Accent of Women: Recent Episodes
Jiselle Hanna
A program by and about women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Distributed nationally on the Community Radio Network.
The JVP has just been elected in Sri Lanka, supposedly signalling a new Marxist era in Sri Lankan politics. But the JVP has a mixed history and politics – particularly its policies on minorities. On today’s program, we speak with academic, Samanthi Gunawardana to try to understand these developments in Sri Lankan politics.
On today’s Accent of Women, we look at the campaign to close Unit 18, a child detention wing inside the maximum-security Casuarina Prison near Perth in Western Australia. The campaign escalated in the wake of the tragic death of Yamatji child Cleveland Dodd in 2023 after he self-harmed while incarcerated in the facility. Earlier this month, it was revealed that another child detained at the Banksia Hill Detention Centre, also near Perth, had died by suicide. 3CR’s Priya Kunjan interviews Roxy Moore, Noongar lawyer, community organiser, activist and campaigner, and Stephanie McGuire, Ballardong and Whadjuk Noongar community organiser and activist. For listeners, I want to issue a CONTENT WARNING for today’s show. Today’s show mentions SUICIDE, SELF HARM, DISCUSSION OF ABORIGINAL DEATHS IN CUSTODY.
The Israeli government continues to impose strict restrictions on the movement of aid into Gaza. The complex bureaucratic process and changing Standard Operating Procedures result in food and medical supplies nearing expiration before entry. Meat and vegetables are frequently denied at key crossings. Gaza is the most dangerous place in the world for an aid worker – almost 300 have been killed since October 7, with many claiming some of these deaths occurred as a result of direct targeting.Hampering the provision of aid is a part of the genocidal campaign of Israel against not just Gaza but all Palestinians. And despite this, aid workers continue to fight to provide humanitarian aid to Palestinians.My guest today is Bushra Khalidi, the Occupied Territory Lead for Oxfam International, based in Ramallah.
Revolutionary Palestinian, Leila Khaled. Special thanks to Peoples Dispatch for that audio.
Mass protests broke out in Bangladesh in early July over a controversial quota system that reserved 30% of government jobs for relatives of veterans who fought in the 1971 war. But the issue over which people protested quickly expanded to include broader demands around freedom of speech and democracy. As the protests expanded, so too did the repression and in about 5 weeks of protests, as of August 2, there were about 215 deaths and more than 20,000 others injured, accompanied by more than 11,000 arrests in various parts of the country. My guest today is Taslima Akhter, President of Bangladesh Garment Workers Solidarity, and a participant and activists in this protest movement.
A wave of protests is sweeping through Kenya, since June 18. Triggered by controversial proposed tax hikes, the movement has evolved into a wider campaign for more accountable governance in the country. Some demand the entire government’s resignation. While the protesters have overwhelmingly been peaceful, they have been met with fierce police repression and brutality, including the deployment of tear gas, mass arrests of activists, and an inordinate number of disappearances, plus, over 50 people dead, My guest today is Nita Okoko, Kenyan socialist and feminist activist.
Asylum seekers and refugee boat arrivals that entered Australian waters before 1 January 2014 were subject to a different set of visa processing rules that limited their ability to seek a more permanent visa status. This group of about 30,000 people is known as the Legacy Caseload.A blanket ban was applied to individuals in this group, preventing them from having a refugee protection visa application processed unless the Immigration Minister exercised personal discretion to override the ban (known as "lifting the bar"). But in December 2022, Andrew Giles declared that 19,000 permanent residencies would be granted, leaving approximately 12,000 refugees in limbo.A group of these refugees has set up a permanent tent embassy firstly outside of Clare O'Neil's electoral office, and now, outside of the office of Home Affairs in Melbourne. I spoke with three of these Temporary Protection Visa holders, Narges, Aida and Afifa.
Palestinian Australian New Zealand Medical Association (PANZMA) was established in 2020 by a group of healthcare professionals across Australia and New Zealand, who care about fulfilling the unmet need of providing comprehensive health care in Palestine. My guest today is Dr. Bushra Othman, an Australian Palestinian surgeon who has just recently returned from a PANZMA medical mission in Gaza.PANZMA desperately needs donations to survive and to continue supporting people devastated by war in Gaza. Go to their website and donate today: PANZMA.org
With France’s political system making it to mainstream international media, owing to the near success of Le Pen’s fascist party, National Rally, this week’s Accent of Women focuses on fascism and islamophobia in France.Author, political activist and writer of French-Algerian origin HOURIA BOUTELDJA presents her critique of contemporary leftist thought and activism, undertaken from an anti-colonial perspective. She draws on her direct political experience as the founder and former leader of the Parti des Indigènes de la République movement in France, as well as her longstanding interest in the study of anti-Semitism and Islamophobia, summarized in her most recent book, “Whites, Jews and Us: Toward a Politics of Revolutionary Love”.This speech is called Why White Antifascism Is not Enough to Fight Islamophobia?
On today’s Accent of Women, a different perspective on the War on Gaza and the October 7 attacks. Combatants for Peace is a grassroots movement of Israelis and Palestinians, working together to end the occupation and bring peace, equality and freedom to the are we call Palestine but others call Israel. Committed to joint nonviolence since their inception, Combatants for Peace uses civil resistance, education and other creative means of activism to transform systems of oppression and build a free and peaceful future from the ground up. Launched in 2006, Combatants for Peace is the only movement worldwide that was founded by former fighters on both sides of an active conflict. As a result, they were nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017 and 2018.Iris Gur is an activist from Combatants for Peace. She is Israeli, and she starts here by discussing how she was first politicised, and how she came to join the peace movement.
Two years on from the Supreme Court’s ruling in the United States that overturned the historic decision on abortion rights in the famous case called Roe v Wade, and abortions are predictably the most inaccessible they’ve been. The National Mobilzation for Reproductive Justice has been spearheading a campaign to get unions behind the fight for reproductive justice against the far right's relentless onslaught. To mark the 2nd anniversary of the Supreme Court decision on June 24, National Mobilzation for Reproductive Justice will hold a press conference in Washington DC, outside AFL-CIO headquarters, to deliver an open letter signed by 600 unions, union groups and members to the AFL-CIO, which calls on the AFL-CIO to convene a national union conference to strategise for a national fightback for reproductive rights. Today's guest is Nancy Reiko Kato, Japanese American feminist, socialist and organiser with National Mobilzation for Reproductive Justice.
On today’s show, we feature Maiy Aziz from Everybody’s Home, a national campaign to fix the housing crisis. Everybody’s Home was launched in 2018 by a coalition of housing, homelessness and welfare organisations to achieve the change needed so everybody has a safe and decent place to live.But first up, a reminder that there’s still a Genocide in Gaza. Rihab Charida - a Palestinian Film Maker speaking at a recent Belmore Park, Sydney event for Palestine.
On today’s show, we head down to one of the Stop the Ports Rallies held across Australia by Trade Unionists for Palestine to highlight the need for Australia to cease aiding and abetting the war on Palestine. In Melbourne, Victoria, trade unionists and community members gathered first at station pier then marched along the foreshore to Sandridge Beach, with the cranes of webb dock clearly in sight. The purpose of the co-ordinated nationwide action was to highlight again that maritime trade is strategic in the war on Gaza, and that workers everywhere, do indeed have the power to grind everything to a halt.Today’s guests are Reem Yunis and Mai Saif.
On the 29 April this year, our comrades in Bangladesh organised an international meeting called From Local to Global: Struggle and Solidarity. The purpose of the meeting was to talk about international organising and solidarity, in the context of major international workers events such as International Workers Memorial Day, International Working Women’s Day and of course May Day.The speakers today are Dina Siddiqi, Linda Gomaa, Nafisa Nipun Tanjeem.
Today’s Accent of Women commemorates May Day – International Workers Day on 1 May every year. The Second International designated International Workers’ Day be 1 May every year, in 1889. The date was chosen to commemorate the Haymarket Affair, a violent confrontation between police and labour protesters in Chicago on May 4, 1886, that became a symbol of the international struggle for workers’ rights. The strike at Haymarket in 1886 was about a national campaign to secure an eight-hour workday. May Day is a day of protest and action, right across the world, and this year Palestine was a major theme everywhere. On today’s Accent of Women, I bring you four speeches delivered at the May Day rally in Melbourne, Victoria – on a very frosty autumn evening.
It’s 11 years since the collapse of Rana Plaza, a building in Dhaka, Bangladesh that housed some 5 garment factories. More than 1100 workers died on 24 April 2013 but this was no accident. Workers and in fact, just about every body, knew that the building was unstable. It was built on a pond, without the correct construction permits, extra floors were added to the building illegally, and the heavy equipment associated with the garment industry all meant that the building couldn’t hold the weight of its contents.But also, on the day of the collapse, cracks had appeared in the walls of the building, and the other tenants – banks, small shops, they all closed for the day. But the garment workers were not afforded this basic safety measure. They were forced to work that day on threat of losing an entire months wages. They staged massive protests outside the building, but were eventually forced inside because of the unrelenting poverty that they are subjected to.So Rana Plaza was no accident – it was, it is, Industrial murder. 11 years on, these workers are fighting for an across the board wage increase. Their year long campaign has had some gains. Joining me today to discuss the wage case and the anniversary of Rana Plaza, I am joined by Taslima Akhter.
On this week’s show, we return take a closer look at a number of campaigns that have emerged in Australia in the wake of the genocide in Gaza. Specifically, anti-weapons manufacturing campaigns and demilitarisation campaigns.My guests today are Palestinian/Syrian woman Nathalie Farrah from Disrupt Wars and the Get Elbit Industries out of Australia campaign. And Palestinian activist, Dana Alshaer from Melbourne University Students for Palestine Action Group.
A recent military escalation in West Papua is the latest episode in a long history of repression and dispossession since the island came under Indonesian control. But the authorities in Jakarta still haven’t been able to stabilize their rule over West Papua.On today’s show, Accent of Women looks at the Resistance of the West Papuan people. 3CR’s Priya Kunjan spoke with leading Human Rights Activist in Indonesia, Vanessa Koman.
On this week’s show, we’re gonna chat about an exciting new book that’s being released in a couple of weeks’ time, called, “An Unexpected Life”, it documents the stories of 11 Canberra based women who are migrants to Australia, their journeys to this country, their successes and failures and loves and regrets. And interwoven across these 11 women’s stories, is that of the author herself,Vesna Cvjeticanin. I had the privilege and pleasure of chatting with Vesna about her book.
The Migration Amendment (Removal and Other Measures) Bill proposes amendments to the Migration Act to deal with situations where non-citizens subject to removal are not cooperating with government authorities, or where their own government refuses to take them back. It is widely understood to be a response to the High Court’s ruling in November 2023 that found indefinite immigration detention to be unlawful.It’s also considered an attempt to pre-empt further litigation scheduled in the High Court. The case of an Iranian man refusing to cooperate in his deportation is due before the court next month. However, the amendments introduced in the bill go far beyond addressing this issue. They have wide-ranging impacts for how non-citizens are treated in Australia, and indeed for Australia’s relationship with governments around the world.My guest today is refugee, and refugee activist, Lavanya Thavaraja.
On this week’s show, we return our gaze to Gaza and the genocide of the Palestinian people there. It’s been almost 6 months since Israel launched its genocidal campaign of bombardment against the people of Gaza, ostensibly in response to Hamas’ attack on Nir Oz Kibbutz on the 7 October. The war has killed over 40,000 Palestinians, with some 1.2 million people now displaced in Rafah, with no where to go. All negotiations for a ceasefire have failed.First up, Rasha Abbas, the founder of Palestine Australia Relief and Action – this newly formed charity is supporting Palestinian refugees arriving in Australia. Then later in the show, Dana Alshaer, from UniMelb students for Palestine who are campaigning against the interests of weapons manufacturing companies in Australia’s higher education system. Companies such as Lockheed Martin, BAE Systems and Boeing – are amongst the 5 largest weapons manufacturing companies in the world, and they fund research and PhDs at a range of universities including Melbourne University. Donate to PARA if you're able to: https://para.org.au/
23,000 Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander children in out of home care.Grandmothers Against Removals is an organisation – actually started by Lidia Thorpe – that aims to end the removal of Aboriginal children, or at the very least, place them with family members.GMAR Victoria was established in recognition of the disproportionate representation of Aboriginal children in out-of-home-care. They’re all volunteers. They’re all Aboriginal grandmothers. GMAR’s volunteers understand first hand the impacts of colonisation on Aboriginal families and seeks to mitigate these in order to keep families together.I had the opportunity to speak with one of the lead volunteers, Aunty Rieo Ellis. https://www.mycause.com.au/charity/62924/GrandmothersAgainstRemovalsGMARVICTORIA
On this week’s show, our last piece of coverage from the ASEAN (the Association of South East Asian Nations) meeting in Melbourne on 4, 5 & 6 of March, and today we continue our focus on Myanmar.Since the violent military coup on February 1, 2021, the people of Myanmar have staunchly rejected military rule, demonstrating resilience through the widespread Civil Disobedience Movement. Over the past three years, the country has continued to reject military governance and has mobilised an effective alternative - the civilian government, known as the National Unity Government (NUG), which continues to consolidate its rightful claim to leadership.Today’s guest is Debbie Stothard, the founding member of the Alternative ASEAN on Burma was in Melbourne for the Myanmar People’s Summit, which was held alongside and in opposition to the ASEAN Special Summit.
Since the violent military coup on February 1, 2021, the people of Myanmar have staunchly rejected military rule, demonstrating resilience through the widespread Civil Disobedience Movement. Over the past three years, the country has continued to reject military governance and has mobilised an effective alternative - the civilian government, known as the National Unity Government (NUG), which continues to consolidate its rightful claim to leadership.In opposition to, and alongside the ASEAN summit, the Myanmar People's Summit, convened by civil society, took place on March 4, 2024, at the United Workers Union offices in Melbourne. This summit represents a unified stance in support of a civilian and democratic government in Myanmar and aims to amplify the strongest support for civilian rule to ASEAN leaders attending the ASEAN Special Summit in Melbourne, hosted by the Australian Prime Minister.A special thank you to Tasneem Roc at APHEDA for providing the audio for this week's show, and if you'd like to get involved in any solidarity work with Myanmar, contact Tasneem on troc@apheda.org.au.
The Albanese Government has invited Ferdinand Bong Bong Marcos Junior to address the Australian Parliament on Thursday the 29th February. Bong Bong Marcos Junior is the son of former brutal dictator, Ferdinand Marcos Snr, who was deposed in 1986. The apple does not fall far from the tree, and Marcos Junior is shaping up to be quite the dictator himself. Marcos’ visit coincides with the ASEAN summit, scheduled to take place in Melbourne on the 4, 5 & 6 of March.Progressive Filipinos in Australia are mobilising against Marcos Junior and protesting against his visit and speaking engagements. Guest: Alexia Fuentes from Anakbayan Melbourne. https://www.instagram.com/anakbayanmelbourne/
It’s been 130 days of war and genocide in Palestine. The world watches on and there is no ceasefire in sight. Israel continues to play the victim. Netanyahu is now promising to bombard Rafah – where they have sent over 1.5 million Palestinians to escape from bombardments in the north.Ahmad Tibi, a Knesset member, and Palestinian citizen of Israel, is urging the international community to “stop this war”. He has said that anyone who intends to invade Rafah intends to commit a war crime’ At least 67 Palestinians were killed in Israeli air and sea attacks on Rafah early on Monday 12 February, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza.On Accent of Women today, we continue our coverage of the massive demonstrations country wide calling on the Australian government to refund UNRWA; to call for a ceasefire; to stop arming Israel, and to stop supporting genocide.
January 26. Australia Day. It marks the anniversary of the 1788 arrival of the First Fleet of British Ships at Port Jackson, in New South Wales, the raising of the Flag of Great Britain at that site by Governor Arthur Phillip, the invasion of Australia and the start of genocide against the original owners of this land. January 26 is a day of mourning and a day of struggle, marked by big, loud, powerful Invasion Day rallies right across the country. In Melbourne, over 100,000 people marched in solidarity with First Nations People and on today’s Accent of Women, I bring you some of the voices from that rally.
It’s been more than a year since the U.S. Supreme Court wiped out half a century of federally protected abortion rights. Since then, the speed and breadth of far-right attacks on reproductive justice has been breathtaking. So has the resistance on the ground.Nga Bui, coordinator of the Mobilisation for Reproductive Justice in New York City, joins me today to speak about the war on women, trans folks and queers, people of colour, Indigenous, disabled, working class and poor. If you’re based in Melbourne and you’d like to get along and hear Nga speak further on this topic, the details are: Saturday, 6 January at 4.00 pmThorne Harbour Health, 200 Hoddle St, AbbotsfordContact rw.aus@radicalwomen.org
As we enter the 10th week of bombardment in Gaza, and over 17,000 people there have now been slain. It becomes clearer and clearer that these atrocities have very little to do with avenging the 240 hostages taken, and it always was about pushing Palestinians out of the tiny Gaza strip and occupying it. Hamas is only active in Gaza, but the killings and repression are unabated in the West Bank.So today, we return to our coverage of the movement in support and solidarity with the Palestinians – millions upon millions of people worldwide are protesting, are resisting are saying, not in our name, to the genocide unfolding in Palestine.On today’s program, Accent of Women brings you speeches from the Sydney rally, held on Sunday 3 December. First up Reem Burrows.
One of Myanmar’s most powerful ethnic armed alliances launched a coordinated attack, on 27 October, attacking a dozen military outposts in northern Shan State, along the country’s eastern border with China.Code-named Operation 1027, the plan is to assert and defend territory against Myanmar military incursions, eradicate “oppressive military dictatorship”, and combat online fraud along the border, according to a statement from its organisers, the Three Brotherhood Alliance.My guest today is the Debbie Stothard. Debbie is an active promoter of human rights in Burma and the Asean region. In1996, she founded the Alternative Asean Network on Burma. During her 32 year career, she has worked as a journalist, community education consultant, governmental advisor and trainer in Malaysia, Australia and Thailand.
