Archived Radio Show

March 27, 2023

Original Radio Show  ID:
WSA230327

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. Dr. Kim D. Hester Williams , Professor of Literature at Sonoma State University

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1. Commentary by Elaine B. Holtz:   I have a very special guest for this show, joining me on the phone will be Dr. Kim D. Hester Williams a Professor at Sonoma State University, who teaches African American literature, from the early to the contemporary period, as well as Women and Gender Studies and Film Studies.

Shout out and thank you to all that attended the National Organization for Women Sonoma Chapter Zoom with Blacks United, thank you Nancy Rogers and Women’s Spaces. It was a huge success with Dr. Catherine Meeks, PhD talking about Healing Racism. The Zoom was recorded and can be seen on NOW Sonoma YouTube Channel. It was a great teaching moment. Thanks to the great article in the Press Democrat about the event.

I want to do a shout out to my dear friend Susan Lamont and all those who helped her organize the End All the Wars Rally last Saturday. Below are some lyrics from Tom Paxton's song "Lyndon Johnson Told the Nation" and a memorable quote of Eleanor Roosevelt from the speech that Susan presented.

We will take a musical break and the song I will be playing is, I believe, the one song that tells it all when it comes to war, Masters of War, written by Bob Dylan and sung by Judy Collins. When we return, we will be doing the Women’s Spaces Pledge.

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2. Our Guest, Dr. Kim D. Hester Williams, shares her childhood influences for choosing her academia career, especially from her mother’s path of hard work and her mentoring on being a compassionate person. Her focus on 19th century American literature, that covers slavery and its abolition, as well as the start of the feminist movement. Since the oppression of women existed from ancient times, she believes the struggle for women’s rights need to be for the long haul. American culture and movies were steeped in the subservience of women to men, and she mentioned as example the movie McLintock with John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara. The recent Dobbs decision by SCOTUS leaving the States with the final word on Women’s Reproductive Choice, the anti-LGBTQI, restrictive education rights, the book bans, and attack of critical race theory that looks at how laws are often racially biased demonstrate the ongoing cultural war. The truth is hard to bear with tradition ensconced beliefs. Dr. Williams feels her daughters’ generation are very interested in women’s rights and joined with her oldest daughter the SexEd Justice Project on reproductive health and rights of women. Dr. Williams is grateful for the works of Dr. Bettina Aptheker on the responsibilities of feminists going into motherhood. Don't be limited by this report, listen to the show for the audio nuances.

About our Guest: Dr. Kim D. Hester Williams is a Professor of English and American Multicultural Studies (AMCS) at Sonoma State University. She currently is an affiliate faculty of American Multicultural Studies in
addition to teaching nineteenth-century American literature, African American literature and culture. She also is an affiliate faculty in Film Studies and Women and Gender Studies at Sonoma State University. She 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. 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, an organization that supports the economic empowerment and vitality of all women through education, training, and solidarity. Dr. Williams 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. This is the fourth visit to Women's Spaces for Dr. Williams.

Guest Link:

Sonoma State University English Department Bio of Dr. Williams:  https://english.sonoma.edu/faculty-staff/kim-d-hester-williams

Email Dr. Kim D. Hester Williams: kim.hester.williams (at) sonoma.edu

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Reference Links:

Previous shows with Dr. Kim D. Hester Williams on Black Lives Matter and Feminism:

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McLintock film: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McLintock!

Source: By impawards, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11162636

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Bettina Aptheker Biography: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bettina_Aptheker

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 Herstory

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.

Herstory Events:

March 31, 1888 – The National Council of Women of the U.S. is organized by Susan B. Anthony, Clara Barton, Julia Ward Howe, and Sojourner Truth, among others, the oldest non-sectarian women’s organization in the U.S.

March 31, 1776 – Abigail Adams writes to her husband John who is helping to frame the Declaration of Independence and cautions,“Remember the ladies…”

Announcements  

View the NOW Special Zoom Event of 3/20/2023 with author and educator Dr. Catherine Meeks on Racial Healing.
Click Here for video recording on Youtube.

Sonoma County groups host author Catherine Meeks who discusses fight against racism, by Colin Atagi, Press Democrat, August 20, 2023:
Click Here for Article.

On February 27, 2023 Dr. Meeks was our guest  

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Monday, April 3, 2023, 11 AM PT # repeats 11 PM PT, features Women's Music.  Radio KBBF 89.1 FM, North SF Bay or live streaming at https://kbbf.org/live

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Wednesday April 5, 2023, 11 AM PT, repeat of Monday's show, features Women's Music .  Radio KPCA 103.3 FM, Petaluma, CA. https://petalumacommunityaccess.org/kpca 

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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

Masters of War, sung by Judy Collins from the album Masters of War  (2011 Elektra 0591). 

We Have come a Long Way Ladies, sung by Earth Mama from the album Herstory (Rouse House, LLC) ).

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Link:  Spinitron.com Playlist for Women's Spaces Show