Sojourner Truth Radio

Today on Sojourner Truth we bring you our Black August Special featuring George Jackson. George Jackson was born in Chicago Illinois. He was one of five children. He was arrested in Northern California 1961 when he was 19 years old for allegedly attempting to rob a gas station at gun point for $600. He was sentenced to 1 year to life in prison and he spent the next 11 years in prison, most of those years were in solitary confinement.

While in prison George became a revolutionary, an organizer and an author. He along with fellow prisoner W.L. Nolan founded the Third World Coalition and founded the San Quentin Prison chapter of the Black Panther Party. He was becoming well-known in radical circles in the US and internationally. He was dubbed a trouble-maker for his revolutionary views and activities by prison authorities.

In 1970 W.L. Nolan was killed by a prison guard, this after Nolan had planned to file a lawsuit against the superintendent in the prison where he was held. George Jackson and two other prisoners, Fletta Drumgo and John Clutchette were later accused of killing a prison guard in retaliation for Nolan’s murder. They became known as the Soledad Brothers and were cause-celebrities of the Black and other radical movements. They gained the support of Angela Davis who visited George Jackson while he was in prison.

A month after his brother Jonathan Jackson and two other prisoners were killed attempting to free prisoners, George Jackson was killed in 1971 by prison guards. In response to George’s murder the New York State based Attica Prison uprising took place just weeks after George’s murder. 1,500 prisoners released a manifesto with their demands and controlled the prison for four days. The then governor of NY ordered that the prison be stormed by law enforcement and 29 prisoners were killed, none of the prisoners were armed with guns.

Today George Jackson is remembered as a revolutionary who fought for his freedom and the freedom of others. His two books include Blood in My Eye and Soledad Brother: The Prison Letters of George Jackson. To this day, we are told that any prisoner in California found with even the name George Jackson anywhere on his person or in his cell is disciplined.

We will hear reflections on George Jackson from Dr. Angela Davis, James Baldwin, Sundiata Tate, Walida Imarisha and Rachel Herzing featured in the Freedom Archives 99 Books digital series.

Today on Sojourner Truth, we are bringing you a special broadcast on the environment: Part 4 of Hoodwinked in the Hothouse series: Greenwashing Disaster Capital.

This is the fourth panel of a series that builds on the momentum created by the most recent report titled: HOODWINKED IN THE HOTHOUSE (THIRD EDITION): RESIST FALSE SOLUTIONS TO CLIMATE CHANGE.

Moderated by Tom Goldtooth of the Indigenous Environmental Network and co-organized by the Hoodwinked Collaborative and The New School.

As part of President Biden's infrastructure plan, federal and state governments are providing billions in so-called climate subsidies, policy incentives and tax breaks to dangerous and dirty energy industries. These include: biomass and waste incinerators; nuclear power, and carbon capture and storage (CCS) infrastructure for fossil-fuel facilities.

The direct impact is to frontline and environmental justice communities who are facing increased pollution burdens and toxic threats.

In part 4 the speakers examine and present data for how movement concepts, narratives and knowledge are co-opted to promote a corporate agenda.

Todays panel discussion highlights emergent threats of climate false solutions across U.S. federal and state policy landscapes. Panelists are community campaigners, community leaders, researchers, and frontline organizations who are fighting the myths associated with carbon capture and storage, nuclear, hydrogen, biofuels and waste incineration. Along with debunking what they see as false climate crisis solutions, they also highlight inspiring stories of success led by environmental justice communities.

They point out that to effectively move money away from dangerous policy directions and towards real climate justice solutions, coalition building is needed amongst national green groups, labor

unions, climate philanthropy, and policymakers who should work with frontline communities in opposing these schemes.

Today on Sojourner Truth we discuss the possibilities and limitations of radical social change under progressive governments with Mexico City-based-journalist and Sojourner Truth regular Laura Carlsen. We focus on: Columbia, Chile, Honduras and Mexico for the first half of the hour.