Bangladeshi textiles works in the Ready Made Garment (RMG) industry have been taking industrial action for most of this year in pursuit of an increase in the minimum wage to meet soaring prices on basic commodities owing to an economic inflation crisis.These protests have been met with fierce repression, including reports of at least four workers having been killed by police, and more than 11,000 being charged with violence and vandalism.The secretary of Garment Workers Solidarity, and a garment worker himself, Babul Hossain, was kidnapped in October and then discovered as being arrested on November 14. He is facing trumped up charges and false allegations related to setting fire to a car.The Bangladeshi government is using violence, torture, disappearances and arrests to try to stifle what is the biggest uprising of garment workers in over a decade. And meanwhile, workers remain malnourished and struggling to meet the basic requirements of life.My guest today is the President of Bangladesh Garment Workers Solidarity, Taslima Akter.
On Sunday, October 22nd Black Women Radicals hosted the online event, “Black Feminist Writers and Palestine."This online event focused on the importance of the Black feminist literary and political canon and the mandate of Black feminist commitments to a free Palestine. Angela Davis is well known to many listeners and she is am activist and an academic at the University of California Santa Cruz.Beverley Guy Sheftall is also a political activist and academic, and she is based at Spellman College in Atlanta Georgia.Because this public meeting was held about a month ago, some of the statistics in relation to Gaza are a number of weeks out of date. To hear the full event: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fl7lPMBneAs
Accent of Women broadcasts a speech by Angela Davis from 2013 – 10 years ago. This talk is called Justice for Palestine and the Stop G4S campaign. I broadcast this speech, at this point in time, to remind us all that this current bombardment did not start on October 7 and did not start with Hamas’ defensive attack on Israel. This speech was given in memorium of Nelson Mandela’s death only a few weeks earlier, and Angela Davis here draws the links between South African and Israeli Apartheid.
Israel’s genocidal bombardment of Gaza has intensified its yet again, though now it’s becoming less and less easy for world leaders to support it. The international movement for a Free Palestine is marching in its millions world wide and growing by the day. More than 10,000 people are now reported to have been killed across the Gaza Strip, and residents of the West Bank are systematically being harrassed and assaulted and murdered by Israeli settlers. On today’s program, Accent of Women continues it’s coverage and analysis of the situation in Gaza. Today, we bring you a speech by Palestinian human rights lawyer and academic at Rudgers University, Noura Erakat.
It’s now over three weeks that Israel has intensified its genocidal war against Gaza and the international movement for a Free Palestine is marching in its millions world wide. More than 7,000 people are now reported to have been killed across the Gaza Strip, and residents of the West Bank are systematically being harrassed and assaulted by Israeli settlers. On today’s program, I bring you noises and speeches from various Free Palestine rallies held over the last three weeks in Melbourne. The Featured voices are: Tasnim Mahmoud Sammak, Kim Bullimore, Mille Cohen, May Mourad and our gorgeous singer, Aseel Taya.
The siege on Gaza continues, and so too does Accent of Women’s campaign for a Free Palestine. More than 5,000 people are now reported to have been killed across the Gaza Strip, , since Israel began its bombardment in response to Hamas’ defensive attack on 7 October, in which at least 1,400 people were killed and 222 taken hostage.Israel has also cut off electricity and most water and stopped imports of food and medicine, although it has allowed in a few aid carrying trucks through Egypt's Rafah crossing. For more on what is happening directly in Gaza, I interviewed Aseel Safi, a student and activist based in Gaza.
In the wake of Hamas’s attacks on 7 October, which involved atrocities against civilians, Israel has declared war on Gaza. The country’s military—one of the most powerful in the world—is attacking hospitals, schools, mosques, markets, infrastructure and residential areas. Civilians are being slaughtered and a total siege has been imposed, preventing vital supplies and aid from entering the besieged territory and worsening the already dire situation of residents. On the program today, we hear an interview between Anjuman Rahman and Aseel Safi. Anjuman is a reporter for Middle East Monitor, and Aseel is a student based in Gaza.
October 11 is International Day of the Girl and last week, Plan International released its annual report, State of the World’s Girls, which is research on girl’s rights. This year’s report looks at the experiences of girls and young women in activist – the barriers and significant challenges they face as campaigners.On Today’s show, I am joined by a panel of young women activists of colour who participated in Plan International’s report. They are:Yasmin Poole and she co-authored the report. Yasmin is a youth advocate, activist, writer, Plan International Australia ambassador and Rhodes Scholar. Sarah Williams is a proud First Nations woman and survivor advocate against sexual assault, Sarah founded the online campaign “What Were You Wearing”, which went viral on Tik Tok this year. She also campaigns for First Nations justice.And finally, Grace Falconer who last year was selected to participate in Plan International Australia’s Youth Activist Series for 2022. Her campaign focus areas include gender justice and equality, and she has a particular interest in the Asia Pacific region.Get the report here: The State of the World's Girls
We have been sharing with you the monthly meetings hosted by the European Network for Solidarity with Ukraine, which, every month focuses on a different region of the world, to discuss what solidarity activists are doing to support Ukraine in its resistance to Russian aggression and the current war.The June meeting, held on 22 June, focused on solidarity from Middle Eastern countries, and the two feature pieces I will bring you today come from Iran. We’ll hear from two Iranian socialist feminists, Fatemeh Masjedi and Frieda Afary.
Arundhati Roy accepted the 45th European Essay Award on September 12, 2023.In her acceptance speech, Arundhati Roy calls out the fascism of the Modi Government, and provides gruelling examples both corporate and communal. Arundhati Roy's conclusion though, is that "However grim the situation is, please know that there is a tremendous fight back".
This conversation between activist scholars Sarah Haley and Romarilyn Ralston takes as a point of departure the firefighting labor of people imprisoned in California’s women’s prisons. The discussion considers the specific contradictions of that forced labor and meanders to cover the carceral state’s relationship to disappearance, precarity, interiority, intimacy, possibility, performance, and violence.
This conversation between activist scholars Sarah Haley and Romarilyn Ralston takes as a point of departure the firefighting labor of people imprisoned in California’s women’s prisons. The discussion considers the specific contradictions of that forced labor and meanders to cover the carceral state’s relationship to disappearance, precarity, interiority, intimacy, possibility, performance, and violence.
This conversation between activist scholars Sarah Haley and Romarilyn Ralston takes as a point of departure the firefighting labor of people imprisoned in California’s women’s prisons. The discussion considers the specific contradictions of that forced labor and meanders to cover the carceral state’s relationship to disappearance, precarity, interiority, intimacy, possibility, performance, and violence.
A joint session of Thailand’s parliament on Tuesday 22 August, selected the Pheu Thai Party candidate Srettha Thavisin to become the next prime minister—a decision that was endorsed by the King of Thailand. This comes after 3 months of deadlock, after the progressive and union-supported Move Forward Party was prevented from forming government. On the same day that Thavisin was elected Prime Minister, former Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra returned to Thailand after 15 years of self-imposed exile, only to be arrested at the airport upon arrival.Junya Lek Yimprasert, the founding member of ACT4DEM – Action for Democracy on Thailand, and an activist who is in self-imposed exile in Finland, and she joins Accent of Women to help clarify these events in Thai politics.
Lidia Thorpe is a Djab Wurrung Gunnai Gunditjmara woman and Independent Senator.She is the former Greens’ First Nations spokesperson prior to her leaving the Greens in 2023.She spoke about Sovereignty, Treaty and justice at this forum organised by Green Left in Naarm/Melbourne earlier this year.
On today's show we conclude our coverage of Woman, Life, Freedom – the ideas that inspired the Rojava revolution and the popular uprising in Iran. Nilüfer Koç, Executive Council member and spokesperson for the Commission on Foreign Relations of the Kurdistan National Congress (KNK) will share some of the new ideas inspiring the Kurdish-led feminist and green revolutionary movement that has liberated north and east Syria (Rojava) and its spread to other parts of Kurdistan, including Rojhelat (East Kurdistan currently in Iran).Koç. who spent most of the period from 2013 to 2018 in southern Kurdistan (Kurdistan-Iraq) and Rojava, will explain how the active and autonomous participation of women in all fields of society and politics (a core objective of this revolutionary movement) relates to respect of nature and ecology. She gave a keynote address at the ecosocialism conference hosted by Green Left Weekly and Socialist Alliance on the weekend of 1 & 2 of July.
Woman, Life, Freedom – the ideas that inspired the Rojava revolution and the popular uprising in Iran. That’s the topic of this week’s show and next week’s.Nilüfer Koç, Executive Council member and spokesperson for the Commission on Foreign Relations of the Kurdistan National Congress (KNK) will share some of the new ideas inspiring the Kurdish-led feminist and green revolutionary movement that has liberated north and east Syria (Rojava) and its spread to other parts of Kurdistan, including Rojhelat (East Kurdistan currently in Iran).Koç. who spent most of the period from 2013 to 2018 in southern Kurdistan (Kurdistan-Iraq) and Rojava, will explain how the active and autonomous participation of women in all fields of society and politics (a core objective of this revolutionary movement) relates to respect of nature and ecology. She gave a keynote address at the ecosocialism conference hosted by Green Left Weekly and Socialist Alliance on the weekend of 1 & 2 of July.
Climate change poses an extreme threat to natural environments and people around the world. The world needs a rapid transition away from fossil fuels to prevent dangerous climate change. However this is just half the story of climate justice. The other half is about creating a just future and centering stories of communities and Indigenous peoples. One organisation that does that is Sapna South Asian Climate Solidarity, an Australian-based climate justice collective. Ruchira Talukdar is one of Sapna’s Co-founders and she gave a keynote address at the ecosocialism conference hosted by Green Left Weekly and Socialist Alliance on the weekend of 1 & 2 of July.
We have been sharing with you the monthly meetings hosted by the European Network for Solidarity with Ukraine, which, every month focuses on a different region of the world, to discuss what solidarity activists are doing to support Ukraine in its resistance to Russian aggression and the current war.The June meeting, held on 22 June, focused on solidarity from Middle Eastern countries, and the two feature pieces I will bring you today come from Iran. We’ll hear from two Iranian socialist feminists, Fatemeh Masjedi and Frieda Afary.
Every month the Global Network in Solidarity with Ukraine meets to exchange information about the activities of left-wing solidarity groups, and create a space to discuss what progressive solidarity with Ukraine looks like in different regions of the world. In May, they hosted a discussion focusing on the Asia Pacific Region, and on today’s Accent of Women, I will bring you two of the presentations at this meeting. On today’s program we will hear from Jeonom kim from the People's solidarity for social progress in South Korea and Arora from New Bloom and Taiwan Stands With Ukraine.
On 24 February 2022, Russia invaded and occupied parts of Ukraine in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which had begun in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides, and instigated Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II.The war has divided Leftists – there’s no real, united movement against the war. Most of us are calling for a peace of sorts. But some of us are calling for a ceasefire, while others of us are calling for the right of Ukrainians to defend themselves with arms – nuclear if necessary. Others still say that this is a NATO and US proxy war against Russia, and Russia has a right to defend itself against the encroachment of NATO.Today’s program will bring you one thread of these arguments about the war in Russia Ukraine. An organisation, Ukraine Solidarity Network, organised a public panel meeting on the 1 year anniversary of Russia’s invasion. The panel was facilitated by Ramah Kudaimi, who introduces the whole panel and the format of the discussion. However, on today’s program, I only broadcasting the voices of women.
The Move Forward party unexpectedly won the Thailand general election on Sunday 14 May, and seems likely to form the first non-military backed government since the 2014 coup. Move Forward will form government with another opposition party, Pheu Thai, which is led by a member of the Shinawatra family and had been the predicted winner. Move Forward are widely seen as the most progressive party in this election as they have been willing to engage with unions and even place union leaders high on their ticket. There is still a long road ahead for the Move Forward party to form government, and the balance of forces may not necessarily mean that they will be able to reform some of the most repressive laws in that country, namely, the Lese Majeste Law. There’s also the ever looming threat of yet another military coup.On today’s program, I speak with Thai activist, Junya Lek Yimprasert, who still remains in exile in Finland, but, possibly, things might be looking up for Lek.
Today’s Accent of Women is a repeat of a program that I produced in 2019 to mark the 10 year anniversary of the Tamil Genocide which is the 18 May.May 18 is the anniversary of the Tamil genocide and the defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. This year, 2019, marks 10 years. On today’s program, we look at the situation for Tamils in Sri Lanka.On today's program, Nilanthi Kanapathipillai, a Tamil activist based here in Melbourne Victoria. and Shivani Jegarajah, human rights activist and barrister in Sri Lanka.
Today on Accent of Women, I am in conversation with Madelaine Imber and Tandiwe Aebi-Moyo about Butch and Butch Identity. Butch is not a dirty word is a publication, originating in Melbourne, Australia, and the brain child of Butch activist, Esther Godoy.
It’s been 12 years since the Arab Spring erupted in North Africa and spread to West Asia – and the current state of the Middle East could have you thinking that no such mass uprising took place, that was on the cusp of anti-capitalist revolution. Though many have engaged in deep analysis of how the Arab Spring was betrayed, how the United States and CIA intervened to hijack the revolution and so on, on today’s program I want to broadcast a speech of one of my favourite writers and activists, Nawal El Sadawi who died in March 2021.On today’s program,I will broadcast a speech by Nawal El Saadawi, delievered in Germany almost 10 years ago today, two years after the start of the Egyptian uprisings and the overthrow of Hosni Mobarak. This speech is about feminism and the intersections of economics, poverty and revolution.
On 24 April 2013 the eight-story Rana Plaza building in Dhaka Bangladesh collapsed. The owners of a number of garment factories in the building had ignored the most basic safety regulations, and forced workers to keep working when it was clear the walls were cracking. In Bangladesh, workers are paid monthly, at the end of the month. The collapse happened on the 24th, and workers were threatened with non payment of wages, if they didn’t enter the clearly unstable building. The confirmed death toll was 1,130. Approximately 2,500 injured people were rescued. Rana Plaza shows how little the fashion brands care about the lives of the workers that produce the clothes that make them insane profits. My guests today are Rupali Akter and Taslima Akter. Rupali is a survivor of the Rana Plazar collapse. She was in the building on the day, and she was buried under the rubble for 17 hours before being rescued. Taslima Akter is a photo journalist and activist. She was onsite in the immediate aftermath, documenting and bearing witness to the horror. Taslima is the Secretary and Rupali is the President of the Bangladesh Garment Workers Solidarity. Taslima is interpreting for Rupali in this interview
In Cambodia, 11 union leaders and activists are on trial for organising a strike at NagaWorld – one of the countries largest corporations that owns gaming venues, restaurants, hotels and casinos. Teh charges are incitement to commit a felony.The case is the latest against the NagaWorld union members and part of a larger crackdown by Prime Minister Hun Sen’s ruling Cambodian People’s Party on unions ahead of a general election slated for July 23.My guest today is Taphalin Ou, the President of the Cambodian Food and Service Workers Federation in Cambodia.
What do these Israeli protests mean, especially the general strike by workers? Is there any chance for working class solidarity between Israeli's and Palestinians? The history of Israeli apartheid against Palestinians probably means no, but to share her analysis, I am joined by Palestinian socialist and educator, Reem Yunis.
Well if we thought things couldn’t get any worse, tensions further intensify in Palestine with Israel’s latest progrom against the Palestinians. From endorsing a settler rampage in the areas of Huwara and Nablus, to this week denying the existence of Palestinians. The escalations are not unsurprising, while the question of Palestinian sovereignty remains unanswered. This week on Accent of women, we revisit a lecture delivered by Noura Erakat, Palestinian-American human rights attorney and Assistant Professor at George Mason University. Erakat delivered the annual Edward Said Memorial Lecture in July 2018, and her visit to Australia was hosted by APAN. The speech is called Palestine in the Age of Trump. Though this speech was delivered 5 years ago, you’ll notice that not much has changed.
On March 4, 2023, Lila Pilipina—an organization of Filipino comfort women —held a protest action in Manila to call on the Japanese government to finally address the calls for justice of Filipino “Comfort Women”, who were victims of Japanese wartime military sex slavery. Japan recently presented its official human rights report to the United Nations Human Rights Council but has continued to ignore the pleas of the Filipino women victims who have been fighting for decades to achieve justice. Similarly, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. refused to take up the matter with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during his most recent state visit to JapanOn today’s show, Sharon Cabusao- Silva, Executive Director of Lila Pilipina, on the issue of Filipina comfort women to Japanese military men during the occupation in World War 2
At the Socialism 2022 conference, held in September 2022, in Chicago, Dr Liat Ben-Moshe gave a talk, titled Disability, Madness, Liberation: Deinstitutionalisation and Prison Abolition.Prison abolition and massive decarceration are often portrayed as utopian ideals, but few have grappled with the fact that it has happened already. The history of the deinstitutionalization movement from psychiatric hospitals and residential institutions shows the limits of rights and legal discourses as well as hope for abolition of carcerality in our time. Today’s episode of Accent of Women is teh second and final part of Dr Liat Ben-Moshe’s keynote address on the intersections of disability justice and prison abolition.
At the Socialism 2022 conference, held in September 2022, in Chicago, Dr Liat Ben-Moshe gave a talk, titled Disability, Madness, Liberation: Deinstitutionalisation and Prison Abolition.Prison abolition and massive decarceration are often portrayed as utopian ideals, but few have grappled with the fact that it has happened already. The history of the deinstitutionalization movement from psychiatric hospitals and residential institutions shows the limits of rights and legal discourses as well as hope for abolition of carcerality in our time. Today’s episode of Accent of Women, and continuing next week, Dr Liat Ben-Moshe’s keynote address on the intersections of disability justice and prison abolition.
