As anarchist activist Emma Goldman (1865-1940) said: If I can't dance, I don't want to be part of your revolution. 

Conceptualised in Nairobi, Kenya by multidisciplinary arts collective The Nest, Strictly Silk is a party for and by women and non-binary people. And on March 7th, the first international edition of Strictly Silk will take place on at Radio Radio in Amsterdam to kick off the Mama Cash Feminist Festival!

We took the opportunity to speak to two of its founding members, Njeri Gitungo and Dr. Akati Khasiani, about the relationship between the arts and activism, how and why Strictly Silk got its start, and why women and queer folk reclaiming the dance floor is a feminist act.

Get your tickets: https://bit.ly/32tpwDM
More info on the Mama Cash Feminist Festival: https://bit.ly/2w9rTzz
More info on The Nest and Strictly Silk: https://bit.ly/3cfslMY
*Transcript forthcoming*

PS: Tea with Mama Cash is taking a spring break! After making more than fifteen episodes we want to reflect on what we've learned and how we want to move forward. Especially now, we'd love to hear what you liked about Tea with Mama Cash, what could be better, and topics you'd like to see covered. Get in touch via tea@mamacash.org!

Episode sixteen: Let's dance ft. Strictly Silk

The first 2020 episode of Tea with Mama Cash is all about the future! We're talking feminist utopias, dystopias, and what these imagined futures can tell us about the present.

For this discussion on all things speculative and social justice, Zohra is joined by two very special guests: Hakima Abbas, Co-Executive Director of AWID, and Geeta Misra, Executive Director of CREA.

Let us know what you think and what you want to hear more about or submit a #feministmishap of your own by getting in touch via our social media - @mamacash on Twitter, @mamacashfund everywhere else - or via tea@mamacash.org.

Learn more about...
Mama Cash: https://www.mamacash.org
AWID: https://www.awid.org/
CREA: https://www.creaworld.org/

Episode fifteen: Imagining feminist futures

Even within feminist spaces, the regulation of sex work is a contested topic. So for this International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers, we invited two sex workers' rights activists to join us on the podcast: Velvet December, Advocacy Coordinator for Dutch sex workers' union PROUD, and Vera Rodriguez, Programme Associate at international fund for sex workers' rights activists the Red Umbrella Fund.

We unpacked about how sex work intersects with capitalism and patriarchy, recent developments in legislation and activism around the world, and what sex workers themselves want (hint: it's not the Nordic model). 

Mama Cash: www.mamacash.org 
PROUD: www.wijzijnproud.nl
Red Umbrella Fund: www.redumbrellafund.org
English Collective of Prostitutes: www.makeallwomensafe.org

Episode fourteen: Sex workers' rights matter

Climate change is one of the most urgent issues of our times, and fortunately it has gained the mainstream attention it deserves. But one important element is missing from the conversation. To create a sustainable future for all, we need to talk about gender and climate change. 

In this episode of Tea with Mama Cash, hosted by our Executive Director Mama Cash and our Programme Officer for Environmental Justice Erika Mandreza Sales, we dive into the sexist impact of climate change, and other hierarchies that influence who is making decisions that affect all of us, and who is most affected.

Want to learn how you can join us, and support the environmental justice movement? Sign up for our special newsletter series: https://tinyurl.com/environmentaljustice-mamacash

Transcript available via www.mamacash.org/en/tea-with-mama-cash-why-climate-change-is-sexist

Episode thirteen: Why climate change is sexist

October 11th is the International Day of the Girl. What better time to get on the line with FRIDA | The Young Feminist Fund? 

We had a chat with FRIDA's co-Executive Directors, Majandra Rodriguez Acha and Nino Ugrekhelidze about stereotypes put on young people, how girls are organising to change the world, and our co-commissioned report published last year about girl-led activism, 'Girls to the Front.'

Learn more about FRIDA: www.youngfeministfund.org
Check out the report Girls to the Front: www.mamacash.org/en/report-girls-to-the-front

You can also listen to Tea with Mama Cash on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Stitcher. Submit your own feminist mishap to us - as well as any other feedback, comments or questions - on Twitter @mamacash or via tea@mamacash.org. We'd love to hear from you!

Episode twelve: Girls to the Front with FRIDA | The Young Feminist Fund

September 15th is the International Day of Democracy. What better time to reflect on what democracy was meant for, how it's playing out on the ground today, and most importantly, what we might want it to be?

