8 O'Clock Buzz

Today on the Tuesday 8:00 Buzz with Dr. Damita Brown…

Damon Terrell and Benji Ramirez Gomez are long-time Madison activists working on Jail Abolition in Madison and Dane County.  They join us to talk about that work they’re doing to eliminate jails from our society, police in schools and the school to prison pipeline, racial disparities in prison populations and more!

More information about Jail Abolition Coalition on Linktree: http://linktr.ee/dsamadison

Derail the Jail: https://www.facebook.com/JailAbolitionCoalition/

Allies for Black Lives – Madison: https://www.facebook.com/A4BLMadison/

Democratic Socialists of America – Madison: https://madison-dsa.org/ 

Listen in Madison at 89.9FM or online anywhere at wortfm.org.  Support your community radio with a pledge online at wortfm.org!

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Today on the Tuesday 8:00 Buzz with Dr. Damita Brown…

Norm Stockwell is the publisher of The Progressive, a voice for peace, social justice, and the common good since 1909, and the former Operations Coordinator for WORT.  He joins us to talk about what’s happening at The Progressive and where it’s headed in the future!

More on The Progressive at their website: https://progressive.org/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theprogressivemagazine

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theprogressivemag/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/theprogressive

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/theprogressive 

Promotional Photo by Carolyn Tretina

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WORT 89.9FM Madison · Symbiosis: Art and the Community Exhibition at Communication Madison

Communication is a volunteer-run arts and music nonprofit based here in Madison, providing a space for local and Wisconsin area artists to sell and exhibit artwork as well as a performing space for local musicians, comedians, and poets. Part of the proceeds of these artists’ work featured in their storefront funds programming and general maintenance of the venue. “Symbiosis: Art and the Community” is an exhibition celebrating 19 of Communication’s amazing store artists who have helped sustain Communication throughout 2020 and the ongoing pandemic. All proceeds will go back to the artists as a way of saying thank you.

Joining Friday Buzz host, Jonathan Zarov, to talk about the exhibition is Communication Madison’s Jennifer Bastian. Bastian received her BFA in Photography from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and her MA and MFA from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee she now serves as the director of the local non-profit arts venue.

 

 

(Images courtesy of Jennifer Bastian and Communication Madison)

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WORT 89.9FM Madison · Midwest Video Poetry Festival Returns

The second year of Midwest Video Poetry Festival will take place in Madison at Arts +Literature Laboratory and also in Milwaukee at Woodland Pattern Book Center next week on October 8 and 9. The program engages a diverse audience and amplifies the voices of Indigenous, LGBTQ+ artists, and artists of color and presents the work of local, national, and international poets and filmmakers.

Joining Friday Buzz host, Jonathan Zarov, is Genia Daniels and Caroline Rumley. Daniels, who has been overseeing the curation team and selection process, is the Managing Director of the Festival and has been involved with Arts + Literature Laboratory since its start in 2015. Rumley, who is a featured artist at the festival, is an American filmmaker who combines solo-shot film, found and archival footage, text, and sound to illuminate a personal or public experience and has had her films screened internationally.

 

 

(Image courtesy of Art + Literature Laboratory)

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WORT 89.9FM Madison · Police Do Not Belong In Schools

A recent Center for Public Integrity analysis of U.S. Department of Education data found that in the 2017-2018 school year public schools in Wisconsin referred students to police twice as often as schools nationwide. The data also showed that school policing disproportionately affected students with disabilities and students of color — with Native students in Wisconsin being three times as likely as their fellow white students to be referred to law enforcement.

Ion Meyn, who is an assistant professor at the UW Madison Law School, believes that police do not belong in schools. Meyn says schools are often policed as “white spaces” where misbehavior by children of color is treated more harshly. Meyn studies racial disparities in the criminal justice system, and the regulation of use of force in policing. Ion joins Friday Buzz host, Jonathan Zarov, to talk about this disturbing national trend, and why it might be so severe in Wisconsin.

 

 

(Images courtesy of Ion Meyn and Niu Niu on Unsplash)

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In this month’s 8 O’Clock Buzz — ExPO edition, Jerome Dillard speaks with several of his ExPO (Ex-incarcerated Persons Organizing) associates, Brittany Moes, Peggy West, and Ramiah Whiteside, about the ExPO year in retrospective. From advocating to “Unlock the Vote” to restore voting privileges to reestablishing parole in Wisconsin (abolished under Walker) to reforming community release, the ExPO group has been busy in the state. See more of their upcoming Black Tie event at the Monona Terrace on October 23rd on their website.

