Monday, November 25, 2019: Holistic Approach to Women's Health Care

Tarita Thomas

Tanya Leake

Health care in the U.S.is unfortunately both sexist and racist. As a result Women have struggled and suffered with health issues,  often unnecessarily,  because of the bias in health care that understudies women’s health issues, especially sexual and reproductive health issues  and then  ignores, dismisses  and shames women when they need help.  Today we talk to Wellness experts Tanya Leake and Tarita Thomas who have been offering a holistic alternative to women’s health for over a decade, that they created after struggling with their own health issues, and now are co creating a revolutionary peer-centered information platform to address the misinformation and dismissal of  women’s health issue by providing a space called WeKnow (Women embracing the Knowledge Necessary for Our Wellness) where women can share their own stories with Cramps, Fibroids & Endometriosis.  This is revolutionary because we know sharing our stories and supporting each other is the way we take control of our own bodies and create a new notion of health based in our own intuitive and shared knowledge as women.

weknowus

Tarita Thomas was diagnosed with Endometriosis at the age of 12. None of the options her doctors offered helped, so she spent the next 30 years suffering, researching answers and seeking relief.  Her passion for Women’s Wellness is rooted in the impact that journey has had on her schooling, career and financial life.  She is the author of First Blood: Women’s Stories of their First Period, Founder of The pms Telethon designed to eradicate cramps, fibroids & endometriosis, and Founder of Pussy the Seminar: Creating Safe Space Dialogue About Our Most Sacred and Controversial Body Part.  A credentialed coach, facilitator, participatory researcher, data scientist and 20-year veteran of Human Resources and Diversity Consulting, Tarita is invested in driving authentic, vulnerable, critical conversations. Tarita is co-facilitator of #coochieconversations and co-founder and Chief Evangelist of WeKNOW.

A Black girl transplanted from Harlem, NY and now living in Atlanta, GA, Tanya Leake is a holistic wellness coach, consultant and educator who specializes in holistic nutrition, self-care, dance and fitness. Founder of her own brand of holistic wellness under EmBODY WELL, Tanya is a certified ACE (American Council on Exercise) health coach and group fitness instructor. She holds specialty certifications in behavior change, women’s health, natural health, sports and exercise nutrition and nutrition therapy. Tanya is a former senior consultant with Accenture’s Information Management Services group, with a background in computer programming, systems and data architecture. Tanya is co-facilitator of #coochieconversations and co-founder and CEO of WeKNOW.

WeKNOWus is also on Facebook and Twitter.

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

Labor Day 2016 on KPFA Women's Magazine: Black Women Leading the Labor Movement

Black Women Leading the Labor Movement

"And Still I Rise is a part of The Black Worker Initiative, a bold and exciting new effort launched by the Institute for Policy Studies, which is deeply committed to helping achieve both the historic and contemporary aims of the labor and civil rights movements."

This Labor Day on Women's Magazine, we speak with Robin Williams, Director of Civil Rights and Community Action for the United Food & Commercial Workers International Union.  Williams joined UFCW as an 18-year-old Safeway worker with a new baby, and has become one of its key organizers.  She is one of 27 Black women labor leaders profiled in And Still I Rise: Black Women Labor Leaders, a report from the Black Worker Initiative of the Institute for Policy Studies.

"If I'm not making a difference then I don't want to be there." Robin Williams

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


Also on today's show:
Dancing to End Violence Against Women

Monday August 10, 2015: Countering Dehumanization

Challenging Dehumanization

Interview with Margo Perin

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



Listen now or Get MP3. 25:29 min.

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.

For more programs from Making Contact go to: http://www.radioproject.org/.  Making Contact airs every Friday at 3:30 on KPFA 94.1 FM or www.kpfa.org.


Click here to listen to entire KPFA Women's Magazine show. 59:50 min.