Podcasts about urvashi vaid

We're talking resistance, joy, and queer communities with Brenda Shaughnessy!Please Support Breaking Form!Review the show on Apple Podcasts here.Aaron's STOP LYING is available from the Pitt Poetry Series.James's ROMANTIC COMEDY is available from Four Way Books.NOTES:Click here for Brenda's Queer Resistance Playlist 2025 (Spotify).Check out Brenda's poem "Panopticon" from Interior with Sudden Joy.Visit Brenda Shaughnessy's website . And hear her read from her newest book, Tanya here. Read more about UC Santa Cruz closing the Feminist Studies Dept here. Read more about Maria RessaFor more about Roland Barthes's contribution to literary criticism, read here.While dated, here's a list of creative writing programs that are LGBTQ+ friendly. Read more about Bettina ApthekerRead more about Donna J. HarawayRead on for more about the clubs Brenda mentions: Meow Mix, Clit Club, Henrietta Hudson (still open!), Pandora's Box, and more.Read more about Angela Davis's work here.For more about Wendy Brown, read her Guggenheim citation here.You can learn more about Allan Bérubé here. Learn more about the incredible Urvashi Vaid here.Watch/listen to Cécile McLorin Salvant's "Until" here. Read more about Kate Clinton on her website here.For more about Teresa de Lauretis, click here. 

Activist-author Urvashi Vaid's gender politics may have been ahead of her time, but her nibling, poet-comedian Alok Vaid-Menon, finds contemporary resonance in recordings of her from This Way Out's archives (part 2 of 2, produced by Brian DeShazor). And in NewsWrap: the European Court of Justice orders all 27 E.U. states to recognize a person's legal gender transition secured in any other member state, Georgia's Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili signs a “no promo homo” Protection of Family Values and Minors law after President Salome Zourabichvili refuses, detained gay Chechen men are forced to fight in Vladimir Putin's war on Ukraine, the Anglican Church of Southern Africa will not allow bishops to approve blessing same-gender couples, California Governor Gavin Newsom signs a bill to protect state-funded public libraries from book bans, families attending an LGBTQ Pride event in small town of Grove City, Ohio are unfazed by a dozen armed Nazis spewing hate, and more international LGBTQ news reported by Tanya Kane-Parry and Marcos Najera (produced by Brian DeShazor).  All this on the October 7, 2024 edition of This Way Out! Join our family of listener-donors today at http://thiswayout.org/donate/ NOTE TO RADIO STATIONS: Beginning in October, 2024, the weekly program uploaded to SoundCloud will include a pitch for This Way Out/Overnight Productions (Inc.). Stations can download a pitch-free version from radio4all.net or Pacifica's AudioPort.Org. For more information, contact Brian@ThisWayOut.org.

LGBTQ Filmmakers and activists at the 25th annual Provincetown International Film Festival talk with Emmy Winner Charlotte Robinson host of OUTTAKE VOICES™. First we spoke with director Sophia Castuera and writer Ali Edwards about their first feature film “August At Twenty-Two” that's receiving a lot of buzz and will be available on most VOD streaming outlets next month. The film is about actress Cal (played by Edwards) who is floundering after college and is shocked to discover that her childhood soulmate has a serious girlfriend Em (Lilli Kay) who Cal unexpectedly falls in love with. “August At Twenty-Two” is an evocative and deeply felt portrait of young artists struggling to find their way in their craft and their lives. We also talked to Sophia and Ali about their inspiration for creating this film and their spin on our LGBTQ issues. Next we chatted with producer Fermin Rojas and director Mike Syers about their short film “There Are Things To Do” about LGBTQ activist and author Urvashi Vaid who passed away last year. Vaid was an outspoken immigrant, lesbian and woman of color who was an LGBTQ superhero and believed in human rights for all people. Urvashi led the charge in shaping the modern-day LGBTQ rights movement as Executive Director of National LGBTQ Task Force from 1989 to 1992 to founding LPAC the first lesbian Super PAC raising millions of dollars for candidates who are committed to social justice. The film chronicles her life in Provincetown and 34-year relationship with partner/wife comedian Kate Clinton who inspired her call to action resulting in achieving equality for our LGBTQ community. We concluded our montage with director Sam Shahid whose documentary “Hidden Master: The Legacy of George Platt Lynes” uncovers the life and work of photographer George Platt Lynes. Best remembered for his dazzling celebrity and fashion photographs of the 1930's and 1940's, Lynes was forced to keep his male nude photos hidden from the public. Shahid hopes his film will help reclaim this gifted artist's full legacy and lasting influence as one of the first openly gay American artists.  The Provincetown Film Society, Inc. (PFS) is a non-profit year-round organization and home of the Provincetown International Film Festival. PFS is dedicated to showcasing new achievements in independent film and honoring the work of acclaimed and emerging directors, producers and actors.  For More Info… LISTEN: 600+ LGBTQ Chats @OUTTAKE VOICES