Today’s Accent of women brings you a special solidarity event organised by the Canadian Union of Public Servants, held on Wednesday 8 February. The public meeting was called, Solidarity with the Workers’ Movement and the “Woman, Life, Freedom” Uprising in Iran.The first speaker up is Niloofar Golkar, CUPE Executive Committee member and PhD candidate in Politics at York University, focusing on the environment and the labour movement. She is a feminist activist and sits on the editorial committee of Upping the Anti: Journal of Theory and Action.The second speaker is Shiva Amelirad, a trade union activist and feminist with a focus on intersectional oppression. She is a member of CUPE local 2497. Before migrating to Canada, she was a teacher in Kurdistan and was a member of the Coordinating Council of Iranian Teachers’ Trade Associations.
On today’s program, we look at economic restructuring in the Ukraine, and the impact of the war. PhD Yuliya Yurchenko is the author of 'Ukraine and the Empire of Capital: From Marketization to Armed Conflict'. She is a Senior Lecturer in in Political Economy at the University of Greenwich, UK. She gave a speech titled Debt, war, and (macro)economic restructuring: lessons from Ukraine in September of last year, and we are going to hear that speech today.But first up on the program today, NETFA Leadership Program participant, Lara Cristina Cruz, interviews Dr. Veena Barsiwal, a doctor and counsellor, about the importance of bodily autonomy, bodily integrity, and its relevance to the practice of FGM/C. NETFA stands for the National Education Toolkit for Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting Awareness. https://netfa.com.au/
The 1 February 2023 marks the 2nd year anniversary of the coup in Myanmar. Last week, the Junta announced an extension to the State of Emergency, which was supposed to come to an end on the 31 January. They also announced that the supposed democratic elections would be put off for another year. Joining me on today’s program to discuss the ongoing civil war in Myanmar is Debbie Stothard, founding member of the Alternative ASEAN on Burma.
Marching under the banner, Treaty Not Voice, tens of thousands of people across Australia protested on the 26th January – Invasion Day. Rally organisers said that the 26th January is not a day to celebrate. It is an annual reminder of invasion, occupation, genocide and the ongoing impacts of colonisation that continues to destroy the land and waters of First Nations People. Today’s show features range of speeches at the Melbourne Invasion Day rally, MCed by Veronica Gorrie.
Thousands of supporters of Brazil’s fascistic former president Jair Bolsonaro invaded and occupied for more than three hours the headquarters of the three branches of government in Brasilia, the country’s capital, on Sunday 8 January. The protesters demanded a military coup to depose and imprison recently inaugurated President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of the Workers Party (PT). Although the situation was brought under control, and the fascist occupation of the buildings ended, there remains a looming threat of a military coup with fascist-sympathetic leaders.To discuss the rising threat of fascism in Brazil is Brazilian eco-feminist and socialist, Fernanda Santos.
On today’s show, we bring you the final part of our coverage of the Kurdish attack in Paris on 23 December. As you’ll recall, a man open fired on a Kurdish precinct, killing three people. They happened to be well known activists, and this appears to be an intentional, terrorist attack on the Kurdish people living in Paris. This attack was not isolated – not in France and not in the world – rather, it sits in a global context of rising fascism.Concluding the discussion today is my guest, Sarah Marcha, a spokesperson for the Kurdish Women’s Association based in Paris, the group of people who were directly targeted by this attack.
On today’s show, we bring you Part 2 of our coverage of the Kurdish attack in Paris on 23 December. As you’ll recall, a man open fired on a Kurdish precinct, killing three people. They happened to be well known activists, and this appears to be an intentional, terrorist attack on the Kurdish people living in Paris. There is a lot unknown about the killer, William M., even though these attacks are very closely related to similar attacks 10 years ago on the 11 January 2013.Continuing the discussion from last week is Sarah Marcha, spokesperson for the Kurdish Women’s Association based in Paris, the group of people who were directly targeted by this attack.
The new year has started much the same way as the previous one ended – mass poverty, war, discrimination, racism and global fascism on the rise. A significant event occurred in Paris on the 23 of December – a man open fired on a Kurdish precinct, killing three people. They happened to be well known activists, and this appears to be an intentional, terrorist attack on the Kurdish people living in Paris.Over the next three weeks on Accent of Women, we’re going to tell this story. My guest is Sarah Marcha, a spokesperson for the Kurdish Women’s Association based in Paris, the group of people who were directly targeted by this attack.
Well this is the final show of Accent of Women for 2022, and we will conclude the year with a discussion about the extraordinary uprising in Iran in response to the murda of Mahsa Amini by the Morality Police. This is the second part of an extended interview with Frieda Afary, about the Iranian revolution. Frieda is an Iranian socialist feminist based in Los Angeles.
Well there are only two more shows of Accent of Women for 2022, and I thought it would only be fitting to conclude the year with a discussion about the extraordinary uprising in Iran in response to the Morality Police. Here is an extended interview with Frieda Afary, over the next two weeks, about the Iranian revolution. Frieda is an Iranian socialist feminist based in Los Angeles.
The Indonesian parliament passed a new criminal code on December 6, 2022, containing provisions that seriously violate international human rights law and standards. Articles in the new code violate the rights of women, religious minorities, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people, and undermine rights to freedom of speech and association.On today’s program to discuss the details and implications of the new criminal code, is Dian Trisnanti, from the Indonesian Federation of United Trade Unions and Radio Marsinah.
The San Francisco Public Library hosted a conference on the future of libraries, which was held on the 18th of October. On today’s show we’ll hear from one of the keynote speakers at that conference. Today we hear from Wonda Powell, Professor Emerita of History, Los Angeles Southwest College and her talk is called From Critical Thinking to Critical Race Theory: Unearthing History
The San Francisco Public Library hosted a conference on the future of libraries, which was held on the 18th of October. On today’s show we’ll hear from one of the keynote speakers at that conference. Today we hear from Wonda Powell, Professor Emerita of History, Los Angeles Southwest College and her talk is called From Critical Thinking to Critical Race Theory: Unearthing History
The San Francisco Public Library hosted a conference on the future of libraries, which was held on the 18th of October. On today’s show we’ll hear from one of the keynote speakers at that conference. Today we hear from Frieda Afary, Ret. Librarian from the Los Angeles Public Library, Frieda is a socialist, feminist and librarian. Her talk is called, Confronting Disinformation and Book Bans by Cultivating Critical Thinking and Empathy.
The Santa Cruz massacre (also known as the Dili massacre) was the murder of at least 250 East Timorese pro-independence demonstrators in the Santa Cruz cemetery in the capital, Dili, on 12 November 1991, during the Indonesian occupation of East Timor and is part of the East Timor genocide.On today’s program we speak to two East Timorese trade unionists, one based in East Timor, the other based in Melbourne Australia – both continuing the struggle for workers’ rights and a free, independent East Timor - Elizabeth Araujo based in East Timor and Carla Chung in Australia.
On 10 October, two trade unionists in the Philippines were arrested on trumped up charges. The two unionists were Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU – May First Movement Labor Center) International Officer Kara Taggaoa, and PASODA-PISTON President Larry Valbuena – transport workers union. The fabricated charge of assault, as well as a second charge of robbery for which they served their arraignment immediately before the arrest, actually date back to a rally against the Anti-Terrorism Act in 2020. They were denied their right to due process as they were not given a chance to be heard in a preliminary investigation on the complaint against them.In the first 100 days of Marcos Jr presidency, 10 people were extrajudicially killed, 4 people were abducted and are still missing and 37 were arrested based on trumped up charges. Today’s guest is one of the arrestees, Kara Taggaoa – the international officer of the Kilusang Mayo Uno.
Sri Lanka is experiencing one of its greatest political and economic crises of its existence with massive riots sparked by an absolute collapse in the country’s economy. Some economists predict that Sri Lanka will be bankrupt by the end of next year. The crisis has deposed at least one President with new calls for a regime change.On today’s program, Accent of Women its coverage of the background and causes of the current situation in Sri Lanka with Samanthi Gunawardana.
Sri Lanka is experiencing one of its greatest political and economic crises of its existence with massive riots sparked by an absolute collapse in the country’s economy. Some economists predict that Sri Lanka will be bankrupt by the end of next year. The crisis has deposed at least one President with new calls for a regime change.On today’s program and continuing next week, Accent of Women seeks to understand the background and causes of the current situation in Sri Lanka with Samanthi Gunawardana.
A public holiday was declared in Australia on 22 September to mark a day of mourning for the passing of the Monarch, Queen Elizabeth II. And it was indeed a day of mourning for many First Nations Australians – but a day of mourning for Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, a day of mourning for loss of land, the attempted loss of culture, the removal of children and the continued and ongoing dispossession of Aboriginal people.Across the country, the Warriors of the Aboriginal Resistance organised rallies calling for the Abolition of the Monarchy, a return of land, and an end to Aboriginal deaths in custody.On today’s program, I will bring you some of the speeches from the Melbourne rally. And later on the program, one speech from the 50 yr anniversary of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra, as another marker of Aboriginal people’s resistance to the Monarchy and to colonisation.With the voices of Donna Kerr and Meriki Onus, the family of Josh Kerr who died in custody 6 weeks ago; Lidia Thorpe, Australian Senator; and Dtarneen Onus, reading out a statement of Uncle Percy Nelson who was the partner of Veronica Nelson who died in custody.
An Iranian woman was beaten to death by the morality police on Friday 15 September, for allegedly failing to wear her hijab properly. It has sparked major protests right across Iran and on social media, attracting the participation of many celebrities. The murder of this woman has shone a light on Iran’s violation of women and gender minorities’ rights and the use of the morality police to brutalise a population. On today’s program, Dr Elham Naeej discusses Iran’s morality police and the recent murder. She is an expert in Iran gender studies and gender relations.
Following a two year hiatus because of COVID-19, Martin Luther King Commemoration events have commenced once again in the United States, this time in the month of August. Traditionally held in January, Martin Luther Kind remembrance day commemorates and recognises the history of the black power movement. On today’s accent of women, we conclude the broadcast of a speech delivered by world-renowned political activist, academic, and author Angela Davis. This event took place on January 23, 2020 at the University of New England as part of its annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration it was one of the last MLK events before lockdown. Also important context that this event took place before the capital riots in 2021 and of course, before the overturning of Roe V Wade in 2022.
Following a two year hiatus because of COVID-19, Martin Luther King Commemoration events have commenced once again in the United States, this time in the month of August. Traditionally held in January, Martin Luther Kind remembrance day commemorates and recognises the history of the black power movement. On today’s accent of women, and continuing next week, we revisit a speech delivered by world-renowned political activist, academic, and author Angela Davis. This event took place on January 23, 2020 at the University of New England as part of its annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration it was one of the last MLK events before lockdown. Also important context that this event took place before the capital riots in 2021 and of course, before the overturning of Roe V Wade in 2022.
Rohingya Genocide Remembrance Day was held on August 25 marking 5 years since the Myanmar military began mass pre-meditated attacks against the stateless Rohingya population in Rakhine State. In the weeks following, around 700,000 fled to Bangladesh. The refugee camp at Cox’s Bazar is now the largest in the world, with almost a million people. Many want to go home, but they are demanding that Myanmar grant them citizenship rights. Today’s guests are Tasneem Roc from the APHEDA-Union Aid Abroad and the Myanmar Campaign Network, and Sujeda Bahadurmia, spokesperson for the Australian Rohingya Women’s Development Organisation.
On Aug. 6, 2022, Israel launched three days of attacks on Gaza. The operation, offensively called “The Truthful Dawn” killed at least 47 people—including 16 children. Israel claims that both the name and the bombardment campaign is about focusing on eliminating the Islamic Jihad movement. My guest today is Reem Yunis – Palestinian socialist and activist
77 years ago, on the 6th and 9th of August, the USA military dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The two bombings killed around 175,000 people with another 90,000 dying by the end of the year due to radiation injuries.Some 5 years after these bombings, a global anti-nuclear armaments campaign emerged and in 2007, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) was founded. In 2017, they won the Nobel Prize for peace, for their work towards global nuclear disarmament. One of the people that accepted the award was a woman named Setsuko Thurlow – a survivor of the bombing in Hiroshima. In 2019 she gave a speech at Harvard Law School.
Today on Accent of Women, we speak to author, Lora Inak. Her latest book is a culturally specific story, in the young adult fiction genre, about cultural conflict. It's called Unspoken Rules, and is being released on the 17 September.
This week's Accent of Women looks at apostasy – the practice of changing or leaving your religion.Apostasy is a critical demand for the international workers movement – it goes to the heart of collective consciousness, especially working class consciousness. It is about breaking the chains of religion that suppress and oppress, particularly women.But it is also an extremely difficult conversation to have, in this political climate. Atheism and the rejection of religion entirely, arises with scientific and technological development – and these two things are often conflated with western progress. So then, the conversation about apostasy is often appropriated by liberals, right-wing feminists, and quite frankly, racists.And yet, apostasy is a critical demand of the international workers movement.Accent of Women attempts to have this conversation. There are progressives right across the world, challenging the hold of religion on their lives, their societies, and their struggles for liberation. They live in places like Egypt, Iran, Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia. These socialists, these progressive, require our solidarity. In exactly the same way, that Muslims under atttack in Australia, the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Germany, France, need our solidarity in defence of their right to practice their religion.
On today’s Accent of Women, we conclude our exploration of early Japanese communist women.Shomi Yoon is member of the International Socialist Organisation in Aeteoroa/New Zealand. Shomi herself is from Japanese origins, and was a keynote speaker at the Marxism conference held in 2014.
On today’s Accent of Women, we take a step back into history and look at early Japanese communist women.Shomi Yoon is member of the International Socialist Organisation in Aeteoroa/New Zealand. Shomi herself is from Japanese origins, and was a keynote speaker at the Marxism conference held in 2014.
*LANGUAGE WARNING* On June 24, 2022, the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 Supreme Court decision that affirmed the constitutional right to abortion. With tthis decision, an estimated 25 US states are expected to pass laws that restrict abortion. Thirteen already have because of their “trigger laws” in place in anticipation of the decision. Many of these anti abortion laws involve total abortion bans, including in cases of rape.This is the culmination of years of campaigning by the American right, targeted at restricting the rights of women. The reactionary justices have also indicated that the right to contraception, to same sex marriage and the overturning of laws that forbid same-sex consensual relations are also in their firing line.Today on the show, we bring you audio from the protests outside US Supreme Court following the leaking of the draft decision back in May.
On today’s program we look at the role of education under capitalism. This is a speech delivered by socialist and teacher activist, Manolya Moustafa at the annual Marxism Conference held in Melbourne every year, organised by Socialist Alternative.
On today’s program we examine the recent violence in Jerusalem for the commemoration of Jerusalem Day. Palestinians were banned from the holy city on that day and there was a considerable alt-right Israeli rally. We speak with Palestinian and Socialist activist, Reem Yunis.But first up on today’s show, we speak with Elisabeth Araujo, Country Organiser in East Timor, for APHEDA – Community Aid Abroad. She joins me to discuss the recent East Timor elections.
As of broadcasting, polling has closed in the Philippines Presidential election campaign, and Ferdinand ‘Bongbong” Marcos has a healthy lead. No doubt he will win by a landslide, as has been predicted. In the coming weeks and months on Accent of Women, we will cover the impact and consequences of this election win on democracy, workers rights, the rights of women and young people, climate justice and of course the broader civil rights movement. But for today, I will play our show from the 15th March when we spoke to Kristine Lawrence, the Secretary of Gabriela Australia, about the situation in the Philippines for women, and the broader politics surrounding this election campaign.
On today’s program, we look at the country, Rwanda. The period between April 7 and July 4 is known as Kwibuku – it means rememberance. This period marks the 100 days of genocide in 1994 where the Tutsis were targeted by the Hutus. This year is 29 years since the genocide, and Rwanda has been catapulted once again into the international spotlight because of the UK off-shore processing deal that was made with the Rwandan Government.Yet we know very little about the country, and very little about its people. Concluding this week, I speak with Stephanie Kabanyana Kanyandekwe about Rwanda – the legacy of the genocide, how the country is healing, and what things are like today.
On today’s program, we look at the country, Rwanda. The period between April 7 and July 4 is known as Kwibuku – it means rememberance. This period marks the 100 days of genocide in 1994 where the Tutsis were targeted by the Hutus. This year is 29 years since the genocide, and Rwanda has been catapulted once again into the international spotlight because of the UK off-shore processing deal that was made with the Rwandan Government.Yet we know very little about the country, and very little about its people. Over the next two shows, I will be speaking with Stephanie Kabanyana Kanyandekwe about Rwanda – the legacy of the genocide, how the country is healing, and what things are like today.
On today’s program, we welcome back Kamilia Al-Eriani, Yemeni activist and academic, to give us an update on the situation in Yemen
On today’s program, we look at women climate warriors across the world, and the work that they are doing in relation to fighting against the tide of environmental destruction, for the survival of the planet.
March 30 is commemorated as Land Day in Palestine – a commemoration for Arab citizens of Israel and Palestinians of the events of that date in 1976 in Israel. In 1976, in response to the Israeli government's announcement of a plan to expropriate thousands of dunams of land for state purposes, a general strike and marches were organized in Arab towns from the Galilee to the Negev.On today’s program, I speak with Palestinian, Noura Mansour, about Land Day in Palestine this year.
Today’s program is an interview between Frieda Afary – Iranian socialist feminist and librarian based in California, and Ella Rossman, a feminist from Russia, and a member of the co-ordinating group of feminist anti war resistance.
On today’s show, we look at the Nagaworld Casina dispute in Cambodia, where predominantly women workers have been on strike since December last year. My guest today is Sopheak Molika, a worker at Nagaworld, and she is being interpreted by Tephalin Ou, a unionist in Cambodia.
Today on Accent of Women, we look at IWD in the Philippines and how women there took, and are taking action for women’s liberation.
