Monday, March 22, 2021: Name It: Anti-Asian Femicide with Margo Okazawa-Rey

Hyun-Jung Grant 51

Soon-Chung Park 74

Sun-cha Kim 69

Yong-Ae Yue 63

May they rest in peace and power

Today’s show is intended to help us understand better the complexity and nuances of what happened in Atlanta and the anti-Asian violence around the country.

All the victims above were murdered by a 21-year-old misogynist, racist white man.  “He is a devout Christian; he did not have a racial motive. He is a self-admitted sex addict.” 

We have heard similar expressions of sympathy, tolerance, and excuse too many times.  Long’s is consistent with the common storyline of the majority of mass shooters in the US: young, white men with access to guns, committing violence in the name of real or perceived grievances. Aside from racial differences among the shooters, all are MEN.

This  latest incident is part of the nearly 3800 reported incidents of hate violence against  Asians since March 2020. Buried in these aggregated statistics is the fact that women have been  victimized at  twice the rate of men. 

Last week’s murders are all part of the gendered, anti-Asian violence. But there’s more. Of the 6 Asian women, 4 were Korean immigrant women.

Make no mistake: Long’s violence is unequivocally racist and misogynist. Let’s call it what it is: Anti-Asian femicide. The deliberate killing of Asian women because they are women and Asian. 

And the bigger story of anti-Asian violence in the US is that it started in the 19th century against the first arrivals and has continued unabated, periodically more direct and more violent. It’s deeply rooted in economic and military policies and interests of the US and the political rhetoric and actions of national leaders. Anti-Asian violence clearly directs us to connect the dots: between US foreign policies and domestic policies; between white supremacist racism and misogyny.

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

About the Guests

Rev. Deborah Lee is the Director of the Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity organizing faith communities for immigrant justice and ending criminalization and incarceration and is based in Oakland Chinatown.  She is a founding member of Women for Genuine Security and the International Women's Network Against Militarism.

Esther is an organizer with Red Canary Song since 2019, a sex-workers-led grassroots collective that does massage worker outreach in NYC and pushing for the full decriminalization of sex work. She is also currently a consultant at The Sex Workers Project of the Urban Justice Center and the Communications Associate at The Bronx Defenders. 

Tammy Kim is a freelance reporter and essayist, a contributing opinion writer at The New York Times, and a co-host of the Time to Say Goodbye Podcast. She previously worked as a social-justice lawyer and is active in the labor movement. etkwrites.tumblr.com /@etammykim

Recording of the Red Canary Song Vigil for 8 Thursday 18 March 2021

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfyJWmXytbY 1:38:00 min

Ways to support:  https://www.redcanarysong.net/atlanta

Butterfly Asian and Migrant Worker Support Network

https://www.butterflysw.org/

Monday, August 31, 2020: US Military and COVID in Okinawa and Guahan: What Do Colonization and Militarism Have to Do with It?

US Sailors infected with Covid docked at Guam

News about the US military spreading COVID in Okinawa and Guahan has been reported on NPR, the UK Guardian, and other news sites. On today's show you have the chance to listen to long-time Okinawan feminist activist Suzuyo Takazato. She served as Naha City Council member, is a founder of Okinawa Women Act against Military Violence, and has devoted her, life working for demilitarized, genuine security for women and girls and for people of Okinawa and beyond. Also, in conversation is Lisa Natividad, professor of Social Work at the University of Guam and long-time activist working for decolonization of Guahan, the island’s original name.  Finally, Ayano Ginoza, professor at University of the Ryukyus will add to the conversation by analyzing the current conditions from Island Studies perspective.

We have a chance, in this moment of calling for the defunding and dismantling of the police to make the connection between here and there. Think about the police as a local segment of the national military apparatus, the military actors we face directly. What would it take to dismantle the institutions altogether? Imagine all what the nearly $2.5 billions per day the US spends on national military could pay for!!!! This amount does not include billions spent by all the cities in the US. And the bigger question is: What values must we embrace to be able to imagine genuine, life-affirming security?

