Accent of Women

This week on Accent of Women we speak with Corallanne Pohlman, a proud Murri woman from Far North Queensland. Corallanne is a Youth Justice Worker in custodial settings whose late ADHD diagnosis as a young adult led her to question the effectiveness of the current education system for Aboriginal children.Corallanne looks at the way the current schooling system impacts Aboriginal children and reimagines a radical approach to education.

On today’s episode of Accent, we ask the old  skool adage: can sticks and stones break our bones?We look at the impact biased reporting has on African youth in Australia. We also speak to Amy Maquire, a Darumbal/South Sea journalist and researcher about anti-blackness and lessons African communities can learn from First Nation people. 

On today’s episode of Accent, we ask the old adage: can sticks and stones break our bones?We look at the impact biased reporting has had on African youth in Australia. We also speak to Amy Maquire, a Darumbal/South Sea journalist and researcher about anti-blackness and lessons African communities can learn from First Nation people.

Is Newstart a new beginning?On today’s episode of Accent, we ask, does Newstart allowance provide for a basic living wage - or should the payment be raised to meet the changing living standards.To help us understand the challenges faced by job seekers on Newstart allowance, we spoke to Gemma Mahadeo, a Melbourne-based writer and musician. Gemma's family emigrated from England to Australia in 1987.  She's a committee member for the Women's Melbourne Network, and has performed her work with the disability troupe 'Quippings'. She identifies as a queer migrant of colour, with a chronic mental health condition.We also speak to Lara Watson, the Indigenous Officer of the Australian Council of Trades Union about the failure of the Community Development Program. Lara is part of the roll out of the Wage Justice Campaign for CDP Workers through the First Nations Workers Alliance.

The Cambodian Food and Service Workers’ Federation has a newly elected President – Ou Tep Phallin who was formerly herself a beer promotions worker.  Listeners might recall the major campaign run back in 2016, in defence of women in teh beer promotions industry in Cambodia – this is where women are required to encourage tourists in night clubs to keep drinking, and are compelled to drink themselves, putting them in very dangerous situations.

The British Empire is again celebrating it’s world wide colonial conquests in the form of the Commonwealth Games, currently underway on the Gold Coast in Queensland. Indigenous activists and their supporters are conducting a protest campaign against the Commonwealth Games, under the title of the “Stolenwealth Games”. They are demanding land rights and recognition that Aboriginal sovereignty has never been ceded.

Israeli troops killed at least 15 Palestinians and injured more than 1,400 on Friday 30 March, during demonstrations along Gaza’s border with Israel and in cities throughout the Palestinian enclave. The demonstrations were scheduled to take place for six weeks along the border of Gaza, and have been called the “Great Return March”.  This area has been subject to an 11 year illegal blockade by Israel and Egypt. Today's program features visiting Palestinian activist and militant, Huwaida Arraf.

On today’s program, we look at the economic crisis in Venezuela. Despite the billions of dollars available to Venezuela because of its oil industry, the country is in the throes of an economic crisis, resulting from US sanctions. Venezuela is heavily dependent on food imports just to feed the population. The media is reporting that hundreds of thousands of people are fleeing the country into neighbouring Brazil and Colombia, in order just to eat.On today’s program, I speak with visiting activist and militant, Pacha Guzmán. Pacha is in Australia on a speaking tour, with the Latin American Solidarity Network.

Eastern Ghouta, located just east of Damascus, has become the recent focus of a fierce offensive by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces. Health officials have also accused the Syrian government of using chlorine gas in their aerial bombardment campaign on Eastern Ghouta. The UN has called the situation in the enclave "hell on earth". Mariam Salameh, one of the women that has been organising rallies and marches in defence of the Syrian people is featured on today's program.

Today on Accent of Women, we revisit the issue of African gangs and the vilification of Sudanese youth by the conservative media, and the Victorian state opposition.We feature the voice of Sudanese community campaigner, Nawal Ali, addressing a public meeting in Flemington – a western Melbourne suburb with a large Sudanese community. And then in the second part of the show, we revisit our interview with Sajda Yaccoub from the Peer Advocacy Team of the Police Accountability Project at Flemington Kensington Community Legal Centre.