The Agony and the Ecstasy: Race and the Future of the Love Story Part 2
PART 2….In 2019 a well known romance writer began tweeting about other writers in her community and concerns about racism. It led to a huge reckoning within an organization called the Romance Writers of America, which is still unfolding. And although the online debate seemed to be isolated to a specific community of romance writers and their fans, it was really a microcosm of what’s been happening all over the US. We learn...
The Agony and the Ecstasy: Race and the Future of the Love Story Part 1
In 2019 a well known romance writer began tweeting about other writers in her community and concerns about racism. It led to a huge reckoning within an organization called the Romance Writers of America, which is still unfolding. And although the online debate seemed to be isolated to a specific community of romance writers and their fans, it was really a microcosm of what’s been happening all over the US. In this episode we...
Jerusalem Calling from Kerning Cultures
The Palestine Broadcasting Service started airing in 1936, from a brand new transmitter tower in Ramallah. It was a British station in three languages, aimed at promoting the message of the mandate government throughout the region. But over the following decades, as Palestine saw political upheavals, bloody conflicts and power shifts, the radio station found itself in the middle of it all, and became a unique capsule of the...
Life During COVID
Making Contact · Life During COVID The COVID 19 pandemic has transformed all of our lives in some way. But some are feeling the impacts more than others. Take healthcare workers, for example: As the United States surpasses 38 million COVID-19 cases and 637,000 deaths as of August 28th, 2021, many healthcare workers continue to be overloaded by caring for COVID-19 patients. Globally, COVID-19 has presented unique challenges, leading to...
Don’t Let Them See You Bleed: PERIOD
Don’t Let Them See You Bleed Don’t Let Them See You Bleed: PERIOD examines the feminist movement through the lens of period activism. We will look at aspects of women’s health and social justice that are often overlooked – From period stigma to the unfair tax on feminine hygiene products and the fight to regulate and disclose ingredients in tampons and maxi pads. We’ll hear from activists, researchers,...
I Am Not Your Negro: James Baldwin
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...
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...
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...
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...
Liberation Theology: A March to Freedom
Liberation Theology: A March to Freedom explores the conceptual framework of “liberation theology” — a branch of Theology developed by Catholics and Christians looking to examine the church’s role in society, to address the socio-political and economic realities of the oppressed. We will examine why Liberation Theology, with its focus on political activism and resistance, is resonating with communities hungry for...
