Rally in support of the Ohio Prevention First Act, photo courtesy of Flickr (cc) user ProgressOhio.

While overall access to contraception and other reproductive health services have increased over the last 20 years, access for low-income women and women of color has dropped.

Since the 2010 elections, anti-abortionists have grown more emboldened in their attempts to restrict not only abortion services, but also to basic reproductive care.

African-American women have been especially targeted in a series of anti-abortion billboards posted across the country. Enraged by this finger-pointing, reproductive justice activist of all colors got together to fight for every woman’s right to health care. On this edition, the fight for access to reproductive health care.

This program was funded in part by the Mary Wohlford Foundation.

Featuring:

Dorothy Roberts, Northwestern University law professor; Loretta Ross, founder and national coordinator of SisterSong; Susan Cohen, director of Government Affairs at Guttmacher Institute; Nicole Gross, single mom; Chloe Heintz, rape survivor; Nicole Safar, public policy director of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin; Heidi Williamson, national advocacy policy coordinator for SisterSong; Walter B. Hoye II, founder and president of Issues 4 Life.

Special thanks to Alicia Walters and production intern Lisa Bartfai.

For More Information:
Trust Black Women
SisterSong
Guttmacher Institute
Dorothy Roberts
Planned Parenthood
Asian Communities for Reproductive Justice
California Latina Reproductive Justice
National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health
Black Women for Wellness
The Radiance Foundation
Issues 4 Life

Articles/Blogs/Videos/Audio:
Don’t Cut Planned Parenthood’s Funding!
Are Black Children and ‘Endangered Species’?
Debate Boils Over African-American Abortion
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s Abortion Crusade
Maafa 21
Defending Reproductive Justice

Music:

“Uti vår hage”  by Magnus Martensson
“End Titles” by Atrium Carceri
“Gypsy” by Kelli Rudick
“Saturn Strobe” by Pantha Du Prince
“Freedom Fight” by Shuggie Otis

Tariq Ali in Madrid, Spain. Image by Flickr user Cordoba 2016.

It’s 2012, the world is calling for change, and in the U.S another presidential election is looming.  But, journalist Tariq Ali says the American public’s so-called ‘choices’ don’t present much in the way of options. On this edition, Ali speaks about the ‘extreme center’ and how Occupy and other emerging social movements are challenging the status quo.

Special thanks to the Lannan Foundation.

Featuring:

Longtime journalist and activist Tariq Ali, author of more than 20 books, including The Obama Syndrome, The Duel: Pakistan on the Flight Path of American Power, and Bush in Babylon: The Reconciliation of Iraq.

***WEB EXCLUSIVES***

Full speech by Tariq Ali with an introduction by Avi Lewis, a Canadian television journalist.

For More Information:

Tariq Ali
Lannan Foundation
The Guardian
New Left Review

Books/Articles:

Tariq Ali speaks about his book, “The Obama Syndrome: Surrender at Home, War Abroad” on Democracy Now

Music:

“Nefsi Atoub” by Lefty-M

Protest infront of the Syrian Embassy. Photo by Flickr (cc) user Maggie Osama.

As the Arab spring enters its second year, the popular uprising against the Syrian government continues. Scores are being killed by government forces, but international condemnation has not been enough to stop the violence.  Foreign correspondent Reese Erlich is one of the few foreign reporters who got into Syria to interview opposition demonstrators, Kurdish refugees, government officials and impassioned supporters of President Bashar al Assad. On this edition, An Inside look at the Syrian Uprising, produced by Reese Erlich.

The Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting provided a grant to Reese Erlich for his reporting from Syria.  Special thanks to Azad Diwani and Nabaz Shwani for translation and arranging interviews.

Featuring:

Leen, Ahmad, Taim, Mahmood, Syrian activists; Bouthaina Shaban, Syrian Presidential advisor; J. Toumajian, translator; Feras Dieb, Alawite businessman; Mohammad al Habash, Syrian Parliament member; Rana Issa, marketing and advertising business owner; Barkhodan Balo, Kurdish refugee; clothing store owner in Damascus souk.

For More Information:
Syrian American Council
Local Coordination Committees of Syria
Al-Jazeera spotlight on Syria
Free Syria
Razaniyyat
Syrian Arab News Agency
The Arab League
Syria Comment
Human Rights Watch
Pulitzer Center

Books/Articles:

Flash Mob For Syrian Freedom

Students listen to Angela Davis at an anti injunctions rally. Photo by Eric K Arnold.

The city of Oakland is divided over whether gang injunctions will help reduce a long-standing problem of street violence.  Here we report on a grassroots campaign, aiming to stop what many activists say is a problematic policy of racial profiling, that won’t help make the community any safer. Listen to the full segment and watch the three minute video below.

This program is reader supported, thanks to spot.us and is part of our investigation into how and whether gang injunctions effectively fight crime.

Cornel West and Carl Dix in dialog (event poster)

With the world in transition, and the future so unclear, what kind of promises can we make to our children? What can we do to ensure a just world for them? And what are the youth doing now to make it happen for themselves?

On this edition, we hear a dialogue between Princeton University professor Cornel West, and Revolutionary Communist Party USA spokesman Carl Dix about the future of America’s youth in the age of Obama.

Featuring:

Cornel West, professor at the Center for African American Studies and Department of Religion at Princeton University; Carl Dix, co-founder of the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA.

Special thanks to Alton Byrd and Revolution Books.

