Feminist Magazine

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1. Ay, la lloraba ante mí
2. This is Feminist Magazine, a weekly radical radio show and podcast produced by a diverse collective of feminists.
3. And every week we bring you a mix of intersectional stories and guests to help you resist and engage.
4. And I'm Lynn Harris-Ballon, your host today, and this is what feminism can sound like.
5. ¡Gracias!
6. Y estamos acompañadas hoy por la actual Presidenta de Women Who Submit, Xochitl Julissa Bermejo, y también la miembro de la asamblea, Suhasini Yida.
7. Bienvenida a Feminist Magazine.
8. Hola, gracias por tenernos.
9. Gracias, estoy feliz de estar aquí.
10. Empecemos por contarles a nuestros escuchadores un poco sobre la organización y cómo empezó. ¿Qué te inspiró?
11. ¿Cómo lo hicieron?
12. y luego mostrando esa evidencia cuantitativa de la diferencia entre los géneros en la publicación literaria.
13. Y Alice Dixon, que es una cofundadora, estaba trabajando con Vida durante su primer reporte.
14. Y cuando lo publicaron, la pregunta se quedó, bueno, ¿por qué son los números como estos?
15. Y estaban hablando con los editores y preguntando a los editores, ¿por qué?
16. Y la respuesta más común era que las mujeres no suben tan a menores.
17. como hombres y también las mujeres no resubicen tan agresivamente como los hombres y hubo otros artículos
18. sobre esto no solo en la publicación literaria pero en el trabajo, sabes, hay un artículo atlántico
19. llamado la gama de la confianza que se trata de esta cosa que es, sabes, podría haber un
20. listado de trabajo y si una mujer no llega a todos los puntos en el listado de trabajo, no
21. no van a aplicar, pero si un hombre
22. hace, ya sabes, dos de diez cosas,
23. todavía van a aplicar.
24. Es algo que ha sido estudiado
25. y Alice
26. siendo en Vida y
27. escuchando esta narrativa
28. vino a
29. otro cofundador, a Shaki,
30. estaban trabajando juntos en un
31. espacio de colaboración y se
32. convirtieron en amigos en este espacio de colaboraci en Santa Monica y los dos de ellos pensaron bueno si hicimos una what if we did a submission party It was basically a co space where women could submit together
33. share goals, share resources. At that time, hard copies were still being sent out and you would
34. put your self-addressed stamped envelope space in your submission. And so we even had a print.
35. And the first meeting we had a printer, we had envelopes, we had stamps, we had journals that people could share and read because journals always say, please read our journal before you submit.
36. So we had all these different resources. And that was in June or July 2011.
37. And the way I got involved. So the two of them, it was Alice's idea.
38. Like, what if we had a submission party? She linked up with Ashaki at their Santa Monica co-working space.
39. and then Ashaki and I knew each other through Antioch University and I had recently graduated
40. from the MFA program and so she was like well what if we hook in Sochi because she knows a lot
41. of people right now she's working with a lot of people and so then they invited me into this idea
42. and we had the first meeting at my parents house in San Gabriel. I love that it's this combination
43. of coming together and sharing resources and then the kitchen table or the living room becomes
44. like the space that something starts that's just like classically feminist right yeah yeah i mean
45. when we first started i thought about it a lot like um like a tupperware party from like the
46. 70s and 80s but instead of like you know selling each other tupperware we were helping each other
47. get submitted that's yeah that's the feeling that's the feeling and the gathering together
48. And yeah, it's kind of astonishing, the confidence gap, as you explain it, and feels very real.
49. So since then, Women Who Submit has many chapters and has taken on so many different roles.
50. Tell us about the chapters and how all of that works.
51. So that was the brainchild of Ashaki Jackson.
52. People wanted to know how they could get involved, even if they weren't near us,
53. or how they could do something like it in their area.
54. So she did work to kind of brand what Women Who Submit is
55. and package it in a way that we could give it to people in other cities
56. and they could do this work among their own communities.
57. And now we have, I think we have 17 chapters across the country,
58. one in Canada, one in Europe.
59. So we're international.
60. and basically we support our chapters by you know our with our resources and our website and our
61. values and then they bring these kitchen table meetups to their own communities so and I really
62. think it's great and that there's like smaller communities that are doing the grassroots work
63. that we can't really do in LA because LA is so big and so we coordinate between them we help them
64. But they're the ones that are like on the ground with, you know, five to 10 women and non-binary folks in their community meeting up once a month and doing this work.
65. Yeah. And there's also this thing of feeling supported by people doing it in other places, which I think is hugely encouraging.
