Can dance and song offer insight into a person’s experience, and provoke curiosity, even empathy across national identity, race and gender? In this episode, Laura interviews MacArthur Genius Award-winning choreographer Okwui Okpokwasili about her groundbreaking experimental work to communicate the lived experiences of African and African American women through movement. Okpokwasili explains how she uses pain, action, gesture, and character-play to bypass audiences' preconceived notions and bring visibility to identities rendered invisible by mainstream culture and Laura stumps her with her own question: what do you carry and how does that carry you?

Support by becoming a member and help kick off our holiday fundraiser, go to https://Patreon.com/theLFShow

Okwui Okpokwasili: Visibility for the Invisible, Centering Black Women's Experiences in Performance

Award winning host, author and journalist Laura Flanders interviews forward-thinking people from the world of politics, business, culture and social movements. The show explores actionable models for creating a better world by reporting on the people and movements driving systemic change. We spotlight the solutions of tomorrow, today.  The show airs on PBS stations in over 200+  US markets, and airs on 50+ community radio stations, and is available on YouTube and here as a podcast. Online subscribers receive lots of video and audio web exclusives.  Recent specials include "Indigenous People's Power", "James Baldwin:  Lessons for the US", "Building Public Trust for Public Health", "Countering the Coup From the Grassroots Up". Recent special guests include Representative Karen Bass, environmental activist Jane Fonda, economist Robert Reich, author/activist Naomi Klein, agrarian reformer Shirley Sherrod, novelist Arundhati Roy, economist Michael Hudson and ’Next System” theorist Gar Alperovitz.

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Corporate greenwashing has hijacked Earth Day, but the ideas behind the holiday are more urgent than ever. There are environmental issues all around us, even within new stories like the Baltimore bridge collapse and the ongoing genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. On Meet the BIPOC Press, journalists of color discuss how the idea of the environment has been siloed and how the media can undo that.

“We are all the victims of unregulated runaway corporate capitalism. The chickens are coming home to roost after 40 years of deregulation, disinvestment, corporate consolidation, and Wall Street takeover of every vital industry.” - Maximilian Alvarez

“We've seen what happens when you report on climate stories. People don't click it. Why? Because it's a bummer. And as a comedian, we have to un-bummer this topic in any way we can.” - Francesca Fiorentini

“If you look at Flint, people got together and to a great degree did it themselves. It wasn't the state of Michigan that was blaring the alarm bells about the water. It was the people who lived in Flint . . . It's going to be that kind of ground-up people power that is going to be the stuff of solutions if we're going to find them at all.” - Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò

Guests:
Maximillian Alvarez: Editor-in-Chief, The Real News Network; Author, The Work of Living
Francesca Fiorentini: Host, The Bitchuation Room Podcast
Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò: Associate Professor Philosophy, Georgetown University; Author, Reconsidering Reparations

April 2024 The Laura Flanders Show is now ‘Laura Flanders & Friends’. This change marks a new era for the award-winning host, Laura Flanders.  The upcoming season will introduce a collaborative hosting format, featuring a diverse array of co-hosts from different backgrounds and different regions of the country. Expect new faces, unique perspectives, and impactful conversations that will leave viewers feeling inspired.  The show is made possible by our members.

Is Earth Day Still Relevant? Breaking Silos with Meet the BIPOC Press

Thanks for taking the time to listen to the full conversation from our episode “Not Wanted at Harvard? BIPOC Media on Claudine Gay, Anti-Zionism & Diversity in Education.”   These full uncut conversations are made possible thanks to our member supporters. We are an independent media organization that is dependent on our member supporters.  Please consider becoming a monthly supporter for a few dollars a month… go to https://Patreon.com/LauraFlandersandFriends

Dr. Claudine Gay made history as the first Black President of Harvard. She faced fierce backlash over the school’s statements on the Israel-Hamas War, which ultimately led to her resignation. We unpack the crusade against Gay, diversity, and the lack of support that students and faculty of color receive from their universities. Hear what the media got right — and wrong — about this story.

