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...
Language Is Life, Land Is Sacred
Making Contact’s Community Storytelling Fellow Vincent Medina is a Chochenyo Ohlone Native American who is a part of a young generation working to revitalize the Chochenyo language for future generations. Making Contact’s Community Storytelling Fellow Isabella Zizi is a young native-american environmentalist shaped by the 2012 Chevron Refinery Explosion and by her indigenous women elders in the Refinery Corridor...
The Arrival: Trump’s Travel and Refugee Ban
Leading up to the US Supreme Court hearing on Trump’s travel ban, we’ll hear about the order’s impact on people from affected, Muslim-majority countries, and how advocacy groups like the Council on American-Islamic Relations are responding. On this edition of Making Contact we begin with the story of a woman who was in flight to the US when President Trump signed his first travel ban. Special thanks to the...
The Ghosts of the Gwangju Uprising
On May 18, 1980, the people of Gwangju, South Korea came together for reunification and an end to an era of martial law imposed by U.S.-backed military dictators. Over the course of ten days, they staged mass protests, battled riot police and soldiers, and were met with brutal repression. Together, they successfully drove the military out Gwangju and governed the city together. Their actions changed the course of Korean...
Staying Rooted: Community Focused Economic Models, Cooperative Housing, and the New Economy Coalition
Collective housing, cultural co-ops, land trusts, community banks are community-rooted enterprises that empower those that have been excluded from traditional economic institutions. Solidarity economy models exercised throughout the country are becoming viable solutions towards sustainable and economically just living. Today we’re visiting community-rooted enterprises where people are rethinking power and participation in their...
Alicia Garza: On Historical Amnesia, and Fighting White Supremacy
As people respond in the wake of actions in Charlottesville,VA, perpetrated by white supremacists and Nazi’s emboldened by President Trump, we interview Alicia Garza, one of the founding leaders of Black Lives Matter. You’ll hear Garza’s specific definitions of power and white supremacy, as she contextualizes this moment, and you’ll learn about concrete actions that people, especially white people can take to...
