Please support our programs

We Got Next: Youth Poets Changing the World
Jan03

We Got Next: Youth Poets Changing the World

On this edition of Making Contact, we’ll examine how young people, particularly queer POC youth, are using spoken word as a mechanism for social change. The show also will explore how Brave New Voices International Youth Poetry Slam has challenged mainstream culture and created spaces that welcome and encourage marginalized communities to speak up about their life experiences – all through poetry. Special thanks to James Kass...

Read More
The Far Right and Antifa
Dec12

The Far Right and Antifa

In this episode of Making Contact, we explore the past and present of the far right and anti-fascism. We begin with a story from Athens on the murder of Greek anti-fascist rapper Pavlos Fyssas and the resulting investigation. In the second half of the show, historian and author of Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook, Mark Bray, describes anti-fascist responses to Hitler and Mussolini in the 1920’s and 30’s. Image Credits: Photo by...

Read More
Fantastic Negrito and The Last Days of Oakland
Nov21

Fantastic Negrito and The Last Days of Oakland

In the last three years, Fantastic Negrito, an Oakland-based black roots revivalist has gone from busking at bus stops to winning a Grammy and touring internationally. He’s done this by creating a unique sound — melodic hooks, primal blues-rock chords, clever lyricism, a killer falsetto, and in-your-face social consciousness. On this week’s Making Contact, we learn about Fantastic Negrito’s journey, his creative process, and how...

Read More
I Am Not Your Negro
Nov08

I Am Not Your Negro

Master filmmaker Raoul Peck envisions the book James Baldwin never finished, Remember This House. The result is a radical, up-to-the-minute examination of race in America, using Baldwin’s original words and flood of rich archival material. I Am Not Your Negro is a journey into black history that connects the past of the Civil Rights movement to the present of #BlackLivesMatter. It is a film that questions black representation in...

Read More
The Poetic Address to the Nation (Encore)
Nov01

The Poetic Address to the Nation (Encore)

November 8 marks one year since Donald Trump won the US presidency. One year later, Gallup puts the President’s approval rating at 33%, an all-time low. We at Making Contact reflect on his solid win in the electoral college, his resounding loss of the popular vote, and the year that is drawing to a close. The Poetic Address to the Nation was an event that brought together poets to speak out and against the current administration. The...

Read More
Jeff Chang on Revolutions in Seeing and Being
Oct11

Jeff Chang on Revolutions in Seeing and Being

“From almost every kind of responsibility and tie from engagement and from faith. So the artist–our task is to move ourselves and the rest of us in the opposite direction. Toward more engagement, towards stronger ethics, toward a social that’s open and inclusive to all toward seeing each other in full, to challenge us to recognize the debts, and yes, the reparations that we owe to each other.” – Jeff Chang...

Read More