International Women's Day Special Broadcast - Siblings in Liberation: African and Asian American Feminist Solidarity

Siblings in Liberation: African and Asian American Feminist Solidarity

What are the radical possibilities of catalyzing cross-racial feminist solidarities, imaginations, and substantive realities? What revolutions must we create within ourselves to dismantle our prejudices, discrimination, and silences to create the world we want to see?

We’re featuring audio from the Asian American Writers’ Workshop’s event Siblings in Liberation, Black and Asian Feminist Solidarities, which celebrated the editorial collaboration between Black Women Radicals and the Asian American Feminist Collective that found a home in AAWW’s digital magazine The Margins. Black and Asian Feminist Solidarities is an ongoing monthly series of critical essays, conversations, poetry, fiction, and more. The series looks to Black and Asian American feminist histories, practices, and frameworks on care, community, and survival as the tools and strategies to build towards collective liberation.

This hour features remarks and discussion with Jaimee Swift of Black Women Radicals and Tiffany Diane Tso, Senti Sojwal, Salonee Bhaman, and Rachel Kuo of the Asian American Feminist Collective; a poetry reading by Cecile Afable and Zuri Gordon; and a conversation between sex work activists Kate Zen and SX Noir.

Asian American Writers’ Workshop

Black Women Radicals

Asian American Feminist Collective

Hosted by Lily Philpott

Click here to listen to the show. 58:00 min. 

February 10, 2020 - Meet the Honduran Water Protectors

courtesy: Pablo Ibáñez AraInfo

Most people have heard of the late Berta Caceres, the Indigenous environmental activist and movement leader assassinated for her activism in Honduras. What do you know, more generally, about feminist movements and women’s activism in Honduras? What do you know about Black Honduran women’s struggles?

In the first half of today's show, host Margo Okazawa-Rey speaks with Juana Esquivel, a feminist human rights defender who is one of 12 water-protectors jailed by the Honduran government as she and others struggle to protect natural resources in  Guapinol Honduras. Esquivel was among four activists who toured the US in October 2019 to expose US audiences to current events in their region. 

In the second half of the show, African-American feminist scholar and activist Kia Melchor Hall discusses the situation of Black Garifuna women in Honduras and the connections between their activism with the struggle in Gaupinol and other locations facing the destruction of the land, water, and human life caused by government-supported extractivist industries. Melchor Hall is Melchor Hall is a faculty member in Fielding Graduate University’s School of Leadership Studies in Human and Organizational Development programs. the author of the new book, Naming a Transnational Black Feminist Framework: Writing in Darkness, just released by Routledge Press.

Listen or download

Monday, October 7, 2019: Exploring Blackness and Policing of Black People in Europe

Margo and Vanessa

Margo

Interview with Vanessa Eileen Thompson

Margo Okazawa-Rey, gender studies professor and a member of the legendary Combahee River Collective, discusses the similarities and differences between anti-Blackness in the U.S. and in Europe with Afro-German scholar Vanessa Eileen Thompson.  Thompson is a researcher at the Goethe University in Frankfurt and a former visiting scholar at UC Berkeley's Department of Ethnic Studies. She is one of the organizers of the upcoming symposium "On the Matter of Blackness in Europe: Transnational Perspectives" to be held at UCLA October 11-12. Find out why a symposium on racism in Europe is being held in the United States!

Click here to listen to the entire interview with Vanessa. 30:33 min

Vanessa Eileen Thompson is a postdoctoral researcher and lecturer at the Institute of Sociology at Goethe-University Frankfurt, Germany. Previously, she was a guest lecturer in gender studies at the University of Cologne and a fellow at the Department of Black Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Her research and teaching are focused on critical race and racism studies, black studies (with a focus on Black Europe), gender and queer studies, post- and decolonial feminist theories and methodologies, critical security studies, and transformative justice. Thompson is also engaged in these fields as an activist.  Her current research project focuses on racial gendered policing in Europe and transnational articulations of abolitionist visions and alternatives from a black feminist perspective. Vanessa has published articles on the work of Fanon, black social movements in Germany and France, and racial gendered policing in Europe.


