Women’s Space Radio Show with our guests Rhonda Black and Stephanie Melnik on Valentine’s Day OBR and TVM production, and Faith Ross and Gloria Robinson on Black History Month events in Petaluma, recorded on 2/4/19, has been uploaded to the web archives. The show was recorded, broadcast and streamed over Radio KBBF 89.1 FM in the NorthBay on Monday 2/4/19 at 11 AM (repeats at 11 PM) and repeat broadcast and streamed over Radio KPCA 103.3 FM in Petaluma on Wednesday 2/6/19 at 11 AM.
The Recording of the show is archived at http://www.womensspaces.com/ArchiveWSKBBF/WSA190204.html
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Valentine’s Day OBR and TVM in Petaluma Production Update
Black History Month
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Featuring Guests
1.Ronda Black, Producer, One Billion Rising and The Vagina Monologues (English & Spanish) in Petalulma February 14th
2. Stephanie Melnik, Performer, The Vagina Monologues (English) in Petalulma February 14th
3. Faith Ross, Petaluma Blacks for Community Development (PBCD
4. Gloria Robinson Co-Founder, Petaluma Blacks for Community Development (PBCD); Co-founder, NAACP, Sonoma County Chapter
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Announcements (Click for links below)
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1. Rhonda Black and 2. Stephanie Melnik update us on the production of the event One Billion Rising (OBR) and The Vagina Monologues (TVM) in Petaluma on Valentine’s Day February 14th. Rhonda shares what moves her to take on this production and direction of OBR and TVM, with the TVM being done in English and another one in Spanish, both of which will be translated into American Sign Language for the deaf. Stephanie reads one of the TVM monologues that she will be performing on stage on February 14th in Petaluma at The Mentor Me Center, 426 8th Street.
About our Guest: Rhonda Black refers to herself as a local do gooder, who believes that mentoring and working towards ending violence against women and children is the best way to change our world for the better. She has been involved with The Vagina Monologue (TVM) for ten years and One Billion Rising (OBR) since its beginning in 2012. She’s helped with marches, taught Flash mobs, art shows, organized OBR’s and TVM over the years. This year she is producing and directing The Vagina Monologues in Petaluma. Through the program Mentor Me she has mentored one young boy for six years and two sets of four teenage women who are part of the Commission on the Status of Women Junior Commission. She has a passion for the arts, activism and strengthening community through mentoring.
About our Guest: Stephanie Melnik recently moved up to Petaluma after living in San Francisco for a decade. She is a small business owner with her sister, and sells her handcrafted granola bars, called Awesome Bars. She will be performing a couple pieces in The Vagina Monologues. This is her first on
stage performance and she is thrilled to have finally found a space to
exercise her voice in a powerful way! … and that she is amused and excited
to say vagina so many times to a public audience.
Guest Link: One Billion Rising and The Vagina Monologues (English & Spanish), February 14, 2019, Petaluma https://www.facebook.com/events/201532364128702/
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3. Faith Ross and 4. Gloria Robinson talk about the annual events offered in Petaluma by the Petaluma Blacks for Community Development (PBCD) for Black History Month in collaboration in part with the Petaluma Historical Library and Museum. This year the theme is on the Black Migration from 1910 to 1970, shifting the center of African American social, economic, political and cultural life from the rural South.
About our Guest: Faith Ross is currently involved in her community of Petaluma through Petaluma Blacks for Community Development (PBCD), Petaluma Historical Library and Museum, and the Petaluma Christian Church. Faith is alos a member of the Sonoma County Human Rights Commission. A native of California but raised in Louisiana, Ross graduated from Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana with a degree in Business Administration. Ross retired from the Auditor/Assessor’s Office at the County of Sonoma after working in public service for X years. She continues to learn new material, taking courses at local colleges in San Francisco and Sonoma County. Ross has been the curator of several successful exhibitions at the museum including “Women who fought for Civil Rights” and “The Many Faces of Petaluma – The Ethnic and Cultural Diversity of our City.” As one of the founding members of PBCD, Ross has helped to promote an understanding of black history and culture by providing a free community Black History Program, and other events during February which is Black History Month. Ross teaches Sunday school and is the Treasurer for Petaluma Christian Church.
About our Guest: Gloria Robinson is a long time member of the county, one of the founders of Petaluma Blacks for Community Development (PBCD) and former Secretary and co founder of the NAACP here in our county. Born into Miami Florida’s segregated south Gloria learned at an early age the injustice of segregation. By age twenty six she was married with four children. Her husband’s employment brought the family to San Francisco, then Marin Co and finally settling in Petaluma. It was in Petaluma that she became active in the community. She was one of the first appointed members to the to the Sonoma County Commission on the Status of Women where she coordinated the Women of Color Task Force and developed the Women of Color section for the 1980 CSW report and the NAACP, the National Association for t he Advancement for Colored People where she served as secretary and volunteer coordinator.
