Prison windows. Image via Flickr (cc) user weirdo513.

From illiterate street kid, to world renowned poet, Jimmy Santiago Baca has lived a long and winding path.  It was in prison that Baca connected with his Native American and Chicano heritage, and began learning the lessons of his people’s past. On this edition, Progressive Magazine editor Matthew Rothschild sits down with Jimmy Santiago Baca.

Special thanks to the Progressive Magazine.

Featuring:

Jimmy Santiago Baca, poet and educator; Matthew Rothschild, Progressive Magazine Editor.

For More Information:

Jimmy Santiago Baca
A Place to Stand
Progressive Radio Show
Safe Streets Arts Foundation
Red Lodge Transition Services
Friends of Red Lodge
American Indian Prison Pen Pals
Prison Education.com
The Progressive Magazine

Articles, Blogs, Reports and Videos:

Jimmy Santiago Baca Reads Selections from his Work Before an Audience at La Jolla’s  Sherwood Auditorium
Healing Earthquakes by Jimmy Santiago Baca
19 poems by Jimmy Santiago Baca

Music:

“Spirits Abandoned” by Dark Noontide

Former Chilean President Michele Bachelet. Credit: Soul Sense (Oscar Ordenes)/ Flickr

Saudi Arabia’s decision to allow women to vote has been hailed as a major step forward—very few nations still allow such overt discrimination.  But there are still fewer than 20 female heads of state around the world.  And even when women rise to the top, challenges remain.  On this edition, a former President, a Supreme Court justice and other women leaders reflect on the battles they’ve won, and just how far there still is to go.

Special thanks to the Center for Latin American Studies at the University of California at Berkeley.

Featuring:

Ruth Bader Ginsburg, US Supreme Court justice; Michelle Bachelet, former Chilean president and executive director of UN WOMEN; Jean Quan, mayor of Oakland, CA; Sandy Threlfall, Oakland Suffrage Committee chair; Nancy Skinner; California State Assembly member; Yvonne Nunn, Girl Scout troop leader.

***WEB EXCLUSIVES***

Full length recording of conversation between Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and UC Hastings Professor Joan C. Williams.  September 15, 2011.

Full length recording of ,”Women’s Rights: A Global Challenge”, a speech by Michele Bachelet, former Chilean President and Executive Director of UN Women.  April 14, 2001.  Presented by the Center for Latin American Studies at UC Berkeley

Full length video of Professor Joan Williams conversation with Justice Ruth Bader at the UC Hastings School of Law:

For More Information:

UN Women
Members of the US Supreme Court
ACLU Women’s Rights Project
Female Presidents
Women’s Policy, Inc.
Center for Latin American Studies at the University of California at Berkeley
Amendments to the US Constitution
Seneca Falls Convention

Articles, Blogs, Reports and Videos:

Reed v Reed: Supreme Court Drama
UN Women’s head Michelle Bachelet: A new superhero?
Jean Quan – First Asian American woman mayor

Music:

‘Sweetest’ – Lauren Hill
‘Love of My Life’ – Erykah Badu

La Via Campesina's caravan holds a candle ceremony just outside of Chichenitze to celebrate arrival at the 2010 climate conference. Photo by Allan Lissner.

Global warming is no longer a fear for the future, it’s threatening human civilization now. But a good portion of humanity doesn’t seem that concerned. On this edition, part 2 of a special 2 part series, Brian Edwards-Tiekert takes us through the climate change that is happening, the political response that isn’t, and the people trying to break the gridlock.

This series was made possible by a grant from The Lia Fund, with additional support from The Cultural Conservancy.

Featuring:

Joe Romm, climateprogress.org editor; Anthony Leiserowitz, Yale University school of forestry and environmental studies climate change communication program director; Rob Willer , University of California at Berkeley Sociologist; Barack Obama, President of the United States; Florencio Quintero, Guayabal, Panama community leader; Christina Bonita, Ruben Mirana; Guayabal residents; Henry Derwent, International Emissions Trading Association CEO; David Hawkins Natural Resources Defense Council director of climate programs; Oswaldo Jordan Alliance for Conservation and Development Director; Pedro Albrego, Ngobe Center for Development and Technical Assistance worker; Michael Dorsey. Dartmouth College Climate Justice Research project director; Evo Morales, President of Bolivia; Angelica Navarro, lead Bolivian climate negotiator

For more information:

