Dragonroot Media

We had the chance to chat with Wyn Wolf on the debut of Boys On Magazines, the making of the video, and the deeper meaning behind it all. Be sure to check out the video Boys on Magazines via the link below! https://youtu.be/vuFuLGy_3DU More Wyn Wolf: https://www.wynwolf.com/ https://www.instagram.com/wynwolfmusic/

Students in Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights McGill (SPHR) is a non-hierarchical student organization that advocates to uphold the rights of the Palestinian people in the face of human rights violations and all forms of racism, discrimination, misinformation, and misrepresentation. We spoke with SPHR on their event Safe Space and Conversation

We spoke with one of the organizers of the upcoming webinar series No climate justice without social justice. For more on the series visit their facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/792636648015990

We spoke with Dr. Alex Ketchum on the upcoming speaker series Feminist and Accessible Publishing, Communications and Technologies. https://www.feministandaccessiblepublishingandtechnology.com and disruptingdisruptions.com facebook https://www.facebook.com/FeministandAccesiblePublishingandCommunication twitter: https://twitter.com/feministandacc1

Never Apart is hosting a new online speaker series: Conversations in Environmental Justice. This series of lectures opens up a space to discuss ecology, plants and food, at the intersection of social and environmental justice. We spoke with organizer Leticia Trandafir about the series. Host: Hannah Besseau Music: For Esmé, Doubtmouth

We chat with Equity Education Advisor Meryem Benslimane about raising awareness and increasing the visibility of Queer communities at McGill and beyond

Women of Color Remake Wellness is a community focused on creating a safe space to bring health and wellness practices to women of colour through shared dialogue and daily self-care practices. Inspire mental, emotional, spiritual and physical health through daily health and wellness practices. We chatted with the founder of WoCRW, Biatris Lasu, on the project and how wellness spaces create barriers for BIPOC, and how they can do better. For more info on WoCRW check out their website below. https://www.womenofcolorremakewellness.com/

We had the chance to speak with Tori from Medical Herstory! Medical Herstory is a web-based platform for women and femme-identified folks to share their experiences and challenges in regards to healthcare, medicine, and wellness. https://medicalherstory.com/ https://www.facebook.com/medicalherstory/?ref=page_internal

http://www.marikaheinrichs.com/ https://www.bodywitch.com/

https://www.instagram.com/ourcolourfulyoga/ https://www.instagram.com/asamiyoga/

We spoke with Green Party candidate Meryam Haddad on the environment, social change, and hope.

Girls Without Barriers: an interview with DAWN Canada by Dragonroot Media

Dragonroot Radio spoke with award-winning editor and translator Lise Weil. Her essays and literary nonfiction have been published widely in Canada and the U.S. She is founding editor of Dark Matter: Women Witnessing and teaches in the Goddard Graduate Institute. We speak with Lise on the upcoming event Lesbians & Queers: A dialogue. The event will be readings and presentations by local writers and artists brought together by co-hosts Lise Weil and Anna J. Weick. They include: Carole Baker, Avery Burrow, Élyanne Coursol-Dion, Myriam Fougère, River Halen Guri, Tara McGowan-Ross, Nicola Sibthorpe and Malek Yalaoui Lesbians & Queers: A Dialogue https://www.facebook.com/events/798546663938139/ https://liseweil.com/

On this special episode of Dragonroot, we were joined live in studio by Montreal based hip-hop artist Shades Lawrence. Shades produces socially conscious and alternative hip hop that comes out of the tradition of spoken word and captures gritty reality and while creating powerful contrasts. Shades has teamed up with Emma Maryam on a new single called Turn My Head, performed live in studio today along with another new single Pass the Rock. https://shadeslawrence.com/

Articulating Desire: Writing by Queer Women UPDATE: Event will now be held Friday, March 29 https://www.facebook.com/events/945595152497067/ Lise Weil’s memoir In Search of Pure Lust (Inanna, 2018) takes us back to a moment in the ‘70s and ‘80s when lesbian desire was the pulsing center of an entire way of life, a culture, a movement. The memoir also traverses a series of torrid but ultimately failed relationships—until a dive into Zen practice begins to turn things around. Lise is also editor of Dark Matter: Women Witnessing an online journal publishing writing and artwork created in response to a time of massive species loss and ecological collapse. Jacqueline Dumas’ novel The Heart Begins Here takes place in a western Canadian city following the 9-11 attacks in 2001. The novel is inspired by Dumas’s many years’ experience as a bookseller, including Montreal in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The characters deal with the realities of life in a feminist bookstore – intrigue among the bookshelves, disastrous poetry readings, disastrous relationships, financial woes… Clementine Morrigan writes the zine Fucking Magic and is the author of three books, You Can’t Own the Fucking Stars, The Size of a Bird, and Rupture. Their work explores the experience of desire in the context of trauma. She writes about sexuality, queerness, love, relationships, and relentless hope. Tara McGowan-Ross is an urban Mi'kmaw multidisciplinary artist and writer. Her first book, a collection of protest poetry called Girth, was released in 2016 by Insomniac Press. She is mostly made of earth. www.liseweil.com

