Name: Olivia Atienza
Social Justice Group: 2020-2021, Menstrual and Maternal Health
Date of Fieldwork: February 16, 2021
Person (people) with whom you met and their title(s) & Name of Organization: Kiran Gandhi (stage name: Madame Gandhi) singer, drummer, activist
Type of Fieldwork: Interview
What I learned about Social Justice “work” and/or Civil and Human rights “work” from this fieldwork:
Talking with Kiran Gandhi was so inspiring. She talked about her decision to free-bleed while running her first marathon and how empowering it was to her. She talked about how her story blew up all over the world, it was one of the top trending stories for a couple weeks after the run. Kiran also told us about how she hadn’t meant for her choice to go viral and that in a way, this helped her climb up in the music industry. Kiran Gandhi also brought up a really interesting point that I guess i never thought much about. She started to talk about how when menstruators talk about their period it makes the non-menstruators feel uncomfortable (This part was something i’ve known for awhile). She then continues to say that in reality, it’s the menstruators that are more uncomfortable then those who say to not talk about periods. The menstruators are dealing with the pain and hardships so they should have a right to talk about it. Overall, talking to Kiran was really cool and she was just so inspiring and amazing.