66. It feels like there's the myth of the solitary writer. Right.
67. And in many ways, the work is like you have to do it alone.
68. But this whole other part the submissions and then what you also do the celebration is something that is so much more powerful when you accountable to other people It like having a gym buddy in a way right Yeah the accountability So we celebrate rejections We have a Facebook group where
69. people can put every month, Lauren Eggercrow, who's a former board member, she puts together
70. like this little, she'll put together a little meme about that month and they're really fun and
71. punny. And it's a place where everyone can just put in their rejections. And so everyone who puts
72. in their rejections, you get claps and cheers for that too. And you get hearts and you get comments
73. and way to go because, you know, it's about sending our work off and it's about having our
74. work read that doesn't necessarily, it doesn't always mean getting published in Poetry or New
75. Yorker or The Atlantic. It's just like, you got across an editor's desk and an editor read that
76. work and you, you know, believed in your work enough to send it off. And so that's enough to
77. be celebrated. It's huge. It's a huge step. And I love how you do the celebrating as well.
78. So some of the other parts of what WWS does is also things like a travel fund and workshops.
79. Suhasini, tell us how all of that comes together for you.
80. Sure. Some of the work that we do are professional development panels and workshops.
81. We offer grants to writers that are accepted to conferences or residencies but could not otherwise afford them.
82. We also offer grants to people that are looking to submit their work but have problems with some of the application fees that come along with that.
83. we are always telling people about opportunities for publication that come up. We have open mics
84. and readings that Women Who Submit members are welcome to come and read at. And we have a lot
85. of outreaches at conferences, festivals, college campuses. And generally speaking, we're just a
86. really wonderful environment of collaboration. So we're here to support each other as we grow
87. as writers in this field. So it started in 2011. It started with just meetups, right?
88. Coworking spaces at the kitchen table, in the living room, at different people's houses.
89. And then in 2016, writ large productions had done this summer series where it was like 90 events in
90. 90 days. And we submitted to be a part of that. And we submitted a panel on first books. And we
91. had four of our members sharing their journey and what's been happening with their first books.
92. And that was the first programming we ever did. And it was really successful. And we met a lot
93. of people through that. And so and then we kept and then we submitted to a grant that we didn't
94. get, which is like, again, part of women who submit, like you submit to things, you put a
95. proposal together and sometimes you don't get them, it doesn't stop the work. You know, then
96. it's like, oh, this thing is, this idea is getting solidified. Now we know how we can do it because
97. we put this proposal together. So let's move forward. So even though we didn't get that grant,
98. we still, we started doing programming and workshop, like yes, workshops and panels all
99. around the business of submitting, but then also we'll have a craft workshop now and again,
100. At least once a year we try to have like something holistic something fun. I mean the world is really hard right now
101. So, you know, sometimes we just like to do like an arts and crafts
102. Thing where we can be together in community and kind of relaxing a little bit and letting our minds relax So there um it kind of it a lots of different things but we try not to we try not to only even though we about submitting and getting published we also don want everything to be about you know that world because we also
103. we also believe in being non-competitive. So we're all submitting, we're all sharing,
104. we're submitting. We, all of us can submit to the same thing. We're all going to celebrate everyone.
105. And we're also going to celebrate the rejections as much as the publications.
106. We celebrate people just sending out work.
107. We clap for them.
108. And so we'd like to have times when it's not about that at all.
109. And we can just be together.
110. And that's kind of a refueling, right?
111. And also helps with the connecting.
112. Yes.
113. And just being in community, finding your people.
114. You know, people say that writing is a solo activity.
115. but I have not found it to be that way. You know, I have readers, I have friends who I write with,
116. I have friends who I send pages to, I have friends who I submit with, I have friends who are looking
117. out for me and saying, hey, this would be great for your poems, you know, because they've already
118. known my work. And so we're all looking out for each other that way. So by having times when we're
119. just being together, you know, is helps with creating that atmosphere. That's true. I think
120. it does not have to be a solitary career. It can be one that's forged in community and
121. sometimes much better for that. Amazing. And I love that one of the workshops was also about
122. learning performance technique, which I think is something folks don't think about,
123. but so much of getting your work heard is about also how you might be reading it, right? And
124. any one of these literary events that are happening around. How does that come together?
125. Yes. So we had a performance workshop by Tracy Katukariyama, who's one of our board members now.
126. And they do a lot of work with the community of Little Tokyo in Los Angeles.
127. And their organization, Tuesday Night Project, that does weekly live performances,
128. like seasonally, they have like a season. And they're a theater performer. So it was just
129. great to have them come in and talk about the elements of performance and help people because
130. yes, so many writers are asked to read does not mean they're good readers. And it's not always
131. the best way to show off their work. So help them, you know, be better at it. And also to
132. lessen their anxiety over it is just going to make them reach more people. Yeah, exactly. In the same
133. way that you're building their confidence to submit more. It all fits together. And so now
134. you have an upcoming event, which is July 10th, and we would love to hear more about it. So it's
135. called Published! 2026. So where did the idea come from and what can we expect from the event?
