her guest, Dr. Linda Berry  as they discuss trauma and healing in the age of Corona. Call in with your thoughts (1-800-958-9008), this is a live show on 5-4-20 at 1pm.

Dr. Berry's book is available on her website.

For more info on health and wellness go to Dr. Berry's website and Soluna Health Inc.  Dr. Berry offers a free audio to help with distress: Smile into Distress. This is our gift to you to honor the working women in May, particularly all our essential workers.  

Click here to listen to the show. 59:58 min

Check out The East Bay Meditation Center for on-line Zoom classes and resources.

Monday, January 14, 2019: Ready to Strike - Support Oakland Teachers

Oakland teachers are ready to strike. We hear voices from the Defend Education march and rally on Saturday, January 12, 2019. Hundreds of people turned out to support the teachers, students and schools.

photo credit: Julie Starobin

photo credit: Julie Starobin

Click here to listen to entire show. 59:50 min

Also on today's show:
Remembering those who died in 2018
Ancient Puberty Rites

Monday, January 2, 2017: Cultures of Resistance: The Canadian Jewish Left

Ester Reiter, Senior Scholar in the School of Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies at York University in Toronto, talks about her new book, A Future Without Hate or Need: the Promise of the Jewish Left in Canada. It's a fascinating history of an immigrant community where culture and politics were intricately linked.

Listen now or Get MP3. 35:53 min

About A Future Without Hate or Need:

Driven from their homes in Russia, Poland, and Romania by pogroms and poverty, many Jews who came to Canada in the wave of immigration after the 1905 Russian revolution were committed radicals. A Future Without Hate or Need brings to life the rich and multi-layered lives of a dissident political community, their shared experiences and community-building cultural projects, as they attempted to weave together their ethnic particularity—their identity as Jews—with their internationalist class politics.

purchase at your local bookstore, find at your library or
order online at https://btlbooks.com/book/future-without-hate-or-need

Click here to listen to entire show. 59:50 min

Also on today's show:
The Dance Brigade

Monday, December 26, 2016: Strategies in the worst times

Why have things gotten so bad and where do we go from here?

Rachel Herzing

Rebecca Gordon

Rinku Sen

Rinku Sen of Race Forward and Colorlines, Rachel Herzing, cofounder of Critical Resistance and co-director of Center for Political Education, and Rebecca Gordon, author and professor at University of San Francisco join Kate Raphael to discuss strategies and lessons for the current crisis.

"Thinking in decades is crucial."
"Build cultural, social and political movements."
"Love and solidarity will be more important than ever."

Kate says: "These women blew me away with their ability to articulate both critique and vision. I came away more hopeful as well as more determined to be deliberate and strategic in responding to the crisis of democracy in our country."

Click here to listen now. 59:50 min

Monday, October 3, 2016: Oldest Park Ranger, Betty Reid Soskin

"Every day is a new day" says Betty Reid Soskin. 

Betty Reid Soskin, the US's oldest park ranger celebrates her 95th birthday. Sharon Sobotta airs an interview they made in 2011 about Betty's experience working with the National Parks at the Rosie the Riveter National Park.

Click here to listen to entire show. 59:50 min.

Also on today's show.
Pakistani Film maker Maheen Zia

Labor Day 2016 on KPFA Women's Magazine: Black Women Leading the Labor Movement

Black Women Leading the Labor Movement

"And Still I Rise is a part of The Black Worker Initiative, a bold and exciting new effort launched by the Institute for Policy Studies, which is deeply committed to helping achieve both the historic and contemporary aims of the labor and civil rights movements."

This Labor Day on Women's Magazine, we speak with Robin Williams, Director of Civil Rights and Community Action for the United Food & Commercial Workers International Union.  Williams joined UFCW as an 18-year-old Safeway worker with a new baby, and has become one of its key organizers.  She is one of 27 Black women labor leaders profiled in And Still I Rise: Black Women Labor Leaders, a report from the Black Worker Initiative of the Institute for Policy Studies.

"If I'm not making a difference then I don't want to be there." Robin Williams

Click here to listen to entire show. 59:50 min


Also on today's show:
Dancing to End Violence Against Women

Monday, July 18, 2016: Feminist resistance to neoliberalism

Banner from CUPE 3909 presentation

This Monday July 18th KPFA's Women's Magazine speaks to the authors of a new article called  "For Slow Scholarship: A Feminist Politics of Resistance through Collective Action in the Neoliberal University", which is a call for a feminist ethics of care that challenges the neoliberal working conditions of the university and replaces it with a feminist and collective model you all are calling slow scholarship.  Lisa Dettmer talks to Professors Win Curran, Margaret Walton-Roberts, Trina Hamilton and Alison Mountz about their article and how self care is a radical feminist act. You can find a link to download this article at www.academia.edu and on Facebook.

