sharonksobotta

Mitali Perkins--On Writing beyond the 'single story'

Mitali Perkins always knew she wanted to write for children--not to write about bunnies but about complex social justice issues like gender equity, hyphenated identities and border politics. With each book, Perkins pushes readers to conceptualize a world that is bigger, more complex and filled with more possibilities that even walls and borders can't stop. Perkins' book Rickshaw Girl, the story of a Bangladeshi girl's determination to help her family earn money in the most unconventional of ways, is being adapted into a screenplay and her book Between Abuela and Us offers a glimmer of hope to children who are separated by borders for their loved ones. On a community level, Perkins strives to help adults learn from children in how to engage in difficult convrsations about race. Listen and be inspired. 

Women respond to escalating tension in Iran

As tensions escalate in Iran, people of all backgrounds are taking to the streets to voice their opposition and say no to war. At the San Francisco protest, I ran into Professor Persis Karim from the Center for Iranian Diaspora Studies and Donna Favard, the Organizing Director of NIAC Action. 

Unpacking white privilege with Peggy McIntosh

It was through finding her voice and coming to terms with the ways her voice as a woman was sometimes marginalized that Peggy McIntosh began digging in deep to ask critical questions about unearned privileges she may have gained because of the color of her skin. I interviewed Peggy just ahead of the primaries for the 2016 election and now in the face of another primary election and social and political turbulence in the United States and globally, her words remain relevant. 

#Stand with Kashmir

What's at stake for the people of Kashmir? What happens when there is an information black out, without access to internet, phones or the outside world? What's it like for those who are across the world without a way to contact loved ones in Kashmir.

 

On August 5, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi eliminated Article 370 of the Indian constitution. That article had afforded Kashmir a special status within India. The decision ultimately reduced Kashmir's status to a “union territory." The current state of Kashmir and the conditions that people in the region are being subjected to is being called a humanitarian crisis. Ammad Rafiqi is with Stand with Kashmir and offered a breakdown of the situation at hand.

Women's Magazine-September 23, 2919

'Four Days in Occupied Western Sahara, Africa's Last Colony'

20th Year Soundtrack

Sarah Vital

Words of an SMC Alum

Cecilia Vicuña: About to Happen

Cecilia Vicuña is a soulful artist, filmmaker and poet. In this piece, she speaks about her exhib Cecilia Vicuña: About to Happen, as well as her life, her artistic process and her vision for justice. Listen and be inspired.