“Academia is not an inclusive space. Academia is a hard place for many people, and we have to decide if we want institutions that are diverse and inclusive of multiple viewpoints . . . We belong and we contribute.” - Zaire Dinzey-Flores

“There’s a new age of McCarthyism taking place not only in academic spaces, but also media spaces. We're seeing reporters losing their jobs or being forced to resign if they have a pro-Palestinian stance. In academia, we're seeing regulations on campuses that say that you have to support Israel, almost like in the McCarthy era where you had to denounce communism in order to get a job.” - Amir Khafagy

“If the university is supposed to be the marketplace of ideas, why are Black people and people of color's ideas, advocacy and activism always targeted, surveilled and pushed out?” - Jamiee Swift

Guests:
• Zaire Dinzey-Flores: Associate Professor & Chair of Latino and Caribbean Studies, Rutgers University
• Amir Khafagy (Co-host): Journalist, Report for America Member, Documented
• Jaimee Swift: Founder, Black Women Radicals; Professor of Black Politics

Full Conversation- Not Wanted at Harvard? BIPOC Media on Claudine Gay, Anti-Zionism & Diversity in Education

Is 2024 the year of trust-busting? This bipartisan issue of small versus big is a fight taking place on the streets and in the federal and state courts; led by grassroots movements and consumer protest. How have people power and government action together brought about a shift? Is it real? The Biden administration has stepped up anti-trust action, but the number of merger filings is also up.

Guests:
•  Stacy Mitchell: Co-Executive Director, Institute for Local Self-Reliance
•  Matt Stoller: Research Director, American Economic Liberties Project; Publisher, BIG & Author, Goliath: The Hundred Year War Between Monopoly Power and Democracy

April 2024 The Laura Flanders Show is now ‘Laura Flanders & Friends’. This change marks a new era for the award-winning host, Laura Flanders.  The upcoming season will introduce a collaborative hosting format, featuring a diverse array of co-hosts from different backgrounds and different regions of the country. Expect new faces, unique perspectives, and impactful conversations that will leave viewers feeling inspired.  The show is made possible by our members.

Trust-Busting 2024 with Stacy Mitchell & Matt Stoller: A Bipartisan Battle Against Monopoly Power

The following full uncut conversation is from our recent episode "Idaho’s United Vision Project: Confronting Extremism in America's Heartland."  These full uncut conversations are made possible thanks to our member supporters.

As the 2024 presidential election campaign heats up, Idaho is not a place that Democratic campaign strategists will be thinking about, but writing off places like Idaho is a mistake, say two anti-authoritarian activists based in the Northwest. In this episode, Laura asks her guests why places like Idaho — one of the most conservative states in the country — remain so important to US democracy.

Guests:
• Adrienne Evans: Executive Director, United Vision for Idaho
• Scot Nakagawa: Director, 22nd Century Initiative

Full Conversation-  Idaho’s United Vision Project: Confronting Extremism in America's Heartland

SPECIAL INVITE:  Tuesday, April 9, 2024 at 7pm Eastern join us for our Season Premiere Watch Party for our first episode as Laura Flanders & Friends featuring Angela Davis;  then join Laura afterwards to discuss the interview and share your thoughts.  Subscribe to our newsletter for all the details at LauraFlanders.org

In this first episode of Laura Flanders & Friends (formerly The Laura Flanders Show), Laura is joined by Angela Davis, a leading voice in the movement for abolition and feminism who has lots to share about her evolution and how decades of activism are coming together. From Palestine to elections, to our carceral state and collective liberation, this kickoff conversation is packed with her insight.

Guest:  Angela Y. Davis: Professor, Activist, Scholar & Writer; Author, Abolition: Politics, Practices, Promises, Vol. 1.

April 2024 The Laura Flanders Show is rebranding as ‘Laura Flanders & Friends’:  This change marks a new era for the award-winning host, Laura Flanders.  The upcoming season will introduce a collaborative hosting format, featuring a diverse array of co-hosts from different backgrounds and different regions of the country. Expect new faces, unique perspectives, and impactful conversations that will leave viewers feeling inspired.

Okwui Okpokwasili: Visibility for the Invisible, Centering Black Women's Experiences in Performance

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