KPFA - Making Contact

The post Making Contact Special – February 14, 2014 at 1:00pm appeared first on KPFA.

They may not have made it to the Superbowl- but the “Washington Football team” has gotten a lot of attention this season- not so much for their performance on the field, but rather their refusal to change the name of their team.From FedEx Field to High School Football teams, pressure is increasing on teams to stop using American Indian names and mascots. The battle is playing out in stadiums, court rooms, and in the media. And some of America’s best known sports brands may be forced to change.

Featuring:  

Gregg Deal, member of Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe, artist, activist; Suzan Shown Harjo, Cheyenne and Hodulgee Muscogee advocate for American Indian rights; Fili Sagapolutele, congressional aide; David Grosso,DC councilmember; Sadie Makarechi Jerry Neuwirth, Michael Wright, Washington football fans; Robert Jordan, President and CEO Justin Siena High School; Dawson Del Dotto, Paul Brown, Sam Hoff, Lupe Padilla-Aguayo, current and former Justin Siena students; Scott Gabaldon, Tribal Chair Mishewal Wappo Tribe.

For More Information:

Gregg Deal

Mishewal Wappo Tribe of Alexander Valley 

The Florida State Seminoles: The Champions of Racist Mascots  

Houston school board bans race-based mascots

Oneida tribe calls for Washington Redskins name change

Why Republicans protect the ‘honor’ of offensive team names

Native American mascots: pride or prejudice

Change the Mascot

Justin Siena High School: New Mascot

The post Making Contact – Insult to Injury? American Indian Sports Mascots appeared first on KPFA.

Drone attacks on American citizens. Black sites around the globe where prisoners are tortured. And the prison at Guantanamo is still in operation. As we enter the 6th year of Barack Obamas presidency, his foreign policy legacy is becoming more clear. Independent journalist Jeremy Scahill investigated Obama’s “Dirty Wars” and says the President has put Americans in more danger through actions that fuel hatred and extremism.

This speech was excerpted from a presentation by the Lannan Foundation.

Featuring:

Jeremy Scahill, author of Dirty Wars: The World is a Battlefield

For More Information:

Dirty Wars

The Lannan Foundation

CorpWatch

Tom Dispatch

Articles/Blogs/Videos/Audio:

Jeremy Scahill at the Lannan Foundation

The post Making Contact – Jeremy Scahill on Obama’s Dirty Wars appeared first on KPFA.

The cost of American democracy is the most expensive in the world. In the 2012 elections billions of dollars were spent on political campaigns. But there’s a growing consensus that big business and wealthy individuals are buying power. Authors John Nichols and Robert McChesney have a name for the state we’re in: Dollarocracy.

Thanks to Pirate TV for use of their recording.

Featuring:  

John Nichols, Washington, DC correspondent, Nation magazine; Robert W. McChesney, Gutgsell Endowed Professor in the Department of Communication
at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

More information:

Robert McChesney and John Nichols
 
Dollarocracy

The post Making Contact – Dollarocracy: Corporate Cash in Politics appeared first on KPFA.

The post Making Contact – January 10, 2014 at 1:30pm appeared first on KPFA.

When you call 911, who answers the phone? How do they decide who to send to the scene, and how fast will they get there? We bring you a 2-part special—The Race to An Emergency, produced by KALW radio in San Francisco. We follow the path of a 911 call, and along the way, encounter decades of mistrust that fuel a lack of confidence in the system. Special thanks to KALW Radio.

Featuring:

Lesley Phillips, Sharena Thomas, Peoples Community Medics co-founders; Nikki Anjenique; Sharena Thomas daughter; Rick Rocha, California Highway Patrol dispatcher; Olivia Moy, Wolleen Jones, Oakland police Department dispatchers; Terry Woodard, Oakland Fire Department Communications dispatcher; Jason Murphy, Paramedics Plus dispatcher; Tracy Chin, Rob Thrower, Oakland Fire Fighters; Brian Murphy, Oakland Police Officer; Regina Harris Gilliard, Johnna Watson Oakland Police Department spokespeople; Benjamin Bowser, Cal State East Bay Sociology Professor.

For More Information:

KALW Radio’s The Race to an Emergency”

Peoples Community Medics

Oakland Police Department

Paramedics Plus

Alameda County Public Health Department.

Articles/Blogs/Videos/Audio:

Racial Disparities in Arrests Contributing to Education Crisis for Oakland Students of Color

Report: Oakland police needs to prioritize service calls

Oakland can learn from top 911 addresses

The post Making Contact – The Race to an Emergency (Part 1) appeared first on KPFA.

Making Contact’s media mission is to give voice to those who don’t usually make it on to the airwaves. We look back on how we did in 2013 and bring you up to date on our most compelling and resonating stories of the year. From pregnant women in prison who’ve been mistreated; to the tomato fields of Florida, where the power of community radio helps workers take action. Then out west, to a national forest in California, where wildfires are raising questions about fire management techniques. We’ll also get updates on where those stories stand now.

Featuring:

Courtney Hooks, Justice Now! campaign and communications director; Kimberly Jeffrey, formerly incarcerated mother; Tina Reynolds, Women on the Rise Telling HerStory (WORTH) co-founder and chair; Samantha Rogers, California Coalition for Women Prisoners assistant; Bonnie Lowenthal, California Assembly Member and chair of the California Legislative Women’s Caucus; Domingo Jacinto & Rolando Salas, WCIW DJ’s; Brandy Doyle, Prometheus Radio Project; Tracy Rosenberg, Common Frequency Board member; Howard Hunter, Chips fire information officer; Neil Lawrence, Forestry Project Director for the Natural Resources Defense Council; Tom Tidwell, National Forest Service Chief; Timothy Ingalsbee, Firefighters United for Safety, Ethics and Ecology (FUSEE) co-founder; Scott Stephens, UC Berkeley associate professor of fire science.

