Walk the Talk: Stories of Indigenous-led Resistance to Oil and Waste
On this edition of Making Contact, we’ll meet people challenging polluters in their own backyard. Not to push hazardous industries into another neighborhood. Instead they’re developing visionary solutions for a better life for all and for the future of the planet. From urban to rural communities, we’ll learn about indigenous-led efforts to protect public health and the environment for future generations. We’ll meet Community Storytelling Fellow, environmental and indigenous leader Isabella Zizi. In this piece, Zizi talks about how the 2012 Chevron refinery fire in Richmond, California sparked her involvement in indigenous-led environmental movements. Zizi walks us from one refinery town to the next, showing us what it’s like living next door to an oil refinery and how these towns have come together to protect the sacred systems of the planet. Then we head to Maine where we meet communities fighting the expansion of a landfill. The Penobscot Nation lives on the river that shares their name. Just upstream from their island reservation is Juniper Ridge, Maine’s largest landfill and the only one that’s state-owned. Casella, the corporation operating the landfill wants to double its size. Penobscots who rely on river fish as a culturally important food source are worried about the river being polluted by the growing dump. Along with their neighbors, they’ve been fighting to halt the expansion. In the process, they’ve exposed backroom dealings that have paved the way for the landfill’s continued growth. Special Thanks to The Christensen Fund for supporting our Indigenous Native-American storytelling fellowships. Like this program? Please show us the love. Click here and support our non-profit journalism. Thanks! Featuring: Isabella Zizi, Making Contact Community Storytelling Fellow, Idle No More SF Bay Organizer, Youth Director Earth Guardians Bay Area Alison Ehara Brown, Indigenous Women of the Americas Defending Mother Earth Treaty Signer, Idle No More SF Bay Founder Daniel Adel, California Student Sustainability Coalition Online Communications Coordinator Rich Lohman, Healing Walk Volunteer Patricia St. Onge, Idle No More SF Bay Nafsi Ya Jamii Donovin Keomanee, Healing Walk Monitor/Volunteer Kathy Paul, Penobscot Tribal Member and Elder, Water Protector John Banks, Director of the Penobscot Nation’s Natural Resource Department Ed Spencer, Low Impact Logger, Community Activist Paul Schroeder, Retired Librarian, Community Activist Cheryl Spencer, Environmental Researcher, Community Activist Bob Duchesne, Maine State Representative, Environment & Natural Resources Committee Member Ryan Parker, Environmental Policy Outreach Coordinator, Natural Resources Council of Maine Andy Jones, Community Organizer, Maine Toxics Action Center Credits: Host: Laura Flynn Contributing Producers: Laura Flynn, Isabella Zizi, Meaghan LaSala, and Lisa Bartfai Producers: Anita Johnson, Marie Choi, Monica Lopez, R.J. Lozada Executive Director: Lisa Rudman Audience Engagement Director/Web Editor: Sabine Blaizin Development Associate: Vera Tykulsker Music:...
The Aftermath of Ghost Ship and the San Pablo Fires
On this edition of Making Contact, we’ll explore the aftermath of the Ghost Ship fire and the battle to preserve live/work spaces, and then we look at the San Pablo fire in Oakland California that displaced at least a hundred residents…many of whom are now living on the streets in tent encampments. Special Thanks to KALW and Jeremy Dalmas. Like this program? Please show us the love. Click here and support our non-profit journalism. Thanks! Featuring: Carmen Brito Jonah Strauss Traymaine “Trey” Baker Alex Perry Nicole Sawaya Craig Baldwin Sarah Lockheart Van Dell Credits: Host: Anita Johnson Freelance Producer: Jeremy Dalmas Producers: Anita Johnson, Marie Choi, Monica Lopez, R.J. Lozada, Andrew Stelzer Executive Director: Lisa Rudman Audience Engagement Director/Web Editor: Sabine Blaizin Development Associate: Vera Tykulsker Music: Show opener: The Generalist Praxis by Generalist – OverFlow Brine Show close: Blue Dot Sessions – Grand Caravan The Electronic Music used throughout the show was from victims of the fire or people scheduled to play that night. More Information: Documentary: 3 Months After Ghost Ship Fire San Pablo Avenue Fire...