Click here to listen to entire show. 59:50 min

Also on today's show:
Lesbian feminist poet Barbara Ruth
Women's Community Calendar

Monday, May 9, 2016: She's Beautiful When She's Angry

Dear Friends,
This Monday on KPFA Radio's Women's Magazine we will be offering the inspiring  new feature documentary SHE’S BEAUTIFUL WHEN SHE’S ANGRY as a premium.  This moving film  resurrects the buried history of the outrageous, often brilliant women who founded the modern women’s movement from 1966 to 1971.  SHE’S BEAUTIFUL takes us from the founding of NOW, with ladies in hats and gloves, to the emergence of more radical factions of women’s liberation; from intellectuals like Kate Millett to the street theatrics of W.I.T.C.H. (Women’s International Conspiracy from Hell!).  Artfully combining dramatizations, performance and archival imagery, the film recounts the stories of women who fought for their own equality, and in the process created a world-wide revolution.  SHE’S BEAUTIFUL WHEN SHE’S ANGRY captures the spirit of the time --- thrilling, scandalous, and often hilarious.

A story that still resonates today for women who are facing new challenges around reproductive rights and sexual violence, as the film shows present-day activists creating their generation's own version of feminism. Described by the Village Voice as one of the best films of the year, SHE’S BEAUTIFUL WHEN SHE’S ANGRY is a film about activists who have changed the world as we know it.

Click here to listen now. 59:50 min.

Secure donations can be made at KPFA.org. Thank you for your pledge and please mention Women's Magazine.

Monday, May 2, 2016: Trade Policy Demystified

Professors Maria Floro and Stephanie Seguino, two of the premiere voices on gender equity and globalization, demystify trade policy. Did NAFTA cost US jobs or not? Is free trade good or bad for developing economies and is it possible to have a policy that works for workers in both rich and poor countries? How does trade policy affect women and gender inequality in developing and developed countries? Find out on this week’s show.

Listen now or Get MP3.  29:35 min










Click here to listen to entire show. 59:50 min

Also on today's show:
Solidarity between US and Palestinian prisoners
Remembering Eileen Hansen

Monday, February 29, 2016: She's Beautiful When She's Angry

Dear Friends,
This Monday on KPFA Radio's Women's Magazine we will be offering the inspiring  new feature documentary SHE’S BEAUTIFUL WHEN SHE’S ANGRY as a premium.  This moving film  resurrects the buried history of the outrageous, often brilliant women who founded the modern women’s movement from 1966 to 1971.  SHE’S BEAUTIFUL takes us from the founding of NOW, with ladies in hats and gloves, to the emergence of more radical factions of women’s liberation; from intellectuals like Kate Millett to the street theatrics of W.I.T.C.H. (Women’s International Conspiracy from Hell!).  Artfully combining dramatizations, performance and archival imagery, the film recounts the stories of women who fought for their own equality, and in the process created a world-wide revolution.  SHE’S BEAUTIFUL WHEN SHE’S ANGRY captures the spirit of the time --- thrilling, scandalous, and often hilarious.

A story that still resonates today for women who are facing new challenges around reproductive rights and sexual violence, as the film shows present-day activists creating their generation's own version of feminism. Described by the Village Voice as one of the best films of the year, SHE’S BEAUTIFUL WHEN SHE’S ANGRY is a film about activists who have changed the world as we know it.

Click here to listen now. 59:50 min.

Secure donations can be made at KPFA.org. Thank you for your pledge and please mention Women's Magazine.

Monday, January 4, 2016: Marie Equi: Radical Politics & Outlaw Passions

Marie Equi was a doctor, an open lesbian, an abortion provider, a suffragist and an outspoken labor activist in early twentieth century Oregon.  She was called "one of the most dangerous anarchists" in the country and went to prison for her opposition to World War I.

Why is Equi so much less known than her friends and comrades Margaret Sanger and Elizabeth Gurley Flynn?  Homophobia, suggests Michael Helquist, whose new book is Marie Equi: Radical Politics and Outlaw Passions. Michael will be reading from his book on Sunday, January 10 at 11:30 AM at A Book Talk, St. Aidens Episcopal Church, 101 Gold Mine Drive, SF.

