Sojourner Truth Radio

Across the United States, COVID-19 is once again on the uptick, infecting and killing many who are the most vulnerable. More than 16 million cases have been confirmed in the U.S., according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. The U.S. is now counting more than 100,000 cases a day as the virus surges across the country. Overall, there have been more than 307,000 deaths from COVID-19 in the United States. One sector of society that is getting hit hard by COVID-19 and is not getting much attention is the U.S. prison population.

Imprisoned people, along with frontline workers and communities of color, are extremely vulnerable to the deadly virus and are being severely impacted by it. The United States currently has the largest incarcerated population in the world, with about 2.3 million people in jails and prisons across the country, according to the Prison Policy Initiative. More than half of them (nearly 1.3 million inmates) do not have the ability to socially distance or take the sanitary measures needed to slow the spread of the virus. The effects of cramped and unsanitary cells have been disastrous across the country. One incarcerated person who is fighting for their life is Russell Maroon Shoatz.

Today on Sojourner Truth, we bring you audio from a recent webinar entitled, We Are Maroon! A Teach In for Russell Maroon Shoatz. The webinar, which was dedicated to showing solidarity with Russell, featured a wide range of speakers. They include: Kempis Ghani Songster of the Amistad Law Project, Mike Africa Sr. of the MOVE Organization, Dr. Jean Schneider, Robert Saleem Holbrook of the Abolitionist Law Center, and Lavinia Vee, a human rights activist and counselor.

Across the United States, COVID-19 is once again on the uptick, infecting and killing many who are the most vulnerable. More than 16 million cases have been confirmed in the U.S., according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. The U.S. is now counting more than 100,000 cases a day as the virus surges across the country. Overall, there have been more than 307,000 deaths from COVID-19 in the United States. One sector of society that is getting hit hard by COVID-19 and is not getting much attention is the U.S. prison population.

Imprisoned people, along with frontline workers and communities of color, are extremely vulnerable to the deadly virus and are being severely impacted by it. The United States currently has the largest incarcerated population in the world, with about 2.3 million people in jails and prisons across the country, according to the Prison Policy Initiative. More than half of them (nearly 1.3 million inmates) do not have the ability to socially distance or take the sanitary measures needed to slow the spread of the virus. The effects of cramped and unsanitary cells have been disastrous across the country. One incarcerated person who is fighting for their life is Russell Maroon Shoatz.

Today on Sojourner Truth, we bring you audio from a recent webinar entitled, We Are Maroon! A Teach In for Russell Maroon Shoatz. The webinar, which was dedicated to showing solidarity with Russell, featured a wide range of speakers. They include: Kempis Ghani Songster of the Amistad Law Project, Mike Africa Sr. of the MOVE Organization, Dr. Jean Schneider, Robert Saleem Holbrook of the Abolitionist Law Center, and Lavinia Vee, a human rights activist and counselor.

Every year, on December 10, International Human Rights Day is celebrated across the world. The day was selected to honor the United Nations General Assembly's adoption and proclamation, on December 10, 1948, of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Its stated purpose is to celebrate one of the first major achievements of the United Nations. The day is normally marked by high-level political conferences and meetings, in which world leaders make vague promises to uphold human rights in their respective nations.

This year, in the United States, a diverse array of leaders from grassroots movements (including myself) marked the day by speaking out against homelessness and poverty. Millions of people across the United States are now at risk of becoming homeless because of the crisis and its economic impact. According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, over 550,000 people experience homelessness on a single night. California has the biggest homeless population in the country, with 129,000 experiencing homelessness on a single night.

Many of those are women, children and people of color. Campaigners for homeless rights, however, point out that these figures are likely low estimates, since they leave out dorm-less college students, people who are living in their cars, people who are temporarily staying with friends or family, and the housing insecure. In Los Angeles, there are at least 60,000 homeless people on the streets every night. Homeless encampments are springing up in every city across the United States. Nearly 140 million people in the United States live at or close to the poverty line, according to the Institute for Policy Studies. Women and children represent 73 percent of poor people in the United States, with a majority of them being Black and Brown.

Today on Sojourner Truth, we bring you exclusive audio from a webinar entitled, Winter Offensive Human Rights Day Virtual Gathering. The National Union of the Homeless and the National Welfare Rights Union, as part of what it calls the 2020 Winter Offensive, hosted a Human Rights Day Political Education and Panel Discussion Virtual Gathering in celebration of the anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The event highlighted the history of struggle in the U.S. for our basic needs as humans, such as housing, healthcare, a living wage, and an adequate standard of living and our general welfare. The panel included national organizers from various fronts of struggle discussing their work to unite poor people and building politically independent organizations.

