Accent of Women

The British Empire is again celebrating it’s world wide colonial conquests in the form of the Commonwealth Games, currently underway on the Gold Coast in Queensland. Indigenous activists and their supporters are conducting a protest campaign against the Commonwealth Games, under the title of the “Stolenwealth Games”. They are demanding land rights and recognition that Aboriginal sovereignty has ne...

Israeli troops killed at least 15 Palestinians and injured more than 1,400 on Friday 30 March, during demonstrations along Gaza’s border with Israel and in cities throughout the Palestinian enclave. The demonstrations were scheduled to take place for six weeks along the border of Gaza, and have been called the “Great Return March”.  This area has been subject to an 11 year illegal blockade by Isra...

On today’s program, we look at the economic crisis in Venezuela. Despite the billions of dollars available to Venezuela because of its oil industry, the country is in the throes of an economic crisis, resulting from US sanctions. Venezuela is heavily dependent on food imports just to feed the population. The media is reporting that hundreds of thousands of people are fleeing the country into neigh...

Eastern Ghouta, located just east of Damascus, has become the recent focus of a fierce offensive by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces. Health officials have also accused the Syrian government of using chlorine gas in their aerial bombardment campaign on Eastern Ghouta. The UN has called the situation in the enclave "hell on earth". Mariam Salameh, one of the women that has been organising...

Today on Accent of Women, we revisit the issue of African gangs and the vilification of Sudanese youth by the conservative media, and the Victorian state opposition. We feature the voice of Sudanese community campaigner, Nawal Ali, addressing a public meeting in Flemington – a western Melbourne suburb with a large Sudanese community. And then in the second part of the show, we revisit our intervie...

This week's Accent of Women looks at apostasy – the practice of changing or leaving your religion. Apostasy is a critical demand for the international workers movement – it goes to the heart of collective consciousness, especially working class consciousness. It is about breaking the chains of religion that suppress and oppress, particularly women. But it is also an extremely difficult conversatio...

On Today’s Accent of Women, we will learn more about the Labor Victorian government’s plans in relation to the Public Housing Renewal project, and the social impacts that this will have. We hear from Yasemin Shamsili of the Public Housing Defence Network and Ayan Mohamud, a community activist and public housing tenant

The 26th January, 2018 saw some of the biggest rallies across Australia in solidarity, defence and struggle with Aboriginal people.  In Melbourne alone, 50 to 60,000 people marched the streets, overshadowing the official Australia Day Parade 50 to 1. This week's Accent of Women looks at the Abolish Australia Day campaign featuring interviews with Dtarneen Onus-Williams and Meriki Kalinya, and a sp...

Today on Accent of Women, we look at the supposed crime wave of African gangs that is sweeping Victoria. To discuss this issue, two young women are featured on Accent of Women, who in very different ways, are both working towards combating the media's racist rhetoric, and ultimately to ending this kind of racism. These two young women are Eunice Gabboyi, chairperson of the Afro Australian Student...

In Melbourne, at the Immigration Museum Palestinian installation artist Aseel Tayah brings us Bukjeh: Stories of home, and of having to leave it. Bukjeh is an installation and a series of short performances created with people who have been forced to leave their homes, and in response to children's questions about refugees.

US President Donald Trump's announcement to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel is effectively an endorsement of Israel's annexation of East Jerusalem. The announcement sparked protests in Gaza and the West Bank and some commentators are describing the situation as a third intifada. But to understand the current provocation, what's happening in Palestine and what the future is for the Pal...

On today’s Accent of Women, we look at women organising in the South Korean labour movement. In the second part of the program we will hear from Wol San Liem, director of International Affairs for the Korean Public Transport Workers Union, about a current strike in the railways, against privatisation. But first up on the show, we look at a significant labour movement event on the South Korean work...