Film: The Art of Ama Ata Aidoo

Then we listen to excerpts of the brilliant documentary "The Art of Ama Ata Aidoo", which chronicles the career and writings of one of the foremost African feminist writers. Aidoo, the author of nine books, two plays and many short works, also served as Ghana's Minister of Education from 1982-1983. After eighteen months, she concluded that she would not be able to realize her goal of free universal education because nationalist ideals had been subverted by the elite. In 2000 she founded the Mbaasem Foundation, a non-governmental organization based in Ghana with a mission "to support the development and sustainability of African women writers and their artistic output."

Much love to all of you who have supported me and KPFA Women's Magazine over these many years. -Kate Raphael

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

Monday, April 22, 2109: Nell Painter and Who Gets to be Seen As an Artist?

In today's program Kate Raphael speaks with two powerful African American artists. First is an interview with Nell Painter. In the next segment we hear from Jovelyn Richards.

Nell Painter, a prominent historian and author of the New York Times Bestseller, The History of White People, didn't do what many people do when they retire. At 64, after retiring from Princeton University, she entered art school, receiving a BFA from Mason Goss School of Art at Rutgers, and then heading to the prestigious Rhode Island School of Design for an MFA in painting. There, she developed a new appreciation for formalism, while coming to terms with the fact that age was the defining element of how her young classmates saw - or didn't see - her.  She'll be speaking at the upcoming Bay Area Book Festival about her memoir, Old In Art School, a National Critics’ Circle Award Finalist, and about her understanding of how race, gender and age affect who gets to be called an artist.  She'll also be joining a panel on The Legacy of Adrienne Rich and the Shape of Our Feminist Future.

Today is Earth Day and National Poetry Month. The show begins with a reading of the poem "Rise" by Kathy Jetñil-Kijiner and Aka Niviâna. Continue listening for a recording by Adrienne Rich after the first interview. Click here to listen to the entire show. 59:50 min 

Also on today's show:
Jovelyn Richards

Monday, June 5, 2017: Black Lives Matter Cofounder Alicia Garza

Alicia Garza from her website https://aliciagarza.com"

"Be mindful that elections are the battlefield on which most people in this country know how to engage." Alicia Garza

For a longer version of Monday's interview with Alicia Garza Get MP3. 40:16 min

In this broadcast on Women's Magazine, we kick off LGBT Pride month with Alicia Garza, Black queer organizer and writer and cofounder of the Black Lives Matter Network and Special Projects Director for the National Domestic Workers Alliance. Garza offers a nuanced and concrete analysis of the current situation and what we can do to change it.

Click here to listen to the entire broadcast. 59:50

Also on today's show:
Giovanna Capone, editor of Dispatches from Lesbian America

Event:

Emily Hobson will talk about and read from her book Lavender and Red: Liberation and Solidarity in Gay and Lesbian Left on Thursday, June 22 at 7PM Alley Cat Books on 24th Street in San Francisco.

THANKS TO ALL OF YOU WHO DONATED DURING THE RECENT FUND DRIVE. WE LOVE YOU!

Monday, February 13, 2017: Meet the East Oakland Collective

http://www.eastoaklandcollective.com/

Millennials Igniting Change in East Oakland

Aqueila Lewis talks with Candice Elder, Laksmi Lagares and Maliha James of the East Oakland Collective.  The East Oakland Collective is a cohort of millennials (and other generations) invested in the state of deep East Oakland. Find them on the web (link above), Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Calendar of events.

The East Oakland Collective is a cohort of millennials invested in the state of East Oakland through actionable community work and civic engagement.  Members are influencers that consist of natives, homeowners, residents and allies of the city of Oakland. Members are invested in working towards a better future for the underserved populations and communities of East Oakland.

Candice Elder, Founder/Executive Director

Candice Elder is a native of Oakland and long time resident of East Oakland. She currently resides in District 7 of East Oakland. It was the looming possibility of gentrification and the daily drives through underserved neighborhoods of East Oakland that ignited Candice to form The East Oakland Collective in January 2016.