Happy International Women’s Day to all the listeners around Australia and around the world. To commemorate and celebrate the struggle of women for emancipation and working class solidarity, today a speech by Nawal Al Saadawi. Al Saadawi died in March last year so we’re coming up to her 1 year anniversary. This speech is called Creativity, Dissidence, and Women and was delivered five months after the start of the Egyptian revolution, in May 2011
Today’s show is about the heroic struggle of the Anganwadi women workers in India. The Anganwadi are pre and post natal workers – the equivalent of Australia’s midwives, early maternal healthcare nurses and early natal healthcare workers. Since the 70s, these workers have been asked to work as volunteers, and in 2017, they fought and won a long hard battle for recognition as workers. Now, 5 years later, they are fighting for increased wages and conditions.Jiselle Hanna had the opportunity to interview the President of this workers union is Shivani Kaur, and the only place I could get her was directly on the picketline. The internet connection is not great and there is a lot of background noise. But the story is too important not to broadcast and I ask listeners to persist through the quality in order to hear this important story.
On today’s program of Accent of Woemn, we hear from Iranian women about their challenges with the COVID pandemic and the shadow pandemic (gender-based violence). Today’s panelists are: Sudi Farokhnia – a women’s rights activist and community organiser for more than 20 years, and she is one of the co founders of iranian circle of women’s intercultural network.Sona Kazemi – a research fellow of Migration Studies, Disability Studies, and Medical Humanities at the Ohio State University.
Tensions over the Ukraine-Russia crisis have been simmering for more than two months, with diplomatic efforts to resolve the issue showing little sign of progress.Russia has more than 100,000 troops on its border with Ukraine, sparking Western warnings of an imminent invasion.Anti-war activists across Europe are organising and strategising to resist the war, and a coalition of these activists organised a public meeting on 25 January – and it’s a broadcast of this panel that I bring you today on Accent of Women. The two organisations involved in this panel are European alternatives and Another Europe is possible. The panel host is Alena Ivanova, and the guests are Oleksandra Matviychuk, Yuliya Yurchenko and Mary Kaldor.
The Sri Lankan government celebrated the 74th anniversary of the country’s independence from the British empire on 4 February. But for Tamil speaking people on the island, 4 February 1948 marks the day one oppressor handed power to another. It is Tamil Oppression Day. From that day onward, local politicians promoting Sinhala-Buddhist chauvinism co-opted the ruthlessness of colonial rule, leading to many pogroms and other heinous acts to be committed against Tamil and other minority communities. The violence has never ceased.
What are the prospects for democracy in a country whose economy is in freefall, where millions face poverty and food insecurity, and where violence is increasing at an alarming rate? On today’s program we’ll discuss the coup in Myanmar, one year on.Today’s guest is Debbie Stothard, the founder of the Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma – she is based in Bangkok, and has worked on Burma solidarity activism for decades.
Tonga is facing an unprecedented disaster from the massive volcanic eruption that occurred on Saturday January. It covered the Pacific nation in ash, triggered a 15-metre tsunami that destroyed almost all homes on two small islands and damaged undersea communications cables, largely cutting off the country. The Tongan people are in an urgent process of recovery and clean up, and to tell us what is happening there, I had the opportunity to speak with two community organisers.
Today is our first show for 2022, and it’s with heavy hearts that we farewell a friend and supporter of this show, a staunch Gooniyandi Woman, Viv Malo. Today’s show is dedicated to Viv, and features her voice on 3CR and at rallies and demonstrations around this country. But first, a bit about Viv.
On today’s program, we look at women climate warriors across the world, and the work that they are doing in relation to fighting against the tide of environmental destruction, for the survival of the planet.
In the last week, the Federal Court has heard a case for the extradition of a Sydney nanny back to Chile to face charges of Crimes Against Humanity during the Pinochet dictatorship of 1973 to 1990. Adtriana Rivas is accused of kidnapping seven communists during the Pinochet era, and is implicated in their torture and murder. Rivas was a part of the infamous Chile National Intelligence Directorate, abbreviated to DINA.On today’s program, Pilar Aguilera co-founder of National Campaign for Truth and Justice in Chile, Australia.
Today on Accent of Women we turn our focus to Sudan. On October 25, the Sudanese military carried out a coup, announcing the dissolution of the power-sharing Sovereignty Council and the transitional government. It arrested Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and declared a state of emergency. Since that time, there have been massive street protests, in fact, it is a revolutionary situation on ground there. There’s been a media and internet black out for almost three weeks, making it very difficult to obtain information, and convey to the protesters all of the support there is for their struggle.
Today on Accent of Women we turn our focus to the Philippines. The current President, Rodrigo Duterte is facing charges by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity. These charges arise from Duterte’s War on Drugs that has seen over 20,000 people extrajudicially murdered in the streets. There’s an ever growing COVID crisis, spiralling the existing economic crisis out of control. And the country goes to a Presidential election in May 2022. President Duterte is constitutionally preventing from running for an additional term, but they may not stop him.
In response to the massive Israeli military assault on Gaza in May, Palestinian workers organised a general strike that swept across the West Bank, Israel and Gaza. In solidarity, thousands of workers worldwide joined in a “Block the Boat” campaign that prevented Israeli ships from docking in a number of international ports. These recent events pose the question for solidarity activists – How do we win in Palestine? And this was the very topic of a public meeting held by Australia Asia Worker Links on the 9 October.
On today’s program, we look at the worsening humanitarian crisis and civil war in Myanmar. Since the military coup against Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party in February 2021, there have been 5042 attacks that either targeted civilians or causued harm to them. The COVID pandemic is out of control with thousands of people dying everyday, and the exact amount of COVID being impossible to ascertain. Today's guest is Debbie Stothard from the Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma.
On 6 September, 6 Palestinian prisoners escaped from the heavily fortified Gilboa prison in Israel, sparking a wide scale man hunt and eventual capture of these political prisoners. Despite their eventual capture and torture by Israeli authorities, the event has been called The Great Escape across the world, Israel has been left humiliated by its lax security, and Palestinians have become emboldened.I interviewed Palestinian socialist and educator, Reem Yunis on Monday 20 September, one day after the final pair were captured and re-imprisoned.
Amidst South Koreas fourth wave of COVID, spurred on by the Delta variant, the Korean workers have upped their industrial action in opposition to the level of overwork in some industries, but the Government’s desire that people bear the personal cost of the pandemic. Koreans are opposing the social distancing measures, and say that COVID has highlighted the inadequacies of the public health system. While unions have increased their industrial action, forcing the government to the bargaining table, the government has also increased its repression and suppression of Freedom of association laws. On 2 September, 4000 police officers raided the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions building to arrest the President, Yang Kyeung-soo. The union movement is not deterred by this and continues its militant action. On today’s program, to talk about the situation in Korea, is Mikyung Ryu – the International Director of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions.
The Texas state law, passed last May, imposes the so-called “fetal heartbeat” rule adopted by half a dozen states previously, which effectively prohibits abortion after about six weeks of pregnancy—before most women even know they have become pregnant. From 1 September, this law takes effect. It creates criminal penalties against health professionals, as well as allowing any citizen in the country, completely unrelated to the case, to bring an action against health professionals. My two guests are Rachel Mehendale and Tasnim Lat, two doctors in Texas. I want to emphasise that the views that my guests express on today’s program are theirs alone, and not that of their employer.
Malaysia's new Prime Minister, Ismail Sabri Yaakob, was sworn in on Saturday 21 August, after the resignation of the former Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, and his entire cabinet, less than 18 months in office. The resignation came amidst infighting in Yassin’s coalition cost him majority support. But Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob faces an uphill task in uniting a polarised society and reviving a slumping economy and a worsening pandemic. Malaysia has one of the highest COVID-19 infection rates and deaths per capita. Today's guest is Irene Xavier from the Labour Law Reform Coalition.
On Tuesday 17 August, the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan two weeks before the U.S. was set to complete its troop withdrawal after a costly two-decade war. Since then, we have seen footage of desperate Afghanis trying to flee that country, amidst threats of death by the Taliban. To help us analyse the collapse of Afghanistan, we talk to Farkhondeh Akbari, a human rights activist and researcher who has investigated human rights violation by armed parties in Afghanistan, and currently based at the Australian National University.
76 years ago, on the 6th and 9th of August, the USA military dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The two bombings killed around 175,000 people with another 90,000 dying by the end of the year due to radiation injuries.Some 5 years after these bombings, a global anti-nuclear armaments campaign emerged and in 2007, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) was founded. In 2017, they won the Nobel Prize for peace, for their work towards global nuclear disarmament. One of the people that accepted the award was a woman named Setsuko Thurlow – a survivor of the bombing in Hiroshima. In 2019 she gave a speech at Harvard Law School.
This is our concluding episode - Budour Hassan is Palestinian socialist feminist and journalist and a legal researcher for the Jerusalem Center for Legal Aid and Human Rights. She talks about the latest Israeli assault on Palestinians, the role of women in the Palestinian resistance, the feminist movement against gender violence, solidarity with women prisoners, Abolitionist Feminism, and the needed regional and global socialist feminist solidarity. She is interviewed by Accent of Women supporter, Frieda Afray.
Budour Hassan is Palestinian socialist feminist and journalist and a legal researcher for the Jerusalem Center for Legal Aid and Human Rights. She talks about the latest Israeli assault on Palestinians, the role of women in the Palestinian resistance, the feminist movement against gender violence, solidarity with women prisoners, Abolitionist Feminism, and the needed regional and global socialist feminist solidarity. She is interviewed by Accent of Women supporter, Frieda Afray.
Budour Hassan is Palestinian socialist feminist and journalist and a legal researcher for the Jerusalem Center for Legal Aid and Human Rights. She talks about the latest Israeli assault on Palestinians, the role of women in the Palestinian resistance, the feminist movement against gender violence, solidarity with women prisoners, Abolitionist Feminism, and the needed regional and global socialist feminist solidarity. She is interviewed by Accent of Women supporter, Frieda Afray.
Gunnai, Gunditjmara and Wiradjuri man Raymond Noel Lindsay Thomas died during a police pursuit on June 25, 2017. The inquest into his death commenced on Monday 5 July – 4 years later.Joining me on today’s show to talk about the inquest, and Aboriginal deaths in custody, is Aboriginal activist and co-founder of the Warriors of the Aboriginal Resistance, Dtarneen Onus Williams. Dtarneen starts here by introducing themselves.
Derek Chauvin, the police officer that murdered George Flloyd sparking a global uprising, was sentenced to 22 years imprisonment for second degree murder. Neither Chauvin’s conviction nor his sentencing propelled the Black Lives Matter movement forward. Black men and women across the United States continue to experience police brutality including murder – so where to for the movement? On today’s program we Robin Wonsley, a unionist and Black Lives Matter activist in Minneapolis.
It’s been about 18 months since the World Health Organisation declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. Most nation states have been left to resolve the health, and consequent economic crisis on their own. And some states have fared better than others. In India, daily COVID transmissions exceed 400,000, and it is commonly held that this is a gross underestimation. Tragic scenes of rivers filled with dead bodies have flooded the international media. And as always, the poor and destitute are hit the hardest. On today’s program, we speak with social justice movement activist, Sujata, about the unfolding catastrophe in India.
There are currently Presidential elections on foot in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Though these elections may make absolutely no difference to the lives of Iranian women, it still provides an opportunity to look at this part of the world. Today’s interview was conducted by Dr Elham Naeej, an academic in Iranian studies at UNSW. She interviews Dr Claudia Yaghoobi about women’s oppression in Iran.
The current Israeli offensive against Palestine in 2021 began on 10 May, making it the deadliest offensive since The Gaza war of 2014, named Operation Protective Edge. Since that date, Palestine’s death toll exceeds 200, mostly women and children, while Israel’s is currently around 10 – also including women and children. There have been mass solidarity protests across the world, and on today’s program we will bring you some highlights from the Melbourne Rally. We are going to start here with Janine Haroum, a Palestinian woman at the Melbourne rally, and then later in the program, an interview with Palestinian woman, socialist and educator, Reem Yunis
2021 is the 30 year anniversary of the delivery of the findings of the Royal Commissioner into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. Since March this year 5 number of Aboriginal people have died in custody across the country. Ending Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, reducing the over representation of Aboriginal people in custody, is still a demand for social movements in Australia. With all this in the background, the coronial inquiry into the death of Aboriginal man, Wayne Fella Morrison, is currently underway in Adelaide. The inquest has exposed, yet again, the abhorrent and racist treatment of Aboriginal people in custody, and the deplorable lack of regard for their health and wellbeing. Latoyo Rule is the sister of Wayne Morrison, she is a party in the coronial inquest, and she is an anti-carceral activist. She is the edition's guest on Accent of Women
The brutality of the military dictatorships in Myanmar and Thailand have continued with further arrests, use of water cannon and live ammunition in the streets. Last week’s show reported on the international solidarity campaign that has started against the militarisation of these two countries, with activists from Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Indonesia, Finland and Germany. That International Solidarity campaign hosted a Public Meeting with speakers from right across the region to talk about what is happening in Thailand and Myanmar, and on today’s program of Accent of Women, we bring you a further two of those speeches.
The brutality of the military dictatorships in Myanmar and Thailand have continued with further arrests, use of water cannon and live ammunition in the streets. An international solidarity campaign has started against the militarisation of these two countries, with activists from Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Indonesia, Finland and Germany. That International Solidarity campaign hosted a Public Meeting with speakers from right across the region to talk about what is happening in Thailand and Myanmar, and on today’s program of Accent of Women, we bring you two of those speeches.
Nawal El Saadawi, Egyptian writer, feminist, activist, doctor, psychiatrist, died on 21 March 2021, at age 89. This week’s edition of Accent of Women is a dedication to the legacy of Nawal El Saadawi – not perfect, but changed life for hundreds of thousands of women and girls in Egypt.
Lynas Rare Earth is proposing to dump over 1 million tons of radioactive waste in landfill in the pristine tropical rainforest near the city of Kuantan in Malaysia. The forest reserve at Bukit Ketam is linked to the water catchment that supplies water to over 90% of the population in Kuantan. Lynas has submitted a massive environmental impact assessment to the Malaysian authorities, which is light on safeguards and seeks to carve out the forest for its dump. On today’s program, Lee Tan, an activist with Aid Watch, currently working to stop the waste dump.
International Women’s Day, acknowledged on March 8 every year, is a day of activism, struggle and the continuation of the global movement to end sexist oppression. In those parts of the world where IWD is a struggle, and not a cupcake breakfast or morning tea, many of those demonstrations were brutally repressed. Azerbaijan is one such part of the world. On today’s show, we look at what happened at this year’s IWD march and rally in Baku, Azerbaijan. I speak with feminist and political activist, Rabiyya Mammodova. As one of the organisers for this year’s rally, just before it was scheduled to begin, Rabiyya and her comrades were arrested, kidnapped, beaten, and then released at the end of the rally.
International Women’s Day, acknowledged on March 8 every year, is a day of activism, struggle and the continuation of the global movement to end sexist oppression. Today’s show is a dedication to all women globally, struggling for freedom, equality and peace. On today’s show, we turn our attention to Filipina women and their specific show. My guest today is Nes Govanzo, an organiser in Gabriela, a grassroots-based alliance of more than 200 organizations, institutions and programs based in communities, workplaces and schools throughout all regions and major provinces and cities in the Philippines. It also has chapters in eight countries outside of the Philippines.
Farmers have been striking in India since August last year in opposition to a tranche of agri-reform laws that were passed in September. The protests have been massive – tens of millions of people – but then again, India has a population of 1.4 billion people. So what are these farmers protests about and how should we understand them? On the show today is Shivani Kaul from Bigool Mazdoor Dasta.
Following the major rallies across the country last week to commemorate Invasion Day, the date on which, in 1788, the rising of the flag of Great Britain by Governor Arthur Philip at Port Jackson in NSW, this week on the show, we talk about what next, where to. I spoke with two of the organisers of the Melbourne Rally, Meriki Onus and Crystal McKinnon, from the Warriors of the Aboriginal Resistance. Their overall message is that for Aboriginal activists it’s business as usual, continuing the fight against racism, settler colonialism and working with communities experiencing the direct consequences of these systems of oppression.
In a landmark verdict in Greece’s highest-profile political trial in decades, an Athens court found the neo-fascist party Golden Dawn guilty of running a criminal organization as it rose to prominence during the coun-try’s financial crisis, systematically targeting migrants and left-wing critics. The party was banned on 7 October.The party member who stabbed prominent rapper, Pavlos Fyssas, was Giorgos Roupakias, and he was found guilty of murder on Wednesday. Another five Golden Dawn supporters or members were found guilty of attempted murder over assaults on three Egyptian fishermen in 2012, while four were found guilty of caus-ing bodily harm over assaults on members of Greece’s Communist Party trade union in 2013.On today’s program, I speak with Katerina Thoidou from an organisation called World Against Racism called KEERFA in Greece. Katerina was one of the people that gave evidence in the Golden Dawn trial
Hospital cleaning workers were arrested in June for staging peaceful protest against their union busting employer – a contractor for Ipoh hospital. In spite of the whole world thanking frontline workers for putting their lives at risk to fight COVID 19, the Malaysian government, the operator of Ipoh hospital, has continued with its anti-worker, and anti-union policies, privatising key public services, and allowing contractor companies to smash the unions.In Malaysia, like most parts of the world, hospital cleaning workers are amongst the most precarious and the most poorly paid. The newly unionised cleaning workers of Ipoh district hospital are being paid below the nationally declared poverty line. Today’s Accent of Women discusses what happened when 5 members of the union were arrested for peacefully protesting, and what is next in their struggle – Saras, the union’s secretary was among the 5 arrestees and is this week’s special guest.
Several thousand anti-government protesters have been rallying in Thailand’s capital for the last three weeks, calling for a new constitution, new elections and an end to repressive laws.In the last week, two leaders of the movement were arrested, resulting in ever greater resolve amongst the protest movement. The pair were charged with sedition and breaking coronavirus rules, before being released on bail.And the demonstrations are likely to grow into an even larger movement as the economy worsens amid the coronavirus pandemic.On todays show we speak with Lek Yimprasert, exiled Thai activist living in Finland.