***WEB EXCLUSIVES***

Full speeches by Carl Dix and Cornel West, which took place at the University of California, Berkeley on Dec. 2, 2011

Dialogue between Cornel West and Carl Dix

Question and Answer session with Cornel West and Carl Dix

For More Information:

Cornel West
Carl Dix
Revolutionary Communist Party, USA
Revolution Books
Occupy Wall Street
Stop and Frisk policy
Sentencing Project
Critical Resistance

Books/Articles:

“The New Jim Crow, Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness” by Michelle Alexander

Music:

“Someday We’ll All be Free” by Donny Hathaway

“Sinnerman” by Felix da Housecat ft. Nina Simone

'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

Portrait via Flickr (cc) user Good_1

Since the days of slavery, the African-American woman has been subjected to stereotypes: the mammy, the angry black female and the hyper-sexual woman . These stereotypes continue to this day and permeate thru pop culture.

On this edition, author and political science professor Melissa Harris-Perry speaks about the stereotypes black women face, its impacts on their identity and how it has limited the ways in which society views them as true “citizens.”

Featuring:

Melissa Harris-Perry, professor of political science at Tulane University, where she is founding director of the Anna Julia Cooper Project on Gender, Race, and Politics in the South. She is also the author of  Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes, and Black Women in America. She is a columnist for The Nation magazine and a contributor to MSNBC, and other media outlets. This discussion was moderated by Blanche Richardson, heads the 40-year-old Marcus Book Stores in San Francisco and Oakland, California and editor, author and anthologist.

Special Thanks to KPFA for the audio.

***WEB EXCLUSIVES***

Blackface Montage from Spike Lee’s Bamboozled

Melissa Harris-Lacewell Keynote at Facing Race 2010

For More Information:

Marcus Books
Melissa Harris-Perry
Melissa Harris- Perry’s Columns in The Nation
Black Face, a history
The National Council of Negro Women (NCNW)
National Association of Colored Women (NACW)

Books/Articles:

Embracing Sisterhood: Class, Identity, and Contemporary Black Women by Katrina Bell McDonald 
Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes, and Black Women in America, by Melissa Harris-Perry
R.N. Bradley’s Book Review of Citizen Abstained?: Sister Citizen by Melissa Harris-Perry
Killing the Black Body: Race, Reproduction, and the Meaning of Liberty by Dorothy Roberts
‘She’s Ghetto’: Stereotypes Black Women Internalize by Bene Viera
“How Spike Lee’s ‘Bamboozled’ challenges Hollywood’s portrayal of black people on screen” by Megan Fox

Students listen to Angela Davis during a rally against gang Injunctions. Photo by Eric K Arnold courtesy of (cc) Flickr user OaklandLocal.

It’s called a gang injunction.  A controversial crime tool strategy that some people say should be illegal, and others say is a necessary last resort for communities plagued by violence.

On this edition, we go from the birthplace of gang injunctions in Los Angeles, to their newest use in London, England.  Almost 30 years later, communities remain divided about the best way to address youth violence and crime.

This program was crowd-funded on spot.us, a community supported journalism project. 89 individuals contributed micro-donations. At the over $10 level we thank: Annuana Smith, Amy Read, Lyn Headley, Patricia-Anne WinterSun, Maralyn Fisher, Sally Sommer, Renee Feltz, Molly Mitoma, Lauren Cohn, and Panafricanist Sound System. Special thanks to Omnia Foundation, stalwart supporters of our Prison Desk.

Featuring:

Angela Davis, Critical resistance founder; Freddie Hamilton, Oakland police lieutenant; Michael Muscadine, man named in Fruitvale Gang Injunction; Scott Peterson, Oakland Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce public policy director; Danielle Rocha, Youth Empowerment School senior; K.E.V., Oakland-based MC; Sagnicthe Salazar, Youth Together organizer; Cesar Cruz, Homies Empowerment program co-founder; Kim McGill, Youth Justice Coalition organizer; Rocio Fierro, attorney for the City of Oakland; Kwame Nitoto, Oakland Parents Together parent education project director; Meriea Jones, Cory Jenkins, Destiny McNeil, Mohammad El-Zafri, Santa Fe Elementary School students; Jonathan Toy, Southwark Council head of community safety; Emeka Egbuonu, youth worker at The Crib; Michael Bailey, young person at The Crib; Russell Higgs, Pembury Estate resident.

*** Segments ***

Gang Injunctions in London 

As part of our investigation into how and whether gang injunctions effectively fight crime, we looked to one of the newest places where the crime fighting strategy is being rolled out: London, England Making Contact reporter Daniel Gordon filed this report from London, where the first gang injunctions went into effect earlier this year. The story explores how economics and race are major factors in how society treats crime in England, just as in the US. And just as in Oakland, CA, many advocates and young people themselves say there are better solutions to be found.

This program is reader supported, thanks to spot.us

The History of Gang Injunction in Los Angeles

Interview with The Youth Justice Coalition’s Kim McGill, about the history of gang injunctions in Los Angeles, and the effect they’ve had on low income neighborhoods and communities of color.

The Battle over Gang Injunctions in Oakland

The city of Oakland is divided over whether gang injunctions will help reduce a long-standing problem of street violence.  Making Contact’s Andrew Stelzer reports on a grassroots campaign, aiming to stop what many activists say is a problematic policy of racial profiling, that won’t help make the community any safer.

For More Information:

Youth Justice Coalition
Critical Resistance
Stop the Injunctions Coalition
Homies Empowerment Program-Oakland, CA
All of Us or None
Youth Together
Homies Unidos
Oakland Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce
Southwark Council
Spot.us crowd-funded journalism

Articles, Blogs, Reports and Videos:

Map of North Oakland gang Injunction
LAPD map of Gang Injunctions
North Side Oakland injunction report November 2011

Music:

“Colors” by Ice-T