For this episode we invited two guests, who from their respective experiences lend us their feminist perspectives on the matter: Nandini Archer, assistant editor at OpenDemocracy 50.50, and Gina LaFour, volunteer at Stem op een Vrouw. So tune in for the tea on democracy, the rise of far-right movements, and equal representation of women in politics!

Questions, feedback, or a feminist mishap of your own to share? Find us on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter, or shoot us an email at tea@mamacash.org!

Episode eleven: For the people, by the people?

“Whoever convinced us that we are consumers? We are earthlings.”

On this episode of Tea with Mama Cash, hosts Zohra and Happy - along with our first ever guest (!), Chihiro Geuzebroek of Climate Liberation Bloc - tackle the question that many of us keep returning to: what do we do with the contradictions that emerge between our politics and our personal lifestyle choices? From plastic straws and public transport to makeup and diapers - how much do the choices we make about how and what we consume matter in the big picture? 

Listen and subscribe here, on Apple Podcasts, iTunes, Spotify, or Stitcher!

Have feedback, suggestions, or want to submit a #feministmishap of your own? Get in touch via tea@mamacash.org 

Special thanks to our guest Chihiro Geuzebroek, co-founder of our Spark grantee-partners Climate Liberation Bloc. Learn more about Chihiro's work at www.chihiro.nl

Episode ten: Consumer power, collective power (with Chihiro Geuzebroek)

"Abortion rights, sexuality rights, sex work, all of it… we can talk about the way women’s bodies are used in an ideological battle that is patriarchy vs feminism, but I still come back to the idea that we would only know truly that we were free if we would feel it in our bodies, no matter what words are coming out of our mouths."

Earlier this month we launched the international campaign #MyBodyIsMine. And in this episode of Tea with Mama Cash, Zohra and Happy unpack that seemingly simple statement. Why is the body such a feminist issue in the first place? How do bodies play a role in the activism of women, girls, trans and intersex people? And in what way can we use our bodies to practice solidarity? All this and more, so tune in for the tea!

Do you want to join the campaign, and make your own statement? Then head to www.mybodyismine.com to watch the video portraits of eight inspiring activists, read the stories that have already been shared, and get your own  temporary #MyBodyIsMine tattoo.

Episode nine: #MyBodyIsMine

Happy is cringing, but that's exactly why this time on Tea with Mama Cash we're talking about BLOOD. Our Executive Director Zohra Moosa and Director of Programmes Happy Mwende Kinyili unpack the shame around menstrual bleeding, discuss the tampon tax, debate menstrual cups, and take a look at feminist activism re: menstruation around the world. Plus: tune in to learn why Zohra's pet peeve is the phrase ‘menstrual hygiene’ and why, as Happy explains, that’s related to - yep, you guessed it - colonialism. 

Like what you hear? Please rate and review Tea with Mama Cash on iTunes! That helps us to reach more people. 

Questions, comments, or a feminist mishap of your own to share? Reach out to us via tea@mamacash.org! 

Shownotes
Learn more about Mama Cash: www.mamacash.org 
Amika George and #FreePeriods: https://www.teenvogue.com/story/amika-george-21-under-21-2018
Protest of exclusion of women of a 'menstruating age' from a Hindu temple in India: https://womenintheworld.com/2019/01/02/women-form-385-mile-human-wall-to-protest-exclusion-from-hindu-temple/

Follow us on: 
www.facebook.com/mamacashfund
www.instagram.com/mamacashfund
www.twitter.com/mamacash

Episode eight: Sanitize this! (On blood)

As we approach International Women's Day on March 8th - and so too the Mama Cash Feminist Festival - we ask some tough questions about engaging with arts, culture and media as a feminist. What does it look like to consume (often problematic) popular culture as feminists? How, if at all, can we relate to art outside of a capitalist framework of consumption and production? What makes art political, or feminist? And how exactly can art help change the world?

Tune in for the tea with your hosts, our Executive Director Zohra Moosa and Director of Programmes Happy Mwende Kinyili!