On July 3, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte signed Republic Act 11479, known as the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020, into law. The law grants sweeping police state powers, including the authorization of warrantless wiretapping and surveillance, and warrantless arrests for up to 24 days of anyone accused by a presidentially-appointed commission of “terrorism.” On today’s program we speak with May Kotsakis, the Co-chairperson of the Philippines Australia Solidarity Association.
One of the Philippines’ most prominent journalists is facing up to six years in prison after she was found guilty of “cyberlibel” charges on 15 June this year, a verdict condemned as setting “an extraordinarily damaging precedent” for press freedoms in the Philippines. Her name is Maria Ressa, and the offending article was about corruption of a Philippines Supreme Court Judge.Since the election of President Duterte in the Philippines in 2016, there has been a significant deterioration in civil liberties and workers’ rights. This verdict comes at a time of civil crackdown, concealed by the COVID-19 pandemic, and in the context of the murderous war on drugs. Today’s Accent of Women features Maria Ressa herself, the journalist facing 6 years of prison following a guilty verdict. She is the CEO and executive editor, and in which that offending article was published.
Over the last 10 weeks, protesters right across Slovenia have flocked to the streets of their cities to protest against the newly installed right-wing government there – in addition to the generalised economic pressures brought about in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Slovenia is not a country commonly featuring in the international press, so you probably didn’t notice the mass movement of 10s of thousands of people protesting out of a total population of 2 million.
On today’s program we get an update on what is happening in India following the sudden and unplanned country-wide lockdown, ostensibly in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In our March 3rd program of Accent of Women, we learned that Narendra Modi, leader of the authoritarian, right wing and ruling party of India, the BJP, shut down all manufacturing, public transport and public infrastructure with little to no notice of its people. It left millions of migrant workers stranded miles from home with no way to return. Here's a link to our March 3 podcast
Today we are continuing to cover the issue of Black Lives Matter – but a little closer to home. Australia. Many of you will have seen the coverage of the nation-wide rallies and marches, protesting the deaths of Aboriginal people in custody. These rallies were organised while social consciousness was raised, owing to the murder of unarmed black man, George Floyd by police in Minneapolis Minnesota. On today’s show, I bring you some highlights from the Melbourne Black Lives Matter rally held on Saturday 6 June.
Today we continue our coverage of the uprisings in the United States. The street occupations, riots and protests against racist policing and the murder of George Floyd continued into their second week. But as we go to air, the curfews are lifting, and the tide of public opinion is shifting – more and more parts of civil society are calling for the abolition of the Minneapolis Police Department.Robin Wonsley Worlabah from the Democratic Socialists of America, Twin Cities, provides an update.
On 25 May, George Floyd was killed by police. On May 27, an uprising began. As we go to air, thousands have been arrested and many injured. Hundreds of millions of dollars of properties have been destroyed or looted. The National Guard has been called out to some cities, and multiple police stations burned down. A curfew has been imposed in many states and the protests keep spreading. It is, unquestionably, a turning point in US and global history. On today’s show, Robin Wonsley Worlabah, from the Democratic Socialists of America, based in Minneapolis.
Accent of Women continues its coverage of COVID-19 and its impact on impoverished communities across the world. This week our coverage takes us to Myanmar and Indonesia. Today, we will hear from Debbie Stothard, the Coordinator of the Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma, an organisation established in 1996 to support national and grassroots movements of Burma/Myanmar working for human rights and democracy. For over thirty years she has been active in struggles across South East Asia.Support APHEDA Union Aid Abroad.
We are continuing our coverage of COVID-19 and its impact on impoverished communities across the world. This week our coverage takes us to Myanmar and Indonesia.We will hear from Sri Wulandari who is the Myanmar Country Officer for Union Aid Abroad – APHEDA. In Myanmar, Wulandari works with local unions to support their capacity to organise and bargain for better wages and conditions and she has previously worked with the global union, Building and Wood Workers International (BWI) Asia-Pacific and the Asia Monitoring Resource Centre (AMRC).Today’s audio was recorded over an international zoom meeting, hosted by APHEDA – union aid abroad. To support the COVID-19 work that APHEDA is doing, go to apheda.org.au.And for the power point presentations and other forum materials, go to this web page.
Our coverage of COVID-19 and its impact on impoverished communities continues. Today, we head to the Philippines where we see a similar pattern emerging of the use of Emergency state powers to repress social movements but little if any, genuine government intervention to keep people safe.During this year’s May Day activities in the Philippines, activists were arrested for going out and feeding the poor – yet they were placed in unsanitary prison environments. This week, Accent of Women features Cristina Palabay Secretary General of Karapatan, a national human rights alliance that also works with various social movements in the Philippines.
It is said that where countries have a strong, accessible and affordable health care system, the outcomes for populations during the pandemic are much better.Well, let’s go to the United States where health care is not accessible and is not affordable and where we are now calling New York the epicentre of the pandemic.This week, we to speak with Suzanne Adely, a Human Rights Lawyer, a labour activist and currently working with the Food Chain Workers Alliance, about how the US is handling the pandemic.
On Sunday 19 April, Alliance of MENA Socialists organised an international zoom meeting called, Toward a Global Prison Abolitionist Movement, organised by the. The panel addressed some of the key obstacles to the formation of a global prison abolitionist movement, and offered ways of overcoming them to present ideas about an alternative to the capitalist carceral and authoritarian system.
On the morning of 24 April 2013, over 1100 workers at Rana Plaza died when the building they worked in collapsed. The day before the building collapse, workers complained of clear cracks in the walls and refused to go to work because they feared for their safety. Every other business in Rana Plaza stopped work because of safety issues – these included banks and other retail outlets. But the 8000 garment workers were forced to go to work.
On today’s show we look at the struggle against capitalist authoritarianism and imperialism, and the state of the women’s struggle in Turkey.My guest on today’s program is Ecehan Balta. Ecehan is a member of Baslangic Collective, which was founded after the Gezi uprising in 2013. She is also a member of Socialist Alternative, a Turkish section of International Socialist Alternative.
On today’s show we look at the struggle against capitalist authoritarianism and imperialism, and the state of the women’s struggle in Russia. My guest on today’s program is Anna Nizhnik. Anna is a socialist feminist, publisher, activist. Specializes in Literary Gender Studies and Women’s History.
Today's show is about about developments within the feminist movement in Algeria. The facilitator is Fatemeh Masjedi, an Iranian academic historian and activist based in Berlin. She is a former political prisoner in Iran because of her women’s rights activities. And the person being interviewed is Selma Oumari. She’s an Algerian French member of the New Anticapitalist in France. She is involved in antiracist struggles as well as international solidarity.
The situation in India is slowly developing into a state engineered pogrom against muslim people. This has been developing since the passing of the Citizenship Amendment Bill – now law – tying people’s citizenship to India, to their religion.Workers, students and other parts of civil society have been protesting since November last year in an effort to defeat the legislation. However, some of these protests have been contested by fascist forces and thugs, and in the last week we have seen mosques being burnt down, and heightened communal violence resulting in deaths.
International Women’s Day is just around the corner and to mark this important date we hear from past and present campaigners fighting for gender and racial equality.GuestsCamaigners Natasha and Aakansha from the anti-street harassment campaign -- it's not a compliment.Adjunct Professor and Historian, Dr Victoria Grieve - Williams.To learn more about the life of Roberta 'Bobbi' Sykes check out her three volume autobigraphy Snake Dreaming.
The economy in France has been crippled by a strike wave that has been ongoing since December 2019. Initially in response to pension reforms by the Macron Government, the strike wave has affected broad sectors of the economy including postal services, airlines, manufacturing, schools, hospitals just to name a few. It’s even included the arts – with actors, writers and other artists participating in the strikes.But are those pensions really the reason for the mass activity on the streets and this level of industrial action, or is there an underlying economic desperation, for which these pensions were just a catalyst?
February 6th is the International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation. To learn more about the practice I spoke to health professional Medina Idriess from the Family & Reproductive Rights Education Program. In the second half of the show, Monica Majak and Adongwot Manyoul from the South Sudanese Mother's Coalition of Victoria discuss the challenges of resettlement.
Donald Trump joined with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House in the final weeks of January to publicly unveil what the US president described as his “vision for peace” in the Middle East. It was a farcical proposal, endorsing all of the policies of the Israeli right while guaranteeing rejection by the Palestinian people. To discuss these developments in the struggle for a Free Palestine, I am joined by Palestinian socialist, Reem.
This week we speak to writer and cultural producer Alia Gabres about her gorgeous children’s book, Haboba’s House.Haboba’s House tells the story of Iman - a young Eritrean girl staying at her Haboba’s (grandmother) House during the school holidays. It's the first book in Iman’s Really Really Big World! series.In this interview, Alia discusses the inspiration for Haboba’s House and explains why children of colour deserve to see themselves represented in books.To learn more about this exciting series, go to imansworld.com.Song To Be Young, Gifted and BlackArtist Nina Simone Produced by Ayan Shirwa
January 26. Australia Day. It marks the anniversary of the 1788 arrival of the First Fleet of British Ships at Port Jackson and the start of genocide against the original owners of this land. We should not celebrate Australia Day. It's a day that has been sanctified and sanitised. Instead, we should be protesting and fighting for land rights, sovereignty and self-determination for all Aboriginal people. This week's show features Celeste Liddle and Kim Bullimore
Across the Pacific and Torres Strait, rising seal levels are forcing many communities to seek a new home. And while climate change denialists bicker over the validity of the claims, people are being evacuated because their islands are uninhabitable.This week I chat to radio broadcaster Maureen Mopio about her documentary - No Land, No Livelihood, No Home.No Land, No Livelihood, No Home is a ten part series about what happens when communities are displaced by climate change. The series was distributed with the support of the Community Radio Network.GuestMaureen Mopio is a Presenter on Women's Profile - Radio 4EBProduced/Presented Ayan Shirwa
Today's show is about about developments within the feminist movement in Algeria.The facilitator is Fatemeh Masjedi, an Iranian academic historian and activist based in Berlin. She is a former political prisoner in Iran because of her women’s rights activities.And the person being interviewed is Selma Oumari. She’s an Algerian French member of the New Anticapitalist in France. She is involved in antiracist struggles as well as international solidarity.
In under 24 hours, a number of academics, community activists, artists and writers will gather at the University of Melbourne for a three day forum called ‘Black-Palestinian Solidarity Conference’. To mark this historic event, I spoke to Irene Watson, a Professor of Law at the University of South Australia and Tasnim Sammak, a PHD candidate and an advocate for the rights of young people and women of colour.Produced by Ayan Shirwa
On today’s show we will broadcast just the first question of a panel discussion between women of colour involved in the Alliance of Middle Eastern and North African socialists. You’ll hear when the compare introduces the panel, that the whole discussion goes for about two hours, but of course we don’t have time for all of it on Accent of Women. We will post a link to the whole call on our facebook page. The discussion took place in August 2019, which was at the height of the recent uprisings in Sudan and Algeria. A content warning on today’s program, there is discussion about the use of rape in war, and the struggle for women in the context of these rapes.
For the first time since the fascist military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, tanks rolled into downtown Santiago, Chile, this weekend, deployed against protesters demonstrating against a drastic fare hike of the Santiago metro, from the equivalent of USD $1.12 to $1.16.On Saturday, the right-wing government of billionaire Sebastián Piñera invoked the still-standing 1980 Constitution established by Pinochet to declare a state of emergency across the country and to impose curfews.This is off the back of a massive strike wave earlier in the year where 17,000 walmart workers, 80,000 school teachers and other workers across mining and railways took strike action amidst massive state repression.This week's show features Marisol Salinas, a Mapuche Indigenous woman from Chile, based here in Melbourne, and one of the founders of the Latin American Solidarity Network, and also with Friends of the Earth Melbourne.
This week we look at the circumstances that bring Tamil refugees to Australia and in the second half of the show, two of the founders of the online talk show ‘Set The Tone’ discuss their pilot episode.GuestsNiro Kandasamy is a Tamil studies researcher at the University of Melbourne.Yar Biar and Adier Maluk are young women from the African diaspora and members of the platform Set the Tone.
On today’s program we continue with the broadcast of Flesh, the law and black humanity, that Ayan started on the program last week. Firstly, Flesh, the law and black humanity was an event hosted in Melbourne Victoria by the Feminist Book Collective, and particularly, by Nilmini Fernando, a Sri Lankan born woman living in Australia. According to the event description, Flesh, the law and black humanity aims to stand outside of white Western colonial frames to discuss, theorize and address the outcast locations of the intellect, literature, art and bodies of First People, raced and gendered others in the settler colony.
This week we look at some of the issues affecting trans and gender diverse communities in Australia and play a snippet from the event ‘Flesh, the law, and black humanity’.GuestsAmao Leota Lu is a proud Samoan Fa'afafine and trans woman of color. She is an international speaker, performing artist, writer, activist and storyteller who infuses the intersectionality of gender, culture and life experiences in her performance works and talks.Associate Professor Sandy O'Sullivan is a Wiradjuri (Aboriginal) academic, researcher and creative practitioner. Produced by: Ayan Shirwa
Massive civil society protests have continued in Hong Kong. Commencing on 9 June, we’ve seen millions of people march, originally against the introduction of the extradition bill, but now the movement has raised a number of demands including full suffrage for the people of Hong Kong. Accent of Women first covered this issue in June, and you can go back and listen to that podcast, which is posted to our page on 3CR’s website. Since that broadcast, much has happened in Hong Kong. We’ve seen the formal entry of the workers movement, we’ve seen right wing elements assert themselves in the movement – what happens now is a matter of political analysis. And to have that conversation with me, I welcome back Carol Ng, the elected women’s officer of the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions.
Creative producer Daisy Nduta talks about her exciting new show - Assimilate. Assimilate is showing at Darebin Arts as part of Melbourne Fringe 2019. Tickets can be purchased here. Assimilate was created and produced by Daisy Nduta and is performed by Naomi Sepiso, Tamara Bailey, Anyuop Dau, and Daisy Nduta.
Veteran broadcaster Namila Benson talks ghost-writing, community radio, and Jack Charles.Later in the show, cultural historian Samia Khatun discusses the inspiration for her book - Australianama.GuestsNamila Benson is a broadcaster, media trainer and national radio producer who works across multiple media platforms. She got her start in radio 26 years ago on 3CR. Most recently, she ghostwrote the memoir of respected actor, activist and Elder - Uncle Jack Charles. The book is called, “Jack Charles: Born-again Blakfella”. Outside of media and motherhood, Namila hosts, moderates and guests on public talks at various festivals and events across so-called Melbourne and beyond.Samia Khatun is a writer, filmmaker and cultural historian whose documentaries have screened on SBS-TV and ABC-TV.
August 30, 2019 commemorates 20 years since the East Timor referendum on independence. In 1975, Indonesia invaded East Timor, beginning a brutal regime of occupation that would last until 1999. More than 200,000 East Timorese died and many more suffered during massacres, torture and starvation.Carla Chung is an organiser with the United Workers Union, she is East Timorese, and an East Timor independence activist. She both grew up in East Timor and is one of the younger generation of activists she says is continuing to fight for East Timor’s future, and she joins me on today’s program.
Thirteen million people in Indian-controlled Jammu and Kashmir have spent the last three weeks under a regime of extraordinary repression and collective punishment at the hands of India’s Hindu supremacist BJP government. Freedom of speech and assembly have been abolished, with gatherings of more than four people outlawed. Critics who have denounced the repression to the media have been imprisoned. Public transport has been shut down, and the region’s economy has ground to a halt. So, what is this dispute about? Hasn’t Kashmir always been contested, isn’t it always highly militarised? To answer these questions, I am joined on today’s program by Kavita Krishnan, leftists and feminist activist in India, and leading member of the Communist Party of India Marxist Leninist
What comes to mind when you hear the word love? Is it romantic relationships? Friendships? Self-love? Community? Arts and cultural curator Bigoa Choul joins us this week to make sense of a concept that is so polarizing. Today’s episode is inspired by an upcoming event called ‘Let's Talk Love’ hosted by Bigoa Chuol and featuring the contributors of 'Growing Up African in Australia'. The event is part of the Melbourne Writers Festival.Artist bio: Bigoa is an arts and cultural curator, writer and presenter. Her work has featured internationally and in various renowned literature, music and poetry festivals all around Melbourne Australia since 2015. Presently, she is working on (re) establishing cultural connection, re-distributing knowledge and language inter-generationally within the South Sudanese diaspora through different artistic mediums in the co-produced Medida Winter Series. As well as a research project with the University of Melbourne Social Equity School into perceived gender norms among the Nuer. She is the Events Coordinator at Footscray Community Art Centre, a community-engaged contemporary art centre.
The face of the environmentalism movement in Australia is predominantly white. Why is this the case and how can the movement expand to include all voices?The Multicultural Greens Victoria hosted a panel that tackled those exact questions. We also spoke to Dr Mehreen Faruqi, Green's Senator for NSW, about islamophobia, decolonisation and why she continues to speak out against misogyny and racism. Panelists- Dr. Priya Srinivasan, Associate Professor Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalization Deakin University- Lidia Thorpe, First Aboriginal Women in Victorian Parliament- Lisa Maza, Professional Actor/Singer and Member of the Blak Greens- Mehreen Faruqi, Greens Senator for NSW
The Minister for Indigenous Australians, Ken Wyatt, recently announced plans to introduce an Indigenous voice to parliament. Some embraced the news as a positive step towards self-determination, while others were more skeptical.On today's episode we ask Gunnai-Kurnai and Gunditjmara woman Lidia Thorpewhat she thinks about an Indigenous voice to parliament, and also get updates on Victoria’s exciting treaty negotiations. Lidia Thorpe is a human rights advocate and a former greens MP for the seat of Northcote. If you’d like to know more about treaty, sovereignty and land rights check out 3CR programs, Fire First, Blak 'n' Deadly and Blaknoise!