Now for the news. The news today is all about the National LGBTQ Taskforce and the Creating Change conference. The Taskforce is celebrating its 50th anniversary while also celebrating the Creating Change conference's 35th anniversary. They are honoring our past, present and future. Let's talk about why we should care and why it's a pretty special place. Let's go. 00:00 - Welcome & Intro 00:55 - Top Stories 01:53 - Black HIV in the South: How Did We Get Here promo 2:22 - Intro Music by Aina Bre'Yon 03:05 - Creating Change 2023: We Are Not Okay 10:30 - Imara Jones  11:05 - Friend Duo  12:38 - Jaimie  13:18 - Mary Morten 14:22 - A clip from the Urvashi Vaid tribute at Creating Change 15:30 - Outro    

This week we re-air an episode from June 2022, featuring a past interview between Farai and the late intersectional activist, lawyer, educator, and author Urvashi Vaid who led movements for a range of progressive issues, including AIDS advocacy, LGBT rights, and prison reform. The pair discuss Vaid's legacy as a leading figure in social change and what it truly takes to change the lived experience of everyone— to achieve lived equality. Then in our series, “Our Body Politics Presents…” we feature the podcast Truth Be Told with host Tonya Mosley who interviews minister and writer Danté Stewart about how to cultivate “little experiments of liberation” while experiencing and navigating repetitive acts of American violence.


Urvashi Vaid (1958-2022) was one of the most prolific LGBTQ organizers in history. As an Indian, Hindu lesbian, she took an intersectional approach to her fight.Women's contributions to peacekeeping efforts are often overlooked, but no more. This month on Womanica we're highlighting women who have spearheaded peacekeeping initiatives all over the world — from India to South Africa to the United States. We cover women like ​​Doria Shafik who led Egypt's female liberation movement, as well as Coretta Scott King who was a fierce advocate for equality for Black Americans and a leader in the Civil Rights Movement. Tune in to hear the stories of women who were integral to creating peace in their communities. History classes can get a bad rap, and sometimes for good reason. When we were students, we couldn't help wondering... where were all the ladies at? Why were so many incredible stories missing from the typical curriculum? Enter, Womanica. On this Wonder Media Network podcast we explore the lives of inspiring women in history you may not know about, but definitely should.Every weekday, listeners explore the trials, tragedies, and triumphs of groundbreaking women throughout history who have dramatically shaped the world around us. In each 5 minute episode, we'll dive into the story behind one woman listeners may or may not know–but definitely should. These diverse women from across space and time are grouped into easily accessible and engaging monthly themes like Educators, Villains, Indigenous Storytellers, Activists, and many more.  Womanica is hosted by WMN co-founder and award-winning journalist Jenny Kaplan. The bite-sized episodes pack painstakingly researched content into fun, entertaining, and addictive daily adventures. Womanica was created by Liz Kaplan and Jenny Kaplan, executive produced by Jenny Kaplan, and produced by Liz Smith, Grace Lynch, Maddy Foley, Brittany Martinez, Edie Allard, Lindsey Kratochwill, Adesuwa Agbonile, Carmen Borca-Carrillo, Taylor Williamson, Ale Tejeda, Sara Schleede, Abbey Delk, and Alex Jhamb Burns. Special thanks to Shira Atkins. Original theme music composed by Miles Moran.Follow Wonder Media Network:WebsiteInstagramTwitter

