VOICES FROM THE FRONTLINES

Your National Movement Building Show

“Wake up and smell the revolution”

Tuesday March 28, 2023 | 8 AM PST

On todays show Voices from the Frontlines

present

MOTHERLAND

BY: Vic Gerami

An Armenian-American Journalist, Documentarian, LGBT activist, Columnist, Publisher, and Organizer

Eric Mann  and discuses with Vic Gerami the Powerful documentary "MotherLand".  A documentary produced by Vic which informs on the historic genocide of the Armenian people throughout  history by various imperialistic nations and their allies.

"The Armenian genocide[a] was the systematic destruction of the Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily through the mass murder of around one million Armenians during death marches to the Syrian Desert and the forced Islamization of Armenian women and children." (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenian_genocide)

-Eric’s sings "Lean On Me” by: Bill Withers.

In brief Eric discuss the Strategy and Soul theater's film screening of "The Bus riders Union" film produce by Haskell Wexler  . The screening will take place March 30, 2023 at Strategy and Soul theater.

 The Bus Riders Union film is a documentary about an activist group called the Bus Riders Union. Their focus is on improving the public transportation system in Los Angeles. The bus system there is in a sorry state. Busses are overcrowded. A rider will routinely see three busses pass her by, completely full, before being able to board. Handicapped riders find that the lift system on most busses is broken. Many riders need to take three or more busses to arrive at their destinations, and late night service on some routes is discontinued without any notice. On top of this, the MTA was planning a massive fare increase and focusing their energy on subways and trains that are costly and benefit mainly upper class white people. The B.R.U. views this struggle over Los Angeles busses as the new civil rights battle. The bus system is utilized almost exclusively by minorities and low income residents. Since the busses are so unreliable, workers are not able to predictably arrive on time and therefore have trouble holding jobs. This means that an already disadvantaged segment of the population is being further held back. Kikanza Ramsey, B.R.U. organizer, describes her organization as "an experiment to see if we can create a multi-racial, bi-lingual, gender-balanced mass movement of working class people." The tape follows the legal struggles of the group throughout the 90's as they battle with the city and the MTA for service improvements. ("Https://Mediaburn.Org/Video/Bus-riders-union/")

In the last half of the show Eric holds a conversation with Channing Martinez, Lead Organizer at the Strategy and Soul Center, and the Bus Riders Union. Channing reports from the ground and the frontlines of the battle field. Channing will  discuss the Bus Riders Union Film at the Strategy and Soul theater.