There have been many conversations and debates about defunding the police and abolishing prisons. Also, currently there are official conversations about Black reparations. This past Friday, Japanese American communities celebrated their Day of Remembrance for those imprisoned in concentration camps during WWII. I agree that we should abolish prisons and defund the police. But our positions also require us to think about fundamental questions related to justice about people who are injured, traumatized, sexually assaulted, and otherwise violated, and people who have harmed them. One of the creative and grassroots responses is the transformative justice movement emerging in several places in this country. Today, I am in conversation with Dr Xhercis Mendez to learn about and understand better what transformative justice is, its values and principles, and its practices.
Along with being a professor at CSU Fullerton, Dr. Mendez is a popular educator, organizer, decolonial feminist philosopher, and founder of The Campus Transformative Justice Project that started in 2017 in the aftermath of the Larry Nassar case at Michigan State University. She describes herself as the Boricua (Puerto Rican) child of factory workers and a bruja by ancestry, who lives to inspire the next generation of “troublemakers” and believers that a better world is possible.
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.
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.
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.
"We are carrying the unresolved trauma of people who came before us." - Elizabeth Rosner
Tune in for a wide-ranging conversation with Kate Raphael and Elizabeth Rosner, author of Survivor Cafe: The Legacy of Trauma and the Labyrinth of Memory, about writing, teaching and dealing with intergenerational traumas experienced by many people across the globe.
Click here to listen to the entire show. 59:50 min
Barbara Artson grew up NOT hearing the stories of her family's exodus from Russia in the early 20th century, or the experiences that led to it, but she saw their impact, in her mother's fear of anything unfamiliar, in her deaf aunt's experience of being cut off from the world and then treated as if she were unintelligent because she was cut off. In her debut novel, Odessa Odessa, Barbara imagines those experiences and uses her knowledge as a psychoanalyst to reflect on how the legacy of trauma affects multiple generations, not only in this country but in Palestine as well. She also connects the story she tells, in which a mother is separated from her son by immigration authorities - in this case in Germany - to the trauma of parents and children separated at the U.S.-Mexico border. Barbara and Kate will be in conversation on Thursday night at 7PM, October 18 at Books, Inc. in Berkeley at 1491 Shattuck Ave.
Buddhist teacher Arinna Weisman joins us to talk about how to keep our faith and remain active in increasingly scary times. Arinna Weisman has been a Vipassana Buddhism teacher since 1989 and infuses her dharma with political and environmental activism. She has led insight meditation retreats for the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Gender Queer community and is the founding teacher of Insight Meditation Center of the Pioneer Valley. She is also co-author of the book, A Beginner’s Guide to Insight Meditation.
Wed/Nov 30th Join us as San Francisco kicks off the National Days of Action to Divest from the Funders of DAPL: 8am Justin Herman Plaza for prayers for the water, a divest teach-in and prayer walk to the financial institutions finding DAPL. Join us, share widely & watch the powerful video below. Details: https://www.facebook.com/events/1834348963450855/?ti=cl
Are you more afraid of success than failure? Do you undervalue your worth?
Balancing the positive and negative internal voices.
Are you unaware of the limitations that keep you from flourishing in your life, work, and relationships? These can be reasons why almost half of American adults are not "thriving," according to a 2011 Gallup poll. Transformational leadership coach and author Donna Stoneham discusses the obstacles to thriving and how to overcome them in The Thriver's Edge. We discuss how to thrive in a time of increasing fear and despair. Find Donna's book at your local bookstore or online.
"Page by page, Donna explores the many ways to develop and integrate the seven keys—trust, humility, resilience, inner direction, vision, expansiveness, and responsibility—that lead to thriving, illustrating her points with personal stories and inspirational examples of various people who have flourished in the midst of adversity."
And then we talk to Oakland based Queer Chicana poet Bruja Denise Benavides about her poetry which powerfully confronts themes of xenophobia, relocation, sexuality, religion, and love.
Click here to listen to the entire show. 59:50 min.
Bay Area Feminists Weekly Calendar for April 18th:
April 21–April 24, 2016 Thursday–Saturday at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday–Sunday at 2:00 p.m. Top Girls
Presented by A.C.T.’s 2015–16 Fellows
Written by Caryl Churchill
Directed by Ariella Wolfe
Marlene has been promoted to managing director of a London employment agency and is celebrating. Women in legend or history join Marlene at her dinner party and offer perspectives on maternity and ambition. In the following scenes that move from Marlene’s estranged sister’s home to the Top Girls Employment Agency office and back again, Churchill reveals the relationships and politics that have shaped Marlene’s identity. Ultimately, Marlene, like her famous guests, has had to pay a price to ascend from proletarian roots to the executive suite.
