We are on the verge of the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that legalized abortion throughout the United States.  With this decision, other landmark rulings including those that legalized access to contraception, gender-affirming care, and same-sex marriage may also be threatened. 

How did we get here? Of course, this is a rhetorical question, as we have experienced the federal government and state-based legislatures, coupled with legal campaigns, chip away at Roe for the past 49 years.  I have been interested in understanding which stories, storytellers, (former president Trump comes to mind), and cultural forces are drowning out the narratives from the 6 in 10 (61%) Americans who believe that abortion should be legal in all or most cases.

An intriguing exploration is Mid-Century, a horror film starring Chelsea Gilligan and edited by Stephanie Filo.  Seemingly about a husband and wife's weekend in a mid-century modern vacation rental turns deadly, the story brings to life the narratives that helped to move the U.S. to this political moment.  Written during the Trump administration, the film shows the power and cruel consequences of former president Trump's narrative of an imagined time when America was at its greatest: The 1950s, a pre-civil, gender, and LGBTQ+ rights era, amongst most human rights.

I talked with Chelsea Gilligan, who plays Dr. Alice Dodgeson, the lead role, and Stephanie Filo.  We talked about everything from their work on the film and the entertainment industry to their life journeys and love of community and cooking.

Stephanie Filo, ACE is a two-time Emmy and Peabody Award-winning TV/Film Editor and activist based in Los Angeles, CA and Sierra Leone, West Africa. She serves on the board for Girls Empowerment Sierra Leone, a social impact and feminist-based organization for Sierra Leonean girls aged 11-16. She is one of the co-founders of End Ebola Now, an organization created in 2014 to spread accurate information and awareness about the Ebola Virus and its impact through artistic community activism.

Chelsea Gilligan made her series regular debut on The CW's "Star-Crossed" where Gilligan portrayed "Teri," a tough as nails high school student, who also happens to be an alien. Her past credits include roles on shows like "How I Met Your Mother," Victorious" and "Big Time Rush."

Hailie Sahar is an award-winning Actor, Producer, Director, Singer, and Writer.

Sahar made history as one of the five transgender lead actors to star in Ryan Murphy's culturally groundbreaking FX series, Pose. Staring as Lulu, the Mother of the House of Ferocity, the ensemble went on to be globally recognized and awarded, including several Emmy Awards over the course of its successful three seasons.

In the fall of 2020, Deadline announced Sahar's collaboration with Emmy Award-winning Director, Anthony Hemmingway for the Sir Lady Java biopic. She is set to Executively Produce and star as the trailblazing Los Angeles icon.

In this episode we speak to Akemi Kochiyama, granddaughter of American civil rights activist,  Yuri Kochiyama, the lifelong champion of civil rights causes in the black, Latino, Native American and Asian-American communities 

Influenced by her Japanese-American family's experience in an American internment camp, her association with Malcolm X, and her Maoist beliefs, she advocated for many causes, including black separatism, the anti-war movement, reparations for Japanese-American internees, and the rights of political prisoners.

A Conversation with Director Julie Cohen about the new documentary, My Name is Pauli Murray (Directed by Julie Cohen, Betsy West, 2021.

A pioneering attorney, activist, priest and dedicated memoirist, Murray shaped landmark litigation — and consciousness — around race and gender equity. As an African American youth raised in the segregated South — who was also wrestling with broader notions of gender identity — Pauli understood, intrinsically, what it was to exist beyond previously accepted categories and cultural norms. Both Pauli’s personal path and tireless advocacy foreshadowed some of the most politically consequential issues of our time. Told largely in Pauli’s own words, My Name is Pauli Murray is a candid recounting of that unique and extraordinary journey.