Dr. Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor “From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation” (Encore Edition)
** Dr. Taylor recently received death threats after a speech she had made at the Hampshire College graduation. Fox ‘News’ obtained her speech, clipping from it and re-presenting it to their audiences. Soon after, Dr. Taylor received a barrage of threats on her life and her family, forcing her to cancel several speaking events. We think Dr. Taylor’s voice should be heard… again! Is whitelash enough of an explainer for the rise of president-elect Donald Trump? Is it rigorous enough to blame the people who didn’t show up to vote for our impending collective struggle under this administration? On this edition of Making Contact, we rebroadcast a speech contextualizing the election results from Dr. Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, Associate Professor in the Department of African American Studies at Princeton University, and author of “From Black Lives Matter to Black Liberation.” Special thanks to KPFA for hosting and recording Dr. Taylor’s speech. Like this program? Please show us the love. Click here and support our non-profit journalism. Thanks! Featuring: Dr. Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, author of From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation, Assistant Professor of African American Studies at Princeton University Credits: Host: R.J. Lozada Producers: Anita Johnson, Marie Choi, Monica Lopez, R.J. Lozada, Andrew Stelzer Executive Director: Lisa Rudman Audience Engagement Director/Web Editor: Sabine Blaizin Development Associate: Vera Tykulsker More Information: From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation Keeanga–Yamahtta Taylor on Black Lives Matter and Black Liberation Achieving Black Liberation: A Conversation With Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor and Naomi Klein What About Racism How We Get Free Black Faces in High Places No More Eric Garners Organizing Fergusons Poverty and the Tailspin of Culture Where is the Outrage for Dr. Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor? Don’t Expect Liberalism to Come to the Defense of Dr. Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor ...
Dr. Ibram X. Kendi – Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America
Some Americans cling desperately to the myth that we are living in a post-racial society, that the election of the first Black president spelled the doom of racism. In fact, racist thought is alive and well in America – more sophisticated and more insidious than ever. And as award-winning historian Ibram X. Kendi argues in Stamped from the Beginning, if we have any hope of grappling with this stark reality, we must first understand how racist ideas were developed, disseminated, and enshrined in American society. In this deeply researched and fast-moving narrative, Kendi chronicles the entire story of anti-Black racist ideas and their staggering power over the course of American history. Stamped from the Beginning uses the life stories of five major American intellectuals to offer a window into the contentious debates between assimilationists and segregationists and between racists and antiracists. From Puritan minister Cotton Mather to Thomas Jefferson, from fiery abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison to brilliant scholar W.E.B. Du Bois to legendary anti-prison activist Angela Davis, Kendi shows how and why some of our leading proslavery and pro-civil rights thinkers have challenged or helped cement racist ideas in America. Special Thanks to KPFA for use of the audio. Like this program? Please show us the love. Click here and support our non-profit journalism. Thanks! Featuring: Dr. Ibram X. Kendi, Professor of History and International Relations, and the Founding Director of the Anti-Racist Research and Policy Center at American University Credits: Host: Anita Johnson Producers: Anita Johnson, Marie Choi, Monica Lopez, R.J. Lozada, Andrew Stelzer Executive Director: Lisa Rudman Audience Engagement Director/Web Editor: Sabine Blaizin Development Associate: Vera Tykulsker Music: Show opener: Quiet Orchestra – My Friend Show close: Blue Dot Sessions – Grand Caravan More Information: Dr. Ibram Stamped From The Beginning Book...