On today’s Accent of Women, we conclude our exploration of early Japanese communist women. Shomi Yoon is member of the International Socialist Organisation in Aeteoroa/New Zealand. Shomi herself is from Japanese origins, and was a keynote speaker at the Marxism conference held in 2014.

On today’s Accent of Women, we take a step back into history and look at early Japanese communist women. Shomi Yoon is member of the International Socialist Organisation in Aeteoroa/New Zealand. Shomi herself is from Japanese origins, and was a keynote speaker at the Marxism conference held in 2014.

On October 12, Hamas and Fatah signed a landmark reconciliation deal in Cairo in what has been said is a key step towards ending a decade-long rift between the two Palestinian factions. But do these developments hold hope for Palestinian liberation and the end to Israeli apartheid? Or is it another attempt to goad the Palestinians into agreeing to ever more concessions to Israel, ceding land and r...

At least 500,000 Rohingya have fled to neighboring Bangladesh since August of this year. Officially, Burma's government does not recognize the Rohingya as lawful citizens. The government claims they were brought to Rakhine from Bangladesh during the time when Burma was a British colony, and the government says they are living in Myanmar illegally. But there are other factors too, the lie behind th...

On today’s Accent of Women, we look at the possibility of nuclear warfare on the Korean peninsular. We hear from two South Korean activists, Sung Hee Choi, and Wol-san Liam. 

Today on Accent of Women, we speak to author, Lora Inak. Her latest book is a culturally specific story, in the young adult fiction genre, about cultural conflict. It's called Unspoken Rules, and is being released on the 17th of September 2017.

Winnie Siulolovao Dunn of SWEATSHOP Western Sydney Literacy Movement caught up with Sista Zai for a chat about ideas and strategies for empowering young people of colour to heal colonial wounds and tell their own stories on their own terms. The dialogue was inspired by her recently published article in the Sydney Review of Books: https://sydneyreviewofbooks.com/…/winnie-akata-siulolovao-…/

In Hong Kong, 13 ordinary civilians and students have been sentenced to 8-13 months’ imprisonment for their protest against the Government’s first funding instalment for the North East New Territories New Development Plan- the protest occurred in June, 2014 and the initial sentence that the protesters received including things like community service. However, the Justice Department appealed those...

There have been 17 military coups in Thailand since 1932 and since the coup of 2014, the military junta is well and truly entrenched in the country. Against this background, poverty is crippling, farmers are suiciding, workers are languishing, activists for democratic rights are being arrested under repressive laws.  To discuss the situation in Thailand, Junya Lek Yimprasert, a democratic rights a...

Today on Accent of Women, we look at the most recent Israeli aggression against Palestinians, specifically in the Al-Aqsa compound of Jerusalem. Supposedly in retaliation to an attack by Palestinian worshippers at Al-Aqsa mosque in mid-July, Israel restricted who could pray there, installed metal detectors and commenced harrassing and arresting worshippers. Al-Aqsa compound is also a sacred site f...

Nicolas Maduro, president of Venezuela, has pledged to hold a referendum on a new constitution he is proposing in response to two months of violent anti-government protests. To re-write of the constitution will be co-ordinated by a body called the Constituent Assembly, an election for which is being held on Sunday 30 July. To discuss the situation in Venezuela and the context leading up to the re-...

On 24 May 2017, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte declared Martial Law in Mindanao through Presidential Proclamation 216. This came after a botched military operation against an individual by the name of Isnilon Hapilon, the leader of the Maute Abu Sayyaf terrorist group, allegedly connected to ISIS. Under Martial Law, the Philippine military has intensified indiscriminate aerial bombing even a...

The Pan Afrikan Poets Café (PAPC) an already legendary Afrikan literary salon pops up once again, this time at the Arts Centre Melbourne on Friday 14 July. This special pop up event is called Black Girl Magic, and Sista Zai started the project as an event that celebrates Africa’s rich literary legacy and diverse storytelling traditions. On today’s program we feature the voices of four performing a...