Archived Radio Show

May 20, 2024

Original Radio Show  ID:
WSA240520

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. Guest, Dr. Andrea Hall-Miller, Author, Coach, Community Engagement Coordinator for the North Bay Black Chamber of Commerce

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1. Commentary by Elaine B. Holtz:  I have a very special guest this morning. Joining me in the studio is Dr. Andrea Hall-Miller, PhD, RN, MA, and freelance writer. Andrea is also the Director of Community Engagement for the North Bay Black Chamber of Commerce (NBBCC). We just had our first Rose Parade in five years, and for the first time the North Bay Black Chamber of Commerce had a float. The theme of this year’s Rose Parade was, A Trek Through Time. FYI Trek means a long arduous journey, especially one made on foot: to make one's way arduously which means, in a way that is difficult and needs a lot of effort and energy. When I read this definition, I think of Ida B Wells going into the south reporting lynching or Sojourner Truth taking some three hundred slaves to freedom and doing so in almost an impossible environment to do so.

I invited Andrea to talk about the parade, the process of getting there and what inspired the Chamber to attend. FYI, NBBCC won the Best Theme Float, with their float titled Sonoma County Trailblazers.

Congratulations to the chamber for this achievement and a shout out to President Nancy Rogers who had the vision to gather others and make it happen.

I attended the graduation of my niece, Ruzanna Gasparyan who received her master’s degree in history. Ken and I are so proud of her and this accomplishment. Congratulations Ruzanna, we love you.

Speaking of SSU Graduation, activist Susan Lamont bravely did a one-woman protest carrying signs that read. Susan is committed to educating people about this and stood up for five hours, demanding a cease fire. Folks will someone tell me what the resistance to ceasefire is about. Children, human beings are starving and dying. SSU Students for Justice in Palestine stood up in silence at the 2 pm Commencement, not sure if the agreement with the now ousted SSU President Lee will be honored.

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2. Our Guest, Dr. Andrea Hall-Miller, highlights the collaborative effort behind the Sonoma County Trailblazers’ Rose Parade float, with Nancy Rogers, the president of the North Bay Black Chamber of Commerce (NBBCC), leading the initiative. The float featured images of influential African Americans, including local trailblazers from Sonoma County. Notable families like the Gray family, known for their contributions to the community, were prominently featured. Hall underscores the importance of recognizing and celebrating these contributions, especially in a county with a small African American population.

The interview also touches on the role of community engagement and the challenges faced by black business owners. Hall notes that the Chamber, under Rogers' leadership, works with organizations like the Small Business Development Center and Wells Fargo Bank to support black entrepreneurs. The Chamber also emphasizes networking and forging alliances to bolster business confidence and skills among its members.

Andrea reflects on her initial concerns about potential negative reactions from parade attendees, given her past experiences with racism as a child in Sonoma County. However, she was pleasantly surprised by the overwhelmingly positive and supportive response from the crowd. This reception helped boost the participants' confidence and underscored the progress made in racial relations.

The parade also involved young people, including members of local Black Student Unions and children of the participants. Hall believes that involving youth in such events helps them appreciate their heritage and the significance of their community’s history.

Overall, the interview highlights the NBBCC's efforts to celebrate and promote African American culture and history, foster community engagement, and support black businesses in Sonoma County. The Chamber has also non-black members and is open to all in the community.

About our Guest: Dr. Andrea Hall-Miller is the youngest of twelve children, Andrea Hall was born and raised in Santa Rosa, CA., where her parents had moved from San Francisco to pastor a Church. Her earliest memories include being in church for many hours and following her mother, also a nurse inspired her to become a nurse.

In school, Andrea’s greatest interests were in science, sociology, health, and physical education. Her continued studies in all of them resulted in degrees and licenses in nursing, multicultural studies, metaphysics, and physical fitness. She is a coach in Heart Math.