Performances are FREE. To reserve seats, email Marketing Fellow Ashley Gennarelli at agennarelli@act-sf.org
Join us following the Friday evening performance for a talkback discussion with Top Girls’ Dramaturg Cecilia Padilla and members of the cast! Top Girls will take place at A.C.T.'s Costume Shop Theater at 1117 Market Street, San Francisco. Phone: 415-749-2228
Thursday, April 21, 2016 - 7:30pm Anna Pulley / The Lesbian Sex Haiku Book (With Cats!) Booksmith 1644 Haight St, San Francisco 415-863-8688
Lesbian sex has been confounding people since the dawn of time. What is it that two women do together exactly? The Lesbian Sex Haiku Book (with Cats!), a humorous guide to lesbian sex, dating rituals, and relationships, aims to dispel all myths. Haiku paired with hilarious watercolor illustrations of cats in various stages of sexual awkwardness will enlighten, demystify, remystify, and most importantly entertain as you learn all the aspects involved in girl-on-girl action.
This laugh-out-loud book is the perfect gift to amuse and educate your friends, loved ones, and lovers.
ANNA PULLEY is a writer in Oakland, California. Her work has appeared in New York magazine and Mother Jones, on BuzzFeed, AlterNet, The Toast, and Salon, and in zines tastefully peppered with Ani DiFranco lyrics. She’s been a repeat guest on Dan Savage’s podcast, Savage Love, and is a sex and relationship columnist for the Chicago Tribune and AfterEllen.
Gather for a day of spiritual renewal, inspiration, and healing surrounded by the beauty of nature. Holy Redeemer Center 8945 Golf Links, Oakland 510-595-5598
Facilitated by: Dr. Liza and the OneLife Angel Team
Musical Inspiration: Destiny Muhammad the "Harpist from the Hood" and other guest musicians.
Tuition: Sliding scale $35 – 150 (more if you can / less if you can't -- no one turned away for lack of funds). Scholarships available.
Please bring your journal, a potluck item for our shared lunch (we will supply some vegetarian basics), and anything you need to be comfortable for the day. It's fine to bring a blanket or pillows if you'd like to sit on the floor. Also, as we strive to be more "green" we are asking guests to bring your own re-usable water bottle -- we will have filtered water available for you.
Dress comfortably - layers are recommended as temperatures may be variable.
We talk with Margo Perin, founder and director of Write & Rise, about how she uses narrative to help incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people, at risk youth, as well as police and their families, heal from trauma. Perin is the author of the autobiographical novel The Opposite of Hollywood, and contributing editor of the anthologies Only the Dead Can Kill: Stories From Jail, and How I Learned to Cook and Other Writings on Complex Mother-Daughter Relationships.
"I don't think the system can change unless work is done on both sides." Margo Perin
Not Throw Away Women: Black and Indigenous Women Disrupt Violence
And from Making Contact: Not Throw Away Women: Black and Indigenous Women Disrupt Violence. We learn how one community is undoing the silence around the violence women of color face. We also hear about how serial killers were able to hunt down mostly Black women for three decades in South Los Angeles. Then to the Yucatan where pregnant indigenous women struggle under a health care system failing to provide proper medical care.
"If you are a woman of color and you're impoverished, you're at the very bottom and your life is seen as not worth anything." "We may never know just how many women have died."
Click here to listen to this segment from Making Contact. There are 4 audio files so be sure to scroll down. 34:21 min.
Host: Laura Flynn and Jasmin Lopez
Contributing Producers: Rochelle Robinson and Karen Stefan Tenorio
Featuring: Rochelle Robinson, Making Contact Fellow Kimberly Smith, community member attending Her Resilience mural project Gabrielle Rae Travis, Her Resilience Community Outreach Coordinator Margaret Prescod founder of Black Coalition Fighting Back Serial Murders and host of KPFK’s Sojourner Truth Mirna Aracely Tuz Acosta, Safe Maternity for the Indigenous Population in East Yucatan Neyi Amparo Cime Arceo, resident of Xanlah.
Thanks to the Mary Wohlford Foundation for funding towards this program.
