This morning marked KHUM’s 21st Stop The Violence campaign. Over the years this campaign has tackled thorny social issues that most communities deal with, but generally don’t talk about and sweep under the rug.

This year the campaign will be dealing with:

• Male Privilege: This year’s presidential campaign brought to the forefront the fact that male privilege can be the basis of much domestic violence. Men who abuse have been shown to feel entitled to, better than, and have social permission to do what they want with women. But aside from the obvious, this is attitude ingrained into society in more subtle ways, such as unequal pay for the same work and lack of women in political office.

• Indigenous Rights: Standing Rock has put this in the headlines as of late. Our local indigenous community has be galvanized in their support of the Sioux tribe with regard to this issue. Humboldt County has one of the largest indigenous communities in California. We will explore how this support is manifesting, issues of cultural appropriation and support organizations. 

• The Violence of Poverty: Those at the bottom of socioeconomic ladder have long been subject to violence. We will explore how hard it is to get out of poverty due to traps in the system such as not being able to get a job if you don’t have a home address. We will look as what is being done locally to help people get out of that trap and into productive lives.

Previous issues the campaign has dealt with over the years have included domestic violence, child abuse, elder abuse, acquaintance rape, spousal rape and white privilege, among others.

Each morning, KHUM will bring in guests at 9 am for a one-on-one discussion on a specific aspect of the week’s topic. These interviews will take place Tuesday through Thursday. Then each Friday from 8 a.m. until 10 a.m. there will be a two-hour panel discussion in which the community is encouraged to call in with questions.

The event concludes with a “Healing Breakfast,” which will be held on the morning of Friday, Nov. 18 at the Eureka Woman’s Club. There will be a live panel of speakers, resource tables from help organizations from throughout the community, free pastries from Ramone’s Bakery and coffee from Signature Coffee, live music by Anna Hamilton, and more. Plus, at this event the Stop the Violence Campaign will present a check to a deserving organization from the Stop the Violence fund, managed by the Humboldt Area Foundation.

The daily interviews will be archived each day on a special webpage on khum.com. Archives of previous years’ discussions are also available on the site.