Archived Radio Show

April 7, 2025

Original Radio Show  ID:
WSA250407

Listen to the Show on the Mp3 Player below

Duration 57 minutes

.

---

Featuring

Click the Name to access the Segment below

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

2. Sabra Briere, Co-Organizer, Sonoma County Indivisible, of Hands Off Protest of April 5th in Sonoma County, CA.

3. Sue Hicks, Participant, Hands Off Protest of April 5th in Santa Rosa, CA.

 ----

----   

1. Commentary by our Host, Elaine B. Holtz.  Elaine expressed her gratefulness to be back in the studio again after her successful cataract surgery. As usual, she presented some historical events and birthdays of women, upon whose shoulders we stand on. You can read about them on this page in the section called Herstory. 

2. & 3. This April 7th episode of Women's Spaces, hosted by Elaine B. Holtz, centered on a powerful rally in Santa Rosa, California on Saturday, April 5th, titled “Hands Off,” part of a nationwide protest defending women’s and civil rights. Holtz was joined by Sabra Briere of Indivisible Sonoma County and retired nurse Sue Hicks. They discussed the rally’s turnout—over 5,000 attendees—and its role in resisting growing political overreach and authoritarianism, especially threats to reproductive freedom and democracy.

Briere highlighted how the rally was part of a coordinated global response, born out of frustration with rising anti-democratic forces. She shared her personal activist roots and criticized the Democratic Party’s complacency, emphasizing why groups like Indivisible are crucial. She and Holtz also examined how race and age influence law enforcement’s reaction to protests, noting that the older, largely white demographic of this rally led to a peaceful police response—unlike demonstrations by younger or Black communities, which often face suspicion.

In the episode’s second half, the tone became more reflective and personal. Holtz shared her struggles with vision loss as a call to cherish freedoms often taken for granted. Sue Hicks recounted how the 2016 election catalyzed her activism, from the Women’s March to the April 5 rally. She warned against political disinformation, especially around health and vaccination, and stressed the need for continued resistance.

Organizer Sabra Briere emphasized the ongoing erosion of civil liberties and urged listeners to stay engaged. With future protests planned around April 19, symbolizing a peaceful new revolution, the episode concluded with a clear call to action: speak up, vote, organize, and never be silent. Holtz’s closing message affirmed that democracy thrives on participation—and silence, in times like these, is complicity.

2. About our Guest:  Sabra Briere is a recent import into Northern California, moving to Santa Rosa in January of last year. A member of the Ann Arbor, MI City Council until her move here, she immediately became involved in our community. She joined Indivisible Sonoma County at their first general meeting in January 2017, has become an active member of the local Democratic Party, and volunteers for the City of Santa Rosa. Sabra became leader of Indivisible Sonoma County last fall, following the founder, Karen D’Or. And we heard her speak - impromptu - at the recent Women’s Rally on January 20th. Passionate about free speech, education, the environment, and civic responsibilities, Sabra brings her energy and her insights into our local issues. Sabra was a Women's Spaces guest in 2018 and again in 2019 when Indivisble was active during the first Trump Administration.

Guest Links:

Indivisible Sonoma County website:   https://indivisiblesoco.org/

Take action every day - Calendar: https://indivisiblesoco.org/calendar/

Reference Links:

Sabra Briere was previously on the following Women's Spaces Shows:

• Indivisible Sonoma County

2/10/2018:  

• Indivisible Sonoma's Impeach & Remove Rally this Tuesday 12/17/19,  2/16/2019: 

•  Recap of the Impeach & Remove Rally of 12/17/19, 

2/23/2019: 

3. About our Guest:  Sue Hicks, was bornorn and raised in Salt Lake City to a non-practicing, Mormon father and a Catholic mother. She earned her degree in Nursing at the University of Utah and moved to SF in 1967. Sue practiced nursing for 30+ years and then took early retirement and moved to Mexico for 5 years. She returned to Sonoma County in 2006 to help care for her first granddaughter and became involved in the community, volunteering for various non-profits.Sue loves to travel and enjoy hiking in our beautiful County and beyond. She became more involved in politics with the rise of Donald Trump in 2016 and continues to be horrified at his policies and actions that utterly lack of humanity. 

----

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:

April 5, 1911 – 100,000 to 500,000 people march in New York City to attend the funeral of seven unidentified victims of the Triangle Shirtwaist Company fire in late March.

The Triangle Waist Company factory occupied the 8th, 9th, and 10th floors of the 10-story Asch Building on the northwest corner of Greene Street and Washington Place, just east of Washington Square Park, in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. Under the ownership of Max Blanck and Isaac Harris, the factory produced women's blouses, known as "shirtwaists". The factory normally employed about 500 workers, mostly young Italian and Jewish immigrant women and girls, who worked nine hours a day on weekdays plus seven hours on Saturdays earning for their 52 hours of work between $7 and $12 a week, the equivalent of $236 to $405 a week in 2024 currency, or $4.92 to $8.44 per hour. Owners, Max Blanck and Isaac Harris were said to have preferred hiring immigrant women over men, because they would work for less, and were less likely to unionize against them. These women were often poor, young, had little to no education and barely spoke English.
                    

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangle_Shirtwaist_Factory_fire

April 7, 1987 – Opening of the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C., the first museum devoted to women artists.

Herstory Birthdays:

April 10, 1880 (1965) – Frances Perkins, first woman cabinet member, Secretary of Labor (1933), key contributor to the Social Security Act and the Fair Labor Standards Act.

April 10, 1930 – Dolores Huerta, Chicana activist, labor organizer, co-founder of the United Farm Workers union.

----

Announcements  

----

Monday, April 14, 2025 11 AM # repeats 11 PM PT, the show will be feature our guest Elaine Rock, Author of the new biography of Dusty Roads. Radio KBBF 89.1 FM, North SF Bay or live streaming at https://kbbf.org/live

----

Wednesday, April16, 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

---- 

Wednesday, April16, 2025, 10 AM PT, the show will be a repeat or our 4/7/25 show that features, Elaine Rock  Radio KPCA 103.3 FM, Petaluma, CA. https://petalumacommunityaccess.org/kpca   

----

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

----

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