136. Yes. So going along with Women Who Submit's mission and values, we are celebrating the literary publications from the last year. So the whole event exists to celebrate people in our community that have been able to publish their work, and they will have a chance to take to the microphone and read their work out loud for all of us to celebrate that accomplishment.
137. So, Published is curated by, we have this thing at Women Who Submit called the monthly roundup,
138. where our members can tell us where they've been published every month and they can submit to us.
139. The reading is curated from our monthly roundup, which is curated by our team member, Ariel,
140. Admi Mukerdakis-Arroyo, and she curates our monthly roundup and she helped us select our
141. nine readers for the night. So each month we're seeing people where they're getting published,
142. and it's kind of like our report card. Like, see, we're doing what we're saying,
143. and this is the places we're ending up. And there's, again, a wide range of spaces. Like,
144. there's people who are published in their city's newsletter. There are people who are published in
145. Los Angeles Times. Like that's the width and the variety of voices that we're seeing. And we're
146. celebrating all of that because there is no hierarchy, you know, they're all important.
147. And so we're really excited to celebrate and help them feel special because it is special.
148. It's important. It's huge. It's really huge. And I also see you have a tagline that says,
149. come for the stories and poetry, stay for the cake and the music. I love that. So it's a party as
150. well. Yes, it's a celebration. It's it's a way of commemorating something that can sometimes feel
151. isolated with comrades. We always have cake at our celebrations. You know, big tres leches,
152. fluffy cake to celebrate. Best kind of cake. So where is this happening? What's the date on this?
153. Published 2026 will be Friday, July 10, at 7pm at the Democracy Center in Little Tokyo.
154. Yes, so the event is $10 for the public. And you can find tickets at womenwhosubmitlit.org
155. or on our Instagram at Women Who Submit.
156. We have a Zephy link there where you could easily sign up and come join us.
157. Tell us who will be reading your DJs, book sales, all that good stuff.
158. Yes.
159. So our readers for the night include Gabriela Contrado, Maru Alehi,
160. Stephanie Barb Hamer, Jacqueline Lyons, Rana Meiji, Lucy Rodriguez-Henley,
161. Carla Sameth, Amy Shinshon Santo, Audrey Shipp, and I will be hosting Suhasnida.
162. There will be music by DJ Freak Butterfly and book sales by the Undead Bookshop.
163. Amazing. I have not heard of that bookshop and I'm excited to find out more.
164. And the event is free for members, but there's a charge for public.
165. That's correct. The event is free for Women Who Suit Men members and $10 for the public. And we are very grateful to our sponsors, the Democracy Center, Japanese National Museum, Book Swell, Tuesday Night Project, and Homework Club for making this event possible.
166. And how can folks get there? Where is it? All of that info.
167. So the event is at Democracy Center, which is a beautiful space that's part of the Japanese American National Museum in Little Tokyo. And so you could take the train. There's a train stop right across from the theater. Or you can also drive to downtown and there's some parking spaces downtown.
168. Everyone's invited.
169. You don't have to be a woman in non-binary.
170. You don't have to be a writer.
171. If you just love storytelling and supporting women's and non-binary voices, we'd love for you to be there.
172. Fantastic.
173. And I love to ask you about a couple of your favorite Women Who Submit programs I did see there a travel fund There are workshops A couple of the workshops I saw sounded so amazing
174. like writing a memorable artist statement,
175. which I know people struggle with.
176. I do, because it's really difficult to write about yourself.
177. Tell us about favorite workshops and support experiences you've had.
178. Yeah, actually, speaking of artist statements, during the height of COVID is when I joined Women Who Submit as a member.
179. Now I'm a board member. But when I was there, there was a person named Sarah Raphael Garcia, who hosted an event about particularly about submitting to the California Arts Grant.
180. And I submitted to that grant along with other people in the room that were on that Zoom call.
181. and I actually was able to receive that grant.
182. So there's this through line of support and resources
183. and then celebrations at the end of all those supports and resources.
184. And it all kind of works in community with each other.
185. So what I really have liked about things like the artist statement that you mentioned
186. is that it all seems so scary until you get into a room full of other writers
187. and you're able to help each other demystify the difficulties with that process and make it a little less scary and make yourself just feel a little bit more confident.
188. Women Who Submit's done that for me a lot, not just through some of these workshops, but also we hosted a, there was an online open mic that I was a part of during peak online Zoom time.
189. and I was able to read my work that was new
190. and I had no eyes on it yet.
191. And it was really cool to be able to get feedback
192. in real time from other writers.
193. Yeah.
194. I love that.
195. Yeah.
196. I had one other question also about
197. the workshop for learning for performance techniques.
