Sojourner Truth Radio

Today on Sojourner Truth, Pierre Labossiere, founder of the Haiti Action Committee, and one of the most respected voices on Haitian politics,

joins Margaret Prescod for the hour to give us an update on the latest developments in Haiti. Labossiere will also dispel inaccuracies promoted by the mainstream media, and give us good news on the status of a forthcoming hospital.

Today on Sojourner Truth we bring you excerpts from a recent webinar titled, Haitian Voices of Resistance Today. Listeners receive an update on the crisis in Haiti from organizers on the ground.

Today on Sojourner Truth:

Our Friday roundtable panel is back with governing school board member Jackie Goldberg, Moores Professor of History & African-American Studies at the University of Houston and Director of the Americas program and international correspondent Laura Carlsen, joining Margaret Prescod for the hour to discuss the call for reparations since the passing of the Queen, the latest in the war in Ukraine and global realignments, Trump's threats regarding the ongoing investigation and much more.

Today on Sojourner Truth: International Journalist Laura Carlsen joins us for the hour to discuss the history of Chile's authoritarian regime, its remnants and its impact on the recent vote down of what could have been the first progressive constitution to be enacted in Latin America. What is the youngest, most progressive President of Chile Gabriel Boric, planning to do moving forward in an attempt to salvage this failed vote?

We also discuss Brazil and its impending presidential election, the danger President Jair Bolsonaro poses for Brazil if he chooses to follow suit with his threats, taking a page from former President Trump’s reaction to the Presidential election he lost to President Biden, claiming the election is rigged.

We conclude with a brief update on the 43 missing students in Guerrero Mexico.

According to the White House, there have been 3.6 million official eviction filings so far in 2022. We should expect the number of eviction filings to increase, given that Data from the US Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey released in 2021 found approximately 4.2 million adults report being at risk of eviction or foreclosure in July and August. The data indicated that those facing eviction are significantly more likely to be Black, Indigenous, Latinx, or other people of color.

Analysis by PolicyLink (Cal Matters) indicates that about 900,000 households in California are behind on rent, with an average of $4,600 in rental arrears.

Today on Sojourner Truth guest host Nana Gyamfi is joined by Pete White, Executive Director of the Los Angeles Community Action Network aka LACAN. LA CAN’s constituency consists of extremely low-income and homeless people, primarily those living in Downtown LA and South Central LA.

Christina Griffin and Natasha Brown of the California Black Power Network join Nana to discuss how they keep the fire burning for people-powered change.

Finally, Nana welcomes Onyemma Obiekea, the Policy Analyst for Black Women for Wellness (BWW) and its sister organization, Black Women for Wellness Action Project (BWWAP). Onyemma began her work in Reproductive Justice (RJ) as Program Coordinator for BWW’s Get Smart B4U Get Sexy Program the comprehensive sex and sexuality education program of the Organization’s RJ focused Project, Sisters in Control. Since then, she has continued her work in RJ in varying capacities and currently works on behalf of BWW/AP, to advance intersectional, transformative legislation that seeks to secure the health and wellbeing of Black women and Girls throughout California.

With the death of Queen Elizabeth and the succession of her eldest son, Charles III, there are

new calls from former and present-day British colonies for Britain to make amends by paying

reparations, issuing apologies, returning stolen artifacts and breaking with the British monarchy

as did the island nation of Barbados in the fall of 2021.

Queen Elizabeth was crowned in 1952 when more than a quarter of the world’s population were

under British rule–according to NPR that was more than 700 million people. The old saying

went: the sun never set on the British Empire, which included countries in Africa, Asia, the

Middle East, the Pacific and the Caribbean. And British imperial power was known for slavery,

massacres and other violence and theft. The resulting suffering was felt around the world, even

as the royal family accumulated great wealth, much of that wealth is secret. Even the crown

jewels of the late queen were stolen from India and South Africa.

Today we focus on the colonial impact and legacy of Britain, and demands for reparations and

other forms of reparatory justice. Our guests are:

Coumba Toure, Coordinator for Africans Rising for peace justice and dignity based in Dakar,

David Comissiong David Comissiong, attorney, writer and political activist and Ambassador to the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and active in the Caribbean Pan African Network; and Sungu Oyoo a writer and organizer at Kongamano La Mapinduzi, a political movement in Kenya. Oyoo is also part of MWAMKO, a vanguard of a way of thinking that aspires to another order of being and doing within the African continent and her dispersed diaspora.