NAIDOC week was 8 to 15 July. This week on Accent of Women, we bring you the voices of Aboriginal women in struggle. In the second part of the show, we play an exerpt from a public meeting held at Victoria’s Trades Hall. The public meeting was called Fighting for Black issues in a White Democracy.But first up on the show, the landmark announcement about the Stolen Wages settlement. A class action on behalf of an estimated 10,000 Indigenous workers in Queensland who had their wages stolen last century has been settled with the state government for $190m. For decades leading up to the 1970s, the wages of Indigenous workers in Queensland were not paid directly to them but to the state under so-called "Protection Acts". But about 60 per cent of those involved in this historic case, have since passed on.One of the claimaints, Colleen Hurley, joins us on the show.
In 1994, close to a million Tutsis and moderate Hutus lost their lives in the Rwandan Genocide. We commemorate the 25th anniversary by bringing you stories of hope and resilience. In the second half of the program, you'll hear a snippet of the event Fighting for Black Issues in a White Democracy , organised by First Nations Workers Alliance and Victorian Trades Hall Council .
Two million people took to the streets in Hong Kong last week and they were joined by the organsied labour movement days later, in a general strike on Monday 19 June, in massive protests opposing a proposed extradition bill. These are the biggest protests in Hong Kong with approximately 2 thirds of the entire city participating.But what is the extradition bill, and why has this proposal brought so many people to the streets? What do these demonstrations say about Hong Kong’s relationship to China?To answer these questions, I am joined on today’s program by Carol Ng, the elected women’s officer of the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions.
Rai Ismail and Abuk Nyandeng discuss Sudan's uprising & Bhakthi Puvanenthiran, the managing editor at Crikey, looks at last week's AFP raids and their implications for press freedom
Yemen is being described as the worst humanitarian crisis in the world, but hardly anyone knows or understands what’s going on. The Houthi movement, an Islamic religious-political-armed movement that emerged from Sa'dah in northern Yemen in the 1990s, took the capital, Sana’a in 2014. But who are they are? Is the war about them? To discuss this issue and the complexity of the Yemen war and catastrophic humanitarian crisis, I am joined by Kamillia el-Eriani. Kamillia is originally from Yemen and is currently teaching in sociology and politics at Melbourne University and RMIT.
This week we bring you some interesting conversations about healing, self-compassion, and healthy egos.These conversations were part of the Siblings of the Yam workshops organized by Aisha Tramabas and Inez Tramabas of Negro Speaks of Books.The workshops are part of a month-long series called Black Tourmaline.
May 18 is the anniversary of the Tamil genocide and the defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. This year, 2019, marks 10 years. On today’s program, we look at the situation for Tamils in Sri Lanka.On today's program, Nilanthi Kanapathipillai, a Tamil activist based here in Melbourne Victoria. and Shivani Jegarajah, human rights activist and barrister in Sri Lanka.
Samsung is a vehemently anti-union company. It has avoided all attempts to be held to account for the occupational deaths in its factory, a direct result of the chemicals used in the production of microchips that go into its electronic products.A compensation claim that is currently before the courts accidentally revealed that Samsung has been running surveillance on unionists and activists as a part of their union-busting campaign.To talk about all of this, on today’s program I am joined by SHARPS volunteer doctor, Dr Jong-ok Kong.
International Workers Day – May Day, is both celebrated used as a day of continuing struggle right across the world. In some parts of the world, taking to the streets is, in itself, an act of dissent and of resistance, and workers risk their lives just doing that. Iran is one such country where workers’ organising is heavily and brutally repressed. Hana is a labour movement activist, originally from Iran and now based in melbourne, victoria. She has recently returned from Iran and on today’s show, reports on the protests during May Day there, with some comparison to International Women’s Day.
This week we listen to a panel discussion hosted by Allies Decolonising.The event, Sovereignty, Treaty and Constitutional Recognition brought together Aboriginal community members to discuss the treaty process and Aboriginal sovereignty. PanelistsLidia Thorpe is a Gunnai-Gunditjmara woman, living on Wurundjeri country in Melbourne’s north. She is a community worker, mother and grandmother. Lidia has spent decades fighting for Aboriginal rights and the environment, including fighting to successfully save a million-year-old gorge in Nowa Nowa, East Gippsland and becoming the first Aboriginal woman to serve in the Victorian Parliament.Crystal McKinnon is a Yamatji woman who lives and works on Kulin country. She has worked at many universities and Aboriginal community-controlled organisations, and she is currently working at RMIT as a Vice Chancellor’s Indigenous Research Fellow. In one of her projects at RMIT, Crystal is working with a team on an Australian Research Council Discovery Indigenous Project named: Indigenous Leaders: Lawful Relations from Encounter to Treaty. Her work has looked at concepts of Indigenous sovereignty, Indigenous social movements and protest, and Indigenous resistance through the use of the creative arts, including music and literature.Paola Balla is a Wemba-Wemba & Gunditjmara woman living on Kulin Country. She’s worked in Koorie community arts as an artist & curator & in education at Moondani Balluk Indigenous Academic Centre at Vic Uni & the Indigenous Arts and Cultural Program at Footscray Community Arts Centre. Her work focuses on self-determination & sovereignty within the arts & is a member of the Blak Brow Collective who edited Blak Brow for the Lifted Brow. Her PhD research focuses on Indigenous women’s disruptions & resistance through art. Her work is based on sovereignty, matriarchy & First Nations ways.Event ModeratorClare Land is a historian at Moondani Balluk at Vic Uni, and author of the book Decolonizing Solidarity which outlines how people like her might emerge towards being less racist, and how she can better use privileges she has access to in support of Aboriginal struggles. Her knowledge and politics have been shaped in particular by Gary Foley, Dr Uncle Wayne Atkinson, and by the Thorpe family.
March 31st is Trans Day of Visibility, so today on Accent of Women, we are going to hand over to Sally Goldner, and her show Out of The Pan. On Sunday 31 March, Out of The Pan held a special, Trans Voices of Colour, and that’s what we bring you today.
Women of Color Speak Out is a collective of five climate justice, racial justice, gender justice and intersectional movement activists that came together in 2015 in Seattle during the ShellNo campaign. Those women formed Women of Colour Speak Out, out of a desire to create a space for women of color in the climate movement which, according to them, is dominated by white, cis men. In December 2015, they spoke at a public meeting.On today’s show, we feature the speeches of Sarra Tekola, scientist, activist and policy changer. She works tirelessly on intersecting movements from Black Lives Matter and ending juvenile incarceration to fossil fuel divestment and just carbon policies. And Afrin Sopariwara
This week we speak to Abbey Mag and Awak Kongor about their contributions to the South Sudanese community in Melbourne and the ethical risks of creating for/about community.Abbey Mag is a proud Dinka Bor woman of Junub Sudan, now formally known as South Sudan. Abbey’s interest lay in the use of social media and how it can be utilised as means of telling stories and changing narrative. Awak Rech Kongor is a South Sudanese young black woman in Narrm, Melbourne Victoria. She is the founder of Procrasinated Productions, a South Sudanese, Melbourne based, film and content production company.
On today’s program, we speak with Fiori Giovanni motivational speaker, social commentator, and author of the about to be released life memoir, Defy Your Destiny. Fiori is a woman who uses her own story of survival to help others. Born in war torn Eritrea, in north east Africa, Fiori defies a destiny of being a child bride, being a child soldier, and eventually being a refugee, to make it in Australia.
On January 23, the US government sponsored a political coup in Venezuela, with right-wing politician Juan Guaidó’s self-swearing in as “interim president,” a stunt worked out in advance with the Trump administration. Washington immediately recognized Guaidó, an operative of the extreme right, US-funded Voluntad Popular party, who had been suddenly elevated to the presidency of the opposition-controlled National Assembly on the eve of the coup. The Trump administration at the same time declared the Maduro government “illegitimate.”As you can imagine, the situation is developing quickly in Venezuela, with imperialist countries circling to side with Guaido to further exploit the natural resources of the country, in the context of economic and political unrest. Accent of Women is not a news service, so we can’t provide you with up to date information about what’s happening. However, today’s program offers some analysis of the background and context for this Parliamentary coup. On the show today is Eulalia Reyes de Whitney, co-convenor of the Australia Venezuela Solidarity Network, working towards solidarity with Venezuela since the Bolivarian Revolution.
A recording of a fundraiser organised by Warriors of the Aboriginal Resistance. The panel, Decolonising Solidarity - what can i do, was part of WAR's 7 days of resistance campaign.Proceeds from the fundraiser will go to Tanya Day's family in the lead up to the Deaths in Custody trial in March. PanelistsCaroline Martin is a descendant of the Briggs family and Custodian of Boonwurrung Country, and the 2019 Creative Director of the Yirramboi Festival. Crystal Mckinnon is Yamatji woman and research fellow.Clare Land, is the author of Decolonizing solidarity: Dilemmas and Directions for Supporters of Indigenous Struggles.Idil Ali is a Youth Practitioner at Drummond Street Services, and supervises VoiceFest. Charandev Singh is a human rights advocate and paralegal and educator.
Meriki Onus, is from the Gunai and Gunditjmara nations and one of the co-founders of Warriors of Aboriginal Resistance (WAR).Meriki discusses the Invasion Day Rally and the legacy of Aboriginal activism. Check out WAR's website - Invasion Day, for information about events, resources and how to donate/support.
International Day of People with Disability (IDPwD) is held on 3 December each year. This year’s theme is ‘Empowering persons with disabilities and ensuring inclusiveness and equality’. To mark this important date, Marisa Sposaro spoke to Jiselle Hanna about meaningful inclusion, self-determination and the accessibility of activist spaces. Marisa Sposaro, is a broadcaster at Community Radio 3CR, and produces a radio show called Doin Time about prisoner rights and advocacy.
Ayan Shirwa sits in on a debriefing session organized by Naarm Imagining Abolition.Naarm Imagining Abolition was organized by Meriki Onus and Idil Ali to address the inequity of capital. Through a series of fundraisers they were able to send a group of young people to Brisbane for the Imagining Abolition Conference organised by Sisters Inside.
Can you say whatever you want on social media? On today's program I chat to Tarneen Onus about the cost of speaking out against instituional racism. Later in the show Areej Nur sits down with me to make sense of our rights and responsibilities on Facebook.Areej Nur is a radio producer and educator Tarneen Onus is a Yigar Gunditjmara, Yorta Yorta, Bindal and Torres Strait Islander. She has been a sexual health and consent educator, social worker, activist and rally organizer. Interview by Ayan ShirwaSound by Purple Planet Music.
For Us By UsThis episode is a recording of a keynote speech by Antoinette Braybrook, who's an Aboriginal woman and the CEO of Djirra. Antoinette spoke at the Tranforming Democracy conference organized by the Federation of Community Legal Centres. Antoinette discusses why Aboriginal led organizations are better placed to address complex and multilayered issues like family violence. Content warning :This episode contains descriptions of torture, sexual violence, rape, phsyical violence and mental health that may be distressing to some listeners. Numbers to contact:Djirra 03 9244 3333 or free call 1800 105 303 Lifeline on 13 11 14 or visit lifeline.org.au djirra.org.au
On today’s episode of Accent of Women, we look at the leading causes of gender inequality in the Australian workplace and why female dominated sectors are underpaid.We speak to Kara Keyes, the Australian Council of Trade Union’s Campaign Director, and Achut, who is an early childhood educator in Victoria.If you want to know more information about the Change the Rules Campaign, go to https://changetherules.org.au/Music: http://www.purple-planet.com
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 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.
This week's Accent of Women looks at apostasy – the practice of changing or leaving your religion.Apostasy is a critical demand for the international workers movement – it goes to the heart of collective consciousness, especially working class consciousness. It is about breaking the chains of religion that suppress and oppress, particularly women.But it is also an extremely difficult conversation to have, in this political climate. Atheism and the rejection of religion entirely, arises with scientific and technological development – and these two things are often conflated with western progress. So then, the conversation about apostasy is often appropriated by liberals, right-wing feminists, and quite frankly, racists.And yet, apostasy is a critical demand of the international workers movement.Accent of Women attempts to have this conversation. There are progressives right across the world, challenging the hold of religion on their lives, their societies, and their struggles for liberation. They live in places like Egypt, Iran, Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia. These socialists, these progressive, require our solidarity. In exactly the same way, that Muslims under atttack in Australia, the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Germany, France, need our solidarity in defence of their right to practice their religion.
On Today’s Accent of Women, we will learn more about the Labor Victorian government’s plans in relation to the Public Housing Renewal project, and the social impacts that this will have.We hear from Yasemin Shamsili of the Public Housing Defence Network and Ayan Mohamud, a community activist and public housing tenant
The 26th January, 2018 saw some of the biggest rallies across Australia in solidarity, defence and struggle with Aboriginal people. In Melbourne alone, 50 to 60,000 people marched the streets, overshadowing the official Australia Day Parade 50 to 1. This week's Accent of Women looks at the Abolish Australia Day campaign featuring interviews with Dtarneen Onus-Williams and Meriki Kalinya, and a speech by Jenny Munro
Today on Accent of Women, we look at the supposed crime wave of African gangs that is sweeping Victoria.To discuss this issue, two young women are featured on Accent of Women, who in very different ways, are both working towards combating the media's racist rhetoric, and ultimately to ending this kind of racism. These two young women are Eunice Gabboyi, chairperson of the Afro Australian Student Association, and Sajda Yacoub ffrom the Peer Advocacy Team of the Police Accountability Project at Flemington Kensington Community Legal Centre.
In Melbourne, at the Immigration Museum Palestinian installation artist Aseel Tayah brings us Bukjeh: Stories of home, and of having to leave it.Bukjeh is an installation and a series of short performances created with people who have been forced to leave their homes, and in response to children's questions about refugees.
US President Donald Trump's announcement to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel is effectively an endorsement of Israel's annexation of East Jerusalem. The announcement sparked protests in Gaza and the West Bank and some commentators are describing the situation as a third intifada. But to understand the current provocation, what's happening in Palestine and what the future is for the Palestinian struggle, Accent of Women speaks with Palestinian activist, Samah Sabawi.
On today’s Accent of Women, we look at women organising in the South Korean labour movement. In the second part of the program we will hear from Wol San Liem, director of International Affairs for the Korean Public Transport Workers Union, about a current strike in the railways, against privatisation. But first up on the show, we look at a significant labour movement event on the South Korean workers’ calendar – Jun Tae Il day.
On today’s Accent of Women, we conclude our exploration of early Japanese communist women.Shomi Yoon is member of the International Socialist Organisation in Aeteoroa/New Zealand. Shomi herself is from Japanese origins, and was a keynote speaker at the Marxism conference held in 2014.
On today’s Accent of Women, we take a step back into history and look at early Japanese communist women.Shomi Yoon is member of the International Socialist Organisation in Aeteoroa/New Zealand. Shomi herself is from Japanese origins, and was a keynote speaker at the Marxism conference held in 2014.
On October 12, Hamas and Fatah signed a landmark reconciliation deal in Cairo in what has been said is a key step towards ending a decade-long rift between the two Palestinian factions.But do these developments hold hope for Palestinian liberation and the end to Israeli apartheid? Or is it another attempt to goad the Palestinians into agreeing to ever more concessions to Israel, ceding land and resources? To discuss this development, Reem Yunis, Palestinian activist and socialist based here in Melbourne.
At least 500,000 Rohingya have fled to neighboring Bangladesh since August of this year. Officially, Burma's government does not recognize the Rohingya as lawful citizens. The government claims they were brought to Rakhine from Bangladesh during the time when Burma was a British colony, and the government says they are living in Myanmar illegally. But there are other factors too, the lie behind the brutal genocide of the Rohingya – economic considerations access to natural resources, as well as the broader global context of warfare and anti-Muslim sentiment.To discuss Rohingya refugee crisis and genocide, I speak with two media makers and activists in Asia, in the receiving countries for Rohingya refugees. Both of these activists have spent time in the Rohingya refugee camps and are active in the struggle against the violence, oppression and genocide of the Rohingya.This week's show features Parsa Sanjana Sajid who is a writer, editor, and researcher in Bangladesh. She teaches at the Independent University, Bangladesh and edits Fragments Magazine. Also, Mahi Ramakrishnan who is a documentary and film maker in Malaysia, who has been covering the Rohingya crisis for many years, and has made three documentaries about the issue.
On today’s Accent of Women, we look at the possibility of nuclear warfare on the Korean peninsular. We hear from two South Korean activists, Sung Hee Choi, and Wol-san Liam.
Today on Accent of Women, we speak to author, Lora Inak. Her latest book is a culturally specific story, in the young adult fiction genre, about cultural conflict. It's called Unspoken Rules, and is being released on the 17th of September 2017.
Winnie Siulolovao Dunn of SWEATSHOP Western Sydney Literacy Movement caught up with Sista Zai for a chat about ideas and strategies for empowering young people of colour to heal colonial wounds and tell their own stories on their own terms. The dialogue was inspired by her recently published article in the Sydney Review of Books: https://sydneyreviewofbooks.com/…/winnie-akata-siulolovao-…/
In Hong Kong, 13 ordinary civilians and students have been sentenced to 8-13 months’ imprisonment for their protest against the Government’s first funding instalment for the North East New Territories New Development Plan- the protest occurred in June, 2014 and the initial sentence that the protesters received including things like community service. However, the Justice Department appealed those sentences, seeking harsher penalties, and this week, the Courts agreed. This week's Accent of Women features Shek Pui Yin, a student activist involved in the Umbrella movement.In the second part of the show, we also follow the dispute of the Anganwadi worers in India. Anganwadi workers are the women who are mainly employed as pre and post natal health workers, sexual health workers and other child and women’s health related work, for the very poor and unclassed or dalits of India. The workers have been demanding better pay, conditions and an end to insecure working conditions. We speak with an Aganwadi worker, Birhana. She is being translated by Shrivanthi, a union activist in a group called Bigul Mazdoor Dasta.