After being a legal professional for nine years, Candice made a career change to work full time in the non-profit sector as the Executive Coordinator for the Women's Funding Network---the largest philanthropy network of women's funds and foundations in the country. In addition to working full time to make a better world for women and girls, Candice served on the advisory committee for Breaking the Silence Town Hall on Women and Girls of Color in Oakland. The Breaking the Silence dynamic model and initiative is spearheaded by the African American Policy Forum under the great leadership of renowned feminist Dr. Kimberle Crenshaw.

Candice holds a Bachelors of Arts in Political Science with a minor in African-American Studies from the University of California, Berkeley; and a Masters of Science in Criminal Justice from the University of Cincinnati. Candice currently serves on the Board of Directors for the UC Berkeley Black Alumni Club. Candice enjoys hiking with her rambunctious dog, reading, exploring and engaging with the community.

Laksmi Lagares, Chief Strategy Officer

Laksmi Lagares’ purpose is to help people realize they are more than their environment or conditions predispose them to be.

Laksmi is a Civic Leader, C Level Strategist, owner and Principal Consultant at Lagares Consulting. Her firm supports impact and partnership needs of private and public sector companies, schools/ universities, nonprofit and philanthropic organizations. Her career includes; 15yrs experience in all aspects of Business Development and Public Relations within: Civic Engagement, Tech, Education, Social Justice, Finance, Advertising and Marketing. She is the curator of Application versus Theory workshops, which have been featured at college campuses across the U.S. including Mills College, UC Santa Cruz and Stanford University. She is a subject matter expert in Diversity and Inclusion with an emphasis on race and equity and her communications styling, crosses cultural and socio economic divides; translating needs to create strategy supporting mutual wins. Laksmi is a Hive Global Leader, Co-Director of New Leaders Council Oakland, a key planner of Oakland’s Breaking the Silence Town Hall; an initiative of Dr. Kimberle Crenshaw and the African American Policy Forum, acknowledged by the Obama Administration; and Host Committee member of a three part workshop series facilitated by Dr. Monique Morris, author of Pushout.

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

Also on today's show:
Juana Alicia on the Artist's Role

Monday, November 14, 2016: Oakland Public Conservatory

We speak with Angela Wellman, founder and director of the Oakland Public Conservatory, now celebrating its tenth anniversary in a brand new space, after being displaced due to gentrification. Wellman was recently given a key to Oakland in recognition of the contribution of this unique Bay Area institution.

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

OPC observes its anniversary with an afternoon and evening of African American Roots Music on Saturday, November 19.  Concert at 7 pm, workshops begin at 3:00, followed by a catered community dinner.   Purchase tickets here.

Don't miss this exciting day of music by members of the Grammy Award-winning  Carolina Chocolate Drops,  Rhiannon Giddens and Hubby Jenkins, who have made a career out of delving into the lesser known story of black string bands. On Saturday, September 19th,  Giddens and Jenkins bring their explorations to Oakland through workshops and a culminating concert.  They will discuss the history, techniques, and contributions of Black string bands. With the aid of recordings and films they will break down tunes and give plenty of opportunities for playing music. Rounding out the trio is the talented tap dancer, Robynn Watson, member of Savion Glover's STePz. Watson will also present a workshop. The evening ends with a concert full of plenty fun and frolic. 

Workshops  1:30-3:30 pm

Black Ballads, Blues and Work Songs

Banjo, Bones, Tap Dance

Concert at 7:00

Also on today's show:

Palestine and the US Elections

Revolutionary Lesbian Poet Pat Parker

Monday, April 11, 2016: Pioneering Oakland Journalist Brenda Payton

Aqueila Lewis talks with journalist Brenda Payton, who was a columnist for the Oakland Tribune for 26 years.  Payton also worked at the San Francisco Examiner and co-produced "Your Loan Is Denied,” a documentary about lending discrimination, that aired on PBS’ Frontline.  She currently works with Oakland Voices, a website that develops and mentors community journalists. To learn more about at OaklandVoices.us and on Facebook.