198. I don't think non-writers are aware
199. But that's something that's a skill that can be taught and shared, right?
200. Yes, that's true.
201. I think that sitting and writing the story is very different than standing up and reading it and, you know, carrying your voice enough into the microphone so that the whole audience can hear it.
202. So that's definitely something that comes with practice.
203. And I think one of the coolest things about Women Who Submit is that we have writers of all different levels.
204. It's not just the MFA crews.
205. There's people with their MFAs, but there's also people that have never studied formally writing, but they just want a community to learn from.
206. And it's a very generous community.
207. And we're excited about this celebration because that's what it's celebrating is there's no ticket.
208. Well, there's a ticket price, but there's no you don't have to have a degree to be a writer.
209. You don't have to have any sort of fancy thing to say that you're a real artist.
210. You just have to write and be in community.
211. Yeah, we really like to focus on the community of women and non-binary writers in our community
212. and their successes in their writing.
213. And I think, you know, all institutions are inherently patriarchal.
214. So it not really something that you know we have to say out loud exactly in 2026 but I do think the point of our organization is to create spaces for people that do have voices They just don have maybe the people behind them always So we are the people
215. behind women and non-binary writers trying to help them get their work and their voices out
216. into the world. It doesn't really matter so much to me about, you know, the men's club or any of
217. those things because I feel held by the community that I'm a part of. What's next for Women Who
218. Submit? I see you keep having new enticing visions, so I'm interested to know what's next.
219. What we're talking about is focusing more on our chapters and figuring out ways for LA to be more
220. of a headquarters where we can coordinate more between our chapters so that our chapter leads.
221. There are people who are leading each chapter and they're called chapter leads and they're doing such great work to, you know, within their communities and doing that on the ground work that I really want to find a way to honor them more, support them more and keep everyone connected.
222. And so that's a big goal of mine for like, you know, two years planning into 2028, thinking about how we can do that.
223. One of my inspirations for that as the president is that we, because there's chapters all over the world who can't be a part of published in L.A., we did a published online, which was like a Zoom reading.
224. And there was 10 readers from, I believe, five different chapters across the country.
225. And some people from our European chapter were able to read.
226. And everyone was just so fantastic.
227. fantastic. Every reading really truly upheld the values of what Women Who Submit is. And because
228. we are an advocacy group, we are political. There's this idea that writing groups should be,
229. should not be political, but that's not our view. You know, we're a feminist organization.
230. We started as an action for gender parity. So we're always here to support gender parity,
231. wider representation. We're always looking to support communities that need it. And so
232. hearing all the readings from our chapters, it really impressed upon me that we don't have to
233. be leading everything. We're the beacon and we're putting out the values and we're putting out these
234. certain ideas and people are really taking to them. So I'm just really excited to see how we
235. can support them more. It sounds like you're on track with your plan already for the next two
236. years. Remind us one more time about your upcoming event. Yes, Publish 2026 is going to be on Friday,
237. July 10th at the Democracy Center in Little Tokyo. There will be a bunch of readers. There will be
238. music by DJ Freak Butterfly, book sales by Undead Bookshop. There will even be music and cake and
239. an overall just joyful time to celebrate great writing. I love it. Well, thank you so much for
240. making the time to talk to us. And we will make sure to have a couple of links on our socials,
241. on our website about your event.
242. And we've been talking to women who submit,
243. Xochitl Julissa Bermejo and Suhasini Yida.
244. Thank you Thank you
245. Taking my freedom, putting it in my car
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248. I'm living my life like it's golden
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253. I'm living my life like it's golden
254. Living my life like it's golden
255. Living my life like it's golden
256. Living my life like it's golden
257. Living my life like it's golden
258. I'm holding on to my freedom.
259. Can't take it from me.
260. I was born into it.
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262. I'm strumming my own freedom.
263. Claiming the God in me.
264. Representing his glory.
265. Hope he's proud of me
266. Hope he's proud of me
267. Living my life like it's golden
268. Living my life like it's golden
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280. 277-4663.
281. You're listening to Feminist Magazine on KPFK on 90.7 FM and kpfk.org.
282. I'm your host today, Lynn Harris-Ballon.
283. So I don't have family and I don't have the resources.
284. So when you don't have the resources, you have to go and find them.
285. We're going to go to Central Ohio, where a single moms collective hosts a resource pantry.
286. We're just looking for resources that we can just give to moms with no barriers to entry, with no requirements, you know.
287. And so that's what we're all about.
288. I'm Amy Gastelum. Stay with us.
289. Things like that.
290. And now I'm shopping.
291. This is the fridge.
292. This is where we have all our veggies.
293. As you can see, the veggies.
294. I wanted some black veggies.
295. It's a sunny Sunday morning.
296. Rugi and Gade sorts through a refrigerator
297. stocked with fresh berries and tomatoes.