Click here to listen to entire show. 59:50 min

Events Calendar
Wed, Jan 6 at 7:30 PM: Scott Noble's new documentary film: Plutocracy: Political Repression in the USA, at the Humanist Hall in Oakland. For more information call 510-451-5818

Thur, Jan 7 thru April 24: Heron Hall Art Exhibit opens with California Flora: Botanical Paintings in Colored Pencil by Nina Antze. Opening reception Saturday, January 23, 3:00-5:00pm. Free. No RSVP necessary. For more info LagunaFoundation.org or call 707-527-9277 x110

Sat and Sun Jan 9-10 at 7 PM: Lucia August Choreography presents Standing Out Standing, the world premiere of "They Never Really Leave" and a couple of 2014 Fringe Festival favorites, including "Consistent Paradox"! at 1 Grove Street @ Market across from the S.F. Public Library. Tickets on sale through Ticketfly:     http://ticketf.ly/1Qi3R7G
Tickets: $10-20 sliding scale at the door, or $15 ticketfly online. For more info LuciaAugustdance.com

Monday, June 15, 2015: Remembering Ronnie Gilbert 1926-2015

Looking at the role of counterculture in creating historic change. Songs of hope.

Ronnie Gilbert and Pete Seeger in New York, September 13, 1984. (Photo: Ebet Roberts/Redferns/Getty)

The singer Ronnie Gilbert, who passed away last week, was best known as a member of The Weavers, the singing group that also featured Pete Seeger. Gilbert’s bright career was abruptly interrupted when the group was targeted by the House Unamerican Activities Committee in the 1950s.  She moved to California, raised a daughter and became a psychotherapist. In the 1980s, she connected with Holly Near and joined the vibrant women’s music scene, eventually coming out as a lesbian. 

Ronnie and Holly (http://soundtracktomyday.blogspot.com/)

Ronnie Gilbert( http://soundtracktomyday.blogspot.com/)

Adrienne Lauby, Thyme Siegel and Shelley Berman of KRCB’s Outbeat Salon interviewed Ronnie in 2009 about how the partnership with Holly Near and the women’s and lesbian movement impacted her life.  We listen to part of the interview, as well as some of Ronnie’s songs.

Listen now or Get MP3. 34:30 min

Click here to listen to the show. 59:50 min.

Also on today's show:
Outside the Frame: Queers for Palestine Film Festival

Monday, December 1, 2014: Wal-Mart Workers on Strike

Strikers at Wal-Mart

Lisa Dettmer talks to striking workers and supporters at Black Friday's protest at Walmart in Milpitas. For more information about the Black Friday strike at Wal-Mart and how to contact managers in support of the strikers go to www.forrespect.org*. Listen now or Get MP3.





Click here to listen to a tribute to Mary Berg who every Sunday morning at 5 AM gave us A Musical Offering. Also on today's show:
Thoughts on Ferguson
Lesbian Avenger
Tru Bloo

*Correction: We mistakenly gave the website www.ourwalmart.org.  Sorry!  That domain is owned by OurWalMartFactCheck.com, a union busting site possibly paid for by Wal-Mart execs. 

Monday, September 22, 2014: Magnificent Matriarchy: Women's music pioneer Tret Fure

Tret Fure

Kate Raphael interviews Tret Fure, one of the pioneers of women's music. Tret produced many records for Olivia Records in its heyday, including "Meg and Cris at Carnegie Hall." She also has 18 albums of her own, continues to write, perform and produce, and is president of Local 1000, the Traveling Musicians Union. She'll be in San Francisco for a concert on September 27. The concert is at Park Presidio United Methodist Church 4301 Geary Blvd at 8 PM. Tickets are $20 in advance, $25 at the door. Or call 415-751-4438.

Tret's newest album is A Piece of the Sky.




or Get MP3 (26:06)

Listen to entire show. 59:50 min.

Also on today's show.
Saving the Elephant

September 1, 2014: Domestic Workers Organize in the US

Author Sheila Bapat on domestic worker organizing in the U.S.

When U.S. labor protections were being created in the 1930s, domestic workers, who were overwhelmingly African American, were specifically excluded as a concession to southern Democrats. Today, the women who do domestic worker are largely immigrants, and while they have won some rights, still face harsh conditions with little recourse.  But in recent years, domestic worker organizing has been one of the most successful labor movements in the country. Sheila Bapat, author of Part of the Family? Nannies, Housekeepers, Caregivers, and the Battle for Domestic Workers’ Rights, talks with Preeti Shekar.

Sheila Bapat is an attorney and writer covering economic and gender justice. Her work has appeared in Jacobin, Salon, Reuters, Slate, Alternet, Truthout, the University of Pennsylvania Journal of Labor and Employment Law, PolicyMatters, and the Center for Women Policy Studies' series, "Reproductive Laws for the 21st Century." Sheila holds a JD from the University of Pennsylvania School of Law.

Listen now or Get MP3. 20:48 min.

