Microaggressions and Mental Health
KBCS contributor and Health Chair of the NAACP Snohomish Chapter, Kevin Henry hosts a discussion on the effects of microaggressions on people of diverse backgrounds. They also offer approaches on how to best support the community in recognizing and calling out microaggressions in the workplace and in personal settings. Featured speakers are University of Washington Mental Health Therapist and Cultural Liaison, Antonia Ramos and Licensed Mental Health Counselor and Health Chair of NAACP Seattle King County, Michael Swann.
Producer: Kevin Henry
Photo: Kevin Henry
KBCS In-Studio with Kirk Reese
We had a great conversation with Tacoma based roots musician Kirk Reese this past August. We talked about passing guitars down through generations, playing open mics and how to wander creatively. We also talk about where you should not wander! (Hint: gated communities).
Kirk can often be found performing around town both solo and with the Grit City Pickers!
The Dia de los Muertos Observance
Dia de Muertos/Dia de los Muertos or Day of the Dead is a two day festival celebrated November 1st and 2nd in Mexico and parts of Latin America to honor our loved ones who passed away.
KBCS spoke with Barbara Rodriguez, Producer and Artistic Director and Matt Hooks, Producer of Seattle Center Dia de Muertos festival about what the Day of the Dead holiday is about and what’s often found as part of the ofrenda, or altar for this season.
They also describe the beginnings of the Catarina, the skeleton depicted as wearing fancy dresses and a large hat in prints and sculptures in Mexican culture.
Some Dia de Muertos Events in our region:
El Centro de la Raza Dia de los Muertos (Seattle Beacon Hill neighborhood)
Dia de los Muertos Fest (Seattle Phinney Neighborhood)
Producer: Yuko Kodama
Photo: Jesse Means
Flotation Device Interview with Mat Maneri
Mat Maneri by Antonio Porcar Cano
Mat Maneri is one of the few prominent jazz musicians to make the viola his primary instrument. He joined Flotation Device host Michael Schell to talk about his music, including his Ash Quartet’s upcoming Earshot Jazz performance at Cornish Raisbeck Auditorium on Monday, October 30 (tickets and info at Earshot.org).
Hear more of Mat Maneri’s music Sunday night at 10:00 PM on Flotation Device.
Non Profit Aid Organizations in Palestine
While negotiations for a ceasefire between Israeli and Hamas officials are announced, 7,028 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza during this war according to Al Jazeera news from today. 2,913 of the dead are children. More than 1,709 of the fatalities, women. Over 1,405 Israelis have been killed. In addition, over 17,000 in Palestine have been injured. These numbers are from Aljazeera and Palestine Red Cross and are confirmed by Human Rights Watch. 50% of Palestinian residential units are destroyed. Most of the 65 sewage pumping stations are not operational. 11 water sanitation facilities are destroyed. (numbers from OCHA and Palestine Health Ministry)
Palestinian American activist, Linda Sarsour was in Vancouver, Washington on October 25th to speak at the Washington State Faculty and Staff of Color Conference. KBCS’s Yuko Kodama was there and recorded an excerpt of Sarsour’s response to an audience question about aid to Palestine.
The two organizations Linda Sarsour refers to are below:
Palestinian American Medical Organization (PAMA)
Producer: Yuko Kodama – Special thanks to Washington State Faculty and Staff of Color Conference and Linda Sarsour for permission to record and broadcast
Photo: Baitulmaal
David Neiwert: The Rise of and Dangers of White Supremacy
David Neiwert is a local investigative journalist who has specialized in writing about right wing extremism. He was a reporter for the Daily Kos. He has also been an investigator, analyst and reporter for the Southern Poverty Law Center. Neiwert is also author of the book, The Age of Insurrection: The Radical Right’s Assault on American Democracy.
He’ll be speaking about the rise and dangers of white supremacy at the Everett Civic Auditorium at 6:30 October 26. The event is sponsored by Unidos, and Communities Against Hate and Violent Extremism (CAHVE). Co-sponsored by the American Civil Liberties Union, Alliance for Gun Responsibility, American Civil Liberties Union, Anti-Defamation League of the Pacific Northwest, CAIR Washington, Change The Narrative, Edmonds Unitarian Universalist Church, Faith Action Network, NAACP of Snohomish County, National Organization of Women, Northwest Progressive Institute, Paths To Understanding, Salish Sea Federation of Democratic Women, Snohomish County Indivisible, Snohomish County Pride, WA Partners for Social Change, WSDCC, Separation of Church and State Caucus.
Activist, Linda Sarsour Speaks Against Islamophobia and White Supremacy
Linda Sarsour, noted Palestinian-American civil rights leader and Executive Director of MPower Change spoke at Seattle’s Rainier Arts Center on Islamophobia and White Supremacy in January, 2023.
The event was hosted by Valley and Mountain Fellowship’s Center for Faith, Art, and Justice in partnership with the United Church of Christ’s Join the Movement Toward Racial Justice. The event was part of the Set Us Free from Fear: Faith, White Supremacy, and Politics series. The series invited scholars, clergy, and activists working at the intersection of race and faith to share their wisdom to our broader communities.
Sarsour was co-chair of the 2017 Women’s March, the 2017 Day Without a Woman, and the 2019 Women’s March. She is also a former executive director of the Arab American Association of New York. She is the author of We Are Not Here to Be Bystanders: A Memoir of Love and Resistance, published in March, 2020.
Producers: Valley and Mountain Fellowship, United Church in Christ’s Join the Movement toward Racial Justice
Photo Linda Sarsour and Women’s Media Center
What Distinguishes Sephardic Jewish Communities?
The new graphic novel, We Are Not Strangers, is a story about the relationship of a Japanese American family and a Sephardic Jewish family leading up to and after WWII.
The book’s author, Josh Tuininga, Densho Founder, Tom Ikeda and Dr. Devin Naar, University of Washington, Associate Professor of History & Jewish Studies will speak about the parallels and relationships between these communities on Monday, October 23rd at Third Place Books.
Dr. Devin Naar speaks about the characteristic culture of the Sephardic Jewish group, largely from Mediterranean regions in the Jewish diaspora , in comparison to the Ashkenazi Jewish groups from Central and Eastern Europe.
Producers: Lucy Braginski and Yuko Kodama
Photo: Naar standing beside fragments from the Jewish cemetery of Salonica built into the old city walls (2014) | Photo by Argilo Mitilinou
KBCS In-Studio with Andrew Duhon
Andrew Duhon stopped by the KBCS studio on Wednesday, October 4th and we had a terrific conversation about PNW logging roads, how walking in a circle may not take you back to where you started from and being inspired by nature in songwriting as both metaphor and our place within in it. That took us to chatting about kudzu which took us to poems by Robert Frost and James Dickey and even a choice Henry David Thoreau quote from Self Reliance. C’mon now!
You can hear the interview plus 3 live songs above!
Sonali Kolhatkar at Seattle Town Hall
Sonali Kolhatkar, host and producer of Yes! Presents, Rising Up and racial justice editor at Yes! Magazine spoke with Yes! Media’s Editorial Director, Sunnivie Brydum about her book, Rising Up: The Power of Narrative in Pursuing Racial Justice at Town Hall Seattle on September 6th.
KBCS thanks Town Hall Seattle for permission to record and broadcast the event.
Rising Up Book