Hitting Left

We are joined in studio by Jamie Kalven of the Invisible Institute. Kalven broke the story of the Laquan McDondald killing by Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke. 

Jane Saks of Project& joins us to talk about art, politics and democracy.

Curtis Black is a long-time opinion writer and reporter for the highly regarded Chicago Reporter. In his previous visit to Hitting Left we talked police torture, forced confessions and false convictions involving the CPD. Today we talk about Tuesday's Chicago municipal elections.

Brother Mike is watching our southern border. South Florida to be precise. He reports that there is no wall and lots of immigrants and sons and daughters of immigrants seven days into the national emergency. Meanwhile we are broadcasting our last show before the Chicago municipal primary for mayor and council. Political consultant and strategist Joanna Klonsky is co-host and 32nd Ward Alderman is our guest. This is a damn corrupt city and what are we going to do about it?

A pre-Oscar Awards talk with Floyd Webb, Susan Kerns and Gordon Quinn. Susan teaches film at Columbia College and is one of the founders of the Chicago Feminist Film Festival. Floyd has been deeply involved in African American film study and film making and has a keen interest in Afro-futurism. Gordon Quinn is one of the founders of Kartemquin Films, which produced the 2019 Academy Award nominated Minding the Gap as well the new film, '63 Boycott, a documentary about the historic strike in 1963 of CPS schools by Black students.

Lisa Yun Lee and Sunny Fischer of the National Public Housing Museum join us in studio for a conversation about the history, the present and the future of public housing in Chicago and the nation. We're not just talking affordable housing, but public housing for every person who needs it.

Veteran Chicago Reader columnist and progressive talk radio host Ben Joravsky and Amisha Patel, Executive Director of Chicago's Grassroots Collaborative talk with Mike about the way Chicago politics works and doesn't work.

Fred's gone this week, so brother Mike is flying solo with guests Susan Klonsky and Professor Timuel Black. Tim just turned 100 years old AND has had his latest book, Sacred Ground, The Chicago Streets of Timuel Black as told to Susan Klonsky from Northwestern University Press.

Tom has literally written the book on corruption in Cook County. Page is an activist in the Black Lives Matter movement and founder of Assata's Daughters.

Susan Sadlowski Garza is a teacher who now is a sitting alderman running for a second term. Joining us are three more women who are teachers and political activists running for city council.