Mónica is dedicated to ending gender based violence in the workplace and achieving gender equity.  She created the first legal project in the US focused on addressing sexual harassment and other forms of gender discrimination against farmworker women in 2003, which was incubated at the Migrant Justice Project of Florida Legal Services. She later scaled this project and founded Esperanza: The Immigrant Women’s Legal Initiative of the Southern Poverty Law Center in 2006, which she directed for nearly seven years. In addition, she created the award-winning Bandana Project, an art activism project that raises awareness about workplace sexual violence against farmworker women. In 2014, she founded Justice for Migrant Women, a national advocacy and technical assistance project focused on representing female farmworkers and other low-paid immigrant women who are victims of workplace sexual violence. Mónica is also co-founder of Alianza Nacional de Campesinas, The Latinx House and Poderistas. You can follow her on Twitter @monicaramirezOH and Instagram @activistmonicaramirez.

Bamby Salcedo is a national and international transgender Latina Woman who received her Master’s Degree in Latina Studies from California State University in Los Angeles.

Bamby is the President and CEO of the TransLatina Coalition, a national organization that focuses on addressing the issues of transgender Latinas in the US. Bamby developed the Center for Violence Prevention & Transgender Wellness, a multipurpose, multi-service space for trans people in Los Angeles.

Bamby most recent employer was Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. She spent eight dedicated years as the Health Education and HIV Prevention Services Coordinator at the nation’s largest and most experienced clinical program providing multidisciplinary healthcare and services to trans youth.

bambysalcedo.com
translatinacoalition.org

FAVIANNA RODRIGUEZ  is the co-founder and president of The Center for Cultural Power, a national organization investing in artists as agents of positive social change. She is an award winning artist, cultural strategist, and social movement leader who partners with progressive advocacy groups to design effective cultural campaigns. A strategy advisor to artists of all genres, Favianna is regarded as one of the leading thinkers uniting art, culture, and social impact. Her projects include creating art for Ben & Jerry's, partnering with Joey Solloway to create 5050by2020.com, and facilitating artist delegations to the US-Mexico border. She is a recipient of the Robert Rauschenberg Artist as Activist Fellowship, the SOROS Racial Equity Fellowship and the Atlantic Fellowship for Racial Equity.

Dolores Clara Fernández Huerta (born April 10, 1930) is an American labor leader and civil rights activist who, with Cesar Chavez, is a co-founder of the National Farmworkers Association, which later merged with the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee to become the United Farm Workers (UFW). Huerta helped organize the Delano grape strike in 1965 in California and was the lead negotiator in the workers' contract that was created after the strike.

Huerta has received numerous awards for her community service and advocacy for workers', immigrants', and women's rights, including the Eugene V. Debs Foundation Outstanding American Award, the United States Presidential Eleanor Roosevelt Award for Human Rights and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. She was the first Latina inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame, in 1993.

Huerta is the originator of the phrase, "Sí, se puede".  As a role model to many in the Latino community, Huerta is the subject of many corridos (Mexican or Mexican-American ballads) and murals.

In California, April 10 is Dolores Huerta Day.

visit: doloreshuerta.org

Tracy Sturdivant is a long-time social justice organizer and innovator who works at the intersection of strategy and creativity. For more than two decades, Tracy has pushed the envelope with ideas that ensure our work for social change keeps pace with the changing world around us. She founded The League in 2017 and currently serves as President & CEO.

She is a sought after speaker and has appeared at a variety of events, including SXSW, Netroots Nation, and Glassdoor’s Equal Pay Roundtable alongside Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Tracy has been a guest on Sirius XM News, NPR, and Women’s Radio Network, has been quoted in outlets like Washington Post, The New York Times, and Vogue, and has been published in Essence, Ebony, Huffington Post, and Ms. Magazine, among others.

Tracy has served on a variety of boards, including the National Domestic Workers Alliance and Greenpeace USA. She is currently the board chair of Higher Heights for America.

[email protected]

Aria Sa’id is an award winning transgender advocate and political strategist based in San Francisco. She is a founder and executive director of The Transgender District, the world’s first legally recognized district of its kind; Founder of Black transgender women empowerment project Kween Culture Initiative, and both a Board member of the Women’s Foundation of California, and an alum of it’s acclaimed Women’s Policy Institute fellowship program. Her work has been featured in Harper’s Bazaar, Forbes, Vogue, Travel & Leisure, The Guardian, CNN, Marie Claire, Huffington Post and more.