'Five Till Midnight or Almost Time for Lunch' by Flickr (cc) user bitzcelt.

From Egypt to Wisconsin, and from Wall Street to any town USA, 2011 was a year in which people raised their voices to call for justice. As we head into 2012, there’s optimism about the possibilities for change. On this edition, we look back at some the most important issues of 2011: attacks on organized labor, the Egyptian revolution, and the struggle to address climate change. We’ll hear highlights from some of the best programs we’ve brought you this year, and get some updates on where those stories stand now.

Shows featured in this program include:

Who Won the Egyptian Revolution?

The Wisconsin Workers Uprising   (Part 1)  (Part 2)

Battle for Workers Rights on the Ballot in Ohio

Climate Change Gridlock: Where Do We Go From Here? (Part 1)  (Part 2)

Featuring:

Shimaa Helmy, Egyptian human rights activist; Pedro De Sa, ILWU local 6 Rank and File organizer; Kris Hirsh, Stand up For Ohio spokesman; Melissa Fezekas, We Are Ohio spokesperson; Larry Cohen, Communications Workers of America President; Rich Trumka, AFL-CIO President; Fred Risser, Wisconsin State Senator; Khalid Shalid, Tahrir square protestor; Salma Shukrallah, Al Ahram Online journalist; Tarek Shalaby, Tahrir Square leader; James Inhofe, US Senator from Oklahoma; Bernaditas Mueller, South Centre climate change special advisor; Patrick Bond, Center for Civil Society Director at the University of Kwazulu-Natal in Durban, South Africa; Mike Ludwig, Truthout reporter; Brian Edwards-Tiekert, journalist.

***WEB EXCLUSIVES***

What Happened in Durban?

Interview with reporter Brian Edwards Tiekert about the 2011 climate negotiations in Durban, South Africa.

How are Occupy and organized labor Working together?

Interview With ILWU Local 6 rank and file organizer Pedro De Sa about the state of labor in the U.S., and how the Occupy movement is working with unions.

1 year later—what has the Egyptian revolution achieved?

An interview with Egyptian human rights activist Shimaa Helmy.

For More Information:

No Military Trials For Civilians
Shimaa Tahrir
Al-Ahram Online
Muslim Brotherhood
Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting
ILWU
Occupy Wall Street
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker
Workers Independent News
WORT Community Radio-Madison, WI
Wisconsin AFL-CIO
Communications Workers of America
We the People Campaign
Campaign Cash
Stand Up For Ohio
We Are Ohio
ALEC exposed
Truthout
The Media Consortium
Durban Platform
Climate Signals-An Inventory of Climate Change Impact Reports
Skeptical Science
Mobilization for Climate Justice
Center for Civil Society, University of Kwazulu-Natal
Indigenous Environmental Network
The South Centre
COP17 in Durban, South Africa

Books/Articles:

Tina Gerhardt: Get It Done! Youth to UN on Internationally Binding Climate Treaty
Scenes From a Revolution

Music:

“Hurt Me Soul” by Lupe Fiasco
“The Coolest” by Lupe Fiasco

If you’ve ever stepped into a nail salon, you know the smell of a chemical cocktail that hits you like an invisible wall. While consumers may tolerate it during a short visit, the nail salon workers find themselves stewing in a toxic bubble for years. On this edition, we take a look at the health impacts of chemical exposure, the shoddy regulation of cosmetics, and the movement towards greener nail salons.

Featuring:

Alisha Nga Tran, Patient Leadership Council facilitator, Asian Health Services; Dr. Thu Quach, epidemiologist, Cancer Prevention Institute of California; My Tong, associate, California Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative; Lam Le, former nail salon worker and cancer survivor; Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins , CEO, Green For All; Jamie Silberberger, director of programs and policy at Women’s Voices for the Earth; Uyen Nguyen, owner, Isabella Nail Salon; Sarah Vuong , employee at Isabella Nail Salon; Jill Adams , client, Isabella Nail Salon; David Chiu,  president of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.

Thanks to all of our supporters, to As You Sow‘s Environmental Enforcement Fund and to Spot.us for helping to crowd fund this story.

*** WEB EXCLUSIVES ***

Asian Health Services Educates Patient Leaders from pauline bartolone on Vimeo.

Nail Salon Workers Speak Up About Chemical Exposure

The amount of nail salons has nearly quadrupled nationwide in the past decade. In California, about two-thirds of nail salon workers are Vietnamese immigrants. In this next segment, Making Contact Producer Pauline Bartolone explores the health impact of chemical exposure on nail salon workers, and what groups are doing to protect them.

Nail Salon Businesses Go Green in Bay Area

Nail salon workers and advocates are pushing hard to change public policy around exposure to toxic chemicals.  But there’s also a movement coming from businesses themselves to make the salons greener and safer for workers and consumers. Correspondent Momo Chang has more.

For More Information:

Asian Health Services, Oakland, CA
California Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative, Oakland, CA
National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum, Washington, D.C.
National Healthy Nail Salon Alliance, Washington, D.C.
Women’s Voices for the Earth, Missoula, MT

Music:

“P.S.” by Chromakey
“Warm Sound” by Zero 7

Credit: natalia & gabriel/ Flickr

In February, a mass movement overthrew the hated dictatorship of Hosni Mubarak in Egypt. Now a military council now rules the country. Critics say the new regime has kept much of Mubarak’s repressive apparatus. Meanwhile, extremist Islamist groups are pressuring the government to adopt undemocratic, right-wing policies. On this edition, independent producer Reese Erlich brings you this special report “Who Won the Egyptian Revolution?” Reese Erlich received a grant from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting for his reporting in Egypt.

