WeSpeak is a feminist group consists of graduate students at Minnesota State University Mankato.
Our podcast series, Activism during Global Pndemic features activists from different countries and their strategies during COVID-19 global pandemic.
WeSpeak🌎highlight!✨
Lan July is another member of WeSpeak group!
"I had been interested in feminism and not knowing what feminism is until I took gender classes during my undergrad years. My feminist inspiration comes from my family, professors, classmates and friends. My feminism had focus more on working against gender violence. After taking transnational feminism class and as a refugee myself, my focus shift toward intersectionality and refugees."
Denim Day!
Let's see your Denim Day pictures today! Join Committee Against Domestic Abuse, Inc- CADA, Violence Awareness and Response Program, and Gender and Women's Studies Department - MNSU Mankato in supporting victims and survivors of domestic violence by wearing denim today. On Denim Day, we reiterate our refusal to accept the shaming and blaming of victims. More on the history of this day in the comments!
The latest episode, "Singing Together with Laura Schultz" is now available!
Listen here: link.mnsu.edu/wespeak
WeSpeak🌎highlight!
Julia Knutson is another member of WeSpeak group from North Field, MN!
"As a feminist, my most important goal is to actively hear people and listen with no intention of response. If you know me, you know I LOVE the sound of my own voice. But, as a feminist it is so important to me that people feel heard and supported when interacting with me.
My feminist inspirations are Roxane Gay, the one and only, as well as bell hooks. There are so many more but these two embody feminism in the very way I hope to."
The latest episode, "Collective Healing with Students United" is now available! This episode features Students United in St. Paul, MN.
Listen here: link.mnsu.edu/wespeak
Behind the scene this week!
WeSpeak 🌎 interviewed Laura Schultz this week. The episode featuring her work is going to be available on 4/26 Monday!
Stay tuned✨
WeSpeak🌎 highlight!
Here's another member of our group, Tahmina Sobat from Afghanistan!
Tahmina's story:
"I was born and raised in Afghanistan, a war-torn country, in which being a woman is one of the most difficult things you have ever imagined. Years of war and conflict which hardly marginalized Afghan women, made me determined to become an advocate for women’s rights and feminism. Furthermore, as an advocate of transnational feminism, I want to work for the inclusion of differences and different experiences in the mainstream feminist movement. My research area is “feminism and demilitarization/women’s role in the peace-building case study of Afghanistan. Despite the huge shift in women’s situation, it is yet to believe women are enjoying their human and legal rights. While there is a conversation regarding the inclusion of the Taliban terroristic group in the government of Afghanistan, women are highly marginalized from the peace negotiations and decision-making process. Accordingly, as an advocate of feminism and a human rights lawyer, I feel the responsibility of writing about women’s crucial role in peace-building and emphasis on feminism’s role in building up the ideology of demilitarization and peace-building."
Our latest episode, "Balancing Act with CADA" is now available!✨This episode features Committee Against Domestic Abuse, Inc- CADA in Mankato, MN.
Listen here: link.mnsu.edu/wespeak
Episodes of "Activism during Global Pandemic" podcast series will come out every Monday throughout April. Stay tuned!
Check our page: link.mnsu.edu/wespeak
*schedule subject to change.
WeSpeak🌎 highlight!
Corrin Helget is another member of WeSpeak group, originally from Sleepy Eye, MN.
Here's Corrin's story:
"My feminism has been about learning through listening to the people around me, taking classes, and researching. I’m a literary person at heart, so I love researching topics I’m interested in, especially representation in media! I’m also an introvert, so I’ve never been comfortable organizing or protesting. But after taking the class Collective Action and reading many texts about activism and social justice, I see how important it is as a feminist to not just learn about the issues but to take a stand and fight. I’m hoping that once this pandemic is over, I will find more opportunities to evolve my activism.
My feminist inspiration comes from people I know in my own life. My professors Laura Harrison and Yalda Hamadi, and my best friends Erin Kotten and Cori Deming. Also, all the undergrad students in the classes I am the TA for, many of whom are young feminists in the making who bring new energy and passion to the topics we discuss. And finally, my fellow podcasters, who have opened my eyes to new perspectives and made my first year as a grad student more enjoyable."
Today is International Asexuality Day!
“Asexuality is a part of the asexual spectrum, and is defined by a lack of sexual attraction. … Being asexual does not mean that one is unable to experience romantic attraction. An asexual person can have any romantic orientation and some asexuals identify with a romantic orientation to specify who they're interested in romantically, if anyone.
They often use prefixes like hetero-, homo-, bi-, pan-, etc. in front of the word romantic to describe who they experience romantic attraction to. For example, a person who is asexual heteroromantic is romantically attracted to people of another gender, but is not sexually attracted to them.
Some asexuals are also aromantic, meaning that they also do not feel romantic attraction. People who are both asexual and aromantic may identify as aroace.”
You can learn more about the asexual spectrum here:
https://lgbta.wikia.org/wiki/Asexual
Our latest episode, "Becoming the Eye with Marjan Alipour" is now available!✨This episode features our interview with Marjan Alipour from the Institution of Social Equality for Women in Afganistan.
Listen here: link.mnsu.edu/wespeak
Our very first episode of Activism during Global Pandemic, "Introduction: History as We Speak" is now available!✨
Listen here: https://anchor.fm/we-speak8/episodes/Introduction-History-as-We-Speak-etq3va
Tell us what you think! Feel free to leave comments!
