In The Thick

ITT Sound Off: Imperial Overlord Julio and guest co-host Jamilah King, reporter and host of the Mother Jones podcast, discuss the historic protests in Cuba. We hear from Cuban American journalist Sabrina Rodríguez, an immigration correspondent for Politico, on the Cuban government’s efforts to suppress internet access across the island. They also talk about Texas lawmakers’ battle over voting rights, and the Biden administration's fight against vaccine disinformation.  ITT Staff Picks: - Sabrina Rodríguez and Marc Caputo unpack politicians’ entreaties for the Biden administration to help restore connectivity to Cuba in this piece for Politico.  - Tim Murphy, senior reporter at Mother Jones, wrote about Texas Democrats’ latest move to stop legislation that would limit voting rights and the filibuster: “the act of defying majority rule is both extremely hard and highly visible.” - For the New York Times, Apoorva Mandavilli and Benjamin Mueller report on the COVID-19 outbreaks across the country and world due to the surge of the Delta variant. Photo credit: AP Photo/Susan Walsh  

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Maria is joined by Marcela Hernandez, organizing director with Detention Watch Network, and Mustafa Jumale, co-founder of Black Immigrant Collective, to discuss immigration policy and the intensifying situations in Haiti and Cuba. They unpack the Biden Administration’s immigration proposals, and the ways that anti-Blackness permeates the U.S. immigration system. We also hear from Patrice Lawrence, co-director of the UndocuBlack Network.  ITT Staff Picks: - For Teen Vogue, Silky Shah, executive director of Detention Watch Network, shares her organization’s strategies for shutting down ICE facilities in local communities.  - Rowaida Abdelaziz, reporter for Huffpost, writes about racism Black immigrants face within the immigration system: “[they] are disproportionately detained, receive higher bond costs, and say they face racist treatment within detention centers.” - Instead of military intervention, Daniel Larison writes that the the U.S. should provide Haiti with humanitarian aid and assist in the investigation of Jovenel Moïse’s assassination.  Photo credit: AP Photo/Emilio Espejel  

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Julio and guest co-host Jamilah King, reporter and host of the Mother Jones podcast, discuss the assassination of Haitian president Jovenel Moïse and its global implications. We hear from Dánica Coto, an Associated Press correspondent covering the Caribbean, on Moïse’s presidency and the circumstances preceding his assassination. They also dive into the marginalization of Black athletes, journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones’ decision to reject tenure, and the New York City primary elections.  ITT Staff Picks: - This roundup by The Conversation offers essential context for understanding Haiti’s contemporary challenges and the unrest leading up to Jovenel Moïse’s assassination. - “The fact that this doesn’t come as a serious concern for the powers at be is as disappointing as it is unsurprising. Black women are routinely punished for being themselves,” writes journalist Ashley Reese in a piece for Jezebel. - In this piece for the New York Times, Michael Gold breaks down the historic diversity of New York City’s leading City Council candidates following the primary elections.  Photo credit: AP Photo/Joseph Odelyn  

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In this rebroadcast episode from last summer, Maria and Julio are joined by Pam Campos-Palma, Director of Peace & Security at the Working Families Party, and Gina Peréz, cultural anthropologist and professor at Oberlin College to dig deep into the case of Vanessa Guillén, and the issues of sexual assault, structural racism and a culture of impunity in the U.S. military. They discuss the military's history of recruitment in Latino communities, and how Latina servicewomen have led the fight for justice by reclaiming their stories.    ITT Staff Picks: - In a piece for the Texas Tribune, Reese Oxner breaks down new state and federal legislation against military sexual assault over a year after Vanessa Guillén’s murder. - “Nothing really can bring her back at all but as long as we know how to honor her name and how to make this change, I feel like that would be some closure for us,” Vanessa Guillén’s sister told ABC News in this piece on Guillén’s legacy and the investigation into her murder. - An investigation by a team of reporters at the Associated Press revealed a deep-rooted culture of racism and discrimination in the U.S. military.   Photo credit: Marie D. De Jesus/Houston Chronicle via AP, Pool   This episode originally aired in August 2020.  

