Because of Her: STORIES OF women making a difference

10.06.2020 // 90.9fm krcl 

A special edition of RadioACTive hosted by The Bee, presented in partnership with Utah Museum of Fine Arts and KRCL.

Originally conceived of as a live storytelling event at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts, this show was set to take place in the Spring of 2020 in conjunction with their ACME Lab exhibition, Utah Women Working for Better Days.

On October 6th, 2020, Because of Her: Stories of Women Making a Difference aired as a special edition of KRCL’s public affairs program RadioACTive. This hour-long broadcast features true, personal stories from Utah women of action, about the women who have made a significant difference in their lives and work: Erika George, Ciriac Alvarez Valle, Luna Banuri, Pilar Pobil, and Denae Shanidiin.

At the Bee, we believe in the power of stories to make shape and shift culture. We hope that these stories - about sisters, mothers, aunties, professionals, caregivers, and confidants - will help to shed light on the many ways there are to show up, and inspire you, whether you’ve been working towards justice for a long time or are just getting started - to take action of your own.

Listen to Because of Her: Stories of Women Making a Difference

Featuring stories from Erika George, Ciriac Alvarez Valle, Luna Banuri, Pilar Pobil, and Denae Shanidiin. Hosted and curated by Giuliana Serena of The Bee and presented in partnership with Utah Museum of Fine Arts & KRCL. Produced by Lara Jones, Host & Executive Producer of RadioACTive, with sound mixing from Willis Krammer.

We are deeply grateful to each of our participating storytellers for being such meaningful community makers, sharing their stories with us, and working with us to record them remotely.

Special thanks to Lara Jones for helping us to reimagine the show and broadcast these stories to the wider world and to UMFA’s Director of Learning and Engagement Jorge Rojas, whose vision, commitment, and encouragement were at the heart of this project from the very beginning and all along the way.

If you prefer to listen via soundcloud, click here.

about our Participating storytellers

ERIKA GEORGE

Researcher, Teacher, World Traveler

For our show, Erika shares a story of a time that the woman who gave her life, saved her life – her mother, Betty George.

Erika George is Director of the Tanner Humanities Center at the University of Utah and Samuel D. Thurman Professor of Law. Originally from Chicago, she has called Salt Lake City home for nearly two decades - currently residing with her beloved 15 year old dog Mojo.

She maintains a passionate love of learning and enjoys exploring the world, she's even summited Mt. Kilimanjaro! Erika is especially proud to know her former students are out in the world doing important work. After nearly a decade of research and writing, her new book "Incorporating Rights" will be published by Oxford University Press.

Erika hopes that those who need to hear her story, will, and implores us all to participate in our communities, respect and care about one another, and vote!

Ciriac Alvarez Valle

Poet, Speaker, Community Organizer

For our show, Ciriac shares a story of a time her older sister, who she has always looked up to, made pancakes for the very first time when they were home alone as children.

Born in Cuernavaca Morelos, Mexico, Ciriac grew up and currently resides in Salt Lake City. Her brother, sister, and parents are where she finds home. More than a destination or specific location, she experiences home to be a feeling of belonging and putting down roots together – especially as an immigrant family.

As a policy analyst for Voice for Utah Children, she centers her work on equity with a focus on health, justice, and immigrant justice issues. She finds writing, research, and community centered dialogues to be crucial elements of her advocacy.

She is proud of the work she is doing to support immigrants in our state and for finding a balance in taking care of herself while caring for community through challenging times.

Luna Banuri

Advocate, Policy Analyst, Executive Director

For our show, Luna tells us about the two very different women whose influence she carries with her wherever she goes: her mother Sadiqa and mother-in-law, Safia.

Founding Board Member and Executive Director of the Utah Muslim Civic League, Luna is actively engaged in our community as a member of Salt Lake City’s commission on Racial Equity in Policing, the Mayor’s Council on Diversity Affairs and numerous other organizations, committed to building a pathway for Muslims - and others - to thrive here in Utah. 

Originally from Islamabad, Luna is a proud Pakistani American Muslim, mother, daughter, sister and friend, and lived in numerous countries around the world before bringing her family to Salt Lake City in 2014. She is immensely proud of her three children, who she describes as social justice champions in their own right, and is especially grateful to have recently survived setting them free in the world and not collapsing in the process.

Pilar Pobil

Artist, Writer, Community Builder

For our show, Pilar tells us about the two women who inspired her to become an artist – women who in spite of the pressure to conform, had the courage to make decisions for themselves and inspired her to do the same.

Originally from Mallorca, Pilar has called Utah home for the past 60 of her 93 years and currently resides in the avenues with her dog Lucy, in a home resplendent with her art, and surrounded by beautiful gardens.

Pilar enjoys being alone, doing exactly what she wants, and being independent. Perhaps surprising to some, she still does all her own gardening – except for climbing ladders!

Having survived the rise of fascism in Spain in the 1930’s, she urges all those who are able to, to exercise their right to vote in the upcoming election.

Her newest painting, “The Suffragettes” made in honor of the 19th amendment, is currently on display online at West Valley Arts.

Denae Shanidiin

Creator, Bilá'ashdla (five fingered relative), Honágháahnii (one who walks around clan)

For our show, Denae shares a story of the tragic loss of her Auntie Priscilla and how she became determined to advocate for missing and murdered Indigenous relatives, and facilitate healing for all her relations.

An auntie, decolonialist, fighter, and lover, Denae finds pleasure to be a crucial part of living. She comes from a Matriarchal family, past and present, and the honoring of women and storytelling is something very dear to her.

As founder of MMIWhoIsMissing, she brings visibility and healing to the epidemic of missing and murdered Indigenous Relatives, a violence met with deafening silence by the vast majority of those in political power.

Currently living the life of an urban native both here in Salt Lake City as well as Burntwater, AZ on the Navajo Nation, she is working towards a more permanent and connected restitution of home where her ancestors and grandparents reside, with her many sisters and mothers, raising children and caring for elders.

UMFA’s ACME LAB EXHIBITION: UTAH WOMEN WORKING FOR BETTER DAYS

Utah Women Working for Better Days! celebrates a number of voting rights anniversaries in 2020, including the 150th anniversary of Utah as the first place where women voted in the modern nation.

Organized in collaboration with Better Days 2020, an organization championing Utah women’s history across the state, and drawing from materials in the J. Willard Marriott Library Special Collections, this exhibition is less a history lesson than it is a provocation: What do “better days” look like to you?

The exhibition is open to the public through December 6th, with free admission every first Wednesday of the month. UMFA invites you to come for a safe and socially distanced visit, and hopes you’ll leave energized to play a larger role in creating the future of this place we call home.