Alliance for Conservation and Development

Center for Civil Society, University of Kwazulu-Natal

Climate Connections

Climate Justice Research Project at Dartmouth College

Climate Progress

Climate Signals – An Inventory of Climate Change Impact Reports

COP 17 in Durban, South Africa

Global Justice Ecology Project

Indigenous Environmental Network

Institute for Policy Studies–Energy and Economy

International Emissions Trading Association

Movement Generation

Mobilization for Climate Justice

Natural Resources Defense Council

Friends of the Earth International

Greenpeace International

Senator James Inhofe

Skeptical Science

The South Centre

Tuvalu and Global Warming

World People’s Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth

Yale Project on Climate Change Communication

Articles, Videos, etc.
Maldives Seeks to Buy a New Homeland

Music:

Ninna Nanna by Volfoniq
Do What You Can by Lee Rosevere
Wavy Glass by Podington Bear
May-December by Mos Def

Bolivia's UN ambassador, Pablo Solon speaks to a crowd about the need for real climate change solutions. Photo: Langelle/GJEP-GFC.

Global warming is no longer a fear for the future, it’s threatening human civilization now. But a good portion of humanity doesn’t seem that concerned. On this edition, part 1 of a special 2 part series, Brian Edwards-Tiekert takes us through the climate change that is happening, the political response that isn’t, and the people trying to break the gridlock.

This series was made possible by a grant from The Lia Fund, with additional support from The Cultural Conservancy.

Featuring:

Tim Flannery, author of “The Weathermakers”; Professor Joseph Alcamo, United Nations Environment Program chief scientist; James Inhofe, US Senator from Oklahoma; Bernaditas Muller, South Centre climate change special advisor; Patrick Bond, Center for Civil Society director at the University of Kwazulu-Natal in Durban, South Africa; Enele Soapala, Tuvalu minister for foreign affairs, environment, and labor; Barack Obama, President of the United States; Stanislaus Lumumba Di-Aping, South Sudanese diplomat; Kumi Naidoo, Greenpeace International executive director; Mohamed Nasheed, President of the Maldives; Terisa Turner, University of Guelph economist, Nnimo Bassey, Friends of the Earth International chair

For more information:

Climate Signals – An Inventory of Climate Change Impact Reports
Skeptical Science
Climate Progress
Mobilization for Climate Justice
Center for Civil Society, University of Kwazulu-Natal
Indigenous Environmental Network
Senator James Inhofe
The South Centre
Tuvalu and Global Warming
Greenpeace International
Friends of the Earth International
COP 17 in Durban, South Africa

Articles, Videos, etc
Maldives Seeks to Buy a New Homeland

Music:

Ninna Nanna by Volfoniq
Do What You Can by Lee Rosevere
Wavy Glass by Podington Bear
May-December by Mos Def

Maria Hinojosa; Photo courtesy of Michael Paras.

President Obama promised to change America’s broken immigration system. But the dehumanization of immigrants persists, and the immigration detention industry continues to grow. On this edition, Mexican-American journalist Maria Hinojosa speaks about the United States’ loss of humanity in dealing with immigrants and immigration; the consequence of enforcement only policies and the need to connect with people we have little in common with.
Special thanks to the Lannan Foundation in Santa Fe, NM.

Featuring:

Maria Hinojosa, host of NPR’s “Latino USA” and PBS’ “Maria Hinojosa: One-on-One,” contributing correspondent on PBS’ “Need to Know.”

— WEB EXCLUSIVES —

Maria Hinojosa
Latino USA
Maria Hinojosa: One-on-One
Now on PBS
The Business of Detention
Summary of the 1996 immigration reform laws
Detention Watch Network
Leadership Conference on Civil and Human rights
ACLU’s Immigrant’s Rights Project
Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund
National Council of La Raza
Asian American Justice Center

MUSIC:
Santana – Migra
M.I.A. – Pull Up the People

Renowned author Chris Hedges describes a world in rapid economic, environmental, and spiritual decline. He says we have a chance to turn things around—but only if we stand up for our rights, and stop holding out hope that political parties or other global leaders will act in our interests. On this edition, Chris Hedges speaks about his new book, The World As It Is: Dispatches on the Myth of Human Progress.
Special thanks to KPFA Radio in Berkeley, California.

Featuring:

Chris Hedges, author of The World As It Is: Dispatches on the Myth of Human Progress, columnist for Truthdig and senior fellow for The Nation Institute.