Featuring:

Tarek Shalaby, Tahrir Square leader; Shimaa Helmy, biotechnology student; Khalid Shalid, Tahrir square protestor; Salma Shukrallah, Al Ahram Online journalist; Dr. Mohammad Shafik, doctor at Manshiet el Bakry hospital; Ellis J. Goldberg, University of Washington political science & American University in Cairo visiting professor; Ahmad Fathi, truck driver; Salah Hamid, barber; Rabab El Mahdi, American University in Cairo political science teacher; Mohammad Said Mohammad, Muslim Brotherhood supporter; Father Antonius, Coptic Christian leader; Dr. Milad Ismail; Manshiet el Bakry hospital administrator.

For more information:

Al-Ahram online
Moslem Brotherhood
Pulitzer center on Crisis Reporting
Al-Masry Al-Youm
Angry Arab Jadaliyya
The Arabist

Articles and multimedia:

Scenes From a revolution
Egypt Media gains Reversed by Military Rulers
Egyptian  Women on the Frontlines of Change, Making Contact #03-11
Re: Queers in the Egyptian uprising

We rely on your support to keep going! To donate to National Radio Project, for more information, or to submit program topic ideas and pitches, please visit us online at www.radioproject.org or call toll-free at 1-800-529-5736. JOIN OUR CONVERSATION on Facebook!

Script

Doctor: 40% of Egyptians live below the poverty line, less than $1/day.  Four months after the revolution they they haven’t felt any change. That’s why they are here today.

Andrew Stelzer: In February a mass movement overthrew the hated dictatorship of Hosni Mubarak in Egypt. But a military council now rules the country. Critics say the new regime has kept much of Mubarak’s repressive apparatus. Meanwhile extremist Islamist groups are pressuring the government to adopt undemocratic, right-wing policies. On this edition, independent producer Reese Erlich goes to Cairo, to investigate “Who Won the Egyptian Revolution?”
I’m Andrew Stelzer, and this is Making Contact, a program connecting people, vital ideas and important information.

Tahrir singing

Reese Erlich: A group of protesters sing and clap enthusiastically during a Tahrir Square rally in downtown Cairo. It’s been four months since the revolution and 200,000 mostly leftist and secular demonstrators are demanding an end to military rule. Tarek Shalaby, a well known Tahrir Square leader, says the military is carrying out the same policies as Mubarak.

Shalaby: I’m completely against the Egyptian military, especially the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which is basically the entity that is leading the country. They are brutally corrupt. They can start shooting and throwing people into on no charges, just because they can. Just because they want to control. They want to keep the old regime. They are the biggest obstacle against the revolution.

Reese Erlich: Shimaa Helmy, a biotechnology student, says the large turnout shows that that the left and secular forces of the Egyptian revolution have ongoing support.

Student 1: We feel our revolution is being taken over by other people who didn’t take part in it. We feel like there’s something wrong going on. We’re trying to push the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. Around 10,000 civilians, most of them are youth, are facing military trials, which is something totally against what we are calling for.

Tahrir chanting crowd

Reese Erlich: Helmy and other demonstrators say their uprising was not a “Facebook Revolution.” Most Egyptians don’t have computers. At one point the Mubarak government completely shut down the internet, yet those days saw the biggest demonstrations. Helmy says people mostly used word of mouth, text messaging, and al Jazeera TV to spread the word.

Student 2: They tend think that only technology and Facebook and Twitter was the reason behind this. Which is not true. If it wasn’t for the support of the people in the street, nothing like this wouldn’t have happened. Technology and social media were just a tool for this uprising. But if it wasn’t for the people in the street, nothing would have ever happened.

Reese Erlich: Another protestor, Khalid Shalid, says the revolution included many poor and working people with no access to Facebook. Today they continue to demand economic justice.

Khalid Shalid: 40% of Egyptians live below the poverty line, less than $1/day. four months after revolution they haven’t felt any change. And this is why they are here today. We are looking for a minimum wage of 1200 Egyptian pounds, less than $200 US dollars.

Reese Erlich: Demonstrators in Tahrir Sq. also strongly oppose US interference in Egyptian affairs. The Obama administration-backed dictator Hosni Mubarak until the last moment, they say, and has done little to help people since. Salma Shukrallah is a journalist with the daily Al Ahram Online.

Salma Shukrallah: The link between the US and the ruling regime here in Egypt has been often criticized and condemned. Of course it was very clear to people, by the end of the 18 days that the US was keen on keeping things as is, and keeping Mubarak… until they thought, ‘oh no, this looks like a lost battle, let’s just switch loyalties.’ You can’t actually have real democracy in Egypt as long as this tie remains the same. No economic changes will actually happen as long as Egypt is dictated from the US because the tnterests are very different.

Reese Erlich: The political and economic demands of Tahrir Square demonstrators resonate widely — nowhere more loudly than at the Manshiet el Bakry hospital in Cairo.

Talking in Emergency Room

Dr. Mohammad Shafik: As you can see, this is a common scene for the emergency room.

Reese Erlich: Dr. Mohammad Shafik stands in the middle of a chaotic emergency room with orderlies pushing patients on gurneys and guards standing in the hall. He says since the revolution, security for patients and doctors has become a major issue.