The Fraught Process Towards Peace: Colombia and the Philippines
Two of the longest running armed rebellions on opposites sides of the world, the FARC in Colombia and the NDFP in the Philippines are vying for peace but several elements-government, paramilitary, and drugs, make it all but impossible. As members of the FARC, Colombia’s largest rebel group, embark on their ‘last march’ to demobilization camps after half a century of war and the government begins peace talks with ELN rebels, a series of assassinations has shaken the prospects for peace in Colombia. Human rights defenders, left-wing activists, land rights advocates, indigenous and black community leaders — all supporters of the peace process — are being assassinated in rural areas of the country. This situation has many worried that it could sabotage the fragile peace accord and its implementation. The National Democratic Front of the Philippines is a coalition made up of the Communist Party of the Philippines, the New People’s Army, and many other civil society organizations. The revolutionary government has been at war with the Philippine government since the late 1960s, and is currently undergoing peace talks with the Rodrigo Duterte administration. These talks are significant and have moved farther than previous Philippine government administrations. Christina Ellazar Palabay, who is the Secretary General of Karapatan or the Alliance for the Advancement of People’s Rights Philippines, and Edre U. Olalia, member of the International Legal Advisory Team of the peace negotiating panel of the National Democratic Front–are part of a peace tour delegation to talk about a ‘just and lasting peace’ in the Philippines amidst a polarizing president. Special thanks to Luis Gallo for his contribution to this show. Like this program? Please show us the love. Click here and support our non-profit journalism. Thanks! Featuring: Eduardo López, Farmer, Organizer Leon Fredy Muñoz, Director of Fenalpaz Clara Navarro, Human Rights Worker Angela Moreno, Human Rights Worker Daisy Herrera, Environmental Engineer Luis Eduardo Pardo, Chief Peace Advisor Christina Ellazar Palabay, Secretary General of Karapatan + the Alliance for the Advancement of People’s Rights Philippines Edre U. Olalia, member of the International Legal Advisory Team of the peace negotiating panel of the National Democratic Front Credits: Host/Producer: R.J. Lozada Freelance Reporter: Luis Gallo Producers: Anita Johnson, Marie Choi, Monica Lopez, R.J. Lozada, Andrew Stelzer Executive Director: Lisa Rudman Audience Engagement Director/Web Editor: Sabine Blaizin Development Associate: Vera Tykulsker More Information: Fenalpaz Marcha Patriotica Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) National Democratic Front of the Philippines KARAPATAN Duterte Unbound Christians Rise Up Against the “Filipino Trump”...
The Poetic Address to the Nation
The Poetic Address to the Nation was an event that brought together poets to speak out and against the current administration. The event featured poets Cam Awkward, Guillermo Gomez Peña, Michelle ‘Mush’ Lee, Chinaka Hodge, and many others to share pieces from immigration, to trans violence, to activism. Making Contact is broadcasting an abridged version of the event produced by the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts and the U.S. Department of Arts and Culture. The 2017 Poetic Address to the Nation was organized by Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, in partnership with U.S. Department of Art and Culture. The USDAC is not a government agency–it’s people-powered department—a grassroots action network inciting creativity and social imagination to shape a culture of empathy, equity, and belonging. The USDAC is also a member of the New Economy Coalition. Like this program? Please show us the love. Click here and support our non-profit journalism. Thanks! Featuring: Michelle ‘Mush’ Lee Hadeel Ramadan Guillermo Gomez Peña Cam Awkard Tassiana Willis Chinaka Hodge Young, Gifted & Black Credits: Host: R.J. Lozada Producers: Anita Johnson, Marie Choi, Monica Lopez, R.J. Lozada, Andrew Stelzer Executive Director: Lisa Rudman Audience Engagement Director/Web Editor: Sabine Blaizin Development Associate: Vera Tykulsker Music: Show opener: ‘Prose,’ by Glass Boy Show credits: ‘Blaster 47’ by Glass Boy More Information: Yerba Buena Center for the Arts U.S. Department of Arts and Culture The 2017 Poetic Address to the Nation #PSOTU2017 Climbing PoeTree – We Survived Art is Our Weapon: A Conversation With Climbing Poetree Climbing Poetree: Intrinsic The Power of Poetry...
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