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

For more information see following reports:

https://www.npr.org/2020/08/16/902977035/japanese-residents-concerned-about-covid-19-at-okinawa-u-s-military-base

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jul/12/okinawa-demands-answers-from-us-after-61-marines-contract-coronovirus 

https://www.stripes.com/news/us/army-surges-past-7-000-coronavirus-cases-as-military-tops-21-000-positive-tests-1.638215 

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 23, 2017: Violence against women, ‘me too’ campaign and 3rd i film Festival

This Monday on KPFA Radio’s Women’s Magazine we talk to Radical feminist activist Hilla Kerner of the Vancouver Rape Relief and Women’s Shelter about organizing on the frontlines to end violence against women. And we discuss how to build on the recent viral #MeToo campaign in response to revelations of sexual assaults by Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein.

And we speak to a panel of South Asian women participating in the 3rd i film festival which centers on South Asian perspectives. The panel includes singer, composer, musician and filmmaker Gingger Shankar talking about her film Nari, actress Nabila Hussein who co-stars in the show Brown Girls, and documentary filmmaker Pallavi Somusetty. They discuss their work and issues of representation and sexism in the film industry.

The film festival starts November 9-12 in San Francisco and November 18 in Palo Alto. For more info, schedule and tickets on the 3rd i Film festival go to: www.thirdi.org

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

Monday, July 24, 2017: Amazing women’s rights activist, Neesa Medina

Extraordinary Women Changing the World

On Monday July 24th on KPFA’s Women’s Magazine we talk to two amazing and influential women’s rights activist who unfortunately you probably have never heard of.

Corrine Smith brings us the voice of Neesa Medina, a Honduran women’s rights activist with the women’s rights group Centro de Derechos de Mujeres. They are fighting for women’s basic rights to health, labor and political participation in the face of overwhelming violence. More information also at Witness for Peace.

"We deserve a life without violence." - Neesa Medina

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

Also on today's show:
Heather Booth

Monday, September 5, 2016: Labor Day on KPFA Women's Magazine: Dancing to End Violence Against Women

Dancing to End Violence Against Women

In this segment we talk with choreographer Jo Kreiter, whose Flyaway Productions, takes on violence against women with a new aerial dance based on murder ballads entitled Grace and Delia Are Gone. The site-specific dance will be performed at Fort Mason’s Firehouse from September 22 – October 2. Click here for tickets to Grace and Delia Are Gone. Or call 415-672-4111.

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

Also on today's show:

Black Women Leading the Labor Movement

Monday, November 2, 2015: Conversation with Palestinian Feminists

Nadera Shalhoub Kevorkian and the Jerusalemite Women's Coalition

From Jerusalem, we speak with Nadera Shalhoub Kevorkian, professor of criminology at the Hebrew University, and a member of the Jerusalemite Women’s Coalition.  The coalition issued a call for protection to the international community last week.

" WE ARE CALLING FOR PROTECTION AND URGENT ACTIONS TO PREVENT FURTHER AGONIES, UPROOTING, DEMONIZATION, AND SUFFERING."

Listen now or Get MP3. 26:37 min

A Palestinian woman and child pass through an Israeli checkpoint in
Issawiyeh, a neighborhood in Jerusalem, on 15 October.
(Oren Ziv / ActiveStills) electronicintifada

"We, the women of occupied East Jerusalem, are politically orphaned. We are victims without protection, as the Palestinian Authority has no right to protect us in our city, and the Israeli state treats us as terrorists that should be humiliated, attacked, violated, and controlled. The guerrilla state style tactics used in occupied East Jerusalem, be it the attacks on Palestinians in the streets, the beating of the young and old, the attacks on children going to and from school, the invasion of violent settlers to our neighborhoods and homes, the control of our life, water, cell phones, internet, mobility, health, economy, and accessibility to other resources, have situated us in human cages—segregated, restrained by Israeli laws and security theology, unable to know what to anticipate and what will come next." From the Jerusalemite Women's Coalition Call for Protection.

Rabab Abdulhadi and the Commemoration of the Edward Said Palestine Cultural Mural

"You can't be for justice somewhere and not be for justice everywhere."

"...part of the college education is learning how are you going to be part of a better world, part of a better community..."

Rabab Abdulhadi, professor of Ethnic Studies and Race and Resistance Studies at San Francisco State University talks about the commemoration of the Edward Said Palestine Cultural Mural, the only one of its kind on a U.S. college campus.  The mural was held up for several years due to fierce opposition from Zionist organizations and campus administrators, but was unveiled in November 2007.