We had the chance to speak with CURE's Jodie-Ann about the upcoming event Healing through generations, and more! https://www.facebook.com/events/2071916313100543/

Dragonroot had the chance to speak with Shades Lawrence, and her upcoming event with Lux Magna festival, as well as her upcoming 2019 EP. https://www.facebook.com/events/1987259871342404/

Dragonroot had the chance to speak with Logan from FliQs about their upcoming event December 10th https://www.facebook.com/events/1465809516886294/

Har Leen is a South Asian writer, artist and educator, whose practice is entrenched in feminist and anti-racist principles and community-building approaches. As an educator, Har Leen uses arts-based approaches, ranging from visual arts to spoken word, to facilitate grassroots youth programming. Har leen made it live in studio to speak with Dragonroot about poetry and writing. More from Har leen: https://stormcalledharleen.wordpress.com/ https://www.instagram.com/har.poetry/ https://www.facebook.com/har.poetry/

Dragonroot spoke with the three founders of the Tiger Lotus Co-op on their current workshop series, Harvesting the Wild. https://www.tigerlotuscoop.com/ Tiger Lotus Collective is a wellness centre offering tender loving care and education. We are made up of female practitioners and educators in Montreal passionate about healing in its many forms. We believe the health care system, with its narrow scope of treatments and overburdened hospitals and clinics, is largely unequipped to deal with physical and psychological issues that impact women. We focus on providing a preventative instead of curative model of health care and try to educate females about their bodies and spirits, and how best to care for them in the day-to-day.

Dragonroot had the opportunity to speak with Harleen, one of the three organizers along with Malek Yalaoui, and Dona Nham, behind Unravelling in Rhymes. Unravelling in Rhymes is a monthly workshop series that invites black, indigenous and women and femmes of colour.

Dragonroot had the chance to record the PGSS Equity and Diversity's panel on emotional labour and abuse with Shanice Yarde, Malek Yalaoui and Rachel Zellars. The conversation explored the intertwined concepts of emotional labour and emotional abuse, with emphasis on their gendered and racialized dimensions. The speakers discussed how emotional labour and emotional abuse function within broader systems of violence, and structure the diverse experiences of Black and Brown women both IRL and URL. This discussion provided critical tools on how to recognize and reckon with these everyday forms of uneven exchange in contemporary contexts of education, (online) activism and interpersonal relationships

We spoke with two board members from Rock Camp for Girls on their recent open letter addressing institutional racism within their governing body. Open Letter: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ucs5ZMrAmwM22C3ap6fjED3kdWJpFWPlh3LH3Lc3tJE/edit

The Rose Festival is an inaugural festival that focuses on readings of new plays by queer-identified playwrights living, studying or working in Montreal, The Rose Festival / Le Festival Rose will shine a spotlight on the queer theatre talent this city has to offer and centre the queer voice that often gets straightened or silenced in mainstream productions.

Our latest episode on January 31st we spoke to Jo Mitrovic about the upcoming Loudspeakers: Conference happening February 18th. We chatted about gender in electro acoustics and music production.

We chatted with Amelia about the Women's March on Washington and its Montreal contingent. https://www.facebook.com/events/1711075705872620/ Event details: "The purpose of this *non-violent*, *inclusive* and *intersectional* RALLY is to take a stand for and support women’s rights -- the rights of ALL women -- with women from all races, all religious communities, all political affiliations, cis or transgender and all sexual orientations. Violence, whether from or against the right-wing, left-wing, centre or independents, is not welcome and will not be condoned or tolerated. We are unabashedly committed to intersectional feminism and inclusion. We would be honoured to have you join us if you're in the following groups: - Women & Girls & Femmes & GNC & GF - Men & Boys - Families - People of Color - Immigrants - LGBTQI+ Community - Individuals with disabilities - ALL religious communities - Climate Change Advocates - Anyone else who wants to come out in support! This event was sparked by Trump’s election to the White House and is a response to the hate-inciting, divisive, discriminatory attitudes, messages and actions that have emerged from the Trump campaign and have continued to be perpetuated by his supporters post-election, in his name. To date, there is no country in the world that has yet achieved gender equality, but that does not mean we should give up striving towards it. We will not tolerate any discrimination or victimization of women or any violation of women's rights, whether through words, actions or policies. We will not allow our hard-won rights to be trampled on and we will not be stopped in our pursuit of intersectional, substantive equality! "Equal enough" is NOT enough! We hope to see our brothers, fathers, sons, husbands and other male allies marching with us -- women’s rights are human rights! This event is just the beginning."