Indian-born activist and lawyer Urvashi Vaid was fiercely attuned to injustice from an early age. Adamant that the fight for LGBTQ equality cannot be separated from other progressive struggles, she became one of the most influential, outspoken, and inspiring movement leaders in recent history. Visit our episode webpage for background information, archival photos, and other resources, as well as a transcript of the episode. For exclusive Making Gay History bonus content, join our Patreon community. ——— To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Indian-born activist and lawyer Urvashi Vaid was fiercely attuned to injustice from an early age. Adamant that the fight for LGBTQ equality cannot be separated from other progressive struggles, she became one of the most influential, outspoken, and inspiring movement leaders in recent history. Visit our episode webpage for background information, archival photos, and other resources, as well as a transcript of the episode. For exclusive Making Gay History bonus content, join our Patreon community. ——— To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alok Vaid-Menon is a gender non-conforming writer and performer who grew up in Texas to Indian immigrant parents. They use their creativity and platform to explore themes of gender, race, trauma and belonging, advocating and bringing visibility to the trans community. We speak with Alok about their work and advocacy, and what they learned from their aunt, Urvashi Vaid, the beloved LGBTQ rights activist who spent more than a decade working for equality at the National LGBTQ Task Force.

Imara dives deep with internationally acclaimed author, speaker, poet, and comedian Alok Vaid-Menon. In this interview, Imara and Alok discuss the politicization of gender nonconformity, legibility and pride, and the divinity of trans life. Alok explains how they use comedy to cultivate joy and subvert cultural fears, and even shares a sneak peak from their current tour. Finally, Alok opens up about the recent death of their aunt and LGBTQ rights activist Urvashi Vaid, and their commitment to carrying on her legacy by supporting the next generation of trans youth.Follow TransLash Media @translashmedia on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.Follow Imara Jones on Twitter (@ImaraJones) and Instagram (@Imara_jones_)Follow ALOK on Instagram (@alokvmenon) or on their website alokvmenon.comTransLash Podcast is produced by Translash Media.Translash Team: Imara Jones, Oliver-Ash Kleine, Aubrey Calaway. Our intern is Mirana Munson-Burke.Xander Adams is our contributing producer.Digital strategy by Daniela Capistrano.Music: Ben Draghi and ZZK records. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Alok Vaid-Menon is a gender non-conforming writer and performer who grew up in Texas to Indian immigrant parents. They use their creativity and platform to explore themes of gender, race, trauma and belonging, advocating and bringing visibility to the trans community. We speak with Alok about their work and advocacy, and what they learned from their aunt, Urvashi Vaid, the beloved LGBTQ rights activist who spent more than a decade working for equality at the National LGBTQ Task Force.