298. This is the Motherful Resource Pantry.
299. She's one of a handful of women
300. helping to stock the shelves before it opens at 10.
301. But she's also shopping.
302. We have a lot of things for evening nights.
303. Banana fritters.
304. Look at this. I love mushrooms.
305. I love raffiolis. I'm taking this home.
306. Even a dessert.
307. Everything comes from Trader Joe's.
308. We've got all of these to take home.
309. There are a few local companies that donate, but Rugi's right.
310. Most of the food comes from Trader Joe's.
311. They give away stuff they can't sell to local organizations.
312. Motherful serves single moms like Rugi and their families.
313. They know that having enough healthy food is especially important to kids' health and development.
314. Here's one of the founders, Lisa Woodward.
315. Well, I'm super creative, and that's what I like to do is find ideas and think of ideas.
316. I was a teen mom
317. but I was
318. super
319. good at finding resources
320. I see some younger
321. moms that are just
322. having a harder time
323. to maneuver the path
324. and that was never really hard
325. for me
326. because of just how good I am
327. at just finding things
328. and so I like to continue that on
329. just finding more resources
330. But that's me. I like to find stuff.
331. When they first started, Lisa and her daughter Ginger would wake up early before school to pick up the food.
332. Then we would drive back home and I would get her out and get her dressed for school,
333. take her to school and then bring the food to the food pantry and put it away.
334. So that's the beginnings of it.
335. And then we finally hired someone to pick up the food every day because it was getting a lot.
336. But we're happy to have it, and it's all high-quality, yummy food.
337. Motherful doesn't check IDs or pay stubs, and they don't ration what people can take.
338. We have tons of fruits and vegetables.
339. We get a lot of meat and eggs, some surprises.
340. Sometimes Trader Joe's will give us buckets and buckets of flowers,
341. or we get a whole lot of asparagus at once.
342. You never know You never know But it all good stuff And our moms volunteer and just help it keep going our pantry Besides food the pantry is packed with diapers and baby formula
343. There's detergent, shampoo, and even clothing.
344. Black Lives Matter signs hang from the rafters.
345. It's organized enough to find the essentials, but unexpected treasures like romance novels also surface here.
346. Motherful's pantry is sort of like going to an auntie's house
347. and searching through the spare fridge she keeps in the garage.
348. It's almost 10, time to open for business.
349. Some of the helpers take off, but the ones who stay are hoping they're going to see some bees today.
350. Hey, that baby deserves all the pictures.
351. Make a bee, make a bee. That's what I'm telling you.
352. Love you.
353. Love you too.
354. Hey, that baby deserves all the pictures.
355. The volunteers take a seat around a table, and they stay there until the early afternoon.
356. Hearing them talk and laugh makes it cozy.
357. Meanwhile, a young woman walks in.
358. What you getting?
359. Some whack because there's a shortage, so I'm just going to take a few.
360. Kay Riley stocks up on formula for her newborn daughter, Wisdom.
361. Then asks a volunteer for help finding the right size diapers.
362. You need some?
363. Do you know what size these might be?
364. Uh, which size are you looking for?
365. Newborn.
366. The smallest ones we got, right?
367. Yes.
368. This is ones.
369. Yeah.
370. You can wear ones too, so that's fine.
371. On her way out, Kay stops when she sees a pile of books.
372. Have you gotten books from here before?
373. I have.
374. I actually read one of them already, which is really good.
375. And they have a book club as well.
376. Are you part of it?
377. I am not yet, but I intend to be after I get, I just have my baby, so after I get her settled with,
378. I definitely intend to join their book club.
379. They have a lot of good resources here. A lot.
380. She pockets a novel and heads to her car.
381. Could we, would it be possible to sit in your car or my car for just a second to talk a little bit?
382. Yeah, absolutely.
383. Is that okay?
384. Well, let me put this in my car.
385. Okay.
386. You can walk with me.
387. Okay.
388. cute purse thank you Kay says she started coming to Motherful about three months ago
389. pretty late in her pregnancy she's from a small town in northeast Ohio but she's in Columbus to
390. go to school at Ohio State so um yeah this definitely has been extremely helpful for me
391. in my journey as a mother so how so so I don't have family and I don't have the resources so
392. When you don't have the resources, you have to go and find them.
393. And this has been a huge help.
394. Not only, you know, they offer diapers and all that good stuff, but they also offer community.
395. And I think that's the most important thing, especially when you're a single mother by yourself.
396. There's other single mothers that can relate to you.
397. So I think that's the most important thing that offers community.
398. Some of the moms at the pantry today qualify for a government program called the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, also known as WIC.