One week after the US election results, this workshop on grounding and containment is needed as ever. We had the chance to chat with Hannah Harris-Sutro on somatics, mental health, and healing. https://www.facebook.com/events/941142612657122/ Hannah Harris-Sutro is a somatic counselor and doula whose background includes a decade of community support work, mad pride/liberatory approaches to mental health, training & mentorship in yoga therapy & somatics, and deep engagement with the relationships between systemic oppression, trauma, and embodiment. She is a mad queer femme and white settler who believes deeply in the cyclical nature of being alive and in the inherent power and wisdom of all bodies.

Dragonroot chatted with Anthony and Shannon, two of the organizers of the Black Studies initiative at Concordia, aimed to bring Black Studies to the institution.

https://www.facebook.com/events/162628260810936/ The Night is Not Enough is an Alternative Take Back the Night March. We chatted with Stacey and Jada from the Centre for Gender Advocacy about how this year's march centres inclusivity and why the night is NOT enough.

Dragonroot had the chance to speak with Dona and Malek of Sisters in Motion, a writing & poetry showcase by Black, Indigenous & Racialized Women and Femmes. ATTEND AND SUPPORT SEPTEMBER 7TH: https://www.facebook.com/events/283615482018607/

Corrina Hodgson, a playwright, talks about her newest play "Enough Already" that recounts the story of one woman with chronic pain. Corrina also discusses disability politics and the personal connection she has with her play. Then, in the last third of the show we talk to Ouroboros co-founders Hannah Harris-Sutro and Perneet Chohan about alternative healing spaces and the barriers imposed by others to physical accessibility. Image source: http://i.cbc.ca/1.3624207.1465484584!/fileImage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/original_220/corrine-hodgson.jpg

Today we talk with Extreme States co-founders Carol TenBrink and Stephanie Lawrence. Extreme States is a spoken-word show that deals with a woman's mental breakdown and healing. The Fringe Festival in Montreal, where this show was performed in 2016, resumes the play in the following words: "Extreme states; rupture or rapture? A young woman experiences a mental breakdown and breakthrough, a rebirth from her own body. An older woman turns from outer reality to inner images and psychedelic voyages. Both remember the voice from the depths, the beat from the ground. " Listen to hear them talk about their show and its basis in real life. They even perform little bits and pieces of poetry here and there! Summary and image source: http://2016.montrealfringe.ca/index.php/spectacle/extreme-states/

Rami Yahia and Sabine Friesinger join us on the show this week to explain the meaning behind Nakba Day, discuss the possibility of peace in the resolution of the Palestine-Israeli conflict, and describe the importance of the BDS movement. Image source: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/uD5qBn7dv4c/hqdefault.jpg

This week we bring you an excerpt of the intersectional podcast Broad Science that talks about the way chronic pain is not treated as a legitimate illness, and how this intersects with female-specific illnesses being dismissed within medical institutions. Rackeb and Emily, the two women behind the series, are both completing their masters at McGill University. The two hail from Toronto and are the founders behind Broad Science, a monthly podcast dedicated to making science inclusive, intersectional, and engaging. Like what you just heard? Keep up with Broad Science here: https://www.facebook.com/sciencebroads/ Hear more episodes as they come out here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/broad-science/id1105955384?mt=2

L'Euguélionne is a feminist and queer bookstore in Montreal that exists as a non-profit, multi-stakeholders cooperative. The bookstore's collection will contain a wide variety of works, ranging from zines to academic books to children's books. L'Euguélionne will serve as a meeting place, where workshops and meetings will take place. Stéphanie Dufresne and Camille Toffoli, two founding members, join us on the show today to tell us more about the bookstore and how it came into existence, the importance of the coop model, and the importance of community spaces. Keep up with the library here!:/Restez au courant à propos des nouveaux projets de la librarie ici! Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCINp4DzdYxGeU-Uynfj75xg/videos?shelf_id=0&view=0&sort=dd Twitter: https://twitter.com/librairiefemmtl Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/librairiefeministemtl/

Tamara Sandor joins us on the show to talk about her music (which we get to hear!), the creative process, and what it's like to be a woman performing while on tour. Like Tamara Sandor's Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/whamaraslamdoor/

Nahla Abdo talks about how Imperialist Feminism views Palestinian women and their resistance to the Israeli military, Palestinian women's oppression, and the importance of land for native people, in this talk co-organized by the Simone de Beauvoir Institute and Israeli Apartheid Week in Montreal. In this second part Adbo focuses on the insider/outsider dichotomy in research and how it can be understood. Nahla Abdo's bio and picture from Carleton University's site: carleton.ca/socanth/people/abdo-nahla/