Show description Hi! Welcome to Dreaming in Color, a show hosted by Darren Isom, a partner with The Bridgespan Group, that provides a space for BIPOC social change leaders to candidly share how their life experiences (personal and professional) have prepared them to lead and drive the impact we all seek.  In this episode, we welcome Urvashi Vaid, an Indian-American LGBTQ rights activist, lawyer, and writer.  She talks about her roots as a student activist and organizer, her early days in the ACLU and the National LGTBQ Task Force, and her stints at the Ford and Arcus Foundations. Forged in the fire of the civil rights and anti-Vietnam war era, the motivation Urvashi carried with her to turn the system on its head was nothing short of relentless. Her work in advocacy, policy, and philanthropy has shaped the bedrock that many of our efforts now rest on. This episode was recorded a few months before Urvashi's passing.  Join us in celebrating her life and genius by listening to her reflections on the triumphs and roadblocks that have led to our present and where we can go from here.   Jump straight into: (01:58) - Introducing Urvashi Vaid, President of The Vaid Group (03:22) - What does it mean when the tools of a racist patriarchy are used to examine the fruits of that same patriarchy? Words from Audre Lorde. (05:21) - Stoking the fire:  Her sense of belonging, tenacity, and passion from a young age as a young lesbian child of immigrants.  (11:18) - On her foundation: Urvashi's experience as a student activist and organizer in nontraditional spaces before law school  (18:20) - Entering the philanthropic space: Pragmatism, people, and power (23:24) - On the skills, mentors, and tactics that community engagement created for her professional trajectory (30:52) - A space in formation: The efforts toward creating solidarity in and success for the LGBTQ movement (35:32) - What is to come: The future fights of social movements, words of hope, and the victories to be achieved Episode resources Follow Urvashi's work through https://www.linkedin.com/in/urvashivaid/ (LinkedIn) Learn more about Urvashi's impact through her https://urvashivaid.net/wp/?page_id=2 (homepage) Learn more about https://thevaidgroup.com/team/ (The Vaid Group) Discover https://repository.library.northeastern.edu/collections/neu:cj82pv86s (Records from the Bromfield Street Educational Foundation) (formerly Gay Community News) Read https://www.amazon.com/Sister-Outsider-Speeches-Crossing-Feminist-ebook/dp/B006L7RCEI/ref=sr_1_8?crid=2T68DEE8NZ8BL&keywords=tools+audre+lorde&qid=1642548703&sprefix=tools+audre+lorde%2Caps%2C137&sr=8-8 (Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches), assorted pieces by Audre Lorde Read https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000UKLDX8/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1 (Home Girls: a Black Feminist Anthology), a compilation by Barbara Smith Listen to the https://open.spotify.com/artist/0vYkHhJ48Bs3jWcvZXvOrP (Music of Patti Smith) on Spotify Learn more about the https://www.thetaskforce.org/ (National LGBTQ Task Force) (formerly National Gay and Lesbian Task Force) Learn more about the https://www.arcusfoundation.org/ (Arcus Foundation) Learn more about the https://www.aclu.org/ (American Civil Liberties Union) (ACLU) Learn more about the https://www.fordfoundation.org/ (Ford Foundation) Thank you for listening to Dreaming in Color a https://www.bridgespan.org/ (Bridgespan) supported https://www.studiopodsf.com/ (StudioPod) production. Nicole Genova is the Show Coordinator and Teresa Buchanan is the Show Producer. The production team from The Bridgespan Group includes Cora Daniels, Michael Borger, Christina Pistorius, and Britt Savage. Additional music and editing provided by https://nodalab.com/ (nodalab).

This week, Our Body Politic honors politics and pride, featuring a past interview between Farai and the late intersectional activist, lawyer, educator and author Urvashi Vaid who led movements for a range of progressive issues, including AIDS advocacy, LGBT rights and prison reform. The pair discuss Vaid's legacy as a leading figure in social change and what it truly takes to change the lived experience of everyone— to achieve lived equality. Then in our series, “Our Body Politics Presents…” we feature the podcast Truth Be Told with host Tonya Mosley who interviews minister and writer Danté Stewart about how to cultivate “little experiments of liberation” while experiencing and navigating repetitive acts of American violence.

Straight teen Tomás was called gay when he was five, leading him to learn and help teach others how to be a queer ally (an OutCasting Overtime youth commentary produced by Marc Sophos). We honor the passing of famed lesbian activist Urvashi Vaid with excerpts from a 2012 conversation about her book, “Irresistible Revolution: Confronting Race, Class and the Assumptions of LGBT Politics” (interviewed by Chris Thomas “Out FM,” WBAI-New York). And in NewsWrap: a Lublin court overturns resolutions establishing two Polish “LGBT-Free Zones,” Lithuanian lawmakers settle for a disappointing civil unions law, a federal court clogs Tennessee's warnings on trans-welcoming toilets, IDAHOBIT and respect win in West Wimmera Shire, Blackpool forward Jake Daniels comes out, Britain mints Pride, Morrison falls Down Under, and more international LGBTQ news reported this week by Wenzel Jones and John Dyer V (produced by Brian DeShazor). All this on the May 23, 2022 edition of This Way Out! Join our family of listener-donors today at http://thiswayout.org/donate/

Author and former award winning San Francisco radio personality Sandip Roy comments on life from his home in Kolkata, India.

