January 20, 2014: The Untold Story of Black Women and the Birth of Feminism

Today's show falls on the holiday celebrating the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. Kate Raphael opens the program with a thought provoking commentary about the Civil Rights movement today and other freedom struggles. Click here to listen to Women's Magazine. 59:50 min

Black Women Led Birth of N.O.W.

Daisy Bates speaks during the Aug. 23, 1963, March on Washington. Bates, mentor to the Little Rock Nine, was the only woman to speak at the event 50 years ago in which the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his iconic “I Have a Dream” speech. Source Times Record: Online Edition

In the first part of our show today we'll listen to a fascinating history put together by Fran Luck of WBAI's Joy of Resistance for Sprouts, a national weekly program.  Luck tells the story of how black women activists, frustrated by being shut out of the 1963 March on Washington, led the charge to form the National Organization for Women. Link for Sprouts is http://pacificanetwork.org/?page_id=289 Look for Black Women Led Birth of N.O.W. to hear this segment.

Freedom Rider Jean Denton Thompson

Mugshot of Jean Denton Thompson on May 24, 1961 in Jackson, MS. Photo from Mississippi State Department of Archives and History's Sovereignty Commission

And then, we'll listen to a first-hand account by Freedom Rider Jean Denton Thompson, about what it was like to be inside that world-changing moment. Our original interview with Jean Denton-Thompson is at:

http://kpfawomensmag.blogspot.com/2011/02/february-7th-today-on-womens-magazine.html

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:


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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:



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