Listen now or Get MP3. 21:34 min








The annual commemoration celebration and banquet on Wednesday, November 5th, 6 to 9 PM will feature a performance of the one-woman show, “Palestine,” by Najla Said, daughter of Edward Said. The event will be held at Jack Adams Hall, 1600 Holloway Ave, San Francisco.




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

Event:

SCREENING: A New Color: The Art of Being Edythe Boone
Wednesday, November 4, 7-9 PM
Impact Hub Oakland
2323 Broadway, Oakland, CA

Director Mo Morris and Artist Edythe Boone along with Muralists Miranda Bergman and Cece Carpio will be engaging dialogue around art and activism following the film screening.

Doors open at 6:30 pm 

Learn more at anewcolordocumentary.com
Editor: Maureen Gosling
Executive Producer: Jed Riffe

Cinematographer: Peggy Peralta

Monday, May 4, 2015: Nepal, Women Bear Brunt of Disaster

"The worse the disaster the bigger the gender disparity."

Dr. Renu Adhikari talks about the disparate impact of natural disasters on women, and how we can help make sure that the needs and voices of Nepali women are included in the reconstruction efforts. Dr. Adhikari is an OB/GYN and founder of the Women’s Rehabilitation Center, a leading organization addressing violence against women, as well as the National Alliance of Women Human Right Defenders in Nepal.

Listen now or Get MP3. 19:54 min

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

Below is a list of women-led organizations that have asked for support for their long-term responses to the crisis. They are already mobilizing their communities to take action and welcome donations at this time.

ACHA Himalayan Sisterhood – Funds will go to support recovery efforts for Tibetan refugees, and other minority groups, in Nepal.

The Global Fund for Women – Funds will go to support grassroots women’s groups in Nepal to assist women and girls impacted by this disaster.

The Nepal Women’s Fund (TEWA) – Funds will go to support community needs assessments and to mobilize grassroots women’s groups to rebuild and strengthen rural areas of Nepal.

The Women’s Rehabilitation Center (WOREC Nepal) – Funds will go to support essential services and infrastructure to women most in need, including new mothers and pregnant women.

Women’s Awareness Centre Nepal (WACN) – Funds will go to support recovery efforts for Indigenous women in rural areas of Nepal.

Also on today's show:

Mariposa and The Saint: From Solitary Confinement, a Play through Letters

Monday, March 2, 2015: Surviving GamerGate

Warning: The following program contains frightening and disturbing dialogue.

Revolution 60

Brianna Wu is one of many women who have been viciously harassed and threatened by men who believe women have no right to be video game developers or commentators. Wu's experiences are part of the inspiration for a recent episode of Law & Order SVU. Wu talks about her experiences and what we need to do to change tech culture.

The introduction of the I-phone Wu says created an explosion of women gamers. There has been disgust and contempt toward women gamers from the beginning. "It's a systematic problem where women do not have a seat at the table. [the gaming industry] crushes women every step of the way. Men in this field have to learn to start listening."

Wu has described herself as, “barely a feminist” when she started the company in 2010. She wanted to create games with strong female characters, but believed it was best to “just do a good job and don’t make a big deal out of it.”

Working in the game industry, Wu found herself frequently frustrated by what she described as the “boys club” mentality in games, which was much worse than any of the other industries she’d worked in. This was reflected in the tone of their first game Revolution 60, which featured an all-female cast of special operatives, in a game many describe as having strong feminist overtones. Revolution 60 shipped in July of 2014 to critically acclaimed reviews from Macworld, Kotaku, Gamebreaker, 148Apps, and others. A sequel is currently in the works.

Five months ago Wu started receiving death threats through Twitter and email. She has received 46 death threats in that time. She describes in detail the devastating effect this is having on her life and business. Unlike the story portrayed on Law and Order, Wu has received very little response from law enforcement for these destructive threats.

Listen now or Get MP3. 27:11 min.






Listen to entire show. 59:50 min.