— WEB EXCLUSIVES —

For More Information:

Chris Hedges
Truthdig
The Nation Institute
New York Times articles by Chris Hedges
Daniel Berrigan
KPFA Radio
Chris Hedges on War is a Force that Gives us Meaning
Chris Hedges on the death of Osama bin Laden
Books by Chris Hedges
Chris Hedges “Empire of Illusion” 2009 video lecture at The NewSchool

MUSIC:
Resurrection by Common
Change The World by Bone Thugs-N-Harmony

Jason Smith Candlelight Vigil; Photo courtesy of Madeleine Bair

In May 2010, New York prosecutors issued an extradition request for Jamaican Kingpin Christopher Coke – gangster to some, local hero to others. The search for Coke triggered a government crackdown on the neighborhood of Tivoli Gardens in Kingston, leaving 73 civilians dead in a span of just a few days.

The majority of those victims were innocent and their loved ones continue to fight for justice and accountability, despite Jamaica’s long record of police violence and government corruption. Today we bring you a documentary on police violence in Jamaica.

Special thanks to Madeleine Bair for producing this story, with support from Jamaicans for Justice and the Human Rights Center at the University of California, Berkeley.

Featuring:

Paulette Wellington, mother of Sheldon Wellington, Earl Witter, Jamaican Public Defender, Carolyn Gomes, Jamaicans for Justice, Susan Goffe, Jamaicans for Justice, Monica Williams, mother of Jason Smith and activist, and Dr. Ademola Odunfa, Kingston Hospital.

— WEB EXCLUSIVES —

Victims Voices: Paulette Rose

For More Information:

Jamaicans for Justice
Jamaica Human Rights
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in Jamaica

Articles and Books:
A Case Built in New York Against a Jamaican Kingpin
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Jamaica Report
Amnesty International Report 2003 – Jamaica
Amnesty International May 27, 2010, calling for an investigation
Jamaican Forces Accused of Killing Unarmed Men, New York Times
January Jamaica Gleaner article on Witter’s investigations

MUSIC:
Urban’s fight, The Drastics off the album-Chicago Massive
The Alarm, The Drastics off the album-Chicago Massive

COINTELPRO 101. Photo courtesy of Freedom Archives.

COINTELPRO, the secret FBI project to infiltrate and disrupt domestic organizations thought to be “subversive,” targeted many African-American, Native-American, and other movements for self-determination by people of color in the U.S..  Between 1956 and 1971, the FBI conducted more than 2,000 COINTELPRO (Counter Intelligence Program) operations.  This week we broadcast the second half of the documentary film “COINTELPRO 101,” produced by The Freedom Archives.

Featuring:

For More Information:



COINTELPRO 101. Photo courtesy of the Freedom Archives.

COINTELPRO, the secret FBI project to infiltrate and disrupt domestic organizations thought to be “subversive,” targeted many African-American, Native-American, and other movements for self-determination by people of color in the U.S..  Between 1956 and 1971, the FBI conducted more than 2,000 COINTELPRO (Counter Intelligence Program) operations.  Over the next two weeks, we’ll be broadcasting the documentary film “COINTELPRO 101.” Today we hear the first half of the film, produced by the Freedom Archives.

Featuring:

For More Information:

SB 1070 Protest at The Capitol Building. Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mattlocks/

Arizona’s SB 1070 put immigration enforcement in the national spotlight. Soon after Arizona proposed the broadest and strictest immigration law in the country, activists organized mass protests and at least five other states began the process of adopting similar laws. A judge has stopped portions of 1070—for now. But the legal and ideological battles continue.

On this edition, we look at SB 1070 – the law, its intentions and effects, and how it has motivated immigrant communities to become politically active.

Featuring:

Marisa Franco, Right to the City National Lead Organizer; Andrea Christina Mercado, Mujeres Unidas Activas organizing director; John Bouma, attorney for the state of Arizona; Edwin Kneedler, U.S. Deputy Solicitor General; Juana Tello, People Organized to Win Employment Rights organizer; Charlotte Noss, protester; Steven Chan, protester.

For more information:

Arizona Coalition for Migrant Rights
Pheonix, AZ

Arizona’s Senate Bill 1070

Border Action Network
Tucson, AZ

Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project
Florence, AZ

Immigration Policy Center
Washington, D.C.

Mujeres Unidas y Activas
San Francisco, CA

Pew Hispanic Center
Washington, D.C.

Right to the City
Washington, D.C.