Sunday September 7, 2014, 3-5p
Claiming our Voice: South Asian Domestic Worker Organizing
Held at Oakstop Coworking, 1721 Broadway, Suite 201, Oakland, CA 94612

Hosted by ASATA (Alliance of South Asians Taking Action) and Re-imagine RPE
Special Guest: Sheila Bapat, author of "Part of the Family?," a book about domestic workers' rights, Panel moderated by Preeti Mangala Shekar. For tickets and more info go to Claiming Our Voice.

Click here to listen to entire program. 59:50 min.

Also on today's show:
Drop the Charges on Rasmea Odeh

April 21st: Women's Magazine Earth Day Show

It's Earth Day! We honor the legacy of Wangari Matthai, founder of the Green Belt movement and the first African woman to win a Nobel Peace Prize. And we hear a stirring speech by ecofeminist Vandana Shiva.

Plus a celebration of National Poetry Month with some fiery feminist words.

Wangari Maathai (1940-2011)

To hear the Wangari Maathai interview that aired on Nov. 20, 2006 go to: http://www.kpfa.org/archive/id/23805

For more info on Maathai:
www.globalfundforwomen.org/who-we-are/where-we-stand/1922-celebrating-the-life-of-wangari-maathai

Vandana Shiva says GMO means God Move Over

You can find the Vandana Shiva talk at: http://www.synbiowatch.org/2013/09/watch-video-vandana-shiva-and-gopal-dayaneni-discuss-corporate-biotech-green-vs-ecological-green/








And we hear voices from the first Latino Poetry Festival and young radical women poets. Donde Esta Mi Gente website is dondeestamigente.com.

Click here to listen to the entire show. 50:59 min.

February 24, 2014 - Maria Guillen, A Life in Labor

Labor activist Maria Guillen talks about growing up in East L.A. and how it led her to devote her life to struggles for social justice, especially in the labor movement. 

As a member of SEIU, Guillen helped to win health care for all San Franciscans.

Listen now (10:24)






Also on this show: Toxic Twitter, or Toxic Racism?

February 24, 2014 - "Toxic Twitter" or Toxic Racism? - See more at: http://kpfawomensmag.blogspot.com/2014/02/february-24-2014-toxic-twitter-or-toxic.html#sthash.BVjy7kPZ.dpuf

February 24, 2014 - "Toxic Twitter" or Toxic Racism? - See more at: http://kpfawomensmag.blogspot.com/2014/02/february-24-2014-toxic-twitter-or-toxic.html#sthash.BVjy7kPZ.dpuf

Listen to the full show, including a sneak peek at Pratibha Parmar's film, "Alice Walker: Beauty in Truth", available through the end of February from PBS's American Masters series.

Women's Magazine April 29, 2013: Daily Sexism

When Deborah Copaken Kogan learned she was long-listed for Britain's Women's Prize for Fiction, she looked it up and found that it was nearly always preceded with the words "prestigious" and "controversial."  What's the controversy?  Some people think the time for separate literary prizes for men and women is past; women are equal in fiction, right?  Not so, says the author of The Red Book and Shutterbabe.  She speaks with Kate Raphael about the "little paper cuts" of sexism from the literary establishment and her article "My So-Called Feminist Life in Arts and Letters" published in the April 13 issue of The Nation.  Listen now:


Get MP3 (27:29)

And as May Day approaches, we hear from Aileen Clarke Hernandez, second president of the National Organization for Women, labor organizer and the first woman appointed to the EEOC.  Hernandez talks about the role of radical economic justice activists in creating what we think of as liberal middle-class feminism.  Listen below:



Get MP3 (27:29)

Listen to entire show, including music by Joan Baez and spoken word by Yazmin Monet Watkins. 

April 23: Women in "Post-Conflict" Sri Lanka. Secretary's Day: Affirmation or Anachronism?

Women demonstrate in Sri Lanka

"When the war ends, the world turns away," says Sunila Abeysekara. But for many women in Sri Lanka, the war has not really ended. Their livelihood and homes are destroyed, and no one is helping them pick up the pieces.

Preeti Shekar talks with Sri Lankan feminist and human rights activist Sunila Abeysekara about the challenges women face in the aftermath of the 26-year civil war. 33:28 min.

Listen now:  or Get MP3

Women's Magazine's Kate Raphael works as a word processor in a San Francisco law firm in her spare 37.5 hours a week. In 2007, she and former coworker Rosemary Lenihan interviewed more than a dozen of their fellow clerical workers about how they feel about the changing role of the "secretary" and the transformation of "National Secretaries' Day" into "Administrative Professionals Week." Clerical and administrative workers are still the most heavily female work force in the country.

In observation of Secretaries' Day (Administrative Professionals Day), we listen to the voices of workers who are seldom heard. 20:44 min.

Listen now:  or Get MP3




Listen to entire show