The 3-week public information program, co-hosted by KHUM DJ Cliff Berkowitz and Sheri Johnson, Field Education Director for HSU’s Department of Sociology and Chair of the Humboldt County Domestic Violence Coordinating Council, will feature interviews with local experts and HSU faculty on themes including bullying, sexualized violence and marriage equality. Johnson is also Chair of the Humboldt County Domestic Violence Coordinating Council and Berkowitz is a lecturer in the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication.
The campaign kicks-off Wednesday, Oct. 31, with an examination of “Sexualized Violence and the Ongoing War Against Women.” On-air guests will be Paula Arrowsmith-Jones of the North Coast Rape Crisis Team and Michael Yellow Bird, HSU Social Work Professor. Yellow Bird will discuss the cultural neuroscience of sexual violence, and rape as a weapon of suppression in Native American communities. On Friday, Nov. 2, Arrowsmith-Jones and Kim Berry, chair of HSU’s Department of Critical Race, Gender and Sexuality Studies (CRGS) will provide an in-depth discussion of sexualized violence. Listeners are encouraged to call in with questions, comments and personal stories during the two-hour panel.
Starting Tuesday, Nov. 6, the campaign will explore “Changing Attitudes Toward Marriage Equality.” Susan McGee, CRGS lecturer and coordinator of the Humboldt County Domestic Violence Coordinating Council, will be the featured guest. On Wednesday, Nov. 7 blues musician Earl Thomas will join Berkowitz for an in-studio interview about his music career and experiences growing up as a gay man in Mississippi. The week concludes with another roundtable discussion exploring marriage equality Friday, Nov. 9.
Week three begins Nov. 13 and examines community solutions to bullying. Interviews are scheduled for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, with guests to be announced. Topics will include changing attitudes toward bullying, homophobia, cyber bullying, and racism.
The Stop the Violence Campaign concludes Friday, Nov. 16 with a “Healing Breakfast” from 8 to 10 a.m. at the Eureka Women’s Club. The breakfast will feature live music, tabling, a panel discussion and keynote presentation by Marianne Pennekamp, a retired social worker and 30-year veteran of Oakland Public Schools.
Berkowitz, KHUM co-founder and morning show host, created the Stop the Violence Campaign as a national event in 1990. He brought the campaign to Humboldt County in 1996. All interviews from The Stop the Violence Campaign will be archived on khum.com.