Tiffany Ashoona, a Mi'kmaq Métis spoken word artist, peforms two pieces on our show and tells us about how she deserved spoken word. She has her own poetry website here, called "mimiges," mikmaq for "butterfly." Find more of her poetry and this image on her site here: http://mimigespoetry.wixsite.com/mimigespoetry

In the first part, Jean Murray tells us about the case that pressured McGill University to develop a sexual assault policy and the struggle between activists and McGill University to instate a sexual assault policy. In the second part we hear an interview from 2012, in which Mike, a representative from the Centre for Gender Advocacy talks about the institutional barriers survivors of sexual assault face that discourage them from reporting sexual assault and the demands the Centre has for the University to combat sexual assault on campus. Image source: http://genderadvocacy.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/logo-150x150.jpg

Nahla Abdo talks about how Imperialist Feminism views Palestinian women and their resistance to the Israeli military, Palestinian women's oppression, and the importance of land for native people, in this talk co-sponsored by the Simone de Beauvoir Institute and Israeli Apartheid Week in Montreal. Nahla Abdo's bio and picture from Carleton University's site: https://carleton.ca/socanth/people/abdo-nahla/ Areas of Interest In general, I am interested in understanding the dynamics between gender, class, race/ethnicity, sexuality and the state. More specifically, my work has focused on issues such as: gender, sexuality, citizenship and the State in the Middle East; the dynamics between feminism(s) and nationalism(s); the gendered East/West discourse; and resistance and challenges from the field. About The conceptual/theoretical approach which interests me most is that which utilizes a multiplicity of disciplines in understanding women’s conditions, enriching their experiences and empowering them. The close relationship I establish between academia (theory) and actual life (practice) is most rewarding for me.

This week we listen to a bit of music and chat with Stacey from the Centre for Gender Advocacy about the "Thick Skin" series - a month long event focusing on race. Image source: http://media.mcgill.ca/sites/media.mcgill.ca/files/afterghomeshiposter_apr4-page-001.jpg

CC:MTL is an all access weekend that celebrates the voices of innovative BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Colour) in Canada. CC:MTL brings creatives together for conversations, hang outs, performances and parties. This festival is a chance to kick back, relax, inspire and be inspired. Arts, academia and popular culture will come together for an unforgettable weekend! Check out the schedule here: http://www.collectiveculture.ca/schedule/

Join us this week to hear about Israeli Apartheid Week in Montreal! Then, listen about the best use of media systems and privileging voices in media (and how we should not be doing that).

Cette semaine-ci on vous présente un extrait d'un panel qui a pris place le 8 mars 2016, la Journée internationale de la femme, à Montréal. L'ancienne directrice du Comité pour les droits humains en Amérique latine parle de femmes en tant que portes-paroles de la résistance, la double-charge des femmes latines qui font face au machisme et au racisme et des différentes initiatives féministes latines. La photo utilisée cette semaine-ci se trouve sur cette page web: https://wdofdo.files.wordpress.com/2015/03/group-shot-end-forum-fdo-wdo-iwd-2015.jpg

This week we're talking about vaginas! Listen to excerpts of the play The Vagina Monologues as performed by Marianopolis students, as well as their experiences putting on and performing the play. We apologize for the episode's abrupt ending. Sadly the last minute of the show was lost. The art used for this week's episode, created by Nicky Fernandes, may be found here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/nickyfern/2263282437

This week on the show, we bring you an excerpt from the feminist media panel that was part of the Daily Publication Society and The Link's 2016 Student Journalism Week at McGill in Montreal. Learn more about what it's like to publish on everydayfeminism.com and accessiblity in media, among other things.

*Support Femme Media* https://www.patreon.com/ChaiChats ChaiChats was born when 3 extroverted femmes decided their conversations on love, spirituality & healing were epic enough to be broadcast to the world. Dragonroot had the chance to sit down with the incredible people behind this podcast to discuss the inspiration behind it, emerging themes, and the importance of sharing vulnerability. GO FOLLOW AND SUPPORT CHAI CHATS! https://soundcloud.com/chai-chats-podcast https://www.facebook.com/ChaiChats/?fref=ts SUPPORT: https://www.patreon.com/ChaiChats SUBSCRIBE: https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/chai-chats-podcast/id1111858936?mt=2

Shanice Nicole is a Black feminist spoken word artist and educator. She discovered poetry in summer 2015 and now uses it as a form of healing and dreaming for social justice. We spoke with Shanice on Black Lives Matter and poetry as form of healing and social justice. More on Shanice and to follow: https://www.instagram.com/thatswhatshasaid/ https://www.facebook.com/ShaniceNicoleYarde?__mref=message_bubble

Dragonroot speaks with Cil, who is part of the Série d'ateliers sur le français neutre/dégenré. Ces ateliers s'adressent à toute personne désireuse d'en apprendre davantage sur les pratiques du langage non genré ou dégenré en Français et de contribuer à la discussion sur cette problématique en théorie comme en pratique.