Sojourner Truth Radio

News Headlines: July 7, 2020 by Sojourner Truth with Margaret Prescod

Today on Sojourner Truth:

In May 1967, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. famously said: "it is necessary for us to realize that we have moved from the era of civil rights to the era of human rights." Later that year, in December 1967, the Rev. Dr. King publicized plans to bring together poor people from across the United States for a new march on Washington. The march was to demand better jobs, better homes, better education, and overall, better lives for the poor. In March 1968, the first gathering of over fifty multiracial organizations came together to join the Poor Peoples Campaign in Atlanta, Georgia, to plan a Poor Peoples March on Washington later that summer. Although the Rev. Dr. King was tragically assassinated the following month, the Poor Peoples Campaign moved ahead. Thousands gathered from around the United States and occupied the National Mall in Washington, D.C., where they established Resurrection City. There, they remained from May 12 (Mothers Day) until June 24, 1968, when they were forcefully evicted. Fifty-two years later " amid worsening poverty, systemic racism, war and ecological devastation " the Poor Peoples Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival is continuing that struggle. It is a fusion movement.

On Saturday, June 20, 2020, millions of people in the U.S. and around the world participated in the Mass Poor Peoples Assembly and Moral March on Washington, D.C., a digital justice gathering. The digital gathering brought together poor and impacted people from diverse backgrounds who spoke out against their inter-connected injustices. Together, they are building a groundbreaking new fusion movement, led and organized by poor and impacted people. The 2020 Mass Poor Peoples Assembly and Moral March on Washington, D.C. was organized under the leadership of co-chairs Rev. Dr. William J. Barber and Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis. Today on Sojourner Truth, we bring you Part 3 of the historic event. During todays program, you will hear more testimony, solidarity messages and performances from the 2020 Mass Poor Peoples Assembly and Moral March on Washington, D.C.

Today on Sojourner Truth, a special roundtable as the nation marks the Fourth of July.

We discuss the foundation on which the United States was built. We also discuss what the Fourth of July has meant for the conquered, the U.S. wars with Mexico, the expansion of the United States and Black, Indigenous and Latinx relationships. What is the shared history? What have been the conflicts? As the movement against racism is on the rise, Black Lives Matter protests are now the largest in the history of the United States. How are brown communities addressing anti-Black racism? How are Black communities addressing anti-immigrant sentiment? Does history itself need to be retold reflecting the true history of Black and Brown history?

Our guests are Roxanne Dunbar Ortiz, Bill Gallegos and Dr. Gerald Horne.

Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz is a historian, author, memoirist, and speaker who researches Western Hemisphere history and international human rights. She is the author of "An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States" and "Roots of Resistance: A History of Land Tenure in New Mexico." Her forthcoming book is "Not 'A Nation of Immigrants': Settler Colonialism, White Supremacy, and a History of Erasure and Exclusion."

Bill Gallegos is a longtime Chicano Liberation and Environmental Justice activist. He is the author of "The Sunbelt Strategy and Chicano Liberation, and Reflections on The Green Economy." He is also the former executive director of Communities for a Better Environment, one of the leading environmental justice organizations in the U.S. Bill recently authored an article entitled "Ethnic Cleansing: A Program of Resistance." He is also the author of the article "The Historical and Political Significance of the US Annexation of Mexico's Northern Territories."

Dr. Gerald Horne, Moores Professor of History & African-American Studies at the University of Houston, has written more than 30 books. His most recently published book is "The Dawning of the Apocalypse: The Roots of Slavery, White Supremacy, Settler Colonialism, and Capitalism in the Long Sixteenth Century," published in June 2020. He is also the author of "White Supremacy Confronted: U.S. Imperialism and Anti-communism vs. the Liberation of Southern Africa, From Rhodes to Mandela," "Jazz and Justice: Racism and the Political Economy of the Music," "Facing the Rising Sun: African Americans, Japan and the Rise of Afro-Asian Solidarity," "The Apocalypse of Settler Colonialism: The Roots of Slavery, White Supremacy and Capitalism in Seventeenth-Century North America and the Caribbean," and "Storming the Heavens: African Americans and the Early fight for the Right to Fly."

Today on Sojourner Truth, a special roundtable as the nation marks the Fourth of July.

We discuss the foundation on which the United States was built. We also discuss what the Fourth of July has meant for the conquered, the U.S. wars with Mexico, the expansion of the United States and Black, Indigenous and Latinx relationships. What is the shared history? What have been the conflicts? As the movement against racism is on the rise, Black Lives Matter protests are now the largest in the history of the United States. How are brown communities addressing anti-Black racism? How are Black communities addressing anti-immigrant sentiment? Does history itself need to be retold reflecting the true history of Black and Brown history?