Dr. Mohammad Shafik: Fights in the hospital are a common scene. When you come and find there’s no real health services given, when I ask you to buy cotton from a nearby pharmacy or buy syringes or medicine because we lack the primary services, that would make you fight. Conditions are worse after the revolution because people expect more. So they are willing to fight. And who is the symbol of authority in a hospital? The doctor. So, they start to fight against us.

Reese Erlich: Dr. Shafik says a dispute between two people might result in one coming to the hospital with a gunshot wound, and then the relatives of the shooter come into the hospital as well.

Hospital 3

Dr. Mohammad Shafik: In many situations, there’s a fight between two individuals. The relatives of the other one come into the hospital and finish him off. In upper Egypt a patient was in surgery. And his opponent came in, pushed the doctor away and finished him off on the table. So, you can imagine. And, the police were just standing and watching.

Reese Erlich: Doctors say that Egyptian police, once a key component in the repressive apparatus of Hosni Mubarak’s dictatorship, now often refuse to carry out their jobs. Dr. Shafik says it’s a combination of timidity in the face of new conditions and a form of reprisal against those who overthrew the old regime.

Dr. Mohammad Shafik: These police who shot and killed protesters have had not 1 or 2, but 3 increases in wages, as a kind of reward. Still, they won’t do their job. It’s a kind of punishment against that we have done a revolution and taken their leader, the minister of interior, and put him in jail.

Talking as we walk through halls

Reese Erlich: As we walk through the hospital, Dr. Shafik explains that hospital workers at Manshiet el Bakry decided to take matters into their own hands. Every public sector workplace in Egypt was run by a political appointee under the control of the Mubarak regime.

Dr. Mohammad Shafik: We have a small Mubarak in every hospital, in every administration, taking most of the profit of the hospital, making his corruption legal, not caring about service to the citizen but what his superior will say about him. This is the kind of corruption we’re dealing with and the kind of experience we’ve had.

Reese Erlich: The doctors, nurses, clerks and other staff at Manshiet el Bakry formed a hospital-wide union. Their first action was to remove the old administrator and elect a new one. Then, says Shafik, they sent a fax to the deputy minister of health.

Dr. Mohammad Shafik: And we told him that we had an election. We kicked off your old manager and we will not tolerate anyone unless they are elected. We called the press. We said you have two choices: either you send us a fax saying you have appointed the elected manager. Or you are not going to do this and tomorrow he’s going to sit in the manager’s office and run the hospital. If you try to do anything we’ll close the hospital gates and we’re going to make it a fight. So he responded with a fax two hours later to appoint the manger we had elected.

Reese Erlich: This kind of democratic uprising worries those in power. While making his rounds, visiting patients, Dr. Shafik explains that the health care system has become an important battle ground against the current military government.

Dr. Mohammad Shafik: Of course the regime has not changed totally as we had hoped when we removed Mubarak. They are trying to manipulate us, to reinvent the regime once more with new faces. That’s what makes the health issue a central point in the struggle against dictatorship in Egypt. Every percentage increase in the health budget will come from the budget of the Ministry of Interior and other parts of the oppressive machine.

Reese Erlich: Doctors and other medical workers have demanded that national health funds be increased until they reach 15% of the national budget. The additional money, they say, should come from the Ministry of Interior. Right now the government allocates 3.6 percent of the national budget for health care, while the repressive Ministry of Interior funds an armed force of 1.4 million police. The exact amount of the Ministry of Interior’s budget is a state secret.

Dr. Mohammad Shafik: The military budget is a closed, black box. Nobody knows it.

Most of this budget is not to provide security for the citizens but to oppress them. It is part of the oppressive machine. It is a stick that is meant to keep us down. We are willing to take part of the money for equipment to oppress us to buy equipment to treat us.

Reese Erlich: To date the military has offered small increases in the national heath budget, but nothing close to what health workers say is adequate. Ellis J. Goldberg, a political science professor at the University of Washington, who was also a visiting professor at American University in Cairo, says the current military government won’t significantly increase the health budget or meet protestors demands for an increased minimum wage.

Ellis J. Goldberg: I think it’s unlikely the military will grant that primarily because the military doesn’t want to make those kind of hard decisions. The only reason they might is if there was some major political disturbance by the workers that threatened the political stability of the country, not simply economic interests.

Reese Erlich: Goldberg notes that since February hundreds of workplaces around the country have experienced strikes and demonstrations. They demand a minimum wage of $200/month. A plethora of independent unions, worker federations and worker parties arose. To date, some unions have won demands for wage increases or replacement of managers. But Goldberg says the government has resisted more thorough going changes.

Ellis J. Goldberg: The workers strikes are primarily around of issues of insecurity, job loss and the demand for a 1200 Egyptian Pound minimum wage. Often they’re over the authority in the factory. Workers are very unhappy with factory managers who they see as part of the old corrupt regime.

Reese Erlich: Goldberg says economic change is slow because Mubarak cronies still control much of the economy through corruption and political patronage.

Ellis J. Goldberg: In terms of the economy, the real problem was you had a group of probably 30-40 people who formed leadership of ruling party and who had significant investments in areas of the economy benefiting from state contracts: tourism, steel, cement and a variety of other industries. This was a very tight group of people. And they used political power to maintain monopolies.

Protester chants

Reese Erlich: Back in Tahrir Square, protestors are trying to make fundamental, not just cosmetic, changes. In the months that followed the February downfall of Mubarak, many different kinds of people demonstrated here: leftists, moderate secularists and devout Moslems. Secular protesters acknowledge that they have alienated some in the broader society. Student Shimaa Helmy explains.