Today on Sojourner Truth:

Guest host Nana Gyamfi, attorney and Black Alliance for Just Immigration Executive Director discusses the polluted water crisis occurring in Jackson Mississippi with her first guest Rukia Lumumba, attorney and Executive Director of Peoples' Advocacy Institute, who has been on the ground since the crisis began.

You will also hear excerpts from the recent UN Committee on Eliminating Racial Discrimination and their findings and recommendations. The UN committee cite abortion rights, reparations and policy brutality as three of the most pressing issues that require follow up from the US.

Maraky Alemreged with BAJI, joins Nana to discuss surveillance and the forthcoming abolition week.

Lastly, Matyos Kidane, organizer with Stop LAPD Spying joins Nana to contextualize mass policing at the local level in Los Angeles as well as the national level, keeping in mind Biden's recent plan to hire thousands more police making it clear he stands behind addressing national safety issues by funding the police.

Today on Sojourner Truth:

Our Friday panel round table discussion is back featuring international journalist and Director of the Americas Program Laura Carlsen, historian and Moores Professor of History & African American Studies, Dr. Gerald Horne and Los Angeles school board member Jackie Goldberg, joining host Margaret Prescod to discuss Biden's state of the union speech, the ongoing Department of Justice investigation involving former President Trump, left wing politics in South America, reactions to the passing of the former President of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorvachev across the Atlantic, and an update on Israeli-Palestinian relations.

Today on Sojourner Truth we bring you our annual Labor Day show honoring workers across the nation and and across the globe fighting for fair wages, working conditions and benefits. Our guests are Chairman of the LA Long Beach Labor Coalition Larry Barragan, National and CA organizer with Workers United, Evelyn Zepeda and Tyler Keeling, a Starbucks worker at one of the only unionized Starbucks in Southern CA who will share his experience during the recent workers’ strike protesting unfair labor practices.

Nichelle Nichols died of heart failure on Saturday July 30th in Silver City NM. She was 89 years old. Nichelle Nichols first appeared on Star Trek on Sept 8, 1966 as Lt. Nyota Uhura. She was one of the first Black women to have a leading role on TV according to the NYT. Star Trek was on TV from 1966 to 1969, but the show remains popular and iconic and Nichelles Uhura remains beloved by fans all over the world. Nichelle appeared in 66 episodes of Star Trek.

According to the NYT, In 1977 she became an ambassador of sorts for NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), she later spoke of her pride in recruiting the first Black and woman astronaut hopefuls. Her efforts resulted in over 2,600 women and people of color applicants. In 2012 she was a keynote speaker at the Goddard Space Center.

Our first guest is Lawrence Ware, Co-director of Oklahoma State University African Studies Program and a contributing writer to Slate, the NYT, The Root. Commentary on race and politics have appeared in the Huffington Post Live, on NPR and TV One.

Without the labor of farm workers the food supply chain in CA the nation and countries the US is trading with would be interrupted. Immigrant farm workers make up an estimated 73% of agriculture workers in the United States today. Farm labor is absolutely essential work that puts food on our tables across the country, powers the economy and supports our communities, from dairy farms in Wisconsin to strawberry fields in Florida and apple orchards in Washington.

Begun in 1962 by Cesar Chavez, Dolores Huerta, Gilbert Padilla, and other early organizers, the United Farm Workers of America is the nations first enduring and largest farm workers union. The UFW continues organizing in major agricultural sectors, chiefly in California. Through a series of marches, national consumer boycotts, and fasts, the United Farm Workers union attracted national headlines, gained labor contracts with higher wages and improved working conditions, galvanizing the Chicano movement.

The struggle of farm workers for their rights, and better wages and living conditions continues today. And now, the United Farm Workers(UFW) union is set to embark on a 24-day, 335-mile march from Delano to Sacramento to urge Gov. Gavin Newsom to sign the CA Agricultural Labor Relations Voting Choice Act (AB 2183) introduced by Assembly member Mark Stone, a Democrat from Santa Cruz, CA. that would permit farmworkers to vote from home giving farm workers protection from intimidation in elections to choose a union. Farmworkers and their supporters are set to arrive at the state Capitol on Aug. 26, a few days before the legislative session draws to a close.

The trek kicked off this Wednesday August 3rd at the farm workers historic Forty Acres complex in Delano, where the union began 60 years ago in September 1962. It ends at the state Capitol on August 26th. The march route traces the path of the historic Cesar Chavez-led 1966 peregrinacion or march, procession style, that first brought the farm workers grievances" which included: exposure to deadly chemicals, inadequate food and shelter, and sexual harassment, while receiving meager wages" before the nations conscience. We speak to Elizabeth Strater the strategic campaign director for the UFW.