399. It's kind of like food stamps, but it's only for pregnant people and anyone whose children are under five.
400. Are you using WIC?
401. I am. Yes, I am.
402. And what's that been like?
403. It's been very helpful, especially with a formula outage.
404. it's still hard to find formula, but you know, you don't really have to worry about the price.
405. That been good Okay full disclosure I been a public health mother baby nurse for over 10 years I helped lots of people connect with WIC and my mom used it in the 1980s But I had never used it myself until pandemic lockdowns I didn love it
406. I had a baby not too long ago and I was using WIC. And for me and our family, it was about like $40 a month basically was kind of what it equaled out to, which isn't huge, I'll be honest.
407. Yeah, that's true.
408. It's not, it doesn't cover all of your...
409. At all, at all, at all. But, um, yeah, it doesn't, I have to agree with you, but a little bit is,
410. is I'm still grateful for the little bit that it does provide, but it would be nice if they
411. provide a little bit more, you know, but. Yeah. Um, and then the other, one of the other things
412. that I found using it too, is that it can be kind of complicated because you have to buy certain
413. foods and not every grocery store even. Yes, I've definitely found that not every grocery store even
414. takes WIC and then you have to scan it and then just just a lot. I've definitely dealt with that.
415. Just trying to find foods that qualify for WIC can be extremely, it can be extremely hard and
416. annoying. I want to jump in here to explain what we're talking about. You can only use WIC to buy
417. certain types of food. The idea here is that by limiting choices, WIC is guiding pregnant and
418. parenting people to healthier food, like whole grain options. Also, participants have to make
419. monthly visits to a nutritionist. That can be hard for busy parents. WIC sees itself as more
420. of a health intervention than a food security program. And to be fair, studies have shown
421. that WIC participants have less premature birth and low birth weight. But they have a big problem
422. Less than half the people who are eligible for WIC actually use it, about 43%.
423. That's compared to 84% of eligible food stamps users, a program with much less restrictions and rules.
424. It's difficult to know exactly why participation is so low,
425. but as a user, I can tell you that besides the food restrictions and the mandatory visits,
426. there's also a shaming factor.
427. and there were times when I would get to the register and the person ringing me up didn't
428. really know how to ring up WIC yeah and then it's like all your business is everybody's business
429. yes it can be yeah it can be uncomfortable I've that's happened to me like and they're screaming
430. well I don't know how to use WIC and they just scream to the whole world why don't you just tell
431. the whole world about my business why don't you I think they definitely should train the individuals
432. a little bit more on wick um definitely confidentiality as well not everyone wants
433. people to know that they're on wick that's just the honest truth um and they should be able to
434. know how to use it because there's stigma like you don't know if the guy behind you in line is
435. gonna be like yeah i you're welcome yeah exactly for my tax dollars yeah and that's actually
436. happened before with me. So one time Kay was shopping with her sister. They were at the
437. register when the man in line behind them started to laugh. And he was like, I'm glad my government
438. or governmental, he said something about government, I guess, pays your food. And we just
439. kept on walking. It was very uncomfortable for me. So yeah, and I'm not used to that. So yeah,
440. definitely confidentiality Not everybody wants the people to know that they on look but it nothing to be ashamed of honest I had to learn that I had to humble myself and learn it not a bad thing It just has a negative connotation to it
441. which is unfortunate because a lot of women do need WIC.
442. How did you convince yourself that it wasn't anything to be ashamed of?
443. Where did that come from?
444. I guess it just came from internalizing me
445. and my own insecurities of using governmental assistance.
446. Like it's not a lot of women use it and it's, it's okay to use it.
447. If, especially if you don't have the resources, what can you do?
448. I didn't have the resources at the time.
449. So I mean, it's nothing, nothing to be ashamed of.
450. Nothing at all.
451. You're a new mom, you're a woman and, and I'm a single mom at that.
452. So I'm, I'm just using resources that they've given.
453. You know what I mean?
454. Which don't even cover your whole bill.
455. Doesn't even cover my whole bill.
456. Not even half.
457. Not even half.
458. Not even a quarter.
459. I don't think.
460. Each state has their own restrictions and rules when it comes to WIC.
461. And some of them don't feel like a health decision.
462. They feel like a budget decision.
463. In Indiana, where I live, you have to buy the least expensive eggs and milk available.
464. You can get organic produce, but you're not allowed to buy organic shelf-stable food or organic baby food.
465. And it can be hard for stores, too.
466. Each grocery store that wants to be a vendor must stock a minimum amount of WIC-approved foods at all times.
467. It can be hard for some local independent stores to meet that requirement, especially international markets.
468. For them, most of the brands and types of food available through WIC are culturally irrelevant for their customers.
469. Here's Rugi again.
470. You know, being an immigrant, it's a whole new process.
471. It's like being reborn.
472. You have to first unlearn and then learn.
473. When you come here, you get all kinds of information.
474. It took me a while to go through the right channels.
475. I even thought if you take benefits, you will never be documented
476. because they hold it against you.