On this week's episode, Julie & Brandy continue to scream into a pointless void about how much they hate Republicans, before honoring the life & work of legendary LGBTQ activist, Urvashi Vaid, in a very special "Ooh-Bitch-uary." *********************************************************************************************************** *** Click the link to listen to a FREE episode of our Patreon Podcast!! *No Politics! No ads! *** https://www.patreon.com/posts/windows-up-sing-42013006?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copy_to_clipboard&utm_campaign=postshare **CHECK OUT OUR T-SHIRTS! ** https://www.julieandbrandy.com/shop---4   DEALS FROM OUR SPONSORS! ** ATHLETIC GREENS: Get a FREE 1-year supply of vitamin D + 5 free travel packs at www.AthleticGreens.com/DumbGay ** *** BETTER HELP:  Get 10% off your first month at BetterHelp.com/DumbGay *** ** TRUEBILL: Cancel your unwanted subscriptions at www.truebill.com/dumbgay ** *** HELLO TUSHY BIDET: Get 10% off your first order. Go to HelloTushy.com/DumbGay *** *** Dumb Gay Politics with Julie & Brandy **** Julie Goldman **** Brandy Howard **** Julie and Brandy *** The People's Couch *** DGP *** Gay Podcast *** Political Podcast *** Lesbian *** Bravo *** Housewives *** Queer *** Pride **** LGBTQ **** Starburns Audio  **** Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this week's episode, Julie & Brandy continue to scream into a pointless void about how much they hate Republicans, before honoring the life & work of legendary LGBTQ activist, Urvashi Vaid, in a very special “Ooh-Bitch-uary.” *********************************************************************************************************** *** Click the link to listen to a FREE episode of our Patreon Podcast!! *No Politics! No ads! *** https://www.patreon.com/posts/windows-up-sing-42013006?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copy_to_clipboard&utm_campaign=postshare **CHECK OUT OUR T-SHIRTS! ** https://www.julieandbrandy.com/shop---4   DEALS FROM OUR SPONSORS! ** ATHLETIC GREENS: Get a FREE 1-year supply of vitamin D + 5 free travel packs at www.AthleticGreens.com/DumbGay ** *** BETTER HELP:  Get 10% off your first month at BetterHelp.com/DumbGay *** ** TRUEBILL: Cancel your unwanted subscriptions at www.truebill.com/dumbgay ** *** HELLO TUSHY BIDET: Get 10% off your first order. Go to HelloTushy.com/DumbGay *** *** Dumb Gay Politics with Julie & Brandy **** Julie Goldman **** Brandy Howard **** Julie and Brandy *** The People's Couch *** DGP *** Gay Podcast *** Political Podcast *** Lesbian *** Bravo *** Housewives *** Queer *** Pride **** LGBTQ **** Starburns Audio  **** Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What is the leading story for today? Is it Urvashi Vaid passing away? Is it Buffalo? Is it Brittney Griner? Is it Roe v. Wade? In this moment as a Black queer woman all of my identities are being activated and attacked. It's really hard to put into words all of my feelings. My anger, my frustration, my sadness. How the very pieces that make me who I am are hated by so many. Oh but how grateful I am for this platform so I can have a place to speak it and share it with you. We touch on each of these stories today because all of them deserve our time.    00:00 - Welcome & Intro 01:19 - NECANN  Ad, Cannabis convention coming to Chicago June 10th & 11th https://necann.com/illinois/  02:03 - Intro Music by Aina Bre'Yon 02:43 - Urvashi Vaid  04:57 - The tragedy of Buffalo, New York 08:24 - Brittney Griner update 09:58 - Pro-Choic Rallies across the country 10:42 - Anna's Got A Word    Things for you to check out    Support the Queer News Podcast - Join the QCrew https://bit.ly/3L3Ng66    Secure Brittney Griner's Swift and Safe Return to the U​.​S. https://www.change.org/p/secure-brittney-griner-s-swift-and-safe-return-to-the-u-s About Queer News An intersectional approach to daily news podcast where race & sexuality meet politics, entertainment and culture. Tune-in to reporting which centers & celebrates all of our lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer & comrade communities. Hosted by Anna DeShawn. 7 minutes a day, 5 days a week.   We want to hear from you. Tune in and tell us what you think. email us at info@e3radio.fm. follow anna deshawn on ig & twitter: @annadeshawn. and if you're interested in advertising with “queer news,” write to us at info@e3radio.fm.

