Archived Radio Show

April 4, 2022

Original Radio Show  ID:
WSA220404

Listen to the Show on the Mp3 Player below

Duration 57 minutes

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Featuring

Click the Name to access the Segment below

1. Commentary by Elaine B. Holtz, Host of Women's Spaces

2. Laura Wells, Green Party, Left Unity Slate Candidate

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1. Commentary by Elaine B. Holtz: I have a special guest for this show, joining me on the phone will be Laura Wells longtime activist and Green Party organizer and we will be talking about what is called, the “Left Unity Slate,” which is a joining of the Green Party and Peace and Freedom Party to support seven statewide candidates. Laura is also running for California State Controller as part of a historic Left Unity Slate.

The primary election will be June 7, 2022, and it is important to listen to as many perspectives as possible. And although Laura is running for California Controller this program will be focusing on the challenges of running for office, thoughts on two major third parties working together and its impact and, to be honest, I am so interested in knowing exactly what a Controller does. Along with talking about the position of the Controller we will also be talking how this position can influence Public Banking.

Ken and I had a great weekend and celebrated our 22nd Anniversary as partners. Our longest relationship for both of us. What a journey we are on together. For me, the secret for our success is we let each other just be themselves and besides, it was on April 1, and we think of ourselves as simply two fools in love.

2.  Our guest, Laura Wells, talks of her decision in 1992 to switch from being a Democrat to a Green, feeling allied with the values of the Green Party of peace, ecology, social justice, and no acceptance of corporate funding, Though politics in the USA favors the two-party system, there is no mention in the Constitution of political parties. Laura describes the California Office of the Controller as the bookkeeper of the state government, whereas the Office of the Treasurer invests the state's monies. Laura campaigned for Controller in 2014 on the Green Party ticket and will run again for Controller in 2022, but this time on the Left Unity Slate, a merger of the Green Party with the Peace and Freedom Party for this year's California elections that supports seven candidates. The Peace and Freedom Party values of feminism, socialism, democracy, ecology and racial equality are seen to be a match for the Green Party values.  Laura Wells has been keeping the idea of Public Banking for California alive since 2014 and brought up the example of Public Banking that was established in North Dakota in 1919, over 100 years ago, which helped that farming state at the time with low interest loans to farmers. Public Banking can service the needs of citizens of the state in education, small businesses, and health such as Single Payer Healthcare, with low interest going to the state's treasury and not to banks outside the state. 

About our Guest: Laura Wells was born and raised in Michigan. As a scholarship student, she earned her BA in foreign languages from Wayne State University in Detroit in 1969 and was elected to the Phi Beta Kappa society. Laura went on to earn a Master of Education at Antioch University, and lived in Boston, Massachusetts for ten years working in finance, computer programming, and systems analysis. In 1992 Laura switched to working with nonprofits such as Pesticide Action Network and Women’s Economic Agenda Project, and other sectors such as schools, labor unions and county government. For the past 30+ years Laura has lived in California and has been an Oakland resident since 2000.
Since registering Green, Laura has served in a number of leadership positions at the county and state levels of the Green Party of California. She was a founding member of the Green Party County Council in Alameda County and a co-founder and managing editor of the state’s Green Party newspaper, Green Focus. Laura found a political home in the Green Party. She appreciated the recognition that the problems facing everyone were interrelated: peace and non-violence, the environment, wealth and poverty, and social justice. She saw that real justice was up against all the “isms” of society. She liked the fact that Greens put principles into practice by never accepting corporate money, or developer money either, since developers bought government at the level of cities.

Guest Links:

Laura Wells' website:  https://laurawells.org/

Left Unity Slate of California - see the list of seven candidates on the slate: https://leftunityslate.org/

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 Herstory

Our history is our strength. Check out important dates to remember in herstory at the National Women's History Alliance

Herstory Events:

April 2, 1931 – 17-year-old Jackie Mitchell, the second woman to play baseball in the all-male minor leagues, pitches an exhibition game against the N.Y. Yankees and strikes out both Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. The next day, the Baseball Commissioner voided her contract, claiming baseball was too strenuous for women. The ban was not overturned until 1992.