For More Information:

California Coalition for Women Prisoners

Women on the Rise Telling HerStory

Legal Services for Prisoners with Children

Birthing Behind Bars

Justice Now

Critical Resistance

California Prison Moratorium Project

All of Us or None

National Advocate for Pregnant Women

The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists

FCC on Low Power FM Radio

Prometheus Radio Project

Common Frequency

Coalition of Immokalee Workers

Young People’s Project

Firefighters United for Safety, Ethics and Ecology

National Wildfire Suppression Association

US Forest Service

Stephen’s Lab: Research and Education in Wildland Fire Science

Articles:

California was Sterilizing its Female Prisoners as Late as 2010

California Legislators Urge Speedy Inquiry into Prison Sterilizations

Female Inmates Sterilized in California Prisons without Approval

The Movement to Stop Prisons From Shackling Women in Labor Builds

Low Power Radio Stations vie for FCC Licenses

Don’t Touch That Dial! Low-Power Radio Is About to Make FM Hot Again

$19.5k Seattle grant helps Hollow Earth radio reach for Low Power FM license

Fighting Fires is Big Business for Private Companies

One Earth: A Survival Guide for the Planet by Richard Manning

Forest Service Orders “Aggressive Initial Attack” on Wildfires—Despite
Consequences

Grass is burned to study Indian culture

Getting Burned: A Taxpayer’s Guide to Wildfire Suppression Costs

Videos:

Diana Kasdan Discusses the ACLU’s Anti-Shackling Initiative

Multiple Videos of Testimonies from Women Being Shackled

Community Radio By and For the People: The Impact of Low Power Radio

What would you do with a community radio station?

The post Making Contact – December 27, 2013 appeared first on KPFA.

Over 2 million Syrians have been displaced by that country’s ongoing civil war. Neighboring countries are overwhelmed with refugees. So where else to turn? Heading to more affluent nations isn’t so easy. On this edition, we meet refugees who’ve fled Syria to Turkey, Sweden, and Thailand. They’re trying to navigate a fragmented global refugee policy, in a time of extreme need

Featuring: 
Ahmad Dabbagh, Ayham Al Fares, Sania, Kais Badro, Syria refugees; Sarah, Abu Mohammad, Hassan, Palestinian refugees from Syria; Andrew Gardner, Amnesty International Turkey researcher; Sanna Vestin, Swedish Network of Refugee Support Groups chairman; Gregor Noll, Lund University professor of international law, Anoop Sukumaran, Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network coordinator, Patra Jirawisan, Thai Committee for Refugees Foundation Policy & Research Officer, Mother Agnes Mariam, Mother Superior of St. James the Mangled Monastery in Qara, Syria.

More information:

Amnesty International 

The Swedish Network of Refugee Support Groups (FARR)

Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network

Thai Committee for Refugees Foundation

Mother Agnes Mariam

Syrian Refugees

International Rescue Committee-Syria

Articles & Books:

The Future of Syria-UNHCR

Where are Syria’s refugees going?

In Surprisingly Bold Move, Sweden Offers a Home to All Syrian Refugees

The post Making Contact – December 20, 2013 appeared first on KPFA.

Years of campaigning for basic human rights for people caught up in America’s criminal justice system may finally be paying off. 2013 saw significant changes from sentencing reform, to drug policy, to how people are treated behind bars. On this edition, we look at year victories in the struggle to bring humanity to the world’s largest prison industrial complex. Are these changes really a sign of progress? Or will the ‘tough on crime’ crowd rise once again for another crackdown?

Featuring:  

Larry Everest, Stop Mass Incarceration Network member; Stephen Czifra, activist and formerly incarcerated person; Ralph Diaz, Associate Director for the Department of Institutions at Pelican Bay State Prison; Jules Lobel, Center for Constitutional Rights President; Marie Levin, sister of Pelican Bay SHU prisoner Ronnie Dewberry; Alex Friedman, Human Rights Center Associate Director; Margaret Winters, ACLU National Prison Project Director, Isaac Ontiveros, Critical Resistance organizer; Tom Shear, Ilinois Department of Corrections spokesperson; Christopher Epps, Mississippi Department of Corrections Commissioner; Bethany Fraser, parent of children with incarcerated father; Mignon Clyburn, Federal Communications Commission Acting Chair.

More information:

Holder Creates an Opening for Real Public Safety Leaders: Communities

Rethinking Solitary Confinement

Phone Calls from Prison

Human Rights Defense Center

Prison Phone Justice Campaign

Eric Holder Speech- VIDEO

Eric Holder Speech- TEXT

Thousand Kites

Center for Media Justice

The post Making Contact – 2013: The Year the Criminal Justice System Changed? appeared first on KPFA.

Native American women experience the highest rates of violence of any other group in the United States. One in three native women have been victims of sexual assault and the murder rate of indigenous women is consistently higher than the national average. On this edition, Andrea Smith, author of “Conquest: Sexual Violence and Native American Genocide” explains the connection between violence against women, and the colonization of native lands and bodies.

A note of warning: Andrea Smith’s presentation includes descriptions of racial and sexual violence, so please be forewarned.

Featuring:  

Andrea Smith, author of “Conquest: Sexual Violence and American Indian
Genocide”

More information:

Andrea Smith

Incite! Women of Color Against Violence

South End Press

AlJazeera Rapes of Native American women

Violence Against Native Women Gaining Global Attention

Amnesty International: Maze of Injustice

Violence Against Women Act Includes New Protections For Native American
Women

INCITE: Solidarity with Baby Veronica

SFWAR

The post Making Contact – Conquest: Sexual Violence and American Indian Genocide appeared first on KPFA.