477. So it takes you a while to just realize that this is just for the child.
478. You know, so I had WIC with my second child.
479. Rugi is Muslim and likes to shop at halal stores.
480. They don't take WIC, so it's a problem.
481. I don't know what should be done.
482. Small businesses working with WIC and working with all small business owners
483. so WIC could be accessible to the people.
484. They have to go to regular grocery stores.
485. And most of the time, when I first started, what I was getting wouldn't even work for me.
486. But I still have just to take it and try it.
487. You're listening to a story about the single mom's collective, Motherful.
488. In September, President Biden took to the podium to talk food policy.
489. Welcome to the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health.
490. Good morning. Thank you very much.
491. It's been over 50 years since President Nixon convened the original White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health.
492. That single conference and the laws that inspired it led to transformational change that has
493. helped millions of Americans live healthier lives.
494. for generations. So WIC came out of that first conference and was up and running by 1974.
495. Since then, lots of changes have been made to the program, but the changes have been to
496. which kind of cereal, how many grams of sugar in the juice. Never should we really be dictating the
497. foods pregnant and parenting people can eat. This year, even more program changes are coming,
498. mostly to get people to sign up.
499. You can visit our website to hear an interview with leadership
500. at the USDA for more there.
501. Meanwhile, the collective at Motherful is holding it down
502. for single moms in central Ohio.
503. We don't tell you how to vote,
504. but we are an open, progressive nonprofit.
505. Here's Rugi again.
506. We support the Black Lives Matter. We support the LGBTQ plus community. We support all immigrants, no matter what their status is. We would support any woman, no matter what her choice is, but we are a pro-choice movement.
507. So we're just an open movement, inclusive, that try to be also wholesome, not only work with moms, but try to take care of all the needs that a single mother's family can have.
508. The food pantry is just one of the ways Motherful supports single moms.
509. Their core values include reparative justice and health care for all.
510. They host community dinners and bi-weekly Zoom calls with guest speakers.
511. It's more than a place to find food or baby items.
512. It's a politically aware hug around about 325 single moms and their families.
513. They're not being CEOs.
514. It's mothers like us.
515. We're all together.
516. We are consulted at every level.
517. It's a partnership.
518. I have my own programs here.
519. I get to have inputs and to say, this is what I want to see happen.
520. And they make it happen. I make it happen.
521. They give me the space, the voice.
522. We talk. We decide this is something that is relevant, and we will do it.
523. Like I said, community is the best resource, I would say.
524. Just community, knowing that others have went through the same thing I've went through is definitely comforting.
525. What does that mean for you?
526. When you keep saying community, like what does that really look like on a day to day for you?
527. If you're feeling down postpartum, you can always ask a friend to, you know, go out.
528. People still check up on me in the community.
529. And not only that, they have an app for Motherful where you can tell your feelings and other women can, you know, reply and give you hope.
530. That's what I'm.
531. Have you been using that?
532. I have. I have a lot.
533. In the middle of the night?
534. In the middle of the night. I'm feeling a little depressed.
535. Yeah.
536. But, yeah.
537. I know about that 3 a.m. thing where you just wake up.
538. Yeah.
539. What is this?
540. No, it's a real thing. It's real. It's real.
541. He's like, where's my mommy?
542. Back at the food pantry, I sat down with Heidi Howes.
543. She's co-founder and co-director of Motherful.
544. It time for her baby to nurse so we settle into chairs in an upstairs room Kids are playing and somebody vacuuming downstairs I asked Heidi how WIC relates to Motherful plan for food justice
545. We do have a partner through WIC that we just recently connected with who is a mom who works
546. there. And so we're looking into it, but we're just looking for resources that we can just give
547. to moms with no barriers to entry with no requirements, you know, it's like you need it,
548. here it is. And so that's what we're all about. I personally, I may qualify for WIC right now.
549. I'm not sure I've had WIC in the past, but I actually didn't like WIC in the past because
550. it was dairy. And we don't eat dairy. I don't eat dairy. But I know now they do have fresh
551. vegetables. And that was something that I think I got on the tail end when my last child was born.
552. But I haven't signed up for WIC now. I was a teen mom and I definitely took place
553. with WIC for multiple times because I have three daughters.
554. Here's Lisa Woodward again. She and Heidi started Motherful together.
555. I asked her how Motherful's resource pantry is different from the WIC program.
556. um how is it different um this is a collective in a community when when i was going through the
557. wick system there was not um any sisterhood with other the wick clients um our food pantry and
558. garden um it's more free you can get how much you need um and you can come multiple times
559. we don't have any like direct nutritional counseling like wick has but we do have
560. moms that they share information all the time just about healthy eating there's also a lot of
561. different local orgs that deal with nutrition and so we're connected so when they have programming
562. we do post it on our site but we partner up with WIC for their farmers markets so we were there
563. folks were coming to get food and then they would also find out about our programming too
564. and we look forward to tabling with them again as needed.
