Women are gaining influence as leaders throughout the world, fighting for peace, justice, the environment and civil society. In this program, we profile three courageous women struggling with religious issues. Elana Rozenman is co-director of the Women's Interfaith Encounter in the Middle East. Irshad Manji is a Canadian Muslim lesbian and feminist who wants a reformation of her own faith. And Regina O'Callahan helped found the Northern Ireland Interfaith Forum
to support religious diversity in her country.

This Women's Desk program is a special collaboration with the Women Rising Radio Project, Lynn Feinerman and Crown Sephira Productions.

Featuring:
Elana Rozenman, Women's Interfaith Encounter co-director; Irshad Manji, The Trouble with Islam Today author; Regina O'Callahan, Northern Ireland Interfaith Forum founder.

The post Making Contact – April 10, 2009 appeared first on KPFA.

Gardasil is the first cervical cancer vaccine ever developed. After it was approved in 2006, controversy has surrounded this vaccine. Its safety and effectiveness have been questioned, and the requirement that immigrant women take the vaccine has come to the forefront of both immigrant rights and reproductive justice organizing.

These groups have also put this new vaccination requirement into a historical context. Advocates argue that this vaccine is a new chapter in a history of reproductive oppression that targets women of color and immigrant women.
On this edition, we look at the intersection of reproductive justice and immigrant rights. And we hear from activists, doctors, attorneys and women most affected by the new vaccination.

This program is made possible in part by The Reproductive Justice Fund at the Tides Foundation. Special thanks to The Winston Salem Journal for use of their audio from "Against Their Will" multi-media project.  Thanks to Sarah Olsen for her editorial guidance.

Featuring:
Fatima Querashi, Pakistani immigrant; Priscilla Huang, National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum policy and programs director; Dr. Deblina Datta, CDC division of STD Prevention; Jessica Gonzales, National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health director of policy and advocacy; Loretta Ross, SisterSong founding member; Beth Stickney, Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project executive director and attorney; Woman client (name withheld for confidentiality and safety), immigrant from Chile; Nial Cox Ramirez, and Elaine Riddick Jessie, residents of North Carolina and subjects of sterilization.

The post Making Contact – Guard Us All? Immigrant Women and the HPV Vaccine appeared first on KPFA.

It¹s been 20 years since the Exxon Valdez crashed in the Prince William Sound and spilled more than ten million gallons of oil into Alaska's waters and shores.  It was one of the largest man-made ecological disasters in history, and the effects are still being felt today.

On this edition, we hear from Alaskans who saw their homes forever altered, and have been fighting Exxon in court ever since.  And we'll go to Tennessee, where a 2008 coal sludge flood is being called the new Exxon Valdez.

Featuring: Dune Lankard, co-founder of the Resisting Environmental Degradation of Indigenous Lands Network co-founder; Dr. Shea Tuberty, Appalachian State University biology professor; Penny Dodson, Tennessee nurse; Dennis Ferguson, Tennessee State representative; Mary Maston, attorney and Tennessee Environmental Council board member;
Riki Ott, Exxon Valdez survivor and environmentalist.

The post Making Contact – Exxon’s Oil to Tennessee’s Coal appeared first on KPFA.

Nearly two million Americans have fought in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. On this edition, reporter Aaron Glantz takes us inside the war as it comes home to our communities, with a focus on the special role our educational institutions can play in helping former soldiers adjust to civilian life.

This documentary was produced with support to Aaron Glatz from the Hechinger Institute for Education and the Media at Columbia University Teachers College and the Rosalynn Carter Journalism Fellowship program at the Carter Center. Thanks also to Mike Siv of New America Media.

Featuring:
Andrew Berends, The Blood of My Brother filmmaker; Michael Hall, former US Army staff sergeant; Rachel Feldstein, New Directions associate director; Joshua Kors, The Nation magazine correspondent; Zollie Goodman, former Naval petty officer; Barack Obama, United
States president; Todd Stenhouse, National Veterans Foundation spokesperson; Terry "T.J." Boyd, former Marine Corps sergeant; Ron Finch, National Business Group on Health; Catherine Morris, Sierra College veterans¹ counselor; Paul Sullivan, Veterans for Common Sense executive director.

The post Making Contact – The War Comes Home: Washington¹s Battle Against America¹s Veterans appeared first on KPFA.

Women are gaining influence as leaders throughout the world, fighting for peace, justice, the environment, and civil society. In this program, we profile two American masters of the spoken word, provoking, inspiring, and moving us to action. Eve Ensler, playwright of the hit ³Vagina Monologues² shares the innovative work of her organization, V-Day, and renowned storyteller, Diane Ferlatte, talks with us about using her art as an international bridge over cultural divides.

Featuring:
Diane Ferlatte, storyteller; Eve Ensler, Vagina Monologues writer and V-Day founder.

The post Making Contact – Women Rising 19: Masters of the Spoken Word appeared first on KPFA.

In the run-up to the war in Iraq, a lot of attention was given to the plight of Iraqi women.  The constant drumbeat from the Bush administration was that U.S. interest in Iraq was liberation with women's rights as a top priority. What went largely unreported is that Iraqi women activists have been organizing ­ for the last 50 years. So what was life like for women before the invasion?  AndŠwhat's it like now? On this edition, we hear from author and activist, Nadje
Al-Ali who talks about the reality of women's lives in Iraq.

Featuring:  Nadje Al-Ali is the co-author of a new book entitled, "What Kind of Liberation? Women and the Occupation of Iraq." She is also the director at the University of London, Department of Gender Studies Center at SOAS.

The post Making Contact – What Kind of Liberation? Women and Iraq appeared first on KPFA.

Erica Fernandez has a remarkable story. Her activism began at 12-years-old when she found out that BHP Billiton wanted to build a liquefied natural gas facility off the coast of her hometown in Oxnard, California.
Working with a diverse community, from the Sierra Club to Latino youth, in 2007 she successfully helped her community defy a multi-national billion-dollar corporation. On this edition, we hear Fernandez' speech from the 2008 Bioneers Conference in San Rafael,
California.

Featuring:  Erica Fernandez, environmental activist who helped prevent a liquefied natural gas plant from being built near her hometown of Oxnard Califonia; Liz Cunningham, Bioneers Youth & Conference Project Manager.

The post Making Contact – Erica Fernandez vs. BHP Billiton Petroleum appeared first on KPFA.

Highlights from philosopher Allan Watts.

The post Making Contact – February 20, 2009 at 1:30pm appeared first on KPFA.

The post Making Contact – February 6, 2009 at 1:30pm appeared first on KPFA.

It seems like a conflict that may never end.  Israelis and Palestinians are fighting again.  This week we look back at the history of the occupation of Palestine.  We'll hear from several Palestinians about how they've personally been affected.  And we get the Israeli government's perspective on the current situation as we begin 2009.

Featuring:
Hatem Bazian, Professor of Near East Studies at the University of California at Berkeley; Najiya Shana, a Palestinian American residing in Washington, DC; Moatsin Agha, a Palestinian from Gaza who was exiled after the 1967 war;  As'ad Abu Khalil, a Research Fellow at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies and author of "Bin Laden, Islam and America's New War on Terrorism"; Sameeh Hammoudeh, acquitted of being a terrorist supporter and teacher at the Birzeit University in Ramallah; Asher Yarden, U.S. Southwest Consul General for Israel, Geoff Berg, host of The New Capitol Show on KPFT-FM  Houston.

Music by:
DAM Rap
www.dampalestine.com/
www.myspace.com/damrap

The post Making Contact – Palestine: Perspectives on the Occupation appeared first on KPFA.