There have been 17 military coups in Thailand since 1932 and since the coup of 2014, the military junta is well and truly entrenched in the country. Against this background, poverty is crippling, farmers are suiciding, workers are languishing, activists for democratic rights are being arrested under repressive laws. To discuss the situation in Thailand, Junya Lek Yimprasert, a democratic rights activist from Thailand, now in exile in Finland facing charges under the draconian Les Majeste Laws.
Today on Accent of Women, we look at the most recent Israeli aggression against Palestinians, specifically in the Al-Aqsa compound of Jerusalem.Supposedly in retaliation to an attack by Palestinian worshippers at Al-Aqsa mosque in mid-July, Israel restricted who could pray there, installed metal detectors and commenced harrassing and arresting worshippers. Al-Aqsa compound is also a sacred site for Jews – known as Temple Mount. While arguably, Al-Aqsa mosque has been re-opened to Palestinians, harrassment and arrests continue, as does the violence.To discuss the situation in Palestine and the context leading up to closure of Al-Aqsa mosque, Reem Yunis Palestinian activist and socialist based in Melbourne, Australia.
Nicolas Maduro, president of Venezuela, has pledged to hold a referendum on a new constitution he is proposing in response to two months of violent anti-government protests. To re-write of the constitution will be co-ordinated by a body called the Constituent Assembly, an election for which is being held on Sunday 30 July. To discuss the situation in Venezuela and the context leading up to the re-writing of the consitution, Katrina Kozarek an activist based in Venezuela.
On 24 May 2017, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte declared Martial Law in Mindanao through Presidential Proclamation 216. This came after a botched military operation against an individual by the name of Isnilon Hapilon, the leader of the Maute Abu Sayyaf terrorist group, allegedly connected to ISIS. Under Martial Law, the Philippine military has intensified indiscriminate aerial bombing even as civilians are still trapped within the city. As Philippine authorities claim, 20-38 civilians have been killed, thousands have evacuated and taken refuge in several parts of Mindanao, while hundreds more were arrested.Even before PP216, state impunity perpetrated by the Armed Forces of the Philippines already claimed the lives of 34 people, mostly farmers and Lumads who are the indigenous peoples of Mindanao. They have been victims of politically-motivated extrajudicial killings, while 20 incidents of indiscriminate aerial bombings and operations have occurred since February this year.To discuss the situation in the philippines, Accent of Women speaks with Stephanie Rabusa, Chairperson of AnakBayan Melbourne. Later in the show, we speak with Joms Salvadore, secretary general of Gabriella Philippines, a progressive women’s organisation there, about the specific experiences in Mindanao.
The Pan Afrikan Poets Café (PAPC) an already legendary Afrikan literary salon pops up once again, this time at the Arts Centre Melbourne on Friday 14 July. This special pop up event is called Black Girl Magic, and Sista Zai started the project as an event that celebrates Africa’s rich literary legacy and diverse storytelling traditions.On today’s program we feature the voices of four performing artists involved in Black Girl Magic.You’ll hear from Brownsugababe, a South African Poet, Jay J is a facilitator of poetry and homemade treats in a place called Ms Millie’s Poetry Café, Nyawuda Chuol a young African-Australian actress, and of course, Sista Zai Zunda, the curator and creator of Black Girl Magic.
The 2017 French presidential election was held on 23 April. As no candidate won a majority in the first round, a run-off was held between the top two candidates, Emmanuel Macron of En Marche! and Marine Le Pen of the National Front. Macron won by a decisive margin on 7 May.
We conclude our coverage of the recent elections in South Korea and what this means for workers in that country.
For the next two weeks on Accent of Women, we look at the recent elections in South Korea and what this means for workers in that country.
We speak with a worker organiser based in Cambodia, visiting Australia as a guest of APHEDA. APHEDA is the international aid arm of the Australian labour movement. Organising is very heavily repressed in Cambodia, and listerners might recall the demos in 2013 by garment workers, fighting for a minimum wage. Those demonstrations resulted in mass arrests and the murder of two of those activists. Given the repression, what are conditions like for workers and what does it take to organise?
Accent of Women speaks with Reem Yunis, Palestinian socialist and activist based in Melbourne Australia about the Palestinian mass hunger strike, The Struggle for Freedom and Dignity. On April 17, 2017, more than 1000 palestinian prisoners commenced a hunger strike under the leadership of high profile political prisoner, Marwan Barghouti. Two weeks later, more than 1600 prisoners are now participating.
In Melbourne Australia, a socialist organisation called Socialist Alternative organises an annual Marxism Conference over the Easter long weekend. This year, they invited special guest Farah Kobaissy from the Socialist Forum in Lebanon. Farrah gave a keynote address at the conference, which I recorded, and broadcast for you now.
Today on Accent of Women, we look at the situation in two neighbouring Middle Eastern countries, Lebanon and Syria. Farah Kobeissy, is an activist and a researcher in gender, labor and migration. She is also a member of the Socialist Forum in Lebanon. She was in Australia for the annual Marxism Conference organised by Socialist Alternative and I had an opportunity to speak with her.
Today on Accent of Women, we broadcast the second and final part of a speech by Angela Davis that was delivered in October 2013, at Birkbeck School of Law. The talk is called Freedom is a constant struggle, closures and continuities. I was listening to this speech recently and every point made is relevant and salient for those of us organising for freedom today, so I wanted to give you the listener, the benefit of some of these lessons.
Today on Accent of Women, I broadcast a speech by Angela Davis that was delivered in October 2013, at Birkbeck School of Law. The talk is called Freedom is a constant struggle, closures and continuities. I was listening to this speech recently and every point made is relevant and salient for those of us organising for freedom today, so I wanted to give you the listener, the benefit of some of these lessons.
Today on Accent of Women, I am in conversation with Madelaine Imber and Tandiwe Aebi-Moyo about Butch and Butch Identity. Butch is not a dirty word is a publication, originating in Melbourne, Australia, and the brain child of Butch activist, Esther Godoy.
The 21st of March is the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination – and while I don't believe that the United Nations has any commitment to ending racism, it's a worthwhile opportunity to look at anti-racist organising, particularly in the lead up to the Palm Sunday rallies across Australia, where activists will again take to the streets in defence of refugees. I'll provide those details at the end of the show. But featured on today's program, two young activists who organise around anti-racism, one in relation to anti-fascism and against the mobilisations of the far right, and the other, in support and defence of refugees. Heba Saleh is a young Lebanese woman, a socialist and a refugee advocate. She has worked on refugee issues both in Australia and in Lebanon. Nahui Jimeniz is a young Mexican woman and socialist, organising against the rise of the Far-Right here in Australia.
On the program today, and in celebration of International Women's Day, we feature two women organisers from Sri Lanka. In mid February 2017, an organisation called JERA, Justice Equity Right Access International, hosted a delegation of about 15 grassroots and community organisers from Sri Lanka, to Australia. We speak with two of the women on this delegation, Dr Sepali Kottegoda and Sumika Perera.
We look at a Community Foundation in Palestine that goes by the name Dalia. It's an extraordinary organisation in that it confronted the limitations of international aid coming in to Palestine, and how ultimately, money, organised in that way, made little to no difference to the lives of Palestinians.
President Trump stunned the world on January 27 when he signed a sudden executive order suspending immigration for 90 days from seven mostly Muslim countries. This ban had an immediate effect on people but was met with significant resistance which culminated in a legal battle that saw a federal appeals panel last week unanimously rejected Trump’s bid to reinstate this ban. Despite this, the ban is not yet dead in the water and the battle continues.
Donald Trump was inaugurated on January 20 amidst massive protests worldwide. In his first couple of weeks in office, he has introduced some extreme policies, one of which being the ban on people born in Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Libya, Yemen, Iraq and Iran, from entering the US. The ban had an immediate effect – people were being detained at airports, put on return flights or transported to immigration detention facilities. But over the last few days we've seen a winding back of these policies. On this week's program, we speak with New York based political activist, anti-capitalist organiser and human rights lawyer, Suzanne Adely.
January 26. Australia Day. It marks the anniversary of the 1788 arrival of the First Fleet of British Ships at Port Jackson, in New South Wales, the raising of the Flag of Great Britain at that site by Governor Arthur Phillip, the invasion of Australia and the start of genocide against the original owners of this land. We should not celebrate Australia Day. It's a day that has been sanctified and sanitised. Instead, we should be protesting and fighting for land rights, sovereignty and self-determination for all Aboriginal people.
This week on Accent of Women, we are still looking at the issue of refugees in Australia, but from a campaign and advocacy perspective this time. The Refugee Council of Australia is organising an ongoing film festival. They screen particular films, in particular states across the country, in an effort to shift public opinion about who refugees are and how they are created.
We're continuing our Summer Programming this week and so, a few more of Accent of Women's Snapshots. For listeners that don't remember, Snapshots was a series of radio features with women who had recently come to Australia from different countries. We produced a double CD set of 19 stories back in 2011.
We're continuing our Summer Programming this week and so, a few more of Accent of Women's Snapshots. For listeners that don't remember, Snapshots was a series of radio features with women who had recently come to Australia from different countries. We produced a double CD set of 19 stories back in 2011. So while most of us are enjoying the festive holiday season, these snapshots remind us that war continues throughout the world, producing refugees such as these women that you'll hear now. And most importantly, these snapshots remind us that the fight continues, and people are still surviving.
It's Summer Programming again and I thought it would be a good time to pull out Accent of Women's Snapshots. For listeners that don't remember, Snapshots was a series of radio features with women who had recently come to Australia from different countries. We produced a double CD set of 19 stories back in 2011.
Since its initial establishment in 1956, the MCT has supported women from migrant, refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds around key settlement issues – housing, English classes, community capacity building, employment and training, family counselling and mediation, leadership programs, as well as financial literacy to name a few.To celebrate these 60 years of service, the MCT has put together a book called Opening Doors, which document some of the path breaking work to support women from migrant and refugee backgrounds.Joining me on today's program are Halima Mohamed, a leader in the Somali community and one of the MCT's program participants. Sarina Greco, former team leader from 1997 to 2005, and current team leader, Hutch Hussein.
Alok Vaid-Menon is a trans femme South Asian writer, performance artist, and community organizer based in NYC. For the past seven years they have organized in solidarity with racial-, economic-, and gender-justice movements worldwide.
Alok Vaid-Menon is a trans femme South Asian writer, performance artist, and community organizer based in NYC. For the past seven years they have organized in solidarity with racial-, economic-, and gender-justice movements worldwide.
Alok Vaid-Menon is a trans femme South Asian writer, performance artist, and community organizer based in NYC. For the past seven years they have organized in solidarity with racial-, economic-, and gender-justice movements worldwide.
Coco Solid describes herself as a musician, writer, artist and philosoflygirl hailing from Auckland Aotearoa/New Zealand. She delivered the keynote address at the Listen Conference, a feminist music space, held in Melbourne over the weekend of October 14, 15 and 16.
Coco Solid describes herself as a musician, writer, artist and philosoflygirl hailing from Auckland Aotearoa/New Zealand. She delivered the keynote address at the Listen Conference, a feminist music space, held in Melbourne over the weekend of October 14, 15 and 16.
After more than 50 years of ongoing armed conflict, Peace negotiations began in Colombia. The agreement, signed by the government and the oldest insurgency in the world, FARC, was stalled by the Pyrrhic victory of the NO campaign, where people voted against the agreements on a plebiscite. We talk about the role of the media, the need of social justice and the hopes of millions of Colombians to put an end to more than five decades of armed conflict.#PazParaColombia
On today's program we look at organising workers in the garment industry in two different Asian countries – Indonesia and Cambodia. Although these workers are effectively doing the same job, their local issues are very different, and bring about different methods of organising.
This week on Accent of Women, we take a creative look, at the art of spoken word as political expression.My guest today is Sista Zai – or Zai Zunda. She's a poet, she acts, writes, draws, DJs, sings, plays, laughs and travels. Find her on Facebook – Sista Zai Story Teller and Thought Leader.
Qandeel Baloch was a young Pakistani girl who sky-rocketed into the public domain through her use of social media. She's like the Kim Kardashian of Pakistan. A young aspiring model, flaunting herself on the internet and attracting a mass following. She was murdered by her brother. He said it was to protect his honour and that of his family. But this honour killing attracted public outrage – unlike thousands of other honour killings in that country.Why did Qandeela's death cause outrage? What affect has it had on feminism and left-wing politics in Pakistan?To discuss these issues and more, I am joined this week by feminist and socialist activist Aima Khosa. Aima is a journalist for the Express Tribune, which is an affiliate of the New York Times in Pakistan. Aima is also a member of the Awami Workers Party Lahore, the only Leftist political party in Pakistan that came together in 2014 through a coalition of 3 left groups.
Robin Wonsley is a socialist and trade union activist involved in the Black Lives Matter movement in the United States. Concluding this week on Accent of Women, we look at the socio-economic dimensions of US society that results in the severe repression of Black people.
Robin Wonsley is socialist and trade union activist involved in the Black Lives Matter movement in the United States. This week and next week on Accent of Women, we look at the socio-economic dimensions of US society that results in the severe repression of Black people.
In the aftermath of the recent Federal Elections, blatantly racist Pauline Hanson was elected to the Senate after 20 years dormant. We regularly see her in the media expressing her hatred to migrants and refugees and particularly to Muslims, constructing a populist speech that has found resonance in some conservative pockets of society.Long time socialist and activist Tess Lee Ack write for Marxist Left review an article entitled 'How we stopped Pauline Hanson last time', where she discusses the role of the Australian unions, students and people's organisations in stopping Hanson two decades ago, and how can we stop her and her racist politics now.
The Arab Film Festival is back on and this time, it's not only being held in Melbourne and Sydney, but in Canberra and Perth as well. In it's 13th year, The Arab Film Festival Australia is a community based and community driven film festival that brings together the best in contemporary Arab cinema to Australian audiences. The festival provides a unique opportunity for cross-cultural exchange, dialogue and relationship building between Australia and the Arab communities from around the world.
On the show this week we speak with the co-founders of bi-racial blog, The Pin. The Pin is a blog spot and website, dedicated to people that come from a mixture of different cultures, races and ethnicities. The term they use, is bi-racial and bi-cultural.The two co-founders are Nkechi Anele and Lucie Cutting, and in this panel discussion, they are joined by blog contributor, Katie Ho.
According to Human Rights Watch, 14 million girls are married, worldwide, each year - with some as young as eight or nine. While early and forced marriage appears most prevalent in countries of Africa, Asia and the Middle East, several recent cases have shown Australia is not immune to the practise.On March 8 th 2013, yup, that's international women's day, Federal legislation passed to specifically outlaw the practice. The amendment created new offences relating to slavery and slave-like practices including forced marriage. Under the Act, a marriage is a forced marriage if – because of the use of coercion, threat or deception – one party to the marriage entered into the marriage without freely and fully consenting.But it's not as feminist as it sounds. These laws have come at a time when Australia's anti-immigration policies are actively preventing Australian refugees from war-torn countries to sponsor and assist other family members from getting here. Forcing people in communities to marry their relatives overseas, sometimes seems like the only option.
We celebrate ethnic programming and many different languages and communities having access to the airwaves. But do women and young people within those ethnic communities have the same access to their voices being heard in the airwaves?We discussed with a great panel that includes Areej Nur, a young broadcaster currently producing at 3CR and Namila Benson, who began as a young producer in community radio two decades ago.This discussion was originally broadcasted on April 8 from Gertrude Contemporary as part of a panel celebrating the history of Ethic Programming in community Radio. This show was part of the 40th birthday celebration of 3CR community Radio.Listen to the section dedicated to Women in Community Language programming.
For two years and eight months, indigenous community leader Nestora Salgado was unjustly kept in prison. For over a year she had no access to speak with her attorney and was in solitary confinment. After over two years without a trial and bogus charges, and thanks to great international solidarity accions, Nestora is now free. She was released in March this years.Nestora is an activists and activist of Olinala’s Community police, a community elected and sanctioned organisation in charge of safety and peace-keeping. Once released, Nestora has embarked in a campaign for the liberation of the remaining political prisoners in Mexican prisons, and in supporting social movements opposing the brutal neoliberal measures that are being implemented in Mexico by blood and fire.I spoke via Skype with Miriam Padilla, a Mexican-American activist based in Seattle. She is a member of the Freedom Socialist Party in Washington and she has been and active member of the Free Nestora Campaign, an international campaign that was instrumental in the liberation of Nestora. Miriam speaks on the case of Nestora, on International solidarity and the importance of making connections between tye different issies in Mexico and across the continent.This show also included an excerpt of an interview I recorded with Gris Rodriguez, Nestora Salgado's daughter, on the fist anniversary of her imrpisonment. You can find the full interview on this link: Accent of Women 19.08.2014
Prestigious Chilean journalist, writer and commentator Martha Harnecker talks about social change in Latin America and the recent challenges that social movements and progressive governments are facing today. Discussing corporate and independent media, social organisation, revolutionary strategies, the role of the workers and more.Marta was a student of Louis Althusser in Paris and returned to Chile in 1968. After the bloody coup against the Allende government in Chile in 1973, she moved to Cuba where she became Director of the research centre “Memoria Popular Lationoamericana” (MEPLA) in Havana. Between 2004 and 2011, Marta lived in Venezuela, based at the Centro International Miranda research institute, and served as an advisor to President Chávez and to various Venezuelan institutions. She now lives in Vancouver.She is the author of over 80 books and monographs, some of which have been translated into English. Her book A World to Build won the “Literatador Prize for Critical Thinking” in 2013 and was published by Monthly Review Press in 2015. Her latest book Planning from Below: A proposal of decentralized participatory planning, was published in 2015 in Cuba and Spain, and now is in the process of translation into English.These talk was recorded at Victoria University in a meeting hosted by VU's Community Identity Displacement Research Network.
In the context of 3CR's 40th birthday special broadcast, Jiselle Hanna and Lourdes Garcia-Larque were joined by a panell of Community languages broadcasters Vicky Ferrada (Spanish language programming) and Melba Marginson (Tagalog programming) to discuss the history of the participation of CALD women in community radio over the last four decades. We talked about the challengesfemale programmers faced within their communities broadcasting in their languages, and the importance of raising issues such as family violence and feminism in Ethnic Radio.The audio for this show was recorded from the live broacasting "Community Language Programmingh" on April 8, for the 3CRs 40th birthday, broadcasted from Gertrude Studios in Fitzroy.