Behind the scene from weekly meeting✨
WeSpeak🌎 have an announcement today!
Our very first episode featuring ourselves will be ready tomorrow🙌 We decided to make our first episode talking about where we are coming from, why we are doing this project, and what we hope for the future!
The episode will be available on Spotify. More information coming!
April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month!
Today marks the beginning of Sexual Assault Awareness Month!
We all have a part to play in preventing and ending sexual violence. Follow us all month to learn what YOU can do!
WeSpeak🌎 highlight!
Mio Yoshizaki is another member of WeSpeak group! Coming from Japan, she is studying feminism at MSU Mankato as a graduate student!
Here's Mio's introduction:
"I had been interested in feminism, but I did not see myself as a feminist until recently. When I finished the undergraduate program, I totally did not feel like 'finished learning' about things I care about in this society. I have met many passionate faculty and classmates coming from different backgrounds, which has inspired me a lot as a feminist activist. Recently taking a class called Transnational Feminism, I became very interested in doing research around intersectionality and feminism in Japan.
As other people have mentioned, there are many feminist books and activists that have inspired me. Most recently, I read a book called "Stop Telling Women to Smile" by Tatyana Fazlalizadeh. Reading her book gave me the courage to be a strong independent woman!"
Behind the scene from last week!✨
WeSpeak🌎 interviewed Christina from Students United last week! Students United is a non-profit organization serving students attending Minnesota State Colleges & Universities.
Thank you so much Christina for joining us and telling us about Student United!
Stay tuned for our podcast series!✨
WeSpeak🌎 highlight!✨
Jenni Lampinen is another member of WeSpeak group. Originally from Finland, she is also an international graduate student in Gender and Women's Studies Department - MNSU Mankato. She has only lived in the US for seven months so far, but her educational background in social services provided her a unique opportunity to study feminism!
Here's Jenni's introduction as a feminist:
"My feminism has focused a lot on working against domestic violence and gender-based violence. With my studies here in the MSU, I have become more interested in intersectionality, imperialism, and capitalism and how privilege and oppression are connected globally to these concepts. My research interest has definitely shifted towards global education, transnational feminism, and oppression caused by capitalism and imperialism. My feminism started with activism and direct action but since the pandemic, I have focused more on education and research.
My interest in activism started when I volunteered to work for Amnesty International after high school and one of the biggest influences of my research interest was Pia Puu-Oksanen, who works for Amnesty International as a specialist of oppression that it caused by gender and sexual identity. Some other feminists that have inspired me are Malala Yousafzai, bell hooks, and Audre Lorde. In addition to the feminist that I mentioned, I would also say that my classmates are an inspiration for me. We come from different locations and backgrounds and I have learned so much from them!"
We have an Instagram page! Follow this account!🙌🏼😊
Behind the scene!✨
WeSpeak🌎 interviewed Marjan Alipour from Institution of Social Equality for women in Afganistan. The institution has been working in the field of social equality for women. Their projects focus on capacity building and awareness providing training courses and educational materials for women and girls.
Thank you Marjan for joining us! We appreciate you meeting us even though there was a time difference.
The episode featuring Marjan will be available shortly!
WeSpeak🌎 Highlight
Alex Nellis is one of the members of WeSpeak, originally from St. Cloud, MN! Let's get to know Alex today👍
How do you see yourself as a feminist?
"One of the areas of feminism that interests me the most is . It is so important to make sure that we recognize all parts of a person's identity, especially when trying to understand the oppression they may face from multiple identities intersecting to marginalize them. In addition, this year, all of the hosts of this podcast are taking a Transnational Feminism course together with Dr. Yalda Hamidi. This has really opened my eyes to how important bringing a transnational lens to activism is. I feel like I am becoming a better and more well-informed feminist with every article we read!"
Who is your feminist inspiration?
"This is a tough question to pick for, as I have so many feminists that have influenced me as an activist. Ruth Bader Ginsburg, bell hooks, Sojourner Truth, Maya Angelou, Michelle Obama, and Malala Yousafzai are all ones that come to mind! I would also add my mom, who is a Communication professor at another university. She taught me to view the world through a feminist lens from a young age, and she continues to inspire me to this day!"
Thank you Alex for introducing yourself!😊
Hi everyone! Thank you for visiting our page😊
WeSpeak is a feminist group consists of graduate students in Gender and Women's Studies Department - MNSU Mankato We are happy to host our podcast series, Activism during Global Pandemic🌏
Activism during Global Pandemic will feature activists from different places. We invite an activist or activist group in each episode to discuss their tactics and strategies, especially during COVID-19 global pandemic.
We will share the link to our podcast once it is aired! Stay tuned!
Do not forget to like or follow our page, and feel free to share with your friends!👍
Here's from behind the scene!
WeSpeak🌎 interviewed CADA this week for one of our episodes. Based in Mankato, MN, Committee Against Domestic Abuse, Inc. (CADA) is a nonprofit victim advocacy and emergency shelter organization.
Thank you Committee Against Domestic Abuse, Inc- CADA for coming to talk to us about your program and activism!
Stay tuned! We will share more infromation about our podcast series once it's ready.
Thank you for visiting our page!
Follow this page to receive updates about our Podcast👍
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