~At the Left Forum two weeks ago, 3 ground-breaking controversial panels on gender & sexuality were presented--and Joy of Resistance recorded them.

We'll be playing excerpts on this show (and more on June 23).

We'll start the show with our Feminist News Headlines and a brief tribute to Nanette Rainone, pioneer feminist broadcaster at WBAI, who died on May 23.

Then we'll speak with Sonia Pressman Fuentes, the first woman attorney in the Office of the General Counsel at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, starting in 1965--who was instrumental in the founding of the National Organization for Women. She has been a feminist organizer for most of her 87 years and we'll share her reaction to the first woman presidential nominee of a major party in the 240 year history of the United States.

Then, excerpts from 3 Left Forum panels presented on May 28 & 29 at Left Forum 2016.

LEFT FORUM PANELS on Gender and Sexuality:

1) Feminists Against Prostitution as a Tool of Imperialism Promoting Sexualized Racism.
Women of Color--Asian, South Pacific and Indigenous--weigh in on the fierce worldwide debate over "prostitution" vs "sex work" / decriminalization (including of pimps and johns) --vs--"The Nordic Model" which offers women exit strategies and criminalizes pimps/johns, while decriminalizing the women. The panel traces the connection between today's worldwide sex industry and the colonization of native peoples, shows that most women in the sex industry are women of color forced into prostitution for economic reasons (questioning the "sex-work-as-women's empowerment" model) and looks at the connections between worldwide prostitution and today's modern colonialism/imperialism.

2) Warrior Sisters Self Defense.
Warrior Sisters is a group dedicated to ending systemic male violence against women and draws inspiration from the "Gulabi Gang", or "Pink Sari" women, a grassroots women-led movement fighting male violence against women in India. Through self defense lessons and discussion, they work to "build a culture of resistance and empower women as a collective force". They have chapters in many cities and are currently giving free self-defense/feminism classes in the Bronx.

3) Deconstructing Gender under Male Supremacy--A left critique of the Gender Identity Framework. A neuroscientist, a linguist, an attorney and the mother of an "almost-transitioned" child, offer a critique of current trans ideology and how it is affecting language and law and culture, as well as individuals, familes and women as a group.

Joy of Resistance: Multicultural Feminist Radio @ WBAI can be emailed at jorwbai@gmail.com . See our blog at http://joyofresistance.wordpress.com for more details on this and other programs. Follow us on twitter at @joyofresistance