PERSPECTIVES
with Julie Rufo
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In early March of this year, local artist Michael McDonald did what he has been doing for thirteen years. He put up a new art installation in his front yard on Central Avenue in Alameda, California. As is often the case, his new piece of work had a strong political point of view and message. Unfortunately, a citizen or citizens of Alameda were offended by the installation, and reported it to the U.S. Attorney in San Francisco who sent two Secret Service agents to interview Michael. They questioned his neighbors about him, and, subsequently, interviewed Michael and his lawyer for an hour and a half. When the lawyer informed the agents that he did not have to speak to them, they invoked the Patriot Act as justification for their insistence that he speak with them. During the interview, the agents told Michael that he was a "person of interest" to the government and he, his house, property, and cars were photographed. He was required to sign a 16-page form allowing Federal investigators to delve into all the records of his life. He agreed to sign after being told that under the Patriot Act, they could examine all his personal records with or without his signature. Many Alameda sympathizers and believers in free expression brought signs, flowers, wreaths and candles to his front lawn in a show of support for the principle of free expression on the evening of March 15th, 2007. Julie Rufo found this incident very troubling. In order to understand its meaning, and the wider implications, as well as what recourse someone in this situation might have, she interviewed Ann Fagan Ginger, Executive Director of the Meiklejohn Institute. The institute is a well-known, nonprofit, think-tank devoted to national and international issues of human rights and civil liberties. |
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DVD #2: Interview with
Kate Resucha and Karen Kenney, from Girls Inc. of the Island City Order DVD |
Girls Inc. of the Island City provides such an important service for our young women that Julie Rufo thought an interview with two of the board members would provide viewers with an informative and interesting overview of the organization and its programs. She discusses these matters, as well as the aims of Girls Inc., in our current cultural environment, with Kate Rezucha, Board President of Girls Inc of the Island City, and Karen Kenney, Executive Director of the organization. Kate joined the Board of Directors in 2005, and became Board President in 2006. Kate's daughter, Elizabeth, participates in the after school program for girls at the Meyer's Center. Kate worked for Windriver and is now employed with Esurance. Kate is also involved with the Lum School PTA. Karen is a native to Alameda who became Executive Director in October 2005. Prior to coming to Girls Inc., Karen was the Dean of Students at UC Berkeley. Karen's daughter is also a participant in the after school program. Karen is active with her daughter's school PTA and Girl Scout troop. We discuss how Girls Inc of the Island City began and what current programs are offered for girls, as well as how the programs of Girls Inc differ from other programs for girls and youth in Alameda. This includes the empowerment of girls, teaching them to deconstruct the media images of women they see all around them, giving them leadership skills, and an emphasis on healthy, active bodies and minds. Karen and Kate also talk about why programs like Girls Inc are needed today, and the important issue of the early sexualization of girls that is going on in our culture, and how can we protect our children, etc. We have a lively discussion about what this phenomenum says about our male dominated society, and the absence of feminist awareness among young women and girls today. Girls Inc tries to educate our young women about the struggles that were fought to enable them to fully participate in society and how to empower themselves to do so. | ||
| DVD #3:
Interview with our Muslim Neigbors, Dr. Abdul Hatifie and Sis. Aiesha Baldes  Order DVD |
As a resident of Alameda, Julie Rufo had frequently driven by the Islamic Center on Santa Clara without knowing anything about it. When we began planning our Perspectives programs, she thought it would be really interesting to our viewers to know something about at least two of our Islamic neighbors, Dr. Abdul Subhan Hatifie, born in Kabul, Afghanistan in 1950, and Sister Aiesha Baldes, who immigrated to the United States with her immediate family from the Philippines during the early 1970's. Dr. Hatifie became a doctor and was a teacher and member of various government departments concerned with public health in Afghanistan. In 1985, he came to Alameda, with his wife Hamida. They have three sons, two of whom are in college and one is a student here in Alameda. But Dr. Hatifie hasn't left his homeland behind. We discuss what he's done to build a lifeline from neighbors here to people there. Sister Baldes is a graduate of UC Berkeley, with a degree in English literature, and then became a registered nurse. She converted to Islam many years ago and, with her husband, Imam Musa Balde' and their five children, resides in Alameda. She has been a community activist, organizer, and educator for the last 12 years. In 1996, she and Imam Musa Balde' started teaching "madrassa" or Islamic school for children of the Muslims living in this city. We discuss how the growth of their school led to the birth of the "Islamic Center of Alameda" or ICA. Sister Baldes currently serves as a member of the Alameda City Housing Commission, an advisory committee member for the Alameda Food Bank and a School Site Council Member for Washington Elementary. |
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| DVD #4: Interviews
with Susan Galleymore. Two complete 30 minute shows, parts 1 and 2  Order DVD |
When Susan's son joined the military and was deployed to Iraq, she was so worried about him that she traveled to Baghdad, located his military base, then visited him. That experience left her worried and alone. To gather support for herself and other mothers in conflict zones, she created Motherspeak.org. Since then, she has returned to the Middle East, gathering the stories from other mothers in Israel, Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq. Concerned about other young people who have joined the military, then found that they cannot kill, she helps the G.I. Rights hotline counsel soldiers about their rights of conscience. In these two interviews, Susan talks about her own background, her first trip to find her son, and subsequent trips to the Middle East. She describes the plight of refugees fleeing conflict in the area and the effects on their children. She relates in detail the work she is doing with G.I.s to help them follow their conscience in dealing with war and State-organized violence. |
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| DVD #5: Interview
with Sureya Sayadi, about Honor Killing  Order DVD |
On April 7, 2007, a young Yezidi girl in Iraq was stoned to death by a mob of frenzied men. One of the men filemed the stoning on his cell phone and distributed the video on the Internet. Sureya Sayadi saw it and intensified her campaign against war and honor killing. The murder wasn't a unique incident. Each year hundreds, perhaps thousands, of women are killed by their families in the name of family "honor." Such killings take place worldwide, but have increased in number in Iraq because of the U.S. occupation. The United States has empowered Islamist political parties whose clerics promote "honor killings, and destroyed Iraq's judicial system and altered its laws to justify the killings. For a more complete picture of the re-emergence of this brutal custom that predates Christianity and Islam, and what can be done to stop it, Julie Rufo interviewed Sureya Sayadi. Sureya, a Kurdish woman, was born in Kirkuk, Iraq but fled with her family in 1974 when a U.S. abandoned Kurds it had encouraged to rebel against Saddam Hussein. Sureya was able to enter the U.S. with sponsorship of an American family and help from the Luthern Orient Mission Society. She studied medicine and microbiology and now campaigns against war and against honor killing. Learn more about her efforts on her website at www.PeacePalpitations.com |
| ©2007, 2008 Joseph Woodard Multimedia |