Tahrir student: We’re trying to raise awareness in the streets. People are starting to hate the uprising. The prices are getting high and they think it’s the revolution. We’re trying to convince people that it’s for you, not just for us.

Reese Erlich: And you don’t have to go far to find some of those alienated people.

Egyptian Music

Andrew Stelzer: We’ll be right back.

Andrew Stelzer: You’re listening to “Making Contact,” a production of the National Radio Project.  If you’d like more information or for C-D copies of this program, please call 800-529-5736.

Andrew Stelzer: Because of listeners like you, this show is distributed for free to radio stations in the U.S., Canada and South Africa. To find out how to support us, download shows, or get our podcasts go to radioproject-dot-org.  Like us on facebook, and follow us on twitter—our handle is making-underscore-contact. We now return to “Who won the Egyptian Revolution.”, a report from Cairo, by Reese Erlich

Call to prayer mixed with traffic sounds

Reese Erlich: Muslims gather at a Cairo mosque for Friday prayers. The conservative Islamic group, the Moslem Brotherhood, exercises considerable influence among people here, as well as among peasant farmers, the urban poor, and sections of the middle class. Truck driver Ahmad Fathi, reflects the conservative view that anti-government demonstrations should stop.

Driver: We should give the government some time. We shouldn’t have sit-ins and demonstrations every day. We need time for things to get back to normal.

Mosque, street – car and horn

Reese Erlich: In the working and lower middle class Sayyida Zeinab district, walking distance from Tahrir Square, barber Salah Hamid says he’s a Moslem Brotherhood supporter.

Hamid: He likes the Moslem Brotherhood and would like to see them in power. They are trying apply Islamic law and we are in a Muslim country. That’s why he likes them.

Reese Erlich: The Moslem Brotherhood enjoys considerable popular support because it promises to govern Egypt based on Islamic law. It’s similar to those politicians in the United States who call for government based on the Ten Commandments. In addition, the Moslem Brotherhood was one of the leading groups to help overthrow Mubarak. Hamid himself attended some of the big anti-government rallies in Tahrir Square.

Hamid, Zeinab: The whole country was oppressed. He was proud to participate in Tahrir because everyone felt bad during the previous regime.

Reese Erlich: But now Hamid, like many Moslems Brothers, says demonstrators have gone too far.

Hamid, Zeinab: The main purpose of the demonstrations was to force the resignation of Mubarak. He thinks what they are doing now is wrong. We should get back to work. I don’t approve of constant demonstrations.

Reese Erlich: Hamid supports the military government, which he says, is trying to rule under difficult conditions. He points out that in Libya and Syria, the military didn’t support the demonstrators, leading to more deaths and civil war.

Hamid, Zeinab: They think that they are working hard to rule the country although they’re kind of slow. Still, they listened to people’s demands and worked on them.

Reese Erlich: The Moslem Brotherhood and other conservative Islamists won a major victory in March when the military put forward a referendum to legitimize its power. Leftist and secular forces opposed the referendum. The Moslem Brotherhood and other conservatives supported it, claiming a yes vote would maintain the leading role of Islam in Egyptian law. The referendum passed by an overwhelming 77%. Tahrir Square leader Shalaby makes an analogy to the influence of conservative evangelicals in US politics.

Shalaby: Remember how some Churches told people it was a sin not to vote for Bush? Well, the Islamists did something very similar here when they said it is your responsibility as a Muslim to vote yes. Otherwise they might remove Article 2 of the Constitution which might make Egypt into a secular state. And that means all hell will break loose. People will run around naked and we’ll be swimming in acres of alcohol.

Reese Erlich: After being arrested at a demonstration, Shalaby got some insights when he shared a jail cell with conservative Islamist political prisoners.

Shalaby: It’s blasphemous to question certain things. And that’s why I had to be very clever. As an atheist, obviously I never told them I’m an atheist. I told them I was in the process of becoming a practicing Muslim. I’m telling them: Yeah, I’m a Muslim but I stopped praying these days. I’m lazy. Obviously I wasn’t going to tell them, I’m an atheist and lose all my credibility.

Reese Erlich: Did any of your arguments work; did you manage to convince any of them?

Shalaby: They we’re convinced I’m this nut case and making arguments they’ve never heard before. But they were also convinced that I have credibility.

Reese Erlich: Professor Goldberg says the Moslem Brotherhood and other conservative Islamist parties have considerable popular support.

Ellis J. Goldberg: It’s quite likely that the Muslim Brothers will be, if not in power, certainly participants in a ruling coalition. What’s not clear at this point is how powerful the parliament will be. My off  hand guess is that as much as the the Muslim Brothers prefer a strong parliament, that’s not going to happen. But there will likely be a strong presidential regime, with the Moselm Brotherhood as the dominant force in parliament.

Reese Erlich: In recent months the Moslem Brotherhood has been challenged by an even more conservative movement known as the Salafis. They are a ultra-orthodox religious movement that combines a strict interpretation of Islam with an extreme right-wing ideology. Many Egyptians believe they are responsible for violent assaults on Sufi Muslim shrines and the burning of Christian Churches. Rabab El Mahdi, a leftist political activist who teaches political science at the American University in Cairo, says the Salafi leaders didn’t even participate in the Tahrir Square demonstrations that began Jan. 25. They came out only after Feb. 11, when Mubarak resigned.