In the Netherlands on March 8th? Join us in Amsterdam, Groningen, Utrecht or Rotterdam for an evening of discussion, performances, and dancing. More information: mamacash.org/en/celebrate-international-women-s-day-at-the-mama-cash-feminist-festival

Episode seven: The feminist gaze

Three words, eight letters: on this episode of Tea with Mama Cash we're talking about that big, small word: l-o-v-e. Not just the romantic kind, but in all it's many-splendored forms, like care, and community, and family. Our Executive Director Zohra Moosa and Director of Programmes Happy Mwende Kinyili look at how all the different kinds of relationships in our lives can be sites of both struggle and liberation: why are we so hung up on biology or ‘blood’? What would happen if we stopped treating love like property? How would friendship change our feminist practices? Tune in for the tea on polyamory, chosen families, and female friendships.

Episode six: Can love liberate us?

What do history books, the gender binary, and the language we use in this podcast have in common? 

As our Executive Director Zohra Moosa and Director of Programmes Happy Mwende Kinyili explore in this episode of Tea with Mama Cash, colonialism is not limited to the past, but a force that continues to shape our present - even our feminist movements. 

Tune in for a conversation about why decolonisation is a feminist project, how coloniality plays out within activism, development and aid, and what Mama Cash is doing differently.

And don't forget to let us know what you think by leaving a comment, an iTunes review, or reaching out on twitter.com/mamacash!

Episode 5: Decolonising feminism

Abortion. Yes… we’re still talking about it. "Many, many years since the very first conversation about abortion ever took place between two women," our Executive Director Zohra Moosa notes. Why are governments still trying to control women’s bodies and decisions? Zohra and our Director of Programmes Happy Mwende Kinyili have one more conversation about abortion, including how they developed their own views about abortion, why “abortion is used as a kind of political football” (also among feminists) and how feminist activists have been working to change oppressive laws - with some big victories.

Episode 4: Yes, we're still talking about abortion

As our Executive Director Zohra Moosa notes, a lot of her job is about trying to get people to become feminists; to practice feminism. But what does it actually mean when everyone starts calling themselves feminists? As she asks: “Am I hugely persuasive, or is this a disaster?” In the third episode of Tea with Mama Cash, hosts Zohra Moosa and Director of Programmes Happy Mwende Kinyili talk global solidarity in relation to the rise of pop feminism. How global is this trend really? And what effects is it having (or not) for feminist activists in different contexts?

Do you think that the more people call themselves feminists, the better? Or do you agree with Happy, who says calling yourself a feminist “means you have to do thing in a certain way, you have to make decisions in a certain way, you have to be about fundamentally shifting power”? Let us know in the comments, Twitter (@mamacashfund) or Facebook! Or leave us a review on iTunes - this also helps us reach more people. And if you like what you hear, don't forget to subscribe here wherever you listen!

Featured music: Te Amo Como Feminista - I Love You Like a Feminist - from the album, Vulvasonicas  collaboration between our grantee-partners Aireana and Las Reinas Chulas. Find them online at www.aireana.org.py and on Twitter at @aireanapy; and lasreinaschulas.com and on Twitter (@lasreinaschulas). Plus you can listen to the whole album at @vulvasonicas!

Episode three: Who's afraid of pop feminism?

In the second episode of Tea with Mama Cash, hosts Zohra Moosa and Happy Mwende Kinyili tackle the million-dollar question: will the revolution be funded? Zohra and Happy explore the ways activists can engage with money from a feminist perspective, including Mama Cash’s origin story. Is money a tool for creating lasting, transformational social change, or will it always be the master’s tool?

Featured music: Hermanas o Lesbianas from the album Vulvasonicas, a collaboration between our grantee-partners Aireana and Las Reinas Chulas. You can listen to the whole album at soundcloud.com/vulvasonicas.

Learn more about Aireana at www.aireana.org.py or on Twitter at @aireanapy, and about Las Reinas Chulas at www.lasreinaschulas.com or on Twitter at @lasreinaschulas.

And if you're based in or around Amsterdam and want to help us reach our goal of raising 10,000 euro in just one day on July 6, email shesupports@mamacash.org!

Episode two: Breaking the bank of patriarchy

On the very first episode of Tea with Mama Cash, Zohra Moosa and Happy Mwende Kinyili talk about what feminism brings to them, debate how we'll get to that feminist utopia, and share stories of feminist activists who have inspired them lately.

How do you practice feminism? Do you consider yourself an activist? Let us know in the comments, on Twitter (@mamacash) or by leaving a review on iTunes!

Featured music: My Body is Mine by Krudas Cubensi on a compilation by Calala Fondo de Mujeres. For more information: www.calala.org/femcees

Tea with Mama Cash

Tea with Mama Cash

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