Every year, on December 10, International Human Rights Day is celebrated across the world. The day was selected to honor the United Nations General Assembly's adoption and proclamation, on December 10, 1948, of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Its stated purpose is to celebrate one of the first major achievements of the United Nations. The day is normally marked by high-level political conferences and meetings, in which world leaders make vague promises to uphold human rights in their respective nations.

This year, in the United States, a diverse array of leaders from grassroots movements (including myself) marked the day by speaking out against homelessness and poverty. Millions of people across the United States are now at risk of becoming homeless because of the crisis and its economic impact. According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, over 550,000 people experience homelessness on a single night. California has the biggest homeless population in the country, with 129,000 experiencing homelessness on a single night.

Many of those are women, children and people of color. Campaigners for homeless rights, however, point out that these figures are likely low estimates, since they leave out dorm-less college students, people who are living in their cars, people who are temporarily staying with friends or family, and the housing insecure. In Los Angeles, there are at least 60,000 homeless people on the streets every night. Homeless encampments are springing up in every city across the United States. Nearly 140 million people in the United States live at or close to the poverty line, according to the Institute for Policy Studies. Women and children represent 73 percent of poor people in the United States, with a majority of them being Black and Brown.

Today on Sojourner Truth, we bring you exclusive audio from a webinar entitled, Winter Offensive Human Rights Day Virtual Gathering. The National Union of the Homeless and the National Welfare Rights Union, as part of what it calls the 2020 Winter Offensive, hosted a Human Rights Day Political Education and Panel Discussion Virtual Gathering in celebration of the anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The event highlighted the history of struggle in the U.S. for our basic needs as humans, such as housing, healthcare, a living wage, and an adequate standard of living and our general welfare. The panel included national organizers from various fronts of struggle discussing their work to unite poor people and building politically independent organizations.

Every year, on December 10, International Human Rights Day is celebrated across the world. The day was selected to honor the United Nations General Assembly's adoption and proclamation, on December 10, 1948, of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Its stated purpose is to celebrate one of the first major achievements of the United Nations. The day is normally marked by high-level political conferences and meetings, in which world leaders make vague promises to uphold human rights in their respective nations.

This year, in the United States, a diverse array of leaders from grassroots movements (including myself) marked the day by speaking out against homelessness and poverty. Millions of people across the United States are now at risk of becoming homeless because of the crisis and its economic impact. According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, over 550,000 people experience homelessness on a single night. California has the biggest homeless population in the country, with 129,000 experiencing homelessness on a single night.

Many of those are women, children and people of color. Campaigners for homeless rights, however, point out that these figures are likely low estimates, since they leave out dorm-less college students, people who are living in their cars, people who are temporarily staying with friends or family, and the housing insecure. In Los Angeles, there are at least 60,000 homeless people on the streets every night. Homeless encampments are springing up in every city across the United States. Nearly 140 million people in the United States live at or close to the poverty line, according to the Institute for Policy Studies. Women and children represent 73 percent of poor people in the United States, with a majority of them being Black and Brown.

Today on Sojourner Truth, we bring you exclusive audio from a webinar entitled, Winter Offensive Human Rights Day Virtual Gathering. The National Union of the Homeless and the National Welfare Rights Union, as part of what it calls the 2020 Winter Offensive, hosted a Human Rights Day Political Education and Panel Discussion Virtual Gathering in celebration of the anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The event highlighted the history of struggle in the U.S. for our basic needs as humans, such as housing, healthcare, a living wage, and an adequate standard of living and our general welfare. The panel included national organizers from various fronts of struggle discussing their work to unite poor people and building politically independent organizations.

Every year, on December 10, International Human Rights Day is celebrated across the world. The day was selected to honor the United Nations General Assembly's adoption and proclamation, on December 10, 1948, of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Its stated purpose is to celebrate one of the first major achievements of the United Nations. The day is normally marked by high-level political conferences and meetings, in which world leaders make vague promises to uphold human rights in their respective nations.

This year, in the United States, a diverse array of leaders from grassroots movements (including myself) marked the day by speaking out against homelessness and poverty. Millions of people across the United States are now at risk of becoming homeless because of the crisis and its economic impact. According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, over 550,000 people experience homelessness on a single night. California has the biggest homeless population in the country, with 129,000 experiencing homelessness on a single night.

