8 O'Clock Buzz

Recently passed in the House of Representatives, the “Farmwork Modernization Act” is a re-brand of a bill introduced by the Trump administration. According to Edgar Franks, Political Director of Familias Unidas por la Justicia, this is an expansion of the H2A Act, a false illusion of a pathway to citizenship and a means to break migrant worker unions, lower wages, and make it easier to fire, deport, and blacklist migrant workers.

Mark your calendar for April 16 and be at the Library Mall at 3:00 to support the National March to Victory, Relay Across America caravan, a 40-state tour organized in Wisconsin by Voces de la Frontera. Organizer Luis Velasquez and Ricardo talk about the demands for legalization for all 11 million undocumented people in the U.S., the end of deportation, and COVID recovery for all.

A longtime activist and student of Central America, Aviva Chomsky, professor of history and the Coordinator of Latin American, Latino and Caribbean Studies at Salem State University in Massachusetts, has written numerous books on Central America. Her latest article “Will Biden’s Central America plan slow migration — or speed it up?” details the details of Biden’s extension of a long-time Central America policy to encourage foreign investment in the area, aided by cheap labor, no taxes, weak environmental regulations, and access to resources, under the guise of stemming migration to the U.S.

Today on the Tuesday 8:00 Buzz with Dr Damita Brown (in exile) …

In 2020, Madison Alder Arvina Martin proposed a resolution to the Madison Common Council to create a task force on pursuing alternatives to police response to mental health crises that passed unanimously.  Alder Martin and Madison Fire Department Fire Assistant Chief Che Stedman join us to talk about the progress made on new responses to mental health calls in Madison based on the CAHOOTS model that originated in Eugene, OR.

More information on the CAHOOTS model: https://whitebirdclinic.org/cahoots/

Photo by Jonathan J Miner

Today on the Tuesday 8:00 Buzz with Dr Damita Brown (in exile) …

Social justice filmmakers Marie and Johnny Justice are the founders of Justice Media, using the power of visual storytelling to drive positive social change through photography and the 2016 documentary, Walk a Mile in Their Shoes, they are working on a new documentary series, My Americana.

More about My Americana and the Kickstarter: https://myamericanaseries.com/

Photo from Facebook

Clyde Stubblefield, best known for his drum work with the James Brown Band in the 1960’s and 1970’s could possibly be the most sampled human of all time.  His drumbeats have reappeared — often uncredited — in countless hip-hop songs.  Stubblefield, who in his later years, called Madison home, died in 2017.  Filmmaker Trevor Banks grew up in Madison and met Stubblefield as a young boy.  Now, Banks is fundraising to finish a feature-length documentary about Stubblefield’s life and times, entitled “Give the Drummer Some”

 

Madison band Ladyscissors, which features Lorrie Hurckes and Brent George on guitar, Anne Bull on bass and Stephanie Rearick on drums, had been planning a tour when the pandemic hit.  With the live universe ground to a halt, the band turned to video projects instead.  Ladyscissors released their new music video for “Ascending Like Flies” on April 7th, available on YouTube.  Stephanie Rearick (who also edited the video) and Monday 8 O’Clock Buzz Host Brian Standing (who did the videography for “Ascending Like Flies”) chatted about the project.  Thanks to “The Human Show” at Cafe Coda, for the audio of this interview.

Although nearly half of working women in the United States are now their household’s main breadwinner, the majority of women still aren’t raised to think like breadwinners. That is the premise behind the new book “Think Like a Breadwinner: A Wealth Building Manifesto for Women Who Want to Earn More and Worry Less” by author Jennifer Barret.  Barret is the Chief Education Officer at Acorns, a financial app.  Barret is also the founding editor of Grow, a popular money site aimed at millennials.

Moving can be quite traumatic for a child — but imagine moving from the jungles of Laos to the U.S. in the 1970’s. That transition is what Dr. Pao Lor, Chair of Applied Leadership for Teaching & Learning at U.W. Green Bay, writes about in his recent book “Modern Jungles: A Hmong Refugee’s Childhood Story of Survival”. He talks with Jan about the book and the upcoming virtual book release at Lion’s Mouth Bookstore on April 14th at 7:00 PM.

Pat Elder, founder of MilitaryPoisons.org, has been tracking PFAS chemical contamination for many years. According to Elder, “If you have an Air National Guard Base, you have problems”. These “forever” chemical contaminants were used for fire training exercises, where pits were dug into the ground, filled with jet fuel, lit on fire, and then trainees put out the fires with PFAS containing fire-fighting foam. Which naturally leaked into groundwater and drinking water. States are fighting these issues and progress can be seen here.