Rabab El Mahdi: Until Jan 25, you didn’t hear about them except when it came to some woman was converting. Two, three years ago, you didn’t hear about them. They would stick to their mosques, wear certain clothes, but apolitical and indivisible. Suddenly after the 11^th, they’re everywhere. The military is complicit. They’re actually allowing them to play leading roles.

Reese Erlich: Salafis became famous for violent attacks when a Muslim woman wanted to convert to Christianity in order to marry a Christian man, something they say is prohibited by Islam. Prof. El Mahdi says these ultra conservatives were promoted by the old regime and its allies.

Rabab El Mahdi: Salafis are a tendency nurtured by Saudi money and state security apparatus to counter balance the Moslem brotherhood and jihadi Islam which was very radical. So they basically allowed them a space and allowed the pouring of Saudi money. So they came out with that version of Islam that is very socially conservative. Much more conservative than the other tendencies but also very apolitical. They are the people saying that protesting against the ruler is haram. But at the same time they would demonstrate because they didn’t want a Christian woman to be Muslim. They range from the completely berserk to people you can reason with.

Reese Erlich: In May, a suspected Salafi mob set fire to a Christian Church in Cairo. Why would people who claim to be devout Muslims attack churches? Prof. El Mahdi explains.

Rabab El Mahdi: For them modern Christians are infidels. Good Christians existed before Prophet Mohammad came and after that, they should have converted to Islam.

Reese Erlich: Extreme Salafis constitute a small minority in Egypt, and their attacks are condemned by mainstream Islamists.

Juice stand, salesman takes orders

Reese Erlich: Back in the Sayyida Zeinab neighborhood, Mohammad Said Mohammad, stops at a juice stand. He describes himself as a Moslem Brotherhood supporter. He strongly criticizes the church burnings and other violence against Christians.

Mohammad: All these conflicts are completely wrong. We have been living together – Muslims and Christians – for many centuries. It’s part of our teaching to treat Christians in a good way. Prophet Mohammad was married to a Coptic woman. Prophet Mohammad told us to take care of the Christians of Egypt specifically.

Reese Erlich: But Professor El Mahdi says such a view contains a fatal flaw. Christians and other religious minorities don’t want to be “taken care of.” They want equal rights.

Rabab El Mahdi: Declaring Islam as the only true religion, is by definition exclusive. They see women as second class citizens. So imagine if you’re a Coptic woman? You’re third.

Reese Erlich: And that’s precisely what worries Coptic Christians, who make up about 10% of Egypt’s population.

Coptic rally chanting slogans

Reese Erlich: Thousands of Coptic Christians rally in Cairo to protest the church burnings and demand equal rights. Father Antonius, a Christian leader, complains that so far, the military government has cracked down on Christian protestors but not arrested the arsonists who burn churches.

Father Antonius: They arrested some of the young people yesterday. They accused them of having weapons and they didn’t have any. And one of the students has an exam day after tomorrow.

Reese Erlich: There’s a common pattern to the Muslim-Christian conflict in Egypt. The dispute often surfaces when a Christian woman wants to marry a Muslim man. Extremists accuse the Christian priests of keeping her in a church against her will. Then the extremists go to the church, supposedly to rescue the woman, and a fight breaks out. Tahrir Square leader Shalaby says people on both sides feel threatened.

Shalaby: After spending 4-5 days in a political prison with very religious people, that there is this notion of fear that Christianity might grow out of control. There’s also notion from Christians that the Muslims want to take control and turn this into an Iran, and that would be disastrous. I think the old regime is benefiting from this. They might orchestrate it. But it takes very little effort and it spreads like wildfire.

Reese Erlich: Father Antonius says the government could undercut extremism by extending full freedom of religion to everyone. Right now, for example, the government must approve the opening of any new church.

Father Antonius: To open all the Christian churches and put on trial all the perpetrators who have attacked us. We want justice.

Reese Erlich: The Egyptian revolution has experienced sectarian violence and the rise of extremist groups. But it also has successes.

Hospital ambience

Reese Erlich: Back at the Manshiet el Bakry hospital the worker’s uprising has improved conditions for both staff and patients. Newly elected administrator Dr. Milad Ismail says patients no longer have to pay for hospital supplies out of their own pockets.

Hospital speaker: We treat patients for free but we accept some fees. Basic services are free but people must pay for such things as elective surgery. About 50% of our services are free.

Tahrir Sq chants

Reese Erlich: The overthrow of the Mubarak dictatorship in February unleashed a volatile mix of political, economic and religious forces in Egypt. Conservative Islamists are on the move. Parliamentary elections originally scheduled for September have now been postponed to November. Tahrir Sq. leader Tarek Shalaby says leftists and secularists need the time to get organized because their movement is new and inexperienced.

Shalaby: You can’t just expect a party to form right away. You need at least six months of complete chaos, arriving late to meetings, forgetting meeting minutes, finding out how to use the proper email account. It just takes time.

Reese Erlich: The Moslem Brotherhood and Salafis are also using the time to organize. They’ve held huge rallies in Tahrir Square as well. The military, secularists and Islamists will be contending for power for some time. Shalaby says the very future of the revolution is at stake.

Tahrir Sq speaker: If we give up now, we might end up in a worse position than we were pre Jan. 25.

Reese Erlich: For Making Contact, I’m Reese Erlich, Cairo.