565. Most of the people that come through WIC are new moms,
566. are pregnant moms.
567. So that's really good for us
568. because most of our moms are not adding to their family.
569. And so it's good that we can help those moms too
570. that are new moms and you're a single mom.
571. That's a double whammy.
572. So we encourage those connections.
573. if if you could um imagine like food for single mothers someone such as yourself like
574. in your wildest dreams like what would you what would you want for someone in your position
575. but from the government i would say like for a period of time just covering i would just say
576. like at least like half i guess half of the expensive it can be extremely hard i'm not saying
577. if you're working and if you're able to work um i would say half but if you're not able to work i
578. feel like due to you having a child and stuff i i feel like the government should assist mothers
579. single mothers especially when they're single they you can't go to work because you just had
580. a baby i think they should some people call that unpaid labor um meaning when you're taking care
581. of your baby, it is work, right? Like you're, you're working.
582. Yeah that exactly what I was gonna say Even not even having the just carrying the baby itself having to worry about your fat feed and then everything else that comes with pregnancy that hard work That is extremely
583. hard work having to deal with the insecurities of your body after. That's hard work that you
584. have to do internally. There's so much, so much components to pregnancy, even after pregnancy,
585. that women have to deal with, that's work to me.
586. That's work.
587. So, that's labor for me.
588. You know, the ultimate dream would be like every household has a garden.
589. Like there's a gardening committee that comes to your house and puts the garden in.
590. And it comes every week and helps you weed and teaches you.
591. Um, and then also fresh, healthy food is delivered to mom's houses, period, preferably cooked.
592. Um, that's actually what we would love to do here at Motherful is to have prepared foods,
593. um, that we can just give to moms because, um, it's impossible to do all of these things,
594. you know, as one person in a family and, um, why not, you know, so bring the fresh,
595. healthy food to right to the doors of moms so that they can, you know,
596. take a bath instead of cooking that meal, you know, because it's really, really hard work
597. being a mom, you know, raising children and you're sore, your body hurts, you know,
598. You just need a minute to rest and decompress so you can be in your full state of love and care to give that to your children.
599. Because if moms are good, everybody's good.
600. Yeah.
601. Yeah. Just the highest quality of produce and the prepared food thing, that's definitely high on my list.
602. And just someone to help our garden just multiply.
603. Back in the garage, everybody packs up for the day.
604. Rugi likes to check in at the end to see about the tomatoes.
605. If there are any left, she takes them home.
606. So I ran out of tomato paste, and today I want to make some.
607. But he needs a lot of tomato.
608. I make everything from scratch.
609. Yeah, well, our ultimate goal as an organization is to build a co-housing village here in Columbus, Ohio,
610. and then to take the model of the Motherful organization and build chapters throughout the world, you know,
611. so that other moms can be empowered to work together for better lives for themselves and their children.
612. And also, ultimately, to uplift the matriarchy.
613. I just see that mothers in power with each other and others, as opposed to power over, which is a patriarchal model.
614. You know, if mothers are in power, people are going to be loved.
615. They're going to be fed. They're going to be housed. They're going to be clothed.
616. They're going to be taken care of, you know?
617. And it just it a no brainer So if we can get moms out from under the invisibility and out from under the straight up slavery of reproductive labor and get them into leadership you know while they also being taken care of you know and bring children into our common spaces again too you know I think that that going to change the world When moms are running things
618. it's going to be so much better.
619. And it's just a matter of time.
620. You seem convinced.
621. I mean, don't you see it?
622. You know, it has to happen.
623. We can't, I mean, it's that or destruction.
624. Absolute destruction, you know,
625. unless we bring the matriarchal ways back into the forefront.
626. And by that, I mean, valuing life,
627. valuing the sacred life of all and love and nurturing and care and
628. interconnectedness and all these things that, you know, colonialism,
629. capitalism, patriarchy, white supremacy,
630. all these things that have been suppressed and killed and due to those,
631. those powers.
632. Like, when we bring back the matriarchy, when we bring back the matriarchal ways, then we'll be able to save our planet and save ourselves. So it has to happen, or else it's death, you know? Matriarchy is life.
633. and we're wrapping up another edition of feminist magazine don't forget you can find all the links
634. from our program today on our website feministmagazine.org find us on facebook or twitter
635. and sharing behind the scenes photos on instagram our programs are archived in the kpfk.org audio
636. archives. You can find our podcasts on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, and via the Stitcher app
637. on your phone, too. Thanks for listening.
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