Also on today's show:
Las Almas
Golden Thread Productions

Monday, January 26, 2015: Monday, January 26, 2015: Speak For Yourself! Vagina Monologues Re-examined

Mount Holyoke cancels Vagina Monologues

Mount Holyoke College, an all-women's school in Massachusetts, has scrapped plans to host a performance of "The Vagina Monologues" because it is not inclusive enough. Mount Holyoke student Erin Murphy explained on behalf of the student-run theater board in an email to students that the play is problematic because it is not inclusive of trans women, Campus Reform reported. "At its core, the show offers an extremely narrow perspective on what it means to be a woman," Murphy explained, according to Campus Reform a right-wing magazine.

Eve Ensler's classic play, The Vagina Monologues, and her V-Day organization* that is an organized response against violence toward women, have recently come under fire for excluding the experience of trans people. Transnational feminists have long critiqued the notion that the vagina is enough to create a bond between women whose material and social conditions vary so widely. Yet women in at least 140 countries have chosen to use the play as a vehicle to explore issues important to their struggles for equity and safety.

Timothy Boatwright (center), a trans man, with his Wellesley classmates.CreditMartin Schoeller for The New York Times

On this week's show, we explore these and other issues about the play and the movement that has grown up around it, with three guests: scholar-turned-essayist Christine Cooper, author of "Worrying About Vaginas," Suzanna Walters, author of The Tolerance Trap: How God, Genes and Good Intentions Are Sabotaging Gay Equality, and director of Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies at Northeastern University, and Sima Shakhsari, professor of Women and Gender Studies at Wellsley College.

Christine Cooper discusses in depth the problems with Vagina Monologues and how they are being resolved. Listen now or Get MP3. 18:38 min.





Suzanna Walters gives us a different perspective on Vagina Monologues. Listen now or Get MP3. 7:08 min.





Sima Shakhsari discusses the New York Times Magazine article, When Women Become Men at Wellesley, about feminists and trans students at Wellesley and the problem with the binary framing of gender and the defining of gender based on biology. Listen now or Get MP3. 12:18 min.






*Bay Area Rising and IDEX are organizing their 3rd annual event for V-Day to end violence against all cis gender and trans gender women and girls. There will be a rally and flashmob in Oakland on Feb 13 and a star-studded event on Sat  Feb 14 at the First Prebsyterian Church in Oakland. Buy your tickets soon as they always sell out. Go to www.bayarearising.org for Flashmob dance rehersals and other info.

Click here to listen to entire show.

Also on today's show:
Reproductive Justice
Dhaya Lakshminarayanan

Monday, December 8, 2014: We pay tribute to the Power of African American Women of the Civil Rights era.

It's Pledge Drive time again. If you haven't already, please donate to KPFA and Women's Magazine. Thanks!

www.kpfa.org

We pay  tribute to the Power of African American Women of the Civil Rights era.  While we mourn the death of black bodies killed by police we remember how our foremothers also experienced police violence and stood up against the horror of racism.  For fund drive we offer a historical audio package of the voices of powerful women activists of the 60s like  Rosa Parks, speaking out about her arrest,  Fannie Lou Hammer talking about her surviving police brutality and her pursuit for justice against her assailants, and  Corretta Scott King speaking out three weeks after Dr. King's assassination; just three of the amazing voices of our foremothers available to you on a 3 CD or 9 CD MP3 collection.

Free Marissa Alexander

www.freemarissa.org

Click here to listen to entire show that also features an interview with Nell Myhand and Zanne Joi who talk about Marissa Alexander's unjust conviction for defending herself against her batterer. She is serving a 60 year sentence for an indictment for which she has not been convicted. Come to an teach in and direct action planning to free Marissa on Sunday December 14 from 1-4 at the Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kitteridge in the meeting room on the 3rd floor. For more info phone 510-543-5280 or email freemarissaeastbay@gmail.org. 59:50 min.

Monday, October 27, 2014: Gone Girl and Rape Myths

Examining The False Rape Narrative

Kate Raphael discusses Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl, and the blockbuster film based on the book. Is Flynn's portrayal of a serial rape fabricator a transgressive reversal of gender stereotypes or a promotion of dangerous sexist myths?

Violence against women is real. Gone Girl is a male fantasy of a woman's fantasy disturbingly created by a woman.







