Sojourner Truth Radio

Today on Sojourner Truth for our Weekly Broadcast, we take a deep dive into the situation on the ground in Haiti. Next month will mark the 20th anniversary of the US/Canada/France supported coup against Haiti’s first democratically elected President, Jean Bertrand Aristide. The crisis facing Haiti today from death squads referred in the media as gangs, to an unelected government cannot be separated from the 2004 coup. The instability that followed the coup is deeply connected to the US aiming to control the Presidency of Haiti, and so the efforts across political parties and civil society activists in Haiti to implement a Haiti led solution to the present crisis has been undermined by western powers every inch of the way.

And now Guy Phillippe one of the CIA trained leaders of the 2004 coup was released from the US prison and within weeks of his release, the international main-stream media are hailing Phillippe as the leader of the opposition in Haiti! Who is Guy Phillippe, what role has he played over the past decades in Haiti? Why is he now being heralded by the forces that be?

Meanwhile the Supreme Court in Kenya has blocked Kenya from sending Kenya police to lead a US financed force in Haiti. The President of Kenya is appealing the court’s decision. Why is the US, while not committing its own troops, pressing so hard for yet another occupying force to be sent to Haiti, this time led by Black nations? Our guest is Norluck Dorange a senior journalist in Haiti.

As what is being dubbed a genocide going on in Gaza, with now over 25,000 killed the majority of whom are women and children, and with over 62,000 injured. The US anti-war movement is struggling to impact the US Congress and President Biden to actively call for and work for a ceasefire, as well as to stop funding Israel’s military operation. The US historically provides over $3 billion in aid each year to Israel, the largest to any other country. Additionally, the Biden administration bypassed Congress through an emergency provision in the Arms Export Control Act to sell Israel $106 million worth of tank ammunition. Biden’s unilateral support for Israeli policies in Gaza has earned him the moniker “Genocide Joe”. Our guest is Kevin Martin, President of Peace Action and Peace Action Education Fund.

And there is news on the Child Tax Credit. After millions of families were disappointed when Congress allowed the popular expanded CTC to expire after one year, there is new hope for a bi-partisan deal to bring back some elements of the expanded CTC. But who will be left out of the credit? The Expanded CTC lifted at least 4 million children out of poverty and cut child hunger by ¼. In contrast the new bipartisan proposal under pressure from the GOP would roll back some of the earlier gains of the Expanded CTC. The new proposal would lift 400,000 children out of poverty leaving behind millions of the most impoverished. Congresswoman DeLauro who has championed the CTC for over two decades said that the bi-partisan CTC proposal “will keep millions of children in preventable poverty.” Most NGO advocates on Capitol Hill including the Children’s Defense Fund, Economic Security Project and others are supporting the bi-partisan compromise though they admit it doesn’t go far enough out of fear of no action in this Congress on the CTC and with the hope that it can be improved on in 2025.

We will hear remarks by Congresswoman Gwen Moore a champion in Congress against poverty, as she spoke during the House Ways and Means Committee Hearing this past Friday on the proposed compromise. And our guest is Phoebe Jones Schellenberg who has been actively supporting bringing back the expanded CTC. Phoebe is with Care Income Now and is a co-coordinator of the Global Women’s Strike in the US.

Amidst the ongoing attack on Gaza, MECA team and partners are providing emergency assistance to families who have fled their homes to seek shelter with relatives as well as procuring emergency medical supplies for hospitals and clinics. They are procuring food and hygiene supplies from stores, warehouses, factories and farmers and delivering them directly to displaced families every single day. Their grassroots network are able to reach displaced families who are with friends, relatives, neighbors and in informal shelters. They have a remarkable and courageous team on the ground made of staff, volunteers, and partner organizations who are responding to the urgent needs of children and families under attack.

Censorship is increasing on university campuses across the nation against those who speak out in support of Palestinians or critiques the Israeli government policies. Also, from the film to other industries people are being penalized for speaking out in support of Palestinians even on social media. Our guest is Arun Kundnani author of “ What is Anti-Racism” and “The Muslims are Coming”.

And Dr. Gerald Horne is back on ST to discuss his views on what is increasingly being called a genocide happening in Gaza, also attacks on the West Bank. He will also weigh in on what is happening in Sudan, where thousands of lives have been lost due to conflict there.

Today on our ST weekly broadcast, we continue our coverage of what millions of people around the world is calling a genocide happening in Gaza, this as we discuss the support for the Israeli actions by of conservative religious fundamentalists including some within the Black church. Our guest is Lawrence Ware, co-director of the Oklahoma State University Africana

Studies Program, he is also a journalist and commentator. And breaking news from south of the border. Argentina has overwhelmingly elected a new President who is a fan of Donald Trump who promises, he is extreme even to some on the right. How did this happen, what is he promising to do, what are the implications for Argentina as well as for other governments and countries in the region. Our guest is Mexico City based journalist Laura Carlsen.

Today on our Weekly Broadcast we continue our coverage of Israeli’s invasion of Gaza, its impact on Palestnian civilians including children and growing protests around the world calling for a cease !re. Our guests are Zeiad Abbas of the Middle East Children’s Alliance and Phyllis Bennis a Jewish writer and political commentator based in the US. She is an expert on the Middle East. Let us go to sound from one of the thousands of protests that have been going on around the world calling for a cease !re and a stop to the slaughter now going on in Gaza, this one from Chicago on Monday Nov a13th

Palestinian rights groups say about 1.5 million people are internally displaced in Gaza amid unrelenting Israeli bombardments, “the largest mass displacement of Palestinians in such a short period of time since the 1948 Nakba”.

United Nations says no life-saving fuel has been allowed into Gaza since October 7, risking the lives of 2.3 million Palestinians as essential services close.

March 1st marks the anniversary of the US backed 2004 coup vs Haiti’s first democratically elected government under Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Aristide was ousted in the 2004 coup after right-wing ex-army paramilitaries invaded the country from across the Dominican border. The United States helped orchestrate the coup against him. Aristide was later forced into exile in the Central African Republic and South Africa. The tactics that were used to remove Aristide from power twice are almost identical to the ones being used against Venezuela’s Maduro today.

Today 19 years later, Haiti continues to be destabilized under de facto Prime Minister Ariel Henry, the country is facing a resurfacing of cholera and an uptick in gang crime. We speak to organizers on the ground in Haiti to hear their perspectives: including Edouard “Pacha” Vorbe, founder and co-director of Fanmi Lavalas. Since 1998, Pacha Vorbe has been an active member of Fanmi Lavalas, the political organization headed by former President Jean Bertrand Aristide and supported by the vast majority of impoverished people in Haiti. As well as Pierre Labossiere, one of the most respected progressive voices on Haitian politics. Pierre Labossiere has dedicated his entire adult life advocating for the working poor in Haiti. Through the Haiti Action Committee, an organization that he co-founded, Labossiere has tirelessly championed grassroots efforts to improve education, bring about social justice, and develop a stable democracy for the people of his native country.

Workshop with Vijay Kumar: How Nature Regulates the Climate & How Natural Farming Can Help.

International Gathering: END WOMEN'S POVERTY - A Guaranteed Care Income for all caregivers for people & planet

In the wake of Georgia’s indictments of 61 people targeted for allegedly being part of the movement to #StopCopCity, we look at the intersection of the Black and Palestinian struggles.