Archived Radio Show

March 17, 2025

Original Radio Show  ID:
WSA250317

Listen to the Show on the Mp3 Player below

Duration 57 minutes

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Featuring

Click the Name to access the Segment below

1. Commentary by Elaine B. Holtz,  Host of Women's Spaces 

2. Ken Norton, Co-Producer, Women's Spaces, on why celebrate St. Patrick's Day.

3. Guest: Dr. Kim Hester Williams, Professor of Literature, Sonoma State University

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1. Commentary by our Host, Elaine B. Holtz.  Welcome to Women’s Spaces! I’m your host, Elaine B. Holtz, joined by my incredible partner and co-producer, Ken Norton. It’s a beautiful morning here in Sonoma County, and we’re celebrating National Women’s History Month—a movement rooted right here in sonoma County, CA, through the National Women’s History Project, now the National Women’s History Alliance. Special thanks to Molly McGregor for her decades of dedication to this cause.

Today, I’m thrilled to welcome Dr. Kim Hester Williams, a professor at Sonoma State University specializing in Literature and Women’s and Gender Studies. She’ll share stories of five influential women of color—figures I didn’t even know much about—and discuss their remarkable contributions.

We’ll also spotlight tonight’s event hosted by the Sonoma County chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW), featuring local author Elaine Rock discussing Dusty Rhodes’ impact on the airline industry. Visit NOW Sonoma's website for details: https://nowsonoma.org/Events.html#1

On a personal note, tomorrow marks my 85th birthday, and I’m reflecting on my journey and the power of resilience. I’ll be taking a brief sabbatical for health reasons, but the show will continue with reruns. As we navigate turbulent times, let’s honor the immigrant stories that shaped our nation and advocate for women’s rights and democracy.

Stay tuned for an inspiring conversation with Dr. Williams and more reflections on women’s strength and history. My co-producer Ken Norton will explaine why St. Patrick's Day is celebrated.

2. Ken Norton on why St. Patrick's Day is celebrated: I’m half Irish—my mother’s side of the family traces back to County Meath, where there are shrines to Saint Patrick, who preached in the area. My mother’s ancestors have been connected to Roman Catholicism since that time.

Saint Patrick himself was actually a Briton, captured by the Irish and forced into slavery for six years before escaping. After gaining his freedom, he became a Catholic cleric and returned to Ireland with a mission to convert the Irish from their Pagan, earth-centered beliefs to Christianity. The legend of Saint Patrick driving the snakes out of Ireland is really a metaphor for replacing Paganism with Catholicism.

In America, Saint Patrick’s Day became a significant celebration, especially among Irish immigrants who faced widespread discrimination. The parades and festivities served as a way to honor their heritage, unite as a community, and push back against the prejudice they encountered. Like so many migrant groups in the United States, the Irish knew how tough it was to assimilate and how much strength it took to preserve their identity while forging a new life. Saint Patrick became a symbol of their resilience and pride, and his feast day remains a cherished tradition, celebrating both Irish roots and the spirit of perseverance.

3. Our Guest, Dr. Kim Hester Williams discusses her journey as a scholar and advocate for women’s and gender studies. Hosted by Elaine B. Holtz, the conversation highlights Dr. Williams’ achievements as a woman of color and her commitment to education and social justice. Dr. Williams shares how her mother’s resilience—rooted in overcoming racial discrimination as a sharecropper’s daughter—inspired her to pursue higher education. A passionate literature professor at Los Angeles Community College further motivated her to study English literature, leading to degrees from UC Santa Cruz and UC San Diego, with a focus on Black and women’s literature.

Now a professor at Sonoma State University for 27 years, Dr. Williams voices concern over proposed cuts to the Women’s and Gender Studies program, warning that eliminating it would undermine education on gender, sexuality, and social justice. She notes strong community support to preserve the program, emphasizing its vital role in fostering critical awareness and engagement.

The interview also explores themes of gender inequality and the fear rooted in women’s unique ability to give birth, which Dr. Williams connects to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. The novel’s portrayal of Dr. Frankenstein’s fear and rejection of his own creation reflects a deeper struggle with male inadequacy and dominance.

Dr. Williams highlights the literary contributions of influential women, including science fiction writer Octavia Butler and civil rights icon Angela Davis, whose works challenge societal norms and advocate for justice and empathy. She also praises Lydia Maria Child, an early white abolitionist and feminist, for her dedication to Black freedom.

Concluding the interview, Dr. Williams calls for solidarity, acknowledging the contributions of Indigenous and trans women to social justice movements. She stresses the importance of maintaining women’s and gender studies to address oppression and build a compassionate, equitable society.