Urvashi Vaid, President of The Vaid Group talks about the National LGBTQ+ Women's Community Survey with Emmy Winner Charlotte Robinson host of OUTTAKE VOICES™. This groundbreaking survey is a long overdue effort to learn and collect data from the experiences of women who partner with other women. Garnering over 5,000 respondents to date this unique effort is led by veteran queer, lesbian, bi, trans, non-binary, researchers and activists. The survey is designed to discover all we know and what we need to know about the life experience of LGBTQ women. Their goal is to reach 20,000 participants for the study by the end of March 2022. The survey will help us better understand the unique and amazing ways we form and support our families and how our community is surviving discrimination and harassment at work. The survey also addresses what forms of economic and social safety nets we create for ourselves given that the government, corporations and even non-profit employers largely do a poor job of this for black and brown LGBTQ+ women who love women. It also covers surviving the policing of our family members and ourselves as well as how racism, sexual violence and gender discrimination come together in our lives in ways that feel like gaslighting and can seem unimportant to our allies. This is an extremely important survey that will provide information our nation needs to understand so we can evolve and bring forward real life experience to inform policy change, service delivery and action to support LGBTQ+ women. We talked to Urvashi about her inspiration for creating the National LGBTQ+ Women's Community Survey and give us her spin on our LGBTQ issues.  Urvashi Vaid is a graduate of Northeastern University School of Law and Vassar College. She created The Vaid Group LLC that works with global and domestic organizations to advance equity, justice and inclusion. Vaid is co-founder of the Donors of Color Network, the first cross-racial network connecting individuals of color to leverage their giving for racial equity; co-founder of the National LGBTQ Anti-Poverty Action Network, the National LGBT/HIV Criminal Justice Working Group, LPAC, the Equality Federation, the National Religious Leadership Roundtable and the Creating Change Conference of the National LGBTQ Task Force, among other networks and projects. Urvashi Vaid will be honored with the Susan J. Hyde Award for Longevity in the Movement at the 34th Creating Change Conference. Take The National LGBTQ+ Women's Community Survey LISTEN: 500+ LGBTQ Chats @OUTTAKE VOICES

Thomas, Toni, and Kendall talk Politics. They discuss the activism of Urvashi Vaid, the scandal involving Walter Jenkins, and Althea Garrison being the first Transgender Person elected to a state legislature.

Lisa Gunterman is the Director for the LGBT Center at the University of Louisville, and a lifelong social justice organizer with nearly 30 years of experience in non-profit, social justice and government sectors. As a co-founder of Louisville's Fairness Campaign, Lisa played a key role in passing the city's ordinance banning discrimination based on sexual orientation and ensuring the inclusion of protections based on gender identity and expression.

Ashindi is an independent strategist and donor advisor in democracy reform, social and racial justice. She has developed funding strategies informing more than $100 million in investments from some of the largest foundations and individual donors in the United States  - including the Democracy Alliance, the Ford Foundation, The Women Donors Network, the Sandler Family Foundation, and PowerPAC. Ashindi co-founded the Emergent Fund, a post 2016 election rapid response fund supporting organizing in the most impacted communities where Muslim, Black, immigrant, Latino, Asian, women, and LGBTQ leaders took the lead in decision-making and were the primary recipients of over $1 million raised in the first 100 days of the new Administration. In May of 2016 she also co-authored, with Urvashi Vaid, the first comprehensive report on high net worth donors of color titled, “The Apparitional Donor: Understanding and Engaging High Net Worth Donors of Color”. She also piloted voter engagement projects geared at Asian American voting, voter registration in community health clinics and ran a witness search and data collection effort which proved to be pivotal in overturning the Pennsylvania voter ID law in 2012.  Prior to all of this, Ashindi worked in education. She was the principal of an elementary arts charter school, a Spanish bilingual fifth grade teacher, and a policy fellow to the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Education. She was also a Fulbright Scholar to the Dominican Republic where she published the first national study on race consciousness in Dominican children. In addition to her work in philanthropy, Ashindi has served as the National Policy Director of the NAACP and the National Director of Political Partnerships for SEIU International. Ashindi serves on the boards of the Texas Organizing Project and Free Speech TV. She has been listed three times to Washington Magazine’s “Young and the Guest List” of forty and under geniuses, visionaries, crusaders and innovators shaping Washington's future” in addition to the “NAACP Power 40” list of most influential African-Americans under forty. Ms. Maxton is a graduate of Vassar College and has a Masters degree in Public Policy from the University of California, Berkeley. It's hard to think of someone more accomplished in her field.  So grateful that she carved out time for us today.  Enjoy the show!