Our guests are Roxanne Dunbar Ortiz, Bill Gallegos and Dr. Gerald Horne.

Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz is a historian, author, memoirist, and speaker who researches Western Hemisphere history and international human rights. She is the author of "An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States" and "Roots of Resistance: A History of Land Tenure in New Mexico." Her forthcoming book is "Not 'A Nation of Immigrants': Settler Colonialism, White Supremacy, and a History of Erasure and Exclusion."

Bill Gallegos is a longtime Chicano Liberation and Environmental Justice activist. He is the author of "The Sunbelt Strategy and Chicano Liberation, and Reflections on The Green Economy." He is also the former executive director of Communities for a Better Environment, one of the leading environmental justice organizations in the U.S. Bill recently authored an article entitled "Ethnic Cleansing: A Program of Resistance." He is also the author of the article "The Historical and Political Significance of the US Annexation of Mexico's Northern Territories."

Dr. Gerald Horne, Moores Professor of History & African-American Studies at the University of Houston, has written more than 30 books. His most recently published book is "The Dawning of the Apocalypse: The Roots of Slavery, White Supremacy, Settler Colonialism, and Capitalism in the Long Sixteenth Century," published in June 2020. He is also the author of "White Supremacy Confronted: U.S. Imperialism and Anti-communism vs. the Liberation of Southern Africa, From Rhodes to Mandela," "Jazz and Justice: Racism and the Political Economy of the Music," "Facing the Rising Sun: African Americans, Japan and the Rise of Afro-Asian Solidarity," "The Apocalypse of Settler Colonialism: The Roots of Slavery, White Supremacy and Capitalism in Seventeenth-Century North America and the Caribbean," and "Storming the Heavens: African Americans and the Early fight for the Right to Fly."

Today on Sojourner Truth:

We bring you the voice of Mike Africa Jr., a member of the MOVE Organization. He tackles issues of mass incarceration, police brutality, environmental protection and systemic oppression.

Also, Dr. Melina Abdullah, the founder and coordinator of Black Lives Matter Los Angeles on defunding the police in communities and in public schools.

For our weekly Earth Watch, we speak with Dr. Lauren Gifford, a human-environment geographer exploring the intersections of global climate change policy, conservation, markets and justice. We discuss carbon offsets.

Today on Sojourner Truth:

We bring you the voice of Mike Africa Jr., a member of the MOVE Organization. He tackles issues of mass incarceration, police brutality, environmental protection and systemic oppression.

Also, Dr. Melina Abdullah, the founder and coordinator of Black Lives Matter Los Angeles on defunding the police in communities and in public schools.

For our weekly Earth Watch, we speak with Dr. Lauren Gifford, a human-environment geographer exploring the intersections of global climate change policy, conservation, markets and justice. We discuss carbon offsets.

Today on Sojourner Truth:

We bring you the voice of Mike Africa Jr., a member of the MOVE Organization. He tackles issues of mass incarceration, police brutality, environmental protection and systemic oppression.

Also, Dr. Melina Abdullah, the founder and coordinator of Black Lives Matter Los Angeles on defunding the police in communities and in public schools.

For our weekly Earth Watch, we speak with Dr. Lauren Gifford, a human-environment geographer exploring the intersections of global climate change policy, conservation, markets and justice. We discuss carbon offsets.

Today on Sojourner Truth:

We bring you the voice of Mike Africa Jr., a member of the MOVE Organization. He tackles issues of mass incarceration, police brutality, environmental protection and systemic oppression.

Also, Dr. Melina Abdullah, the founder and coordinator of Black Lives Matter Los Angeles on defunding the police in communities and in public schools.

For our weekly Earth Watch, we speak with Dr. Lauren Gifford, a human-environment geographer exploring the intersections of global climate change policy, conservation, markets and justice. We discuss carbon offsets.

Today on Sojourner Truth:

We bring you the voice of Mike Africa Jr., a member of the MOVE Organization. He tackles issues of mass incarceration, police brutality, environmental protection and systemic oppression.

Also, Dr. Melina Abdullah, the founder and coordinator of Black Lives Matter Los Angeles on defunding the police in communities and in public schools.

For our weekly Earth Watch, we speak with Dr. Lauren Gifford, a human-environment geographer exploring the intersections of global climate change policy, conservation, markets and justice. We discuss carbon offsets.

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