“We don’t have a problem with support for sex ed in this country, we have a problem with prioritizing it, and making it an issue that they want to stick their neck out on. We have an action problem”

In this episode, I had the absolute joy of speaking with Jaclyn Friedman, author, organizer, and Executive Director of EducateUS, a movement working to bring about a complete transformation of K-12 public sex education in the United States, in order to foster a new generation of Americans who are secure in their own bodily sovereignty, recognize and respect that sovereignty in everyone else regardless of race, place, creed, class or gender, know all the essential facts about how bodies work, and are fully prepared to build loving relationships with themselves and others.

Jaclyn and I took a deep dive into comprehensive sex ed as a liberatory and anti-authoritarian tool that creates change far beyond the high school classroom.

EducateUS is led by Founder and Executive Director Jaclyn Friedman, a lifelong activist, advocate and organizer. Friedman’s work has globally popularized the affirmative consent standard of sexual consent. Her first book, Yes Means Yes: Visions of Female Sexual Power and a World Without Rape, was one of Publisher’s Weekly’s Top 100 Books of 2009, and has inspired new laws in five U.S. states, as well as policies on countless campuses across the country and the world. She also spearheaded the legendary #FBrape campaign, which forced Facebook to address and exclude content that promotes or trivializes violence against women under their hate speech policy, and is founder and former executive director of Women, Action & the Media (WAM!).

LINKS:

Drinking and rape lets wise up about it

Educate US Action

Yes Means Yes: Visions of Female Power and a World Without Rape

Unscrewed: Women, Sex, Power, and How to Stop Letting the System Screw Us All

What You Really Really Want: The Smart Girl's Shame-Free Guide to Sex and Safety

Believe Me: How Trusting Women Can Change the World

Sex Ed For Social Change

Both/And is a project of the New Mexico Coalition of Sexual Assault Programs. www.nmcsap.org
Need support? Call, text, or chat the NM Sexual Assault Helpline at 1-844-NMSAHLP | 1-844-667-2457 | www.nmsahelp.org

Intro music: "Can't Get Enough Sunlight" written and recorded by Michelle Chamuel http://michellechamuel.com/
Logo: Alex Ross-Reed
Produced by: Jess Clark
Edited By: Dacia Clay at Pillow Fort Studios
https://www.pillowfortpodcasts.com

In my time doing prevention, I have spent an unreasonable number of hours thinking about why people can’t just get it! Why can’t they see that our positions on violence and oppression are rational and moral and just…right!? Well, it turns out that when it comes to social change, how we communicate an idea is often just as important as the idea itself. Today's guest, Dr. Julie Sweetland is a sociolinguist and a senior advisor at the FrameWorks Institute. She is an expert in framing research and strategy, and in this conversation, she was able to answer those questions for me and give me a clearer path forward in framing that actually works.

Since joining FrameWorks in 2012, Dr. Sweetland has designed and led reframing initiatives on climate change, education equity, childhood adversity, and more. Her skill in translating framing research into communication strategy has helped advocates, policymakers, and scientists drive change at the national, state, and grassroots levels. Since 2017, Julie has worked primarily with the public health sector, bringing the science and strategy of framing to health topics like health equity, tobacco control, maternal mortality, and childhood vaccination.

Prior to joining FrameWorks, Julie spent over a decade working in education reform as a classroom teacher, teacher educator, and advocate. At Center for Inspired Teaching, she designed an innovative teacher residency which has since trained hundreds of progressive educators who work throughout DC public schools.

Julie’s linguistic research has focused on the intersection of language and race, with a particular focus on how language can be used to disrupt racism in schools and beyond. Her research has appeared in Journal of Sociolinguistics, Educational Researcher, and she is the co-author of African American, Creole, and Other Vernacular Englishes in Education.

Dr. Sweetland is a graduate of Georgetown University and completed her MA and PhD in linguistics at Stanford University.

LINKS:
Frameworks
Compassion Fatigue
Water use in Santa Fe, NM over 20 years.

Both/And is a project of the New Mexico Coalition of Sexual Assault Programs. www.nmcsap.org
Need support? Call, text, or chat the NM Sexual Assault Helpline at 1-844-NMSAHLP | 1-844-667-2457 | www.nmsahelp.org

Intro music: "Can't Get Enough Sunlight" written and recorded by Michelle Chamuel http://michellechamuel.com/
Logo: Alex Ross-Reed
Produced by: Jess Clark
Edited By: Dacia Clay at Pillow Fort Studios
https://www.pillowfortpodcasts.com

Many individuals and organizations across the country have been working for years to enact policies that ensure workers are able to do things like care for themselves or a loved one when they are ill, be home with a newborn during those crucial first few months, spend time with a dying family member, or heal from the trauma of sexual or intimate partner violence - And all without worrying about losing their paycheck. While to many, policies like Paid Family Medical Leave and Paid Safe Days seem like a basic human decency that we all deserve, the fight for such policies has been anything but easy.

Today's guest, Josephine Kalipeni is one of the leaders navigating this fight across the country. From a local organizer, to consulting, to executive level leadership, Josephine Kalipeni has been working in economic, racial, and gender justice policy and advocacy for more than 20 years. Born in Malawi and raised in the Midwest by immigrant parents, (and as the oldest of six children) Josie has personally navigated immigration, a bicultural identity, caregiving, and racism in Africa and North America. She initially worked in social work, where she witnessed systemic issues that drove her into progressive advocacy, particularly on issues of Medicaid, elder care, and caregiving. Josie is working to rethink traditional systems of work and leadership and ensure that everyone can give and receive care on their own terms.

In this conversation, Josie and I explore how policies that increase economic supports for families are deeply connected to sexual violence prevention. More than that, though- we really dive into the idea that this country has decided who is and is not deserving of dignity when it comes to rest and care, and what we can do to change that.

LINKS:
Don't Leave Your Friends Behind - Victoria Law and China Martens
The Need for Paid Safe Leave & Model Legislative Language
Emergent Strategy - Adrienne Marie Brown

Both/And is a project of the New Mexico Coalition of Sexual Assault Programs. www.nmcsap.org
Need support? Call, text, or chat the NM Sexual Assault Helpline at 1-844-NMSAHLP | 1-844-667-2457 | www.nmsahelp.org

Intro music: "Can't Get Enough Sunlight" written and recorded by Michelle Chamuel http://michellechamuel.com/
Logo: Alex Ross-Reed
Produced by: Jess Clark
Edited By: Dacia Clay at Pillow Fort Studios
https://www.pillowfortpodcasts.com