April 5, 1911 – 100,000 to 500,000 people march in New York City to attend the funeral of seven unidentified victims of the Triangle Shirtwaist Company fire in late March.

April 7, 1805 – Sacagawea begins helping the Lewis and Clark Expedition as an interpreter.

April 7, 1987 – Opening of the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C., the first museum devoted to women artists.

Herstory Birthdays:

April 1, 1911 (1998) – Augusta Baker, renowned storyteller in New York public libraries, created bibliography in 1939 of suitable children’s books to represent African American history and culture.

April 3, 1934 – Jane Goodall, primatologist and conservationist, world’s foremost authority on chimpanzees.

April 4, 1928 (2014) – Maya Angelou, author, poet, civil rights activist, actress, read poem she composed at President Clinton’s inauguration (1993).

April 7, 1915 (1959) – Billie Holiday, jazz singer, began her career in Harlem in 1931, toured with Count Basie and Artie Shaw, use of heroin and opium led to ten months in Alderson Prison, hailed as “Lady Day,” the most influential female jazz singer in America.

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Announcements 

Monday, April 11, 11am # repeats 11pm, the show will feature guest Vesta Copestakes on community involvement.  Radio KBBF 89.1 FM, North SF Bay or live streaming at https://kbbf.org/live/

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Wednesday April 13, 11am,  our guest will feature guest Vesta Copestakes on community involvement; Radio KPCA 103.3 FM, Petaluma, CA.

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Saturday evening, April 9th - 7pm  Release: Unearthing the Silent Rumblings, a production of Our Lives Matter Theater Company (OLMTC),  Congregation Ner Shalom, 85 La Plaza, Cotati, CA, - Repeat performances on  Sunday April 10th, 7pm. (Depending on demand, a matinee may be added on Saturday April 9th). This Black production consists of 4 short plays sure to stir the hearts and
minds of the audience. It is an invitation to talk about race in a safe place.
Included will be a facilitated conversation and discussion after the show.
Dianna L. Grayer, PhD., Playwright, Director, Producer
For tickets and contact information:
https://ourlivesmatterthea.wixsite.com/our-lives-matter

Download PDF of flyer for Release: Unearthing the Silent Rumblings

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Monday, April 18, 7 to 8:30pm, NOW Sonoma County Chapter Planning Meeting, via Zoom. Note that the meeting day has been changed to the 3rd Monday. Hold the date! Meet our candidates for Superintendent of Sonoma County Schools, Amie Carter, Brad Coscarelli, and Ron Calloway!
For details see http://nowsonoma.org/Events.html

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Ongoing Events:

January 22 - June 5, 2022, Exhibition, Agency: Feminist Art and Power, Sonoma County Museum, for more information visit: https://museumsc.org/exhibitions/

February 5, 2022 ongoing exhibition, Chinese Traditions in Santa Rosa, 1890-2022, Year of the Tiger, Sonoma County Museum, for more information visit: https://museumsc.org/exhibitions/

February 19 - May 29, 2022, Exhibition, Manzanar: The Wartime Photographs of Ansel Adams (The Japanese American Internment Camp during WWII), Sonoma County Museum, for more information visit: https://museumsc.org/exhibitions/

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Music Selections

The Opening and Closing Theme song The Woman in Your Life is You is done with permission of the Composer and Singer Alix Dobkin ((August 16, 1940 – May 19, 2021) Alix Dobkin death was just announced - Thank you for all you did for Lesbians to be recognized and Women to be honored. May you rest in peace. See our Interview with Alix Dobkin on 12/1/2014 at    and our Memorial to Alix Dobkin on 11/24/2021  at .

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For music purchasing opportunity, supporting the artists: 

Link:  Spinitron.com Playlist for Women's Spaces Show