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Join Sikowis for the Tuesday 8 O’clock Buzz on WORT 89.9 FM in Madison!  We discuss the abortion ban in Texas and how it affects the social fabric in Wisconsin and what to expect wth Rockie Gonzalez from the Indigenous Xicana in Texas and State Senator Kelda Roys of Wisconsin.

Banning abortion is an act of violence and colonization.   We discuss the recent tyrannical abortion ban in Texas that is systematically dismantling the rights, freedoms, health, and safeties of women and childbearing folks.

Essentially, the vast majority of the Republican party, a large contingent of their voter base, and a handful of wayward democrats want to regulate women’s bodies because they are stuck on antiquated notions that subjugate women and further oppress trans, disabled, and BIPOC folks. Texas and Wisconsin have a lot in common concerning this atrocious legislation as Wisconsin has attempted to pass similar legislation in the past. 

Guests:

Rockie Gonzalez is an Indigenous Xicana from the Texas Rio Grande Valley residing in Austin for 20 years. She is a longtime activist, facilitator, and organizer. Rockie is the Founder and Board Chair of the Frontera Fund in Texas, Deputy Director of the Austin Justice Coalition, and an Undoing Racism trainer with the People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond. 

Learn more about Frontera Fund at https://fronterafundrgv.org/, Austin Justice Coalition at https://austinjustice.org/ and People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond at https://pisab.org/.

Senator Kelda Roys represents Wisconsin’s 26th Senate District. After law school, Sen. Roys served for four years as executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin, where she developed innovative and successful efforts to expand emergency contraception access through state and local policy. Under her leadership, Wisconsin passed the first pro-choice law in three decades, the Compassionate Care for Rape Victims Act, despite an anti-choice Assembly.

Keep up with Sen Roys on Twitter: https://twitter.com/keldahelenroys and https://twitter.com/SenKeldaRoys 

Listen in Madison at 89.9FM or online anywhere at wortfm.org.  Support your community radio with a pledge online at wortfm.org or call 608-256-2001!

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WORT 89.9FM Madison · Local Artist, Robin Good, Completes The 100 Day Art Challenge

Starting New Year’s Eve of 2020 local artist, Robin Good, challenged herself to create one piece of artwork a day for 100 days with the goal of not just making art, but creating cohesive art pieces. The pieces draw upon her playful nature, her love of the natural world, and her philosophical exploration and expression of the human condition. A reception will be held at Mother Fools Coffeehouse on Sunday from noon-2 pm to showcase Robin Good – 100 Days of Art. Robin joins Friday Buzz host to talk more about her art and the challenge.

 

 

(Images courtesy of Robin Good)

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WORT 89.9FM Madison · Dr. Gloria Ladson-Billings On The Purpose Of Critical Race Theory

Critical Race Theory is a decades old idea that race is a social construct and that racism is systemic, not a just a collection of individual prejudices. But the concept has come under fire this past year by conservatives across the country and on Wednesday the State Senate Committee on Universities and Technical Colleges held an informational hearing discussing it. A featured speaker at the hearing was the right-wing activist leading the misinformation charge against Critical Race Theory, Christopher Rufo.

Dr. Gloria Ladson-Billings, is professor emerita in the School of Education’s Department of Curriculum and Instruction. She is also the president of the National Academy of Education. Her research examines the pedagogical practices of teachers who are successful with African American students and she investigates Critical Race Theory applications to education. She joins Friday Buzz host Jonathan Zarov to talk more about the purpose of Critical Race Theory and the ways it is commonly misrepresented.

 

 

(Image courtesy of the National Academy of Education)

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Part two of the award winners for the Community Shares of Wisconsin (CSW) introduces a special first-time award — the Collaboration Award — to organizations who worked together to support the 2020 Black Lives Matter uprising. Discussing their activities and those of their organizations are Brandi Grayson from Urban Triage, M. Adams from Freedom, Inc., and Kayasia Blake from Dane County Time Bank.

Their works and organizations will be recognized in tomorrow’s CSW virtual “Change Maker Awards” ceremony, streaming live on Youtube, Facebook, and on the CSW Website. Tickets and contributions are on the CSW Website.

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