I expect to have some news on the book being published very soon. Stay tuned!
This week’s episode of the podcast features Dacia Taleni, an amazing woman who fought the good fight at APU during her 3 years there. She recounts her precarious situation being horrified and angered at the school’s racism, misogyny, homophobia, transphobia, and white nationalism while also representing the school as a dutiful Multi-Ethnic Senator, which paid her.
And then there’s the story of her poem.
What she didn’t remember in the episode, I am happy to report here, for you, my subscribers.
According to Abbie Cirelli, who will be featured with her sister Liz in a few weeks, the theater group scheduled to perform their version of the Vagina Monologues was, indeed, shut down and forbidden by the Women’s Resource Center to perform. The woman running the center found out about it the day before the poetry event. Dacia, upon hearing the news, decided to read her vagina poem in protest. The official program listed a different poem, approved by the WRC, but she called an audible and read her vagina poem in defiance of the Women’s Resource Center.
As I recall, it brought the house down. And likely took years off the WRC director’s life.
If you haven’t heard the episode, links to all platforms can be found here: https://anchor.fm/scott-okamoto
I started a Facebook group for the podcast, and we’ve already had several great threads of discussion and ranting. Feel free to join the fun!
And if you feel inspired to support the mission of the podcast and forthcoming book, join the Patreon at $3 or $5 a month and get bonus content and behind-the-scenes fun.