We also cover the San Francisco vigil demanding justice for Jennifer Laude, trans Filipina killed by a U.S. Marine.







Listen to the entire show. 59:50 min.

Also on today's show:
Fracking for the Cure?
BAD FEMINIST Roxane Gay

June 16, 2014: Today on Women's Magazine-Film about the New Jersey Four. Musician and Grammy winner Angelique Kidjo

Today Lisa Dettmer talks NJ4, Renata Hill and Patreese, two of the young African American lesbians who were incarcerated for fighting back after a homophobic attack, and the filmmaker Blair Dorosh-Walther who made the riveting documentary about their struggle "Out in the Night", featured at the Frameline Film  Festival next week.  And Angela Wellman talks to grammy award winning musician Angelique Kidjo  about her new CD "Eve", her new autobiography "Spirit Rising" and her foundation for girls.  Kidjo is performing in SF at the Norse theater on June 21st.

In 2006 seven young African American lesbian identified friends where walking in the gay area of NYC, the West Village,  and were were physically and verbally assailed by man because they were Queer. They fought back to protect themselves and instead of the man being arrested the women were. The NYC police and media vilified the women as a pack of lesbian wolves and FOX TV called this a hate crime against all straight men.  Over charged with over a half dozen felonies by a racist and homophobic DA, in 2007 an all white jury convicted Venice Brown (19), Terrain Dandridge (20), Patreese Johnson (20) and Renata Hill (24), the 4 women that refused to plea bargain but fought to prove their innocence,  for up to 11 years despite their being no serious injuries. This is yet another case of women being punished for fighting back against male violence not unlike the case being brought against domestic violence survivor Melissa Alexander and others around the U.S.  

A campaign of resistance was organized by FIERCE and others progressive Queers helped to get the NJ4 out early but only after they had all served a minimum of 2 and up to 7 years.  Now the new film Out in the Night explores the racism, homophobia and sexism of  this case and the lives of these women and the campaign to free them.  In this next interview  Lisa Dettmer  talks  to NJ4, Renata Hill and  Patreese Johnson  two of the young African American lesbians who were incarcerated for fighting back after a homophobic attack, and the filmmaker Blair Dorosh-Walther who made the riveting documentary about their struggle "Out in the Night," which is playing at the Frameline Film Festival next week.


In our second interview Angela Wellman interviews Grammy award winning Beninoise singer and songwriter and activist  Angelique Kidjo about her new CD "Eve," her new autobiography "Spirit Rising" and her foundation for girls, Batonga. Kidjo is described as undisputed queen of African Music. Her new CD called EVE is number one on the world charts.  Kidjo works on fighting poverty against women in Africa and talks about her work with the  foundation she co-founded, Batonga, which supports secondary and higher education for girls in Africa and micro loans to African women.  Kidjo played at the Norse Theater in SF on June 21st  and in this interview she talks about growing up a woman in Africa,  being a woman in the male dominated music business,  the importance of speaking out about violence against women, and her new book and music.

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

Men Explain Things to Rebecca Solnit

Photo: © Adrian Mendoza,
courtesy rebeccasolnit.net

Writer, historian, and activist Rebecca Solnit is the author of fifteen books about environment, landscape, community, art, politics, the power of stories, and hope.  He recent books include Unfathomable City: A New Orleans Atlas, and The Faraway Nearby.  A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities that Arise in Disaster was the San Francisco Public Library’s One City One Book for 2012.  River of Shadows, Eadweard Muybridge and the Technological Wild West won the National Book Critics Circle Award in criticism, and the Lannan Literary Award).

She works with the group 350.org on climate issues and against gentrification and displacement in San Francisco. She is a contributing editor to Harper’s and regular contributor to the political site Tomdispatch.com.

Her latest book is a collection of essays titled, provocatively, MEN EXPLAIN THINGS TO ME.  You can still get this beautiful book as a thank you gift for your donation to KPFA of $85 or more - go to www.kpfa.org/support.

 

Listen to this interview:



or Get MP3

April 14, 2014: Kaya Press - 20 Years of Innovative Publishing

MIGRITUDE: Tara Dorabji talks with Shailja Patel, whose one-woman show Migritude, is now a book published by Kaya Press, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this week with a reading at City Lights.