Listen now or Get MP3. 24:24 min






April 17th 3 PM at Odell Johnson Performing Arts Center, Laney College in Oakland
Meet the Oakland Voices Fellow
Aqueila Lewis will present Artists Displacement and her Grandmother's Foreclosure
Sights and Sounds of East Oakland

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

Also on today's show:
WAH (We Are Here) Dance, Music & Art Fest

Events for Bay Area Feminists

Wednesday, April 13 at 11 AM
Cantor Arts Center - Patricia S. Rebele Gallery
Stanford
Intimate Frontiers: The Male Gaze in Fin-de-Siècle Vienna
650-498-1480 or visit museum.stanford.edu

Today thru April 16, 5-8 PM
480 23rd Street between Telegraph and Broadway, through the side entrance.
DIVINE INVASIONS: SIX MALE ARTISTS ALLYING WITH THE DIVINE FEMININE
510-229-7035 or Krowswork.com

Friday, April 15
Celebrate KPFA's 67th birthday.

Monday, November 23, 2015: Eliminating Violence Against Women; New Book About Rosa Parks

Oranging the World to Eliminate Violence Against Women

Today we talk to Nanette Braun from the UN Women about the plans for the 2015 International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. Violence against Women continues to be a global pandemic. 35% of women and girls globally experience some form of physical and or sexual violence in their lifetime. An estimated 133 million girls and women have experienced some form of genital mutilation or cutting and in the U.S one in five  women are victims of violence. Yet violence against women is not inevitable and that is why prevention is the theme of the 2015 International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on November 25th. And running through December 10th the UNITE to End Violence Against Women Campaign calls for 16 Days of Activism against Gender Based Violence to raise public awareness and mobilize people to bring about change.

Who is the real Rosa Parks?

And on the 60th year anniversary of the Montgomery Boycotts, we talk to Professor Jeanne Theoharis, who discusses her book "The Rebellious Life of Mrs Rosa Parks" which provides a much need corrective to the common misrepresentation of the civil rights activist, Rosa Parks, who is often portrayed as a quiet church woman who single-handedly created a movement, a narrative which leaves out Parks life long commitment to activism, how changes happens through collective struggle and not by the actions of one singular person and  reinforces the idea that we live in a post racial society.

The book is available at your local bookstore and online at Penguin-Random House and Amazon.









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

Monday, May 25, 2015: Live Call-in with Vylma V and LisaMarie Rollins

Celebrating and Remembering Black Women

MUST READ: Powerful new ‪#‎SayHerName‬ report by the The African American Policy Forum on Black women and Black Queer folks harmed and killed by police.

Listen in on Monday's LIVE CALL IN show as Vymla V and LisaMarie Rollins discuss the ‪#‎SayMyName‬ actions in the Bay Area and across the nation. Call in and share your perspective on this powerful campaign. Click here to listen to this broadcast of KPFA Women's Magazine. 59:50 min

ColorofChange.org

Kimberle Crenshaw talks about the large numbers of Black women and girls who are victimized by police brutality, how the facts are misreported. Women fall out of the frame she says. It is important to talk about how women experience racism.

Lisa Detmer, Women's Magazine Senior Producer reports on Monday's Emeryville action at Home Depot and the action in Oakland later that night. Click link above to listen to live audio from the rally and march.

Black Women standing in their power at May 21st SF Rally
#sayhername

Vylma V and LisaMarie host live call-in show about the May 21st action and the community reactions to the powerful and healing campaign.

Events and info:
Queer Rebels Festival, May 29-30, 7 PM, 762 Fulton St. San Francisco

Campaign to Release Oscar Lopez, Puerto Rican political prisoner held for 34 years: Rally and march Friday, May 29, 5 PM, Market and Powell. Saturday, May 30, 11 AM, Gather at Oakland library to march around the lake. For infor call Ricardo at 510-290-2312.

www.byp100.org/justice-for-rekia

Call in again next month on June 22 at 1 PM

Monday, April 6, 2015: Blackademics

Iris Goodwin's West Coast Premiere

BLACKADEMICS, a satiric play about the challenges facing Black women academics, opens this Thursday, April 9th at The Thick House in San Francisco.  The play by Idris Goodwin is produced by Crowded Fire Theater.  Lisa Marie Rollins discusses the show with director Mina Morita and actor Safiya Fredericks.

For tickets and information go to http://www.crowdedfire.org/2015-blackademics/.

Listen now or Get MP3. 10:04 min.







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

Also on today's show:
Purvi Patel
Understanding Israel