Urvashi Vaid- Indian-American LGBT rights activist. 12-13-16 by Michelle Meow

July 4th, Independence Day, is coming up and I've been thinking about Thomas Paine. “These are times that try men's souls,” wrote the American revolutionary in 1776. But you've got to wonder. The rule of mad King George and the Royal East India Company was bad. But is the rule of the mad Big Banks and the Corporate Congress better? Paine's Common Sense is widely credited with giving the war of independence its rhetorical juice and vision: if Americans wanted to enjoy unity, equality and independence, he said, they'd have to throw off kings, and unaccountable colonial corporations. In the England of his youth Paine witnessed what happened when the rich fenced off and privatized what had been common land. A few landed families grew ever richer, while the poor lost every decent means of self-support. Aboard a merchant ship, Paine met sailors who had been “impressed” or forced into service. He worked with others who had been enslaved. His first writings from Philadelphia were against colonialism and slavery. Britain has, he stated, done little but “rip up the bowels of whole countries for what she could get.” Skip forward to today and our wars are ripping up their share of bowels. Have any doubt? Just look at Iraq. Our congress of the very rich has so shrunk the options for the poor that 46 million Americans live with poverty and another 7 million of us are locked up. Americans may not be forced to serve in their military or their jails, but when there's no other route to schooling or a decent wage, it may not be impressment, but it's close. Of the gap between rich and poor in his day, Paine wrote: “The great mass of the poor in all countries are become an hereditary race and it is next to impossible for them to get out of that state of themselves…. This situation, he wrote, “is absolutely the opposite of what it should be and it is necessary that a revolution should be made in it.” The great mass of today's poor are in a similar fix. Those that have wealth invest, while the rest can only work. Invested wealth compounds; wages do nothing much. Corporate cartels rig prices, favor monopolies and turn every aspect of our social lives into commodities for trade: from our homes to our thoughts and our “friends” and our “likes”. Tottering on the brink of commotion and disturbance “the mind of the multitude is left at random.” Wrote Paine. In our times, police and drones and detention camps keep a cap on commotion - and our most powerful media -- brought to us by the makers of those drones -- tell the mind of the multitude we live in a democracy. We live in times that try our souls for sure. Are we in revolutionary times? The only question is why not. Happy Independence Day! For more commentaries from me, and interviews with the Thomas Paines of today, go to GRITtv.org and sign up there, to join us. This week, LGBTQ activists Kate Clinton and Urvashi Vaid on what makes revolutions and revolutionaries irresistible. I'm Laura Flanders.

LGBTQ and feminist activist Urvashi Vaid will deliver the Minx Auerbach Lecture Tuesday night at the University of Louisville. She joined us this week to share a little about her speech, called “Winning the Future: A Critical Look at the LGBT Movement," and to answer our questions about her work, and the future of social justice activism. The Minx Auerbach Lecture takes place tonight at 5pm in Comstock Hall, at 105 W. Brandeis Ave., and is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Jan Rayburn at (502) 852-8160. In our Juicy Fruit segment this week, we talk about Spike Lee's recent announcement that he's making a sequel to School Daze, Arizona's controversial so-called "religious freedom" bill (which has been vetoed since we recorded this episode), and marriage equality making its way to Texas. We also shouted out Aisha and Danielle Moodie-Mills, who are hosting a new video series calledPolitini on the Griot. Aisha and Danielle are a married couple who describe themselves as polinistas: "A fashionably political woman who is unapologetic about her femininity and brilliance." We couldn't agree more, and we're so excited they'll be our guests next week on Strange Fruit. See you then!

Robin takes on the new Pope, and speaks with Stephanie Gilmore on grassroots feminism; Jennifer Freyd on betrayal blindness; Helen Zia on Asian American women's history; and Urvashi Vaid as she questions the LGBT drift.