Andrea’s most recent interests lie in writing about her favorite life experiences. Therefore, in her works of fiction, you’ll find elements of all that she loves, including nursing, spirituality, love, and family. She recently retired from her nursing career and is looking forward to enjoying life and adventure in her next phase.

Andrea is the proud author of two books, which we talked about in our previous interview on March 25, 2024, and serves as the Community Engagement Coordinator for the North Bay Black Chamber of Commerce.

Guest Links:

North Bay Black Chamber of Commerce (NBBCC) website: www.nbbcc.org

NBBCC fb page: www.facebook.com/nbbcc.org

NBBCC Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/nbbcc_  

 Dr. Andrea Hall-Miller's website:  www.whollypower.com

Dr. Andrea Hall-Miller's email: Andrea@whollypower.com

Videos above: NBBCC float Sonoma County Trailblazers i in the 2024 Santa Rosa Rose Parage, May 18, 2024, Photos on the float or carried by marchers depict Sonoma County Trailblazers. Videographer Chantell Reece.  From www.facebook.com/nbbcc.org 

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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.

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Herstory Events:

May 21, 1973 – Lynn Genesko, a swimmer, receives the first athletic scholarship awarded to a woman (University of Miami).

Herstory Birthdays:

May 23, 1810 (1850) – Margaret Fuller, journalist, critic, and women’s rights advocate, the first full-time American woman book reviewer in journalism, her book Woman in the Nineteenth Century is considered the first major feminist work in the U.S.

May 24, 1898 (1986) – Helen Taussig, pediatric cardiologist, first woman full professor at Johns Hopkins (1959), helped create the Blalock-Taussig shunt, a surgical technique which corrected “blue baby” syndrome, contributed to the ban on thalidomide in the 1960s, first woman president of the American Heart Association (1965), awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

May 25, 1889 (1975) – Lillie Mae Carroll Jackson, pioneer civil rights activist, organizer of the Baltimore branch of the NAACP, she pioneered the tactic of non-violent resistance.

May 25, 1905 (1995) – Dorothy Wesley, librarian and historian, one of the first African- American women to earn a master’s degree in library science (Howard University, 1932), as curator of the Moorland-Spingarn Collection at Howard University, she helped it become a world renowned resource on the history and culture of African-Americans.

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Announcements

Ongoing: SSU Students for Justice in Palestine:  www.instagram.com/ssu.sjp

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Wednesday, May 22, 2024 Peace and Justice Center issues new weekly list of events and links to community non-profit organizations: PJC website www.pjcsoco.org

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Monday, May 27, 2024 11 AM PT # repeats 11 PM PT, the show will feature Elaine's Commentary, Music and Poetry on Memorial Day.  Radio KBBF 89.1 FM, North SF Bay or live streaming at https://kbbf.org/live

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Wednesday, May 29, 2024, 11 AM PT, repeat of Monday's show that will feature Elaine's Commentary, Music and Poetry on Memorial Day.  Radio KPCA 103.3 FM, Petaluma, CA. https://petalumacommunityaccess.org/kpca& 

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Saturday, June 15, 2024, 10 AM to 6 PM, 54th Annual MLK Juneteenth Community Festival Celebration, Martin Luther King Park, 171 Hendley Street, Santa Rosa, CA (east of the fairgrounds). For more info, arrange for a booth or sponsorship see https://www.sonomacountyjuneteenth.com/

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Saturday, August 10, 2024, National Organization for Women (NOW) - California Conference, at the Presbyterian Church of the Roses in Santa Rosa. To volunteer, have a booth, to sponsor - please contact NOW Sonoma County at info@nowsonoma.org, or see CA NOW's webpage at https://www.canow.org/2024-annual-conference/ .

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

Oh Freedom, sung by Odetta, from the album Folk Meeting : Odetta, Joan Baez, Maria Carta, Amália Rodrigues (Musica sě e I lunedě del Sistina) (H.squared).

To Be Young, Gifted and Black, sung by Nina Simone from the album Sugar in my Bowl-The best of Nina Simone 1967-72 (1988 BMG Entertainment International).

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