Andrew Stelzer: That’s it for this edition of “Making Contact.” You’ve been listening to
“Who Won the Egyptian Revolution?” produced by Reese Erlich.
Special thanks to Shaimaa Helmey, Mandi Fahmy and Kirolos Nagy for translation
and arranging interviews. Reese Erlich received a grant from the Pulitzer Center
on Crisis Reporting for his reporting in Egypt.

Andrew Stelzer: For a CD copy of this program, call the National Radio Project at 800 529-5736, or check out our website at radioproject.org to get a podcast, download past shows, or make a difference by supporting our work.  Like Making Contact on Facebook, or follow us on twitter—our handle is Making, underscore, contact.

Andrew Stelzer: Lisa Rudman is our Executive Director; Kyung Jin Lee and Esther Manilla, producers; Irene Florez, Web Editor, Karl Jagbandhansingh, Volunteer Coordinator; Lisa Bartfai, production intern, And Barbara Barnett, Dan Turner, Alfonso Hooker, Ron Rucker, Alton Byrd, Alex Collins, Katherine Brousseau, Katherine Lee, and Dashal Moore volunteers.

Andrew Stelzer: Thanks for listening to Making Contact.

For More Information: The Pulitizer Center on Crisis Reporting provided a grant for Reese Erlich’s reporting from Egypt.

Photo courtesy of Dave Hoefler

Was the occupation of the state capital in Madison, Wisconsin a resurgence of organized labor in the United States? Or the last gasp for unionized workers, as they face continual erosion of their rights. This week, we hear Part 2 of a retrospective documentary on the 2011 Wisconsin uprising, produced by Workers Independent News.

Click here to hear part 1 of this documentary.

Featuring:

Mahlon Mitchell, Professional Firefighters of Wisconsin president; David McClurg, Madison, police sergeant; Peter Barca, Democratic state representative of 64th Assembly District; Rich Trumka, AFL-CIO President ; Leo Gerard, United Steelworkers president; Mike Goodwin, OPEIU president; Mark Miller, Wisconsin Senate minority leader; Fred Risser, Wisconsin state senator; Brett Hulsey, Wisconsin state representative; Erika Wolf, United Council of UW student Advocacy field organizer; Wisconsin teachers, students, firefighters, police officers, union members and other citizens.

For More Information:

Workers Independent News
WORT Community Radio-Madison, WI
United Council of UW students
Wisconsin Education Association Council (WEAC)
AFSCME
Office & Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU)
Wisconsin AFL-CIO
United Steelworkers
IBEW-International
Professional Firefighters of Wisconsin
Michigan UAW Local 6888
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker
South Central Federation of Labor

MUSIC:

“A Little Soul” by Pete Rock
“Solidarity Forever” by Pete Seeger

Protestors gather in the Wisconsin Capitol rotunda. Photo courtesy of Protocol Photography.

It began as a protest by a few students and teaching assistants over deep budget cuts, but quickly turned into a history making movement of working people in Wisconsin. Was the occupation of the state capital in Madison, Wisconsin a resurgence of organized labor in the United States? Or the last gasp for unionized workers, as they face continual erosion of their rights. Over the next two weeks, we’ll hear a retrospective documentary on the 2011 Wisconsin uprising, produced by Workers Independent News.

Click here to hear part 2 of this documentary.

Featuring:

For More Information:

Workers Independent News
WORT Community Radio-Madison, WI
Wisconsin Education Association Council (WEAC)
AFSCME
Wisconsin AFL-CIO
IBEW-International
Professional Firefighters of Wisconsin
Buffalo Beast
Michigan UAW Local 6888
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker
South Central Federation of Labor
Drop Kick Murphys
Tom Morello

MUSIC:
“We’re Not Gonna Take It” by Twisted Sister

If you’ve ever stepped into a nail salon, you know the smell of a chemical cocktail that hits you like an invisible wall. While consumers may tolerate it during a short visit, the nail salon workers find themselves stewing in a toxic bubble for years. On this edition, we take a look at the health impacts of chemical exposure, the shoddy regulation of cosmetics, and the movement towards greener nail salons.

Asian Health Services Educates Patient Leaders from pauline bartolone on Vimeo.

Nail Salon Workers Speak Up About Chemical Exposure

The amount of nail salons has nearly quadrupled nationwide in the past decade. In California, about two-thirds of nail salon workers are Vietnamese immigrants. In this next segment, Making Contact Producer Pauline Bartolone explores the health impact of chemical exposure on nail salon workers, and what groups are doing to protect them.

Nail Salon Businesses Go Green in Bay Area

Nail salon workers and advocates are pushing hard to change public policy around exposure to toxic chemicals.  But there’s also a movement coming from businesses themselves to make the salons greener and safer for workers and consumers. Correspondent Momo Chang has more.

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Featuring:

Alisha Nga Tran, Patient Leadership Council facilitator, Asian Health Services; Dr. Thu Quach, Epidemiologist, Cancer Prevention Institute of California; My Tong, Associate, California Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative; Lam Le, former nail salon worker and cancer survivor; Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins , CEO, Green For All; Jamie Silberberger, Director of Programs and Policy at Women’s Voices for the Earth; Uyen Nguyen, Owner, Isabella Nail Salon; Sarah Vuong , employee at Isabella Nail Salon; Jill Adams , client, Isabella Nail Salon; David Chiu , President of San Francisco Board of Supervisors.

Thanks to all of our supporters, to As You Sow‘s Environmental Enforcement Fund and to Spot.us for helping to crowd fund this story.