On March 17, 2015, thousands of jornaleras and jornaleros (agricultural workers) from the town of San Quintin, in Baja California (Mexico) marched to the US border, to demand fair wages, sanitation, housing, an end to the 21st century slatery conditions they have endured for decade and that the NAFTA has just made worst.Gloria Gracida Martnez is a teacher and activist, a former jornalera and a spokes-person for the movement. On Accent of Women she talked to us about the story of the march and two month long occupation and strike, the formation of their union, and educating the youth abouth fighting for their rights.Boycott Driscoll campaign.
International Women's Day #IWD2016 we have put together a special show showcasing two of our favourite recent interviews. Lourdes Garcia-Larque spoke with teacher and activist Gloria Gracida, about the struggle of strawberry pickers in the Mexican border, their fight for justice, their newly formed union & the boycott against multinational company Driscoll. You can find more information about the campaign following this link.Jiselle Hanna spoke with Filipino activist Liza Maza. They spoke about resisting American imperialism in the Asia Pacific region, and about the impacts of military bases in the Philippines.
Colombian artists Katherine Gailer & Maria Esther Pena talk about their upcoming EXHIBITION ▷ INHABITED: A Magical Realism that opens on Tuesday, 2 February 2016, 5 -7pm, 45 Downstairs (45 Flinders Lane) in Melbourne. We talked about Magical Realism, telling different stories and being an Immigrant. We discussed about what is a "LAtin american" artist in Australia.Dates: 2 – 13 February 2016Opening Night: Tuesday, 2 February 2016, 5 -7pmINHABITED: A Magical Realism’ is a group exhibition by Colombian-Australian artists Katherine Gailer and Maria Peña comprising a collection of visual metaphors representing identities in transition, disintegration and reconstruction. It presents a body of works– which incorporates oil paintings and drawings– aiming to uncover the magical realism, which inhabits Australia’s multicultural landscape. The artists reveal a mythical dimension, which embraces visions of fragmented memories and dreamlike sates arising out of the journeys of people migrating, being displaced and travelling around the globe. These are experiences of dislocation that give birth to new identities and generate unique cultural connections. Moreover, INHABITED holds deeper meanings inspired by a shift of consciousness, a spiritual awakening, and presents art that facilitates the depiction of new interconnected realities. The works presented are strongly concerned with the intrinsic relationship that exists between nature, the human spirit and identity.While exploring stories of diaspora and myths in Melbourne’s demographic, it became evident for the artists that experiences of relocation unfold deep spiritual and social transformations that affect the public consciousness. Hereby, Peña and Gailer are drawn to the possibility of creating art that serves as a window to alternative realities, which enables processes of reconciliation with past memories, the self and our natural environment. Just as Marc Auge described it: ‘Humankind is not in ruins it is in reconstruction’. By exposing their artistic response to issues of memory and relocation, these women aim to create an imaginary landscape. A scenery, where humans are often portrayed interacting with flowers, water, animals and other natural forms– as well as overlapped spaces– as a way to express the complexities of beings navigating the in-between places, that exist in the past and present. As immigrants in Australia, INHABITED is a fascinating platform for Gailer and Peña to explore identities in transit, restore myths, awaken memory and open new spiritual spaces. An exhibition inviting the audience to imagine, reconstruct and decipher their own magical realism.INHABITED is proudly supported by Multicultural Arts VictoriaDETAILS:Free EventOpening Night: Tuesday 2 February 2016, 5 – 7pmExhibition Runs: 2 February – 13 February 2016Location: Fortyfive Downstairs Gallery(45 Flinders Ln, Melbourne 3000 VIC)Opening Hours: Tue to Fri: 11am - 5 pmSat: 12pm - 4pm Artists Websites:www.katherinegailer.comwww.maria-pena.com
January 26. Australia Day. It marks the anniversary of the 1788 arrival of the First Fleet of British Ships at Port Jackson, in New South Wales, the raising of the Flag of Great Britain at that site by Governor Arthur Phillip, the invasion of Australia and the start of genocide against the original owners of this land. We should not celebrate Australia Day, and to tell us why, Aboriginal woman, Daniela Rochford joins us on Accent of Women.
Canadian-Australian mining company OceanaGold continues a US$315 million US dollar lawsuit against El Salvador, a small country in Central America. This is possible under the Free Trade Agreement laws. a snapshot of what could come with the secretive TPP. Vidalina Morales speaks about environmental impact in an already fragile country, and about the violence used by mining companies to eliminate activists.
In November 2014, Filipina transgender woman, Jennifer Laude was murdered by US marine Lance Corporal Joseph Scott Pemberton. He has not been brought to justice. On this week and next, Accent of Women looks at this case and the campaign for justice.
In November 2014, Filipina transgender woman, Jennifer Laude was murdered by US marine Lance Corporal Joseph Scott Pemberton. He has not been brought to justice. On this week and next, Accent of Women looks at this case in some detail.
We discuss the situation of political prisoners in Peru over the last 20 years, particularly in the context of the fierce anti-communism of the Fujimori regime, and the recent changes to the incarceration system.We talk about how political prisoners have used art as a therapeutic tool and a way to share their stories.Viviana Salas is a Peruvian photographer living in Melbourne and the curator of Art Inside, an exhibition presented at the Victorian Trades Hall suering May this year.The exhibition presented artwork produced by political prisoners around the world, including West Papua, Chile and Peru. The interview was recorded ruing the time of the exhibition.
In the context of recent Reclaim Australia demonstrations against immigrants, muslims and generally people of colour, we bring some updates on the Middle East. We will hear about the everyday life of people in Syria that forces people to cross their borders from Hanan Maarouf #SyriansForFreedom in a speech she gave at the#StopReclaimAustralia rally in Melbourne in November 22. We will also hear Palestinian socialist Reem with updates on Palestine, the most recent Intifada and upcoming solidarity events from #CAIA Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid.
African feminism is as old as society. From Kenyan women asserting their right to dress as they choose and Nigerians standing up to the misogynist Boko Haram to feminists organising across the continent for LGBTIQ rights. The Socialist Feminist organisation, Radical Women, recently organised a public meeting on Feminism in Africa. Nita Okoko, Kenyan feminist and international student at Melbourne University was the keynote speaker, and 3CR's Areej Nur recorded the speech.Nita started off by explaining that in many respects, it's difficult to discuss feminism in Africa – an entire continent, and that the expression of women's struggle is very different depending on where in Africa you are. Nonetheless, Nita embarked on this mammoth task.
Daniela Alvarado is an Ecuadorian feminist and a Public Health specialist. She is passionate about women’s reproductive rights. Daniela discusses the history of women’s struggles and campaigns in Latin America, and particularly in Ecuador, for social and economic rights, safe legal abortions and self determination.This program was first played on November 2014, and it is an interview recorded at a public meeting organised by Radical Women in Melbourne.
Israel has once again escalated its attacks against the Palestinians, provoked by the right-wing Zionist settler movement that wants the government to take control of Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa Mosque compound and allow Jewish prayers on the entire site. It is hard to believe that a future is possible in Palestine. In fact, many are predicting a third intifada. And yet, as Jerusalem burns, it seems there is the zygote of a progressive Jewish movement emerging in Isreal. While a Jewish perspective on the occupation of Israel on Palestine is not a common view broadcast on Accent of Women, this week, we've decided to give this issue some air time. I spoke with Jewish activist Sahar Vardi. She's based in Israel and is an organiser in a campaign to end Israeli occupation of Palestine.
Under Pinochet era Anti-Terror laws, 15 Mapuche community leaders are currently in prison because they are opposing a forestry hydrolic company taking over their lands - all with the permission of the State.Marisol Salinas is a Mapuche in exile here in Australia, and a member of the Latin American Solidarity Network, where she co-ordinates the solidarity campaign for the release of the Mapuche political prisoners. She's our special guest on Accent of Women.
Effie Meehan is a woman from Greek background living with cerebral palsy. For over 30 years, she has been a tireless advocate for the rights of people with disabilities, particularly from migrant backgrounds.She is a co-founder of ADEC (Action on Disability within Ethnic Communities) and she is currently a Facilitator and a Disabily Ambassador.
Today’s show is dedicated to the case of the 43 students from Ayotzinapa marking the one-year anniversary since the event in which 43 students were forcibly disapeared.On the night of September 26, 2014, six people were killed by police forces, including three students. One of them, Julio Mondragón, appeared hours later with the skin removed from his face. On that night, 43 student teachers were kidnapped by state forces.One year on, the case of the 43 students has become an emblematic case of state repression and impunity, and an example of the close links between criminal organizations and state forces. It is also an example of the resistance, the solidarity and the resilience of the Mexican people standing up for justice.On today’s show we will discuss about the most recent report “informe Ayotzinapa”, produced by an Independent Experts Interdisciplinary group, GIEI for its Spanish Acronym. We are going to hear some reflections on the report and the journey of struggle and resistance led by the relatives of the disappeared students. We will hear the voices of two of the mothers of the Ayotzinapa students. They are Bertha Nava, mother of Julio Cesar Ramirez Nava, one of the students killed during the police attacks of the night of September 26, and Hilda Legideño, mother of Jorge Antonio Tizapa Legideño, one of the 43 disappeared students.These are some previous Accent of Women shows on the topic:11 November 2014:Can 43 students go missing for over a month without a trace? In Mexico, 43 rural teachers from the rural school of Ayotzinapa were kidnapped by local security agents and drug cartels. We discuss about how young poor people become targets of the violenceof State and criminal forces. - See more at: http://www.3cr.org.au/accentofwomen/podcast/accent-women-1111201416 December 2014:Social unrest in Mexico as a result of the dissapearance of 43 rural student teachers from Ayotzinapa. The action was perpetrated by the State, that responds with fierce repression to all forms of protest. Laura Carlsen, political analyst, discusses from Mexico about the ongoing demonstrations and provides an insight on the current social and political crisis in the country. - See more at: http://www.3cr.org.au/accentofwomen/podcast/accent-women-16122014You can find a video of the report´s launch in Spanish here.The full inform is here (in Spanish).
Since the election of Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, there has been a marked increase in military spending by the government. This has led to an upsurge in anti-war actions in the last few years with massive demonstrations across Japan. As the world prepares for increased military operations in the Middle East, Japan is eagerly running into these conflicts despite fierce opposition from the people. To help us understand the situation in Japan, Chie Matsumoto talks to Accent of Women.
On today's show, we will be learning about the work of ADEC, Action on Disability in Ethnic Communities, a community based organization that aims to empower people with disabilities from ethnic backgrounds, their carers and families.To learn about this organization we spoke with of its founding members, Effie Mehan, a woman from Greek background living with Cerebral palsy. She is a tireless advocate for the rights of people from CALD backgrounds living with disabilities in Victoria, and she is currently an ambassador for her organization. She has been working in the sector for over 30 years. In 2006, in recognition of her work, she was included among the Victorian Honour Roll of Women. Effie speaks about her personal experience living with cerebral palsy and the challenges she encounter living as a migrant women in Australia, at a time where not many services were available for ethnic communities. She also speaks about the role of the organization she helped build.This interview was recorded in 2014.To find out more about ADEC, follow the link to the organisation's website.And here is a link to the book about ADEC's story.
African feminism is as old as society. From Kenyan women asserting their right to dress as they choose and Nigerians standing up to the misogynist Boko Haram to feminists organising across the continent for LGBTIQ rights. The Socialist Feminist organisation, Radical Women, recently organised a public meeting on Feminism in Africa. Nita Okoko, Kenyan feminist and international student at Melbourne University was the keynote speaker, and 3CR's Areej Nur recorded the speech.Nita started off by explaining that in many respects, it's difficult to discuss feminism in Africa – an entire continent, and that the expression of women's struggle is very different depending on where in Africa you are. Nonetheless, Nita embarked on this mammoth task.
On this week's show, we speak to an unlikely activist, a muslim woman who was so overwhelmed with the grief in her community that she organised a public meeting on fighting Islamophobia.
On the show this week, we bring you a remarkable story of the victory of the Anganbadi workers in India, who after weeks of struggle, won their dispute with the government. Anganbadi is a government sponsored child-care and mother-care program which relies solely on the work of the Anganbadi workers most of which are women. The urban poor in Delhi rely heavily on these services from pre-natal care to accessing information about immunization. Apart from looking after malnutritioned children, as well as poor and expecting mothers, the Anganbadi workers make birth and death registrations and recently they also have been assigned election duties for which they receive no additional remuneration. These workers are paid a mere 5000 Rupees ($100AUS) per month for supposedly being volunteer workers. After some two weeks of hunger strike and much police brutality, these workers won all of their demands, when their struggle ended in victory on Thursday the 30th of July.To tell that story, one of the organisers of the dispute, Shivani Kaul from Bigul Mazdoor Dasta, joins Accent of Women
July 20 was a historic day in Havana, Cuba and in Washington DC in the United State. For the first time in 54 years, the Cuban embassy in Washington and the American Embassy in Havana re-opened their doors. After months of negotiations that involved even the pope Francis, and after many years of work behind scenes, this important moment took place.In recent years, there have been a number of political, economic and legislative changes.An important day in the Cuban revolution Calendar is July 26. The celebrations in Cuba and Latin America to commemorate this date remind us there are a lot of questions in the air when discussing the re-establishment of the Cuba-US diplomatic relations.What will this mean for the socialist model that Cuba has developed all this years? Is Cuba giving up and opening it-self to American economic influence? How much will change as Cuba moves to a new generation of leadership?Today we are listening from Kenia Serrano Puig, she is the president of the Cuban Institute for Friendship with the People’s, ICAP and a Deputy to the Cuban National Assembly. She visited Australia in June this year, invited by the Australia-Cuba Friendship Society and we had the opportunity to hear her reflections on these topics.This show is a combination of recordings from both her presentation during her visit to Melbourne, and an interview conducted by British organization Rock Around the Blockade.
Lorena Pizarro is human rights activist and currently the President of the Association of Relatives of the Detained and Disappeared in Chile. She toured Australia in June this year to talk about the cases of forced dissapeared in Chile and Latin america and to highlight the importance of seeking justice for human rights abuses in Chile.She was invited by the National Campaign for Truth and Justice in Chile to support the campaign for the extradition of Adriana Rivas.This talk was presented at La Trobe University. Interpreting by Pilar Aguilera.Some information on the case here.Accused from Pinochet’s Chile still in Australia.
As Accent of Women goes to air, Greece is approaching its due date with the European Community and the IMF to impose severe austerity measures on its people, in order to be granted another bailout. It's looking like Greece will refuse to do this, and will await the outcome of a referendum, scheduled to take place on July 7.To look more deeply at the Greece Economic Crisis, Accent of Women is joined by Afrodity Giannakis, member of Syriza, a part of the left platform and the red network. Afrodfity is one of many Greek nationals leaving Greece at the moment, because the situation is too severe and too harsh. Afrodity has lived in Australia in her childhood, and is here once again.
Auckland Action Against Poverty is a direct action and welfare rights advocacy group. It is an openly anti-capitalist group formed to expose and oppose the New Zealand government's agenda of welfare cuts and austerity attacks on the country’s poorest communities. We spoke with AAAP's coordinator Nadia Abu-Shanab. She is a Palestinian, a en educator and trade unionist.The talk was recorded at the Marxism 2015 Conference that took place in Melbourne in April 2015 in Melbourne, organised by Socialist Alternative.
The Australian Council of Trade Unions held its annual conference from teh 26th to teh 28th of May 2015. A number of international guests were invited, and among them, Sineat Yon from the Cambodian Food and Service Workers' Federation. Accent of Women had an opportunity to interview her about organising unions in Cambodia.
Revisiting Accent of women's archives we bring back an interview with Sylvia Marcos, a scholar committed with the struggles of indigenous peoples throughout the Americas.We discussed the idea of decolonising feminist, and what is the contribution of indigenous women in Zapatista communities in the South of Mexico, where indigenous people build autonomous territories and day by day challenge the old ways.Accent of women has an upcoming fundraiser:Heart of Time (Corazón del Tiempo)A film that takes you to the heart of the Zapatista resistance.Director: Alberto CortésMexico-Spain 2008Winner of Cine Ceará Film FestivalIn the Zapatista mountains, land of rebellious dignity and free indigenous peoples, a young woman´s love leads her to challenge the old ways. That is possible in liberated land and in the heart of time.Entry:Concession $10Full fee $15Solidarity donation $20All funds will support Accent of Women, a radio program by and about women from diverse cultures in Australia and around the world. Part of3CR Community Radio 2015 Radiothon.Drinks and snacks available for sale.Facebook event and poster here.
We discuss the situation of political prisoners in Peru over the last 20 years, particularly in the context of the fierce anti-communism of the Fujimori regime, and the recent changes to the incarceration system.We talk about how political prisoners have used art as a therapeutic tool and a way to share their stories.Viviana Salas is a Peruvian photographer living in Melbourne and the curator of Art Inside, an exhibition currently displaying Melbourne at the Victorian Trades Hall (crn Victoria and Lygon St) The exhibition presents artwork produced by political prisoners around the world, including West Papua, Chile and Peru. The exhibition closes on May 15.
We speak with Emily Woo Yamasaki, an Asian-American activist and queer feminists based in New York.We talked about racist police violence and environmental racism in the USA today. Emily is a contributor to the book "Talking back, voices of color", published by Red Letter Press.
We spoke with Nellie Wong, a Chinese-American, feminist poet and socialist activist. She is the editor of the book "Talking Back, Voices of Colour", published by Red Letter Press. Talking back is an anthology featuring voices of youth, political prisoners, immigrants and history-makers. In Melbourne, the book was launched on Saturday May 2 at Solidarity Salon, 580 Sydney Road, Brunswick. Here is the link to the event.