April is National poetry month, so we are featuring two poets today who are using their voices to uplift community.

Aya de León teaches creative writing in the African American Studies Department at UC Berkeley. She was the 2024-25 poet laureate of the City of Berkeley and is the author of 11 novels. She is also the principal playwright for Fashion vs. Fascism, a political theater project and fashion show to provide political education and inspiration to fight rising authoritarianism, which will premiere in the Bay Area in September 2026.

Zouhair Mussa is a Sudanese/Nubian-American writer, spoken word poet, MC, and organizer raised in West Oakland. 

His art is based on true events and aims at addressing real problems within his community. He uses his art to remember the fallen and dreams of healing the hood and inspire change in his community.  Zouhair was a 2019 Oakland Youth Poet Laureate Finalist.

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Tiny Gray Garcia AKA PovertySkola is the co-founder of POOR Magazine  The Homefulness Project – a landless peoples, self-determined land liberation movement in the Ohlone/Lisjan/Huchuin territory known as Deep East Oakland.

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A Los Angeles County judge has dismissed an indictment against two Torrance police officers who had been charged with voluntary manslaughter in the 2018 fatal shooting of 23-year-old Christopher Deandre Mitchell.  We speak with Sheila Bates, Policy Coordinator at Black Lives Matter Grassroots.

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This week’s Resistance in Residence artist is Shinichi Iova-Koga.  He is a multidisciplinary performer, director, and educator, and the Artistic Director of the physical theater and dance company inkBoat. Known for his innovative approach to movement, he blends dance, theater, and visual storytelling to create deeply physical, imaginative works. His artistic practice often explores themes of identity, memory, and transformation, drawing from both experimental performance traditions and personal narrative. In addition to his creative work, Iova-Koga is a dedicated teacher who has led workshops and residencies internationally, fostering new generations of movement-based artists.

Upcoming: Clouds from a Crumbling Giant: our wild shining days, breathes in the spaces of time between human incarnations. Broken yet boundless bodies enter the waiting room of the afterlife. As they re-enact their corporeal memories, consciousness folds in upon itself. 496 moons rise and fall. The band plays “Hazy Shade of Winter.” Playing at San Francisco’s Z Space.  Learn more and get tickets here https://inkboat.com/

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On Today’s show, host Cat Brooks talks to Rehab Nazzal about the Israeli occupation in the West Bank and the effects of the war on Iran and Lebanon on the Palestinian struggle.  

Rehab Nazzal is a Palestinian-born multidisciplinary artist based in Bethlehem, Palestine and Montreal, Canada.  Her work explores the effects of settler colonial violence on the bodies and minds of colonized peoples, on all forms of life, and on the land.  She is the author of two photography books; Driving in Palestine and Sumud in Dark Times.

Photo credit: Wikimedia commons

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Host Cat Brooks talks to interfaith minister, educator, and activist Dr. Liza Rankow about integrative paths toward healing and social transformation, rooted in our kinship with one another, the Earth, and all of life.

Dr Liza J. Rankow is the founder and former executive director of OneLife Institute, which for almost 20 years supported the well-being of frontline changemakers. She has been a spiritual counselor and teacher for more than three decades, and is co-editor of The Living Wisdom of Howard Thurman audio collection. She is the author of Soul Medicine for a Fractured World: Healing, Justice, and the Path of Wholeness.

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Guests:

Camille Kalama is the Executive Director of Koʻihonua and a longtime advocate for Native Hawaiian rights and self-determination in Hawaiʻi.

Kyle Kajihiro is Professor of Ethnic Studies at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.  His research focuses on U.S. imperial formations, Militarization, and Indigenous and decolonial social movements in Hawaiʻi and the Pacific region.

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Anthony Jimenez is a Bay Area–based muralist, educator, and self-described “artivist” whose work centers community, identity, and social justice. Born in Morgan Hill and raised in California’s South Bay, Jimenez draws deeply from his Mexican and Chicano roots, using art to explore cultural belonging and the lived experiences of working-class families. His practice is rooted in mentorship and public engagement, often collaborating with youth and community members to create murals that reflect collective histories and struggles.

Known for his striking portraiture, Jimenez intentionally uplifts those often overlooked — friends, family, and neighbors — rendering them as powerful, large-scale subjects worthy of visibility and honor. His work frequently highlights matriarchs, everyday people, and victims of state violence, transforming public spaces into sites of remembrance and resistance. Influenced by his role as a father, his recent work embraces intimate, unfiltered depictions of family life. Through art, Jimenez aims to build connection, preserve culture, and inspire collective empowerment.  Connect with Anthony via his Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/anthonyisjim?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw==

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 Iran: Trump threatening ‘a whole civilization” and a last minute ceasefire.

Cat Brooks talks to Phyllis Bennis about Trump threatening ‘a whole civilization” and a last minute ceasefire with Iran.

Guest: Phyllis Bennis is a Middle East analyst and directs the New Internationalism Project at the Institute for Policy Studies. She is the author of several books including her latest, Understanding Palestine & Israel.

Paramilitary Agents Behind Trump’s Violent Immigration Crackdowns

Guest: Ali Winston is an independent reporter covering criminal justice, privacy, and extremism. He is co-author of the book The Riders Come Out at Night: Corruption, Brutality and Cover-up in Oakland.  He recently wrote an article for Wired about DHS agents using extreme force against civilians in the largest known deployment of its kind in US history “Unmasking the Paramilitary Agents Behind Trump’s Violent Immigration Crackdown”

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Cat Brooks talks to Nana Gyamfi about Birthright Citizenship, the 14th Amendment and the implications of the Trump administration trying to reverse these rights. Nana Gyamfi is the Executive Director of the Black Alliance for Just Immigration or BAJI.

Anniversary of Murder of Bobby Hutton with Chairman Fred Hampton Jr.Chairman Fred Hampton Jr. is a Chicago-based community organizer, activist.  He is the president and chairman of the Prisoners of Conscience Committee and Black Panther Cubs.  He is the son of the Black Panther Party leader Fred Hampton.

Dream Beyond Bars Film Festival (CURYJ) w/ George Galvis is the Co-founder and executive director of Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice.

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