For more information:

Asian Health Services
Oakland, CA

California Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative
Oakland, CA

National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum
Washington, D.C.

National Healthy Nail Salon Alliance
Washington, D.C.

The Story of Cosmetics

Women’s Voices for the Earth
Missoula, MT

Music:

P.S. by Chromakey
Warm Sound by Zero 7

Credit: swanksalot, via flickr

Economists say the “Great Recession” is over, but for most people, the hard times are not. If you’re a young person looking for a job, it looks pretty dismal out there, and it may not brighten up anytime soon. On this edition of How We Survive, we look at how the economy is hitting the “millennial generation.”

Featuring:

Alissa Anderson, Deputy Director, The California Budget Project; Chris Hutchins, laid off young worker; Lynne Lancaster, co-author, “The M-Factor: How the Millennial Generation is Rocking the Workplace;” Enrico Moretti, Professor of Economics at UC-Berkeley; Nora Rose, volunteer, Temescal Library’s Homework Help program; Thomas McCall, Richmond resident.

For More Information:

California Budget Project
Sacramento, CA

Crosscurrents Radio on KALW News
San Francisco, CA

Young Workers United

Youth Empowerment Center
Oakland, CA

Articles and Books:

‘Stuck between a Recession and Recovery’ – California Budget Project

“The M-Factor: How the Millennial Generation is Rocking the Workplace”

By Lynne Lancaster

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How A Recession Will Shape A Generation

When it comes to job creation, it feels like the nation is still in the middle of the Great Recession. The millennial generation is a group of people between 10 and 28 years old. Nationally, there are about 80 million of them. In this next part of the show, we’ll hear a two part series from KALW Radio in San Francisco. Reporter Rina Palta takes a hard look at how the toughest job market in decades will shape this recession generation.

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California Youth Among Hardest Hit By Recession

The state of California was hit much harder by the recession than the United States as a whole. The unemployment rate is almost three percentage points higher than the national figure. And the turn around of the job market has slowed down with state budget cuts and dwindling federal recovery funds. That’s according to Alissa Anderson of the California Budget Project, whom we heard from earlier in the show. Anderson authored a report called “Stuck Between a Recession and a Recovery,” which, among other things, looked at out-of-school 16-24 year-olds in California. They found that fewer than six out of ten of these young adults are working. We talked with Anderson about why this population is the last hired and first fired in a recession.

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Homework Help: Nora Rose’s Story

But young folks aren’t just letting the recession happen to them. When the City of Oakland cut their after school homework help program, High school senior Nora Rose started volunteering at her library to help fill the void. Shaunnah Ray produced her story.

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Going Door-to-Door for Education: Thomas’s Story

Thomas McCall grew up bouncing from house to house – from aunties and grandmas to friends’ couches, to the transitional housing residence for homeless youth in Richmond, CA, that he currently calls home. This 20-year-old student-athlete and father-to-be is part of a group of young people who have been hardest hit by this recession: the kids who were already struggling to make it in the American job market. Courtney Supple produced his story.

Music:

‘Accompanying Guilty Thoughts’ – by Klimek
‘A Little Bit of Somethin’’ – Tommy Guerrero
“Bartender’ by T-Pain

Bill Fletcher, Jr., Dr. Frances Fox Piven, Saket Soni. Sources: The Greanville Post, What

It’s been decades since the U.S. has had a powerful labor movement and recent efforts to revive it have mostly fallen flat. But there is hope for a new U.S. labor movement. It’s a vision that goes beyond the unions.

On this edition, we’ll hear from an array of panelists discussing the future of labor in the U.S. It was recorded at the 2010 Left Forum in New York City.

Special thanks to Between the Lines at WPKN Radio in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

Featuring:

Dr. Frances Fox Piven, Left Forum 2010 ‘Future of Labor in the U.S.’ moderator & CUNY Graduate Center sociology & political science professor; Dr. Stanley Aronowitz, CUNY Graduate Center sociology, cultural studies & urban education professor; Bill Fletcher, Jr., labor activist & BlackCommentator.com editorial board member and columnist; James Gray Pope, Rutgers School of Law-Newark professor & Sidney Reitman Scholar; Saket Soni, New Orleans Workers’ Center for Racial Justice Director; Elaine Bernard, Labor and Worklife Program at Harvard Law School Executive Director.

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1. Dr. Frances Fox Piven makes opening remarks

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2. Dr. Stanley Aronowitz speaks about why organized labor is in the sorry state it’s in.

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3. Bill Fletcher Jr. offers ideas on how a different labor movement can emerge.

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4. James Gray Pope speaks about the need for organized labor to be more strategic and realistic.

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5. Saket Soni, New Orleans Workers’ Center for Racial Justice Director talks about some successes he’s had uniting organized labor and the immigrant workforce on the Gulf coast.

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WEB ONLY EXCLUSIVE:

6. Elaine Bernard, Labor and Worklife Program at Harvard Law School executive director gives her view on the future of labor and moderates the panel discussion.

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For more information:

Between the Lines

A weekly radio news magazine show

The Black Commentator

Mullica Hill, NJ

CUNY Graduate Center

New York, NY

Labor & Worklife Program at Harvard University

Cambridge, MA

Left Forum 2010

New York, NY

Rutgers School of LawÐNewark

Newark, NJ

Articles, Blogs, Films, Reports, Other:

Audio recordings of panel discussions recorded at the Left Forum, March 20, 2010 in NY.