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While Futuro Media is off for the Fourth of July, Maria and Julio check in with our dearest ITT listeners. They reflect on this past year and what celebrating democracy in this country looks like following the movement for racial justice, the coronavirus pandemic and the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol earlier this year. Photo credit: AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, file  

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As Pride Month comes to a close, Maria and Julio are joined by Jorge Gutierrez, an an UndocuQueer activist and executive director of Familia: Trans Queer Liberation Movement, and ITT All-Star Imara Jones, creator of TransLash Media and host of the TransLash podcast. They talk about the corporatization of Pride amidst a barrage of anti-LGBTQ state legislation. And, they dive into the intersection of immigrant and LGBTQ rights. We also hear from Patricio Manuel, the first openly transgender boxer to compete professionally in the United States. ITT Staff Picks: - “My friend was like, “Don’t go off.” And I said, “Why not? I have to go off. I have to be a part of this.” It meant a lot and I was glad I was there,” said trans activist and icon Sylvia Rivera on the Stonewall Uprising in a 1989 interview with journalist Eric Marcus.  - Oliver Haug writes about activists’ calls for the Biden Administration to end the detention of trans people in ICE detention centers in this piece for Them.  - In this piece for Vox, Katelyn Burns makes a connection between the commercialization of Pride and corporate silence around anti-trans legislation. Photo credit: AP Photo/Eric Gay, File  

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Maria and Julio discuss remarks from President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris at the 38th annual NALEO Conference, and they get into the vice president’s visit to El Paso and the US-Mexico border. We hear from Fernando García, founding director of the Border Network for Human Rights, about reimagining immigration policy and rhetoric. They also unpack recent developments in voting rights, the filibuster, and vaccine inequity. ITT Staff Picks: - In a piece for Mother Jones, Ari Berman writes about Republican-led efforts to filibuster Democrats’ For the People Act, which would expand voting access and crack down on partisan gerrymandering.  - “El Pasoans are left to grapple with the fact that both parties have turned the city into a center and model of cruelty against immigrants and Mexican Americans,” writes independent journalist Luis Enrique Miranda in an op-ed for El Paso Matters. - Isabella Isaacs-Thomas dives into persistent vaccine disparities across U.S. states, cities, and communities in a piece for PBS NewsHour.  Photo credit: AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin  

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Maria and Julio are joined by Alexa Muñoz, a teacher and translator based in Washington Heights, and Dr. Jessica Marie Johnson, assistant professor in the department of history at Johns Hopkins University. They dive into a conversation about colorism and anti-Blackness in Hollywood and Latinx communities in light of the controversy sparked around the film release of “In The Heights.” They also unpack the notion of Latinidad and what it means to push back against internalized white supremacy. ITT Staff Picks: - In this 2019 piece for The Nation, Miguel Salazar interviews a group of journalists, organizers, and thinkers about pushback against the concept of Latinidad. - Nili Blanck writes about the immigrant and Dominican history of Washington Heights, the neighborhood behind “In The Heights,” for Smithsonian Magazine. - “The truth is there can be no Latino representation without Afro-Latinos. There is no story of Washington Heights without Black people and Afro-Dominicans of all shades,” writes Natasha S. Alford in this piece for CNN.  Photo credit: Warner Bros. via AP  

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Roots of Cultural Expression Maria and Julio talk with fiber artist and teacher, Bisa Butler, about her quilted portraits that celebrate Black life. They also get into the history of Juneteenth and the push by Republican lawmakers to take critical race theory out of classrooms. And, they dive into the significance of textile art and quilting as a medium for storytelling.  Bisa Butler’s portraits are on exhibit at The Art Institute of Chicago through September 6, 2021. ITT Staff Picks: - In this piece for Smithsonian Magazine, Liz Logan writes about artist Bisa Butler’s journey to quilting, and how her portraits are recreating vibrant depictions of lost identities. - In this column for the Los Angeles Times, LZ Granderson writes about the whitewashing of American history, and what it will take to have an honest conversation about Juneteenth.  - “Whenever I am trying to decide whether or not a particular movement, policy or person benefits Black America, I wait and see what white people think. While that might sound racist, there has never been a movement, policy or person that benefitted Black America who was simultaneously embraced by white America,” writes Michael Harriot for The Root. Photo credit: A detail shot of the Harlem Hellfighters,( Sgt. Storms), 202. Cotton, silk, wool and velvet. This is a work in progress. Courtesy of Bisa Butler.  

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Last month, in her first in-person interview for Latino USA since the start of the pandemic, Maria sat down with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and we wanted to share this incredible conversation with you. They get into the lasting impact of the January 6 Capitol riot and what it means to recognize and process trauma in the aftermath. They also talk about the coronavirus pandemic, and issues around personal identity and the question of being “Latina” enough. Subscribe to Latino USA wherever you get your podcasts. Photo credit: AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana  

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