Patel talks about the saris that her mother gave her and how that inspired her to write Migritude. She used these saris to weave a story about the women who migrate from India to East Africa. Patel has performed her show imany places around the world. Shailja will read from her book at City Lights 20th anniversary celebration on Thursday, April 17, 2014, 7:00 p.m., City Lights Bookstore. 261 Columbus Avenue, San Francisco. The reading will be followed by tiger-themed party at Leapo Lounge in Chinatown.

Listen now:






or Get MP3. 18:12 min.


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

Also on this show:
THE GERMAN DOCTOR: Kate Raphael talks with filmmaker and novelist Lucia Puenzo, whose film THE GERMAN DOCTOR (WAKOLDA), adapted from her novel, opens next week.

YOU, ME, AND THE FRUIT TREES: Filmmaker and activist Tracey Quezada talks about what's wrong with the criminal justice approach to child sexual assault and what we can do to address this public health problem as a community.

March 24th: Vidya Sri and Darakshan Raja speak about forced marriage in the US

Kate Raphael begins this weeks Women's Magazine by introducing us to our new producer Alicia Sierra. Alicia grew up in New York and moved to the Bay Area 8 months ago. It has been her dream to have her own radio show focusing on women's health and spirituality. She wants to focus on issues that are "dear to women and that aren't really talked about." Women's Magazine is always looking for volunteers and welcomes Alicia to the show.

Next week the supreme court will be deciding whether or not large employers can exclude certain preventive healthcare services because these employers don't think women should be having sex. Even if Hobby Lobby wins, the ruling will not require women to have to ask their employers for money to buy birth control. For more info: http://www.npr.org/2014/03/25/293956170/hobby-lobby-contraceptive-case-goes-before-supreme-court

And for those of you who love Apps, there is a cool one from Public Radio Exchange (PRX) called Public Radio that includes podcasts of past Women's Magazine shows under the heading Lifestyles.

Forced Marriage in the USA 

Forced marriage, falsely termed "arranged marriage," is a rich and complex discussion.   Researchers and activists Vidya Sri and Darakshan Raja explain that the practice is more common than we think, cutting across all classes, geographies, ethnicities and religions. They discuss their report Voices From the Front Line: Addressing Forced Marriages in the United States.

A Forced Marriage is a marriage with an absence of consent from one or both parties. A Forced Marriage is one in which coercion, violence, and/or fraud is used to cause the marriage. There is no ability to choose one’s partner and the right of refusal may be denied by the family for one or both individuals. The family and community play a complicit role in perpetrating the violence, coercion, and/or fraud. Significant shaming and intimidation is used to cause a forced marriage. Go to gangashakti.org for more information on forced marriage.

Gangashakti's mission is to "Engage a Wide Range of Service Providers, Student Groups, Community Members and Scholars on this poorly understood issue in the United States."

Click here to listen to the show. 59:35 min.

Today's show included music by Anoushka Shankur, Azam Ali, and Christina Aguilera.

March 10: Ukraine; (H)afrocentric; and Middlemarch

Mass demonstration against Vladimir Putin and Viktor Yanukovych during EuroMaidan 2013

Kate Raphael speaks with Kristina Wilfore, former director of the National Democratic Institute in Ukraine and founder of the country's first multifaceted women's program, Women Lead. 28:13 min.

Click to get MP3

Eryn Matthewson talks with Jewels Smith, creator of the comic book series (H)AFROCENTRIC, about the just released third volume, and her upcoming book launch with Reinina Jarmon, author of BLACK GIRLS ARE FROM THE FUTURE. 14:11 min.


Click to get MP3.

And Rebecca Mead, author of MY LIFE IN MIDDLEMARCH, discusses George Eliot's life and the importance of her classic book. 14:04 min.

Click to get MP3.

Click here to listen to KPFA Women's Magazine. 59 min.

January 27, 2014: Nuclear Free Middle East? and a Brief History of Rape in the US

Groundbreaking Conference in Haifa for Nuclear Free Zone in Israel:

"Enough is enough!" It's time to examine Israel's policy of not admitting they have nuclear weapons; that the existence of nuclear weapons is not an asset but a danger to the area and to Israelis.