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About our Guest:  Dr. Kim D. Hester Williams is a Professor of English and American Multicultural Studies (AMCS) at Sonoma State University. Dr. Williams also teaches nineteenth-century American literature, African American literature and culture. She is an affiliate faculty in Film Studies and Women and Gender Studies at Sonoma State University and is co-editor, with Leilani Nishime, of Racial Ecologies — a book collection of interdisciplinary essays on race and environment, published by the University of Washington Press in 2018. She is presently co-editor of Legacy, which is a journal about women in literature all the back to the 17th century through the 20th century. Her poetry is grounded in the long tradition of African American Womanist poetics. She is currently an active member of the American Canyon Soroptimist Association, and takes great pride in merging her teaching, scholarship, and research about racial and gender equality with her commitment to community service, social justice, and enacting an equitable, sustainable society—in both personal and communal practice.

Guest Links:

Dr. Kim D. Herster Williams at SSU: https://english.sonoma.edu/faculty-staff/kim-d-hester-williams

Dr. Kim D. Herster Williams email: kim.hester.williams@sonoma.edu

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Other Women's Spaces shows with our guest Dr. Kim D. Hester Williams:

• Feminism and Black Lives Matter, Part 1: Octavia Butler and Modern Feminism on May 11, 2020,
  

• Feminism and Black Lives Matter, Part 2: Historical and Feminist Perspective on June 8, 2020,
  

• Feminism and Black Lives Matter, Part 3. Early Feminists Were Abolitionists on July 6, 2020.
  

• History of Black Women in Music and Literature February 12, 2024.

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Our History Is Our Strength

Check out important dates to remember in Herstory at the National Women's History Alliance, where the date descriptions were sourced unless otherwise indicated.

Special thank you to the National Women’s History Alliance for making women’s history alive. Shout out to Co-Founder and Retiring Executive Director, Molly McGregor who will be on the show when we celebrate Women’s History Month in March for making the fabulous list of Women in History where I get most of the info I present in this Herstory segment.

Herstory Events:

March 17, 1910 – Camp Fire Girls is established as the first interracial, non-sectarian American organization for girls.

March 20, 1852 – Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin is published and becomes the best-selling book of the 19th century.

March 21, 1986 – Debi Thomas becomes first African American woman to win the World Figure Skating Championship.

March 23, 1917 – Virginia Woolf establishes the Hogarth Press with her husband, Leonard Woolf.

Herstory Birthdays:

March 17, 1896 (1982) – Helen Lynd, studied life in Muncie, Indiana, for 18 months from 1924-25 with husband Robert, their book “Middletown” was an instant best seller as it traced the decline of community spirit as the town faced industrial growth, taught at Sarah Lawrence College for almost 40 years.

March 17, 1902 (1995) – Alice Greenough, carried mail at age 15, joined a Wild West show, became a professional rodeo rider in 1921 and earned about $12,000 yearly, toured Australia and Spain as well as the U.S.

March 18, 1964 – Bonnie Blair, speed skater, one of the most successful Winter Olympians in U.S. history, 5 time gold medalist.

March 23, 1884 (1966) – Florence Ellinwood Allen, the first woman to serve on a state supreme court and one of the first two women to serve as a United States federal judge.

March 23, 1924 (1980) – Bette Nesmith Graham, invented Liquid Paper correction fluid which became an office staple, created two foundations to support women’s businesses and art.

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Announcements  

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Monday, March 24, 2025 11 AM # repeats 11 PM PT, the show will be a repeat or our 3/17/25 show that features Dr. Kim Hester Williams, on Women's Rights in Literature. Radio KBBF 89.1 FM, North SF Bay or live streaming at https://kbbf.org/live

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Wednesday, March 26, 2025, 6:00 PM, Riding Jane Crow with author Miriam Thaggert, zoom and online event - see poster below:

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Wednesday, March 26, 2025 Peace and Justice Center issues new weekly list of events and links to community non-profit organizations. It includes ongoing peace and human rights rallies and protests: PJC website www.pjcsoco.org

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Wednesday, March 26, 2025, 10 AM PT, the show will be a repeat or our 3/17/25 show that features, CA..  Radio KPCA 103.3 FM, Petaluma, CA. https://petalumacommunityaccess.org/kpca   

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Friday, April 18,  2025, 9 AM - 2:30 PM, We the Future Social Justice Conference, SRJC Petaluma Campus

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Ongoing:

The North Bay Organizing Project - Rapid Response Project

https://www.northbayop.org/nbrrn

Music Selections

The Opening and Closing Theme song The Woman in Your Life is You is done with permission of the Composer and Singer Alix Dobkin ((August 16, 1940 – May 19, 2021) Alix Dobkin death was just announced - Thank you for all you did for Lesbians to be recognized and Women to be honored. May you rest in peace. See our Interview with Alix Dobkin on 12/1/2014 and our Memorial to Alix Dobkin on 5/24/2021

The Woman in Your Life is You by Alix Dobkin from the album Living with Lavender Jane (2010 Women's Wax Works) - www.alixdobkin.com