Our second guest is also a regular guest, Dr. Gerald Horne fills us in on key developments in Africa. This, as the continent is increasingly a target of influence by Russia, China and Western powers. The reality on the ground? 346 million people, a quarter of the entire population of The Continent are facing

starvation due to drought exacerbated by climate change, the violence on people and the environment as a result of poverty, internal proxy wars and corruption, the war in Ukraine as grain exports from Ukraine plummeted due to the war there. Meanwhile, Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov has embarked on a tour of four African nations, and French President Macron is also touring three African countries,while China has outpaced the EU as a major trading partner on the Continent. Africa no doubt is at the heart of what many are calling a new Cold War.

Today we bring you an update on the crisis of the violent military occupation of Myanmar, formerly known as Burma. Earlier this week the military occupiers of Myanmar executed four human rights campaigners. They were found guilty in secret trials.

There was a military coup in Myanmar carried out on Feb 1, 2021. People responded with peaceful protests, with garment workers, the majority of whom are women at the forefront of the protests. The military responded by killing thousands, and many more have been arrested, and rape and torture happen in custody. Many may recall that the military in an earlier operation committed genocide and other atrocities against the Rohingya people. Other lesser- known ethic groups were also attacked and brutalized. Hundreds of thousands were forced to flee their homes. In this round of conflict thousands have also been forced to flee including the tribal Karen people many of whom have had to flee into the forests with their children.

International outrage is growing in part as a result of the recent executions, but also a global campaign has been launched against fashion brands still doing business in Myanmar despite a call from trade unions in Myanmar for the fashion brands to pull out and do it in a way that ensures transparency and that compensation be paid to workers and that they contribute humanitarian aid to people in Myanmar. Well-known brands in the U.S. still doing business in Myanmar where wages of garment workers are $2.50 a day include: Adidas, Guess, H&M and Zara.

There is a bill in the US Congress now called the Burma Act calling for sanctions vs the Myanmar military as well as for humanitarian aid to the people. The bill is now held up in the US Senate. However, the bill fails to call for companies based in the US to pull out of Myanmar. Many companies that pulled out of the Ukraine in protest of the Russian invasion of that country nevertheless have remained in Myanmar.

Under the banner Myanmar Military: Never in Fashion a series of protests have been held in London England against brands including Pimark who are still doing business in Myanmar.

Our guests are Khaing Zar Aun, President of the Industrial Workers Federation of Myanmar, and London, England-based Laura Watson who works with the Myanmar Military: Never in Fashion campaign and the Global Women’s Strike.

Today on Sojourner Truth as we celebrate the 63rd birthday of one of Pacifica Radio's stations, KPFK in California, delving into the rich history of the PRA archives and its ties to our listener sponsored radio station model, the first of its kind.

Host Margaret Prescod guides the listener through Pacifica radio history playing excerpts from an exclusive Sojourner Truth interview with Toni Morrison as well as Pacifica archival audio including the voices of Lena Horne, Patty Hearst and several other notable figures

Today on Sojourner Truth with guest host, Nana Gyamfi we bring you our coverage of How Cops Get Off, the new national groundbreaking campaign led by the Advancement Project National Office made more critical in light of the recent cases of police killings in the nation. After the George Floyd/Breanna Taylor summer uprisings, why is it still hard to hold Cops accountable?

We will also discuss new complaints of atrocities at Stewart ICE Detention Center in Georgia where more women and femmes keep coming forward alleging sexual abuse from medical personnel. What is being done to protect immigrant women from these abuses, particularly in a state where reproductive justice and body autonomy are under attack?

Today on Sojourner Truth, you will hear Part 4, the final episode of our series coverage of the Mass Poor People's & Low-Wage Workers' Assembly and Moral March on Washington and to the Polls, that took place in Washington D.C. on June 18, 2022.

The Poor People's Campaign is demanding that the 140 million poor and low-income people in our nation from every race, creed, color, sexuality and place are no longer ignored, dismissed or pushed to the margins of this country's political and social agenda.

In Part 4 of our coverage of the Mass Poor People's & Low-Wage Workers' Assembly and Moral March on Washington and to the Polls, you will hear from a variety of speakers including: Reverend William Barber II, co-chair of the Poor People's Campaign, Professor and philosopher Dr. Cornel West, healthcare reform organizers, faith leaders, former Vice President Al Gore along with other organizers taking action to address the present climate crisis.

