Monday, April 29, 2019: Kimberle Crenshaw, Kenyette Barnes and Margo Okazawa-Rey - Misogynoir and sexual abuse of Black Women

Two recent true-crime docu-series about the sexual abuse by well-known singers have rocked the mainstream world. HBO's "Leaving Neverland" about Michael Jackson and Lifetime's "Surviving R. Kelly" about acclaimed singer and producer R Kelly are causing another round of contentious debate in this time of #MeToo. Despite the revelations and decades-long public discussions of the alleged abuses of these two popular cultural giants, the documentaries seem finally to be breaking through the denial of the last 25 years. But even so, there is resistance to hold the two accountable. This is partly because of Jackson and Kelly's beloved status and partly because of the country's history of lynchings and incarceration of black men based on transgressions fabricated by white women. This history is further complicated by the fraught history of white feminists failing to include race and racism centrally in their analyses of sexual violence. Both factors complicate accusations against black men. So today Lisa Dettmer presents the views of three black feminist women who have have been working to address the denial of abuse in the black community and who discuss how white supremacy and Misogynoir can help prevent this abuse of black women by black men from getting the attention it deserves.

In the first half of the show we will hear clips from a new podcast called "Intersectionality Matters" by renowned feminist and legal scholar Kimberle Crenshaw who talks with #MuteRKelly co-founder Kenyette Barnes about her movement to expose R Kelly’s serial abuse of Black women and girls.

And then in the second half of the show renowned scholar, activist, and author Margo Okazawa-Rey talks to legal scholar and activist Kimberlé Crenshaw about how to understand and address the complex problem of sexual abuse and related trauma in black communities.

Kimberlé Crenshaw, is professor of Law at UCLA and Columbia Law School, and is a leading authority in the area of Civil Rights, Black feminist legal theory, and race, racism and the law. Her work has been foundational in Critical Race Theory and Intersectionality. And she is the co-founder of the African American Policy Forum (AAPF), a think tank that works to dismantle structural inequality. Margo Okazawa-Rey is Barbara Lee Distinguished Chair in Women's Leadership and Professor of Race, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and of Public Policy at Mills College. She also is one of the original members of the Combahee River Collective.


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

Monday, December 24, 2018: Women Saving Our Own Lives, The Legend of Rhodessa Jones

Women Saving Our Own Lives, The Legend of Rhodessa Jones

One constellation of guiding lights for guest host Cat Petru's cultural production organization "We Rise" are Toni Cade Bambara’s words: “The role of the artist is to make the revolution irresistible.” Rhodessa Jones is this artist. On today's show we delve into her latest show When Did Your Hands Become a Weapon? and celebrate 40 years of Cultural Odyssey and 30 of The Medea Project. Guests include company members Fe Bongolan, Lisa Frias, Uzo Nwankpa and Chibueze Crouch.



Please note that we discuss rape culture and violence against women in this #metoo moment. The sharing is often intimate. Please take exquisite care of yourself as you listen.

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

ABOUT OUR GUESTS
Rhodessa Jones is Co-Artistic Director of the acclaimed San Francisco performance company Cultural Odyssey. She is an actress, teacher, director, and writer. Ms. Jones is also the Director of the award winning Medea Project: Theater for Incarcerated Women and HIV Circle, which is a performance workshop designed to achieve personal and social transformation with incarcerated women and women living with HIV. During fall 2017 and winter 2018 Rhodessa was a Frank H. T. Rhodes Visiting Professor at CORNELL UNIVERSITY and a MONTGOMERY FELLOW at DARTMOUTH COLLEGE conducting lectures and workshops at these prestigious institutions. In December 2016 Rhodessa received a THEATRE BAY AREA LEGACY AWARD presented to individuals that have made “extraordinary contributions to the Bay Area theatre community.” In 2014 she received The Sui Generis Foundation Achievement Award for “one of a kind contributions which benefit society in unique ways.” More at https://themedeaproject.weebly.com/.

Fe Bongolan (performer, dramaturg) 2018 marks Fe’s 26th year with The Medea Project as core member actor, writer, singer, dramaturg, and musician. Her prior performing experience includes the Asian American Theater Company, Teatro Ng Tanan, and Campo Santo Theater’s “Trail of her Inner Thigh” by Erin Cressida Wilson, which won the Will Glickman Award for best new play in 1999. She currently co-facilitates the Medea Project’s audio theater workshop in San Francisco County Jail.

Uzoamaka (Uzo) Nwankpa (performer) is a fourth- generation descendant of women healers
from Enugu, Nigeria, West Africa. She is a first generation immigrant to the west and dedicated to the preservation and restoration of the Igbo culture. She is a performing artist, dance facilitator, choreographer, educator, researcher, registered nurse and an advocate for healing through the use of the arts. As an advocate for communities that use the arts to heal, Uzo is dedicated to creating and exploring diverse ways to combine ancient practices with innovation.

C. Chibueze Crouch (performer) is an actor, writer and teaching artist. She has performed internationally, across the Eastern US and around the Bay Area using theater, film, movement, and song in her multidisciplinary creative practice. Recent performances include PARADISE: Belly of the Beast at Brava Theater, LIONS at Stanford University and mouth full of sea at the African American Arts & Culture Complex. In her free time, she teaches drama to Oakland youth at Destiny Arts and does freelance grant writing. Chibueze joined the Medea Project in June of 2018.

Lisa Frias started performing with The Medea Project in 1995. She’s a dancer, choreographer, actor, and singer, and teaches middle school dance in Daly City. She’s honored to be working with Medea for over 2 decades.

You can reach Cultural Odyssey at:
www.culturalodyssey.org/
facebook and instagram: @medeaproject
rhodessa@culturalodyssey.org
415.292.1850 Cultural Odyssey office

You can reach We Rise Production at:
www.weriseproduction.com
instagram and twitter: @weriseproducers
email: weriseproducers@gmail.com

Monday, October 8, 2018: Family Stories of Resistance and Resilience - Berkeley High School Women's Student Union

Listen to a chat with Simone Ewell-Szabò, one of the co-presidents of Berkeley High School's Women's Student Union.  A video the group produced last week in response to the Kavanaugh hearings has gotten over 20,000 views on YouTube.

The students are holding a festival for International Day of the Girl on Oct 11 at lunch hour across the street from Berkeley High School. There will be big sweeps of paper for people to paint, food and things for sale to raise money for women's shelters in Berkeley, and  tables with women's literature, poems and a place to express your feelings.

Listen now or Get MP3 11:35 min

Click here for the entire show. 59:50 min


Also on today's show:
Novelist Barbara Artson
Artist Lucia Ippolito

Monday, September 17, 2018: The Space Between Us hosted by Jovelyn Richards

Van Driel's memoir will be released Oct. 4

KPFA Women's Magazine Host Jovelyn Richards interviews ex FBI agent Barbara Van Driel on how our ethics and values of women must be preserved. Special Agent Barbara Van Driel author of It Never Happened discusses her struggles within a unethical organization while holding on to her own beliefs.

The Space Between Us is a live, call-in show that airs every 3rd Monday at 1 PM on KPFA Women's Magazine. Look for it and join Jovelyn at the river to share your story.

It's pledge week at KPFA. Please donate and support women's programming and listener sponsored radio. KPFA Women's Magazine is entirely written and produced by volunteers.

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