Music:

Mass Appeal by Gangstarr

Lovesick by Gangstarr

Sandra's family rushes to embrace her after her release from detention. Credit: Valeria Fernandez

Immigrant detention is the fastest-growing form of incarceration in the U.S., with more than 30-thousand detainees behind bars on any given day. Reports of rampant abuse and negligent medical care are widespread. And once again politicians, lawyers and human rights groups are calling for comprehensive immigration reform.

On this edition, we hear the story of an immigrant family torn apart after an immigration raid in Phoenix, Arizona. And we report on a successful grassroots effort to change policies at “Hutto,” a family detention center in Texas.

The first segment of this show is part of a special collaboration between National Radio Project and Feet in Two Worlds, a project bringing the work of immigrant journalists to public radio. To read more about how this story was produced, take a look at Valeria Fernández’s reporter’s notebook.

Thanks to contributing producers Valeria Fernández  & Matt Gossage. Much appreciation to the Omnia Foundation for funding for this program.

Featuring:

Kathy, 9-year-old U.S. Citizen; Joe Arpaio, Maricopa County Sheriff; Salvador Reza, PUENTE organizer Sandra, Kathy’s mother; Griselda, Kathy’s aunt; Marina, Kathy’s aunt; Sarah Myklebust, Phoenix Repeal Coalition member. Denia and Karen, Former Immigrant Detainees; Frances Valdez, Immigration Attorney; Michel Brane, Women’s Commission on Refugee Women and Children Director; Jose Orta, Local LULAC President. Alison Parker, Human Rights Watch U.S. Program Deputy Director.

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Kathy’s Story

Feet in Two World’s Reporter Valeria Fernández tells the story of an immigrant family torn apart after an immigration raid in Phoenix, Arizona.

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Hutto

Independent Journalist Matt Gossage reports on a successful grassroots effort to change policies at “Hutto,” a family detention center in Texas.

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Immigration Family Detention Policy

Tena Rubio interviews Alison Parker, the Deputy Director of Human Rights Watch U.S. Program.

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Kathy Testifies before Congress in Tucson, AZ

Audio Extra: Kathy testified in front of an ad-hoc committee held by AZ Congressman Raúl Grijalva (D) in Tucson on June 10, 2010 at the Capitol. The purpose of the hearing was to explore the potential impact of SB 1070 on women and children. Valeria Fernández provided this audio.

For more information:

American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)- (National)

Detention Watch Network

Grassroots Leadership (National)

PUENTE Arizona

University of Texas-Austin Immigration Clinic- Austin, TX

Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children

Articles, Blogs, Films, Reports

“Arizona Immigrant Women Testify in Congress Against SB 1070″
An article by Valeria Fernández

Business of Detention (Blog)
Cracking Down on Immigration and Locking Up Profits

Familias Unidas por la Esperanza (Families United for Hope)

Mother Jones Blog
“When Your Mother is Deported” (Video)

“The Least of These”
Family Detention in America
A Documentary Film by Clark and Jesse Lyda

Texans United For Families (Blog)

Credits: The first segment, “Kathy’s Story,” excerpted a report on Joe Arpaio produced by Verónica Sánchez (Channel 12).

Bill Fletcher, Jr., Dr. Frances Fox Piven, Saket Soni

It’s been decades since the U.S. has had a powerful labor movement and recent efforts to revive it have mostly fallen flat. But there is hope for a new U.S. labor movement. It’s a vision that goes beyond the unions.

On this edition, we’ll hear from an array of panelists discussing the future of labor in the U.S. It was recorded at the 2010 Left Forum in New York City.

Special thanks to Between the Lines at WPKN Radio in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

Featuring:

Dr. Frances Fox Piven, Left Forum 2010 ‘Future of Labor in the U.S.’ moderator & CUNY Graduate Center sociology & political science professor; Dr. Stanley Aronowitz, CUNY Graduate Center sociology, cultural studies & urban education professor; Bill Fletcher, Jr., labor activist & BlackCommentator.com editorial board member and columnist; James Gray Pope, Rutgers School of Law-Newark professor & Sidney Reitman Scholar; Saket Soni, New Orleans Workers’ Center for Racial Justice Director; Elaine Bernard, Labor and Worklife Program at Harvard Law School Executive Director.

–

1.  Dr. Frances Fox Piven makes opening remarks

–

2.  Dr. Stanley Aronowitz speaks about why organized labor is in the sorry state it’s in.

–

3.  Bill Fletcher Jr. offers ideas on how a different labor movement can emerge.

–

4.  James Gray Pope speaks about the need for organized labor to be more strategic and realistic.

–

5. Saket Soni, New Orleans Workers’ Center for Racial Justice Director talks about some successes he’s had uniting organized labor and the immigrant workforce on the Gulf coast.

–

WEB ONLY EXCLUSIVE:

6. Elaine Bernard, Labor and Worklife Program at Harvard Law School executive director gives her view on the future of labor and moderates the panel discussion.

–

For more information:

Between the Lines

A weekly radio news magazine show

The Black Commentator

Mullica Hill, NJ

CUNY Graduate Center

New York, NY

Labor & Worklife Program at Harvard University

Cambridge, MA

Left Forum 2010

New York, NY

Rutgers School of LawÐNewark

Newark, NJ

Articles, Blogs, Films, Reports, Other:

Audio recordings of panel discussions recorded at the Left Forum, March 20, 2010 in NY.

Music:

Mass Appeal by Gangstarr

Lovesick by Gangstarr