You will also hear testimonies from poor and low income people resiliently surviving gun violence, generational poverty ensued by low wage work, underfunded public education, mass incarceration and the repercussions of war, all in the midst of their continued fight for fair wages and services for their labor.

Today on Sojourner Truth we bring you Part 3 of our series coverage of the Mass Poor People's & Low-Wage Workers' Assembly and Moral March on Washington and to the Polls, you will hear from a variety of speakers including: Reverend William Barber II, co-chair of the Poor Peoples Campaign, writer Phyllis Bennis, Planned Parenthood, immigration reform and prison reform organizers, faith leaders, and the testimonies from poor and low income people from across the U.S. detailing their first-hand experience with interlacing injustices: infringement on women's bodies and reproductive rights, generational poverty ensued by low wage work and the war economy/militarism and misallocation of resources, all of which are facilitated by what the PPC refers to as" a distorted moral narrative of religious nationalism, that needs to be reconstructed," in order to end these oppressive injustices once and for all.

Today on Sojourner Truth, we bring you Part 2 of our coverage of the Mass Poor People's & Low-Wage Workers' Assembly and Moral March on Washington and to the Polls that was organized by the Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival.

The Poor People's Campaign is demanding that the 140 million poor and low-income people in our nation " from every race, creed, color, sexuality and place " are no longer ignored, dismissed or pushed to the margins of this country's political and social agenda.

The economic and social costs of poverty and the injustices of systemic racism, militarism and ecological devastation are unsustainable. The United States has the wealth to end these interlocking injustices, so why isn't ending poverty a priority for policy makers? Why can millions be found for war and occupation but not extend a program that lifted millions of children out of poverty?

The welfare rights movement encouraged Dr. Martin Luther King to focus on poverty and months before his assassination Dr. King called for the first Poor People's Campaign. By the time he called for the Poor People's Campaign Dr. King had evolved far beyond focusing solely on civil rights, to campaigning against the inter-locking injustices of racism, poverty and war.

Four years ago, growing out of the Moral Mondays Movement that took hold in the South of the US, Rev William Barber the II and Rev Liz Theoharis, a multiracial team restarted the Poor Peoples' Campaign. Their focus is what is referred to by the PPC as the pillars of evil, the interlocking injustices: racism, poverty, the war economy, ecological devastation and the nations twisted moral narrative. Since then they have grown into a massive movement with bases in 43 states across the U.S.

In 2022 that movement came together in Washington DC for a Poor People's & Low-Wage Workers' Assembly and Moral March on Washington and to the Polls.

There are 140 million poor and low-income people in the U.S., internationally there are many many more. Every day, poverty takes an enormous toll on all who experience it. The economic and social costs of poverty and the injustices of systemic racism, militarism and ecological devastation are unsustainable. Yet billions of dollars continue to be allocated to U.S. involvement in foreign wars and destabilization abroad. The U.S. has the wealth to end these interlocking issues so why isn't ending poverty a priority for U.S. policymakers?

Today on Sojourner Truth, we unpack this reality as we bring you live coverage of the 2022 Poor People's Campaign Assembly brought to you by Pacifica Radio.

The Mass Poor People's & Low-Wage Workers' Assembly and Moral March on Washington and to the Polls took place in Washington D.C. on June 18, 2022.

In Part 1 of our series, you will hear live coverage of the Mass Poor People's & Low-Wage Workers' Assembly and Moral March on Washington and to the Polls, from a variety of speakers including: Reverend William Barber, writer Phyllis Bennis, Reverend Sekinah Hamlin, and you will hear testimonies from poor and low income people from across the country.

Tens of thousands of people lined Pennsylvania Avenue and even more watched online as impacted people shared their stories involving voting rights, the nations failure to respond to COVID, especially among poor communities, workplace rights, the need for health care and living wages, and the day-to-day struggle of not having enough money to survive. This event brought together generations of people from diverse backgrounds, poor and low-wealth people, state leaders, faith communities, moral allies, unions and partner and anchor organizations declaring their ongoing commitment to a moral movement to fully address poverty and low wealth from the bottom up.