Election 2020 Special: More Than a Vote
Making Contact · Election 2020 Special: More Than a Vote Image Credit: Verónica Zaragovia Voting in one of the most momentous presidential elections in the nation’s history is over. The morning after polls closed nearly 136 million ballots had been counted. But as had been reported for weeks ahead of the election, there is no clear winner, and the tally of absentee ballots continues. In this election special, we go to Arizona,...
Activism and The Fight for Black Trans Lives
Making Contact · Activism and The Fight for Black Trans Lives On this episode of Making Contact, we will look at transgender activism and the call for inclusion and intersectionality in the movement for Black lives. We’ll also meet Trans activists in Louisiana who have been organizing against a state law that has been used to unfairly target trans women for decades. TRANSCRIPT BELOW Like this program? Please...
The Great Divide: Racism, Wealth Inequality, and Elections
Coronavirus and the precaution of social distancing is on our minds. Ian Haney Lopez says what we need is social solidarity instead of Trump’s dog whistle politics. In The Great Divide: Racism, Wealth Inequality, and Elections Acclaimed author Ian Haney López talks about his new book – Merge Left: Fusing Race and Class, Winning Elections, and Saving America. He explores the...
Spies of Mississippi: The Campaign to Stop Freedom Summer’s Civil Rights Movement of 1964
Spies of Mississippi Spies of Mississippi is a journey into the world of informants, infiltrators, and agent provocateurs in the heart of Dixie. The film tells the story of a secret spy agency formed by the state of Mississippi to preserve segregation and maintain “the Mississippi way of life,” white supremacy, during the 1950s and ‘60s. The Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission (MSSC) evolved from a predominantly public relations...
John Carlos Frey on America’s Stealth War on the Mexico Border
America’s Stealth War In recent decades, U.S. immigration policies have aggressively targeted families fleeing violence and poverty in Mexico and Central and South America, spawning a network of detention centers that now exist indefinitely along our southern border. The US’s approach to tackling illegal immigration has come under fire for its use of brutal tactics such as deliberately separating families, placing them in...
The Best of Making Contact
Best of Making Contact 2019 Before we jump into our 2020 catalogue, we look back at our favorite shows from 2019. From Artificial Intelligence, to the stigma around women’s periods, from guns and restraining orders to the cost of Insulin, these are the stories that inspired us, taught us something or just made us think differently. Featured shows: Guns and Restraining Orders Legacy of Mistreatment Bad Math: The Risks of...
50 Years Later: Remembering Fred Hampton
Remembering Fred Hampton Our radio adaptation of the film, The Murder of Fred Hampton, produced by filmmakers Mike Gray and Howard Alk, provides a glimpse into the life of Hampton and the Illinois Black Panther Party. On December 4th, 1969, exactly 50 years ago, Black Panthers Fred Hampton, age 21, and Mark Clark, age 22, were shot to death by Chicago police. In an infamous moment in Chicago’s...
Symbols of Resistance Part Two: A Tribute to the Martyrs of the Chican@ Movement
Symbols of Resistance: Part Two Our radio adaptation of the film Symbols of Resistance: A Tribute to the Martyrs of the Chican@ Movement, offers a reflection on the untold stories of the Chican@ Movement with a focus on Colorado and Northern New Mexico. Produced by Freedom Archives, the film delves into issues of cultural identity, student activism; land rights and social justice, in the face of police oppression. The film represents...
Symbols of Resistance Part One: A Tribute to the Martyrs of the Chican@ Movement
A Tribute to the Martyrs of the Chican@ Movement Our radio adaptation of the film Symbols of Resistance: A Tribute to the Martyrs of the Chican@ Movement, offers a reflection on the untold stories of the Chican@ Movement with a focus on Colorado and Northern New Mexico. Produced by Freedom Archives, the film delves into issues of cultural identity, student activism; land rights and social justice, in the face of police oppression. The...
Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools
The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools is an examination of the experiences of black girls across the country whose intricate lives are misunderstood, highly judged “by teachers, administrators, and the justice system “and degraded by the very institutions charged with helping them flourish. In her new book, Morris shows how, despite obstacles, stigmas,...