Guest Link: Petaluma Blacks for Community Development https://www.facebook.com/pb4cd/
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February 7, 2019 Thursday, Exhibit: The Great Black Migration 1910 to 1970. Petaluma Historical Library and Museum, 20 Fourth St, Petaluma. FREE Open to the public.
February 10, 2019 Sunday 1:00 – 2:30 PM, Sharon McGriff-Payne, author of John Grider’s Century: African Americans in Solano, Napa and Sonoma Counties, 1845-1925, will be giving a lecture as part of Black History Month on the theme of “The Great Migration” in the Bay Area. Petaluma Historical Library and Museum, 20 Fourth St, Petaluma. FREE Open to the public.
For further Black History Month Activities in February of the Petaluma Blacks for Community Developmentt (most are free and open to the public) download the pdf of the brouchure (Click Here for pdf) or check out https://www.facebook.com/pb4cd/
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February 6, 2019 Wednesday 6 to 8 PM, Unshackled – monthly racial discussion group facilitated by Dr. Jacqueline Lawrence. Arlene Francis Center, Santa Rosa, CA https://www.facebook.com/IamUnshackled/
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February 14, 2019 Thursday 4:30 – 9:00 PM, The Mentor Me Center, 426 8th St, Petaluma, CA, One Billion Rising and The Vagina Monologues (English & Spanish) Tickets available to purchase for TVM https://www.facebook.com/events/201532364128702/
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February 23, 2019 Saturday 5:30 PM, 41st Annual Black History Program, Theme of the Black Migration 1910-1970 with special tribute to Arethra Franklin, the Queen of Soul. Auditorium of New Life Christian Fellowship, 1310 Clegg St., Petaluma. Free and Open to the Public
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Febrruary 24, 2019,Sunday 4 PM, Annual Gospel Hour, Petaluma Christian Church, 1160 Schuman Lane, with participation of local churches. Free and Open to the Public
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March 3, 2019 Sunday 2f PM, Lecture by Dr. Martha C. Taylor, author of From Labor to Reward. No other author has chronicled the rich religious experiences of black church beginnings in the Bay Area from 1849 through 1972. Dr. Taylor captures the joys, frustrations, and unity of black people who left the segregated Deep South, came to the Bay Area seeking freedom only to face similar adversities of segregation, racism and other social-political barriers. Free and Open to the Public
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March 30-31, 2019, Founding Convention of the California Progressive Alliance (CPA) https://californiaprogressivealliance.org/2019-founding-convention/
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Music Selections:
The Opening and Closing Theme song is with permission of the Composer and Singer
Alix Dobkin: The Woman in Your Life is You by Alix Dobkin from the album Living with Lavender Jane (Women’s Wax Works) – www.alixdobkin.com
Rising Up* by I Billion Rising from the single (Released March 2013 @ 2013 Sabrina Steczko)
Ella’s Song sung by Anna Fritz from the album On A High Hill (2016 564490 Records DK)
* Rising Up is a tribute to V-Day One Billion Rising, Sabrina Steczko founder of Sexual Alchemy, the first organizer of Montreal’s first V-Day One Billion Rising event in 2013, felt inspired and sparked this collective creation. Sabrina approached 14 women worldwide to partake in this song project. Seed lyrics: Areeya Marie (Las Vegas), Mel Shapcott (Arizona) and Sabrina Steczko (Montreal). Vocal collaborations: Caroline Harsha Crasto (India), Areeya Marie (Las Vegas), Mel Shapcott (Arizona), Abbi Spinner McBride (Las Vegas), Dale Allen (Connecticut), Marsia Shuron Harris (Massachusetts), Alisa Starkweather (Massachusetts), Oceana LeBlanc (Massachusetts), Angelia Crasto (Montreal), Sabrina Steczko (Montreal), Elaine Lemire (Montreal), Isabelle Renaud (Montreal) and Lea Longo (Montreal). Studio and Producer: Rad Crasto (Montreal) producer, multi-instrumentalist, sound engineering, and music and song writer has re-arranged the lyrics, and wrote and played all the music for Rising Up. This collective creation is a response back to Break-the-Chain, anthem song for One Billion Rising international dance flashmob. Collaborating studios for snipets of women’s voices in the US: in Las Vegas Abbi Spinner McBride, in Massachusetts Brett & Lisa Brumby, in Connecticut Walt (? last name), in Las Vegas Eric Gallagan, in Arizona (name). and in India FireFly Studio.
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For music purchasing opportunity:
Link to Spinitron.com Playlist of the Women’s Spaces Show
Women's Spaces 