
PA Centered is a podcast designed to help listeners be a part of the solution to end sexual harassment, abuse, and assault. Each episode, we will take on a topic or current event to help spark conversation and break down barriers to building communities free from sexual violence. Hosted by the Pennsylvania Coalition to Advance Respect (PCAR).
Episodes

May 6, 2021
May 6, 2021
33 min
This episode we are joined by Dr. Phyllis Sharps from Johns Hopkins University. We learn about maternal and child health, and the effects of intimate partner violence on pregnant women, infants, and very young children.

Apr 29, 2021
Apr 29, 2021
6 min
In this episode of History You Should Know, we learn about Nicole Pittman, an attorney and national expert working to end child sexual abuse and terminate the practice of registering children as sex offenders.
Learn more:
- Just Beginnings Collaborative Names Nicole Pittman Executive Director
- 2019 Leadership Prize Winner Nicole Pittman on her work, leadership
- Studies, experts question effect of placing children on sex offender registries
- Raised on the Registry The Irreparable Harm of Placing Children on Sex Offender Registries in the US
Visit www.pcar.org/podcasts for show notes and transcripts.

Apr 27, 2021
Apr 27, 2021
16 min
In this episode of History You Should Know, we learn about Harriet Ann Jacobs, an enslaved women who published the book, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, describing the years of sexual abuse she survived at the hands of the white man who enslaved her until she escaped. Her writings raised awareness within the abolitionist movement about the sexual exploitation of enslaved women.
Learn more:
- Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
- The Harriet Jacobs Family Papers
- The Fearless Truthtelling of Harriet Ann Jacobs
- Harriet Jacobs Biography
Visit www.pcar.org/podcasts for show notes and transcripts.

Apr 22, 2021
Apr 22, 2021
6 min
In this episode of History You Should Know, we learn about Aishah Shahidah Simmons, a survivor, filmmaker and an award-winning Black feminist lesbian cultural worker, who, for over 25-years, has examined the intersections of race, gender, sexuality, and sexual violence.
Learn more:
- The Story of SNCC
- Imagine Otherwise: Aishah Shahidah Simmons on Black Feminist Anti-Violence Activism
- Making the Revolution Irresistible: An Interview with Aishah Shahidah Simmons
- NO! The Rape Documentary
- Love WITH Accountability
- How Can We End Child Sexual Abuse Without Prisons?
- #FromNO2Love Videos
- @AfroLez Link Tree
Visit www.pcar.org/podcasts for show notes and transcripts.

Apr 20, 2021
Apr 20, 2021
6 min
In this episode of History You Should Know, we learn about Audre Lorde, a survivor who described herself as a “black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet.”
Learn more:
- Poetry Room Listening Booth: Audre Lorde
- Poetry Foundation: Audre Lorde
- Biographies: Audre Lorde
- About Audre Lorde (includes list of works)
- Breaking Isolation: Self Care and Community Care Tools for Our People
Visit www.pcar.org/podcasts for show notes and transcripts.

Apr 15, 2021
Apr 15, 2021
32 min
During this episode, we are joined by members of the Keystone Crisis Intervention Team, or KCIT to learn more about how they support communities after trauma occurs. Learn more about how you can get involved or contact KCIT for your community at kcitpa.org.
Contact KCIT:
- Visit org
- Email Donna, Melissa or info@kcitpa.org
- Call the 24/7 hotline at 855-767-5248
Learn more about becoming a volunteer here. Learn more about training offered by KCIT here.
Visit www.pcar.org/podcasts for show notes and transcripts.

Apr 8, 2021
Apr 8, 2021
12 min
In this episode of History You Should Know, we learn about Mariame Kaba -- an organizer, educator and curator whose work focuses on ending violence, dismantling the prison industrial complex, transformative justice, and supporting youth leadership development.
Learn more:
· Being MK - Mariame Kaba's Personal Website
· Interrupting Criminalization
· Hope Is a Discipline: Mariame Kaba on Dismantling the Carceral State
· Is it time to reimagine justice and accountability for sexual misconduct?
· From “Me Too” to “All of Us”: Organizing to End Sexual Violence, Without Prisons
· Reimagining Justice: An Interview with Mariame Kaba
· Mariame Kaba: Everything Worthwhile Is Done With Other People
· Mariame Kaba wants us to imagine a future without prisons
Visit www.pcar.org/podcasts for show notes and transcripts.

Apr 6, 2021
Apr 6, 2021
10 min
In this episode of History You Should Know, we learn about The Combahee River Collective, who are best known for publishing the Combahee River Collective Statement in 1977. The Collective used an approach to community organizing that centered the most marginalized group in their liberation work, and laid the foundation for the theory of intersectionality.
Learn more:
- (1977) The Combahee River Collective Statement
- Combahee River Collective (1974-1980)
- This Boston Collective Laid The Groundwork For Intersectional Black Feminism
- The Combahee River Collective
Visit www.pcar.org/podcasts for show notes and transcripts.

Apr 1, 2021
Apr 1, 2021
18 min
April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. This episode is from the National Sexual Violence Resource Center’s podcast, Resource on the Go. During this episode, NSVRC staff explore this year’s campaign, We Can Build Safe Online Spaces, and share resources and ideas about how to get involved during SAAM.
Learn more:
- SAAM Website
- National SAAM Event List
- #30DaysofSAAM Instagram Challenge
- Day of Action
- Resource on the Go Podcast
- National Sexual Violence Resource Center
Visit www.pcar.org/podcasts for show notes and transcripts.

Mar 26, 2021
Mar 26, 2021
8 min
In this episode of History You Should Know, we learn about Loretta J. Ross, a powerful advocate who is an award-winning, nationally recognized expert on racial justice, women’s rights, reproductive justice, and human rights.
Learn more:
- Loretta J. Ross website
- Loretta Ross: Reproductive Justice Pioneer, Co-Founder of SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective
- Paying it Forward Instead of Looking Backwards
- SisterSong Women of Color Justice Collective
- National Organization for Women (NOW)
- Episode 2 of PA Centered: Uprooting Racism with Paul Kivel and Loretta J. Ross
Visit www.pcar.org/podcasts for show notes and transcripts.