Daniel Ellsberg, WSLF Executive Director Jacqueline Cabasso, Rose Aguilar, Dennis Kucinich.Photo by James Lerager

Kate Raphael speaks with Jackie Cabasso, Executive Director of Western States Legal Foundation, about the groundbreaking conference held in Haifa, Israel last month breaking the taboo on discussing Israel's nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction. The Haifa conference was organized by a preparatory committee including former members of the Israeli Knesset (Parliament) and dedicated Israeli anti-nuclear and human rights activists from around the world.

Jackie talks about the history of efforts to make the Middle East a zone free of nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction, as over 137 countries around the world are. "You certainly don't have to be an expert to know that nuclear weapons are a really bad thing," says Jackie Cabasso. 21:27 min.

Click here to listen to this segment.

Get MP3.

Rape in the US:

Sexual violence from a historical, economic, cultural, and political perspective.

President Obama has convened a task force to address the epidemic of rape on campus. In this segment Lisa Dettmer talks with Estelle Freedman, professor of history and feminist studies at Stanford, about the history of U.S. definitions and understandings of rape and sexual violence.  Freedman is the author of REDEFINING RAPE: Sexual Violence in the Age of Suffrage and Segregation.

Harvard University Press says about Estelle Freedman's book: Rape has never had a universally accepted definition, and the uproar over “legitimate rape” during the 2012 U.S. elections confirms that it remains a word in flux. Redefining Rape tells the story of the forces that have shaped the meaning of sexual violence in the United States, through the experiences of accusers, assailants, and advocates for change. In this ambitious new history, Estelle Freedman demonstrates that our definition of rape has depended heavily on dynamics of political power and social privilege. 29:28 min.

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Click here to listen to the entire show. Includes music by boogie-woogie pianist Caroline Dahl and singer-songwriter Holly Near. 58:06 min.

January 13, 2014: Helping Ourselves, Helping Each Other, Dear Sister

Dear Sister: Anthology by and for Survivors of Sexual Violence 

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Tara Dorabji talks about Dear Sister: Letters from Survivors of Sexual Violence with editor Lisa Factora-Borchers and contributors Michelle Ovalle and brownfemipower.  Dear Sister, a multiethnic anthology by and for survivors, comes out from AK press this week.

Dear Sister shares the lessons, memories, and vision of over fifty artists, activists, mothers, writers, and students who share their stories of survival or what it means to be an advocate and ally to survivors. Written in an epistolary format, this multi-generational, multi-ethnic collection of letters and essays is a moving journey into the hearts and minds of the survivors of rape, incest, and other forms of sexual violence, written directly to and for other survivors.


Listen. 33:34 min.

Listen to the entire Women's Magazine show from KPFA. Today's show also includes an interview with Mickey Eliason discussing Doing It For Ourselves. 59:50 min.

November 4, 2013 - Kavita Krishnan talks about the Women's movement in India. Choreographer Jo Kreiter discusses her new aerial dance piece.

New Women's Movement in India

Kavita Krishnan

We hear from Indian feminist activist Kavita Krishnan, secretary of the All India Progressive Women's Association, a group that organizes poor women workers against feudal violence and state repression against women. We hear the talk she gave at UC Berkeley this September called Women Want Freedom -- Shifting the Terms of the Debate which is about the uprising that followed the brutal rape and murder last December in India of a young 23 year old woman which lead to a new type of movement against rape which had broad support and which raised important questions of male entitlement that had not been raised so broadly before. And she also raises questions about rape culture in India, the U.S and  internationally and the influence of capitalism and neoliberalism to structurally support all rape culture's by continuing to exploit women's labor in the home and the work place. Kavita Krishnan's talk was sponsored by the Center for South Asia Studies. 45 min.

Dance Explores Women Workers

Pictured: Christine Cali. Photo by Nathan Weyland.

Kate Raphael talks to Choreographer and founder Jo Kreiter who uses dance to engage imagination, physical innovation and the political conflicts we live with. Her pieces have explored the world of women garment workers in San Francisco and the women who worked on the Bay Area's bridges, to name only a few. Her new piece, "Give a Woman a Lift," opens this Friday Nov 8 thru Nov 16 at Joe Goode Annex. 14 min.

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 59 min.