Many of those are women, children and people of color. Campaigners for homeless rights, however, point out that these figures are likely low estimates, since they leave out dorm-less college students, people who are living in their cars, people who are temporarily staying with friends or family, and the housing insecure. In Los Angeles, there are at least 60,000 homeless people on the streets every night. Homeless encampments are springing up in every city across the United States. Nearly 140 million people in the United States live at or close to the poverty line, according to the Institute for Policy Studies. Women and children represent 73 percent of poor people in the United States, with a majority of them being Black and Brown.

Today on Sojourner Truth, we bring you exclusive audio from a webinar entitled, Winter Offensive Human Rights Day Virtual Gathering. The National Union of the Homeless and the National Welfare Rights Union, as part of what it calls the 2020 Winter Offensive, hosted a Human Rights Day Political Education and Panel Discussion Virtual Gathering in celebration of the anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The event highlighted the history of struggle in the U.S. for our basic needs as humans, such as housing, healthcare, a living wage, and an adequate standard of living and our general welfare. The panel included national organizers from various fronts of struggle discussing their work to unite poor people and building politically independent organizations.

Today on Sojourner Truth, we hear music from the The Freedom Singers performed live during the 50th anniversary conference of SNCC in Raleigh, North Carolina in 2010. Join us as we travel back in time and listen to the songs that mobilized millions of people across the country and around the world for peace and equality.

During the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 60s, music played an integral role in the inspiration and mobilization of Black and white people across the United States against racism and poverty. Groups like The Freedom Singers, which began as a student quartet in 1962 at Albany State College in Georgia, provided the soundtrack to the mass movement that was taking place in that era. Organizations like the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, known as SNCC, began using this music as a tool for progress.

The Freedom Singers were organized by Cordell Reagon in 1962. After witnessing the power of the singing in the Albany mass meetings, Pete Seeger suggested to James Forman that a singing group would be very supportive of the organization in building support, sharing information and raising funds. Cordell, one of the SNCC field secretaries who came to Albany, Georgia in 1961, was a tenor singer out of the Nashville sit-in movement. The youngest member of SNCCs staff, by 1961 he had been on the Freedom Rides, working in voter registration and participated in sit-in demonstrations. He formed the first group of Freedom Singers from the movements he had been active in across the country.

Overall, the power of congregational-style singing, fused with Black Baptist a cappella church singing and protest songs and chants, became instrumental in empowering and educating listeners about civil rights issues. It was also a powerful social weapon of influence in the fight against Jim Crow segregation.

Today on Sojourner Truth, we hear music from the The Freedom Singers performed live during the 50th anniversary conference of SNCC in Raleigh, North Carolina in 2010. Join us as we travel back in time and listen to the songs that mobilized millions of people across the country and around the world for peace and equality.

During the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 60s, music played an integral role in the inspiration and mobilization of Black and white people across the United States against racism and poverty. Groups like The Freedom Singers, which began as a student quartet in 1962 at Albany State College in Georgia, provided the soundtrack to the mass movement that was taking place in that era. Organizations like the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, known as SNCC, began using this music as a tool for progress.

The Freedom Singers were organized by Cordell Reagon in 1962. After witnessing the power of the singing in the Albany mass meetings, Pete Seeger suggested to James Forman that a singing group would be very supportive of the organization in building support, sharing information and raising funds. Cordell, one of the SNCC field secretaries who came to Albany, Georgia in 1961, was a tenor singer out of the Nashville sit-in movement. The youngest member of SNCCs staff, by 1961 he had been on the Freedom Rides, working in voter registration and participated in sit-in demonstrations. He formed the first group of Freedom Singers from the movements he had been active in across the country.

Overall, the power of congregational-style singing, fused with Black Baptist a cappella church singing and protest songs and chants, became instrumental in empowering and educating listeners about civil rights issues. It was also a powerful social weapon of influence in the fight against Jim Crow segregation.

Today on Sojourner Truth, we hear music from the The Freedom Singers performed live during the 50th anniversary conference of SNCC in Raleigh, North Carolina in 2010. Join us as we travel back in time and listen to the songs that mobilized millions of people across the country and around the world for peace and equality.

During the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 60s, music played an integral role in the inspiration and mobilization of Black and white people across the United States against racism and poverty. Groups like The Freedom Singers, which began as a student quartet in 1962 at Albany State College in Georgia, provided the soundtrack to the mass movement that was taking place in that era. Organizations like the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, known as SNCC, began using this music as a tool for progress.

The Freedom Singers were organized by Cordell Reagon in 1962. After witnessing the power of the singing in the Albany mass meetings, Pete Seeger suggested to James Forman that a singing group would be very supportive of the organization in building support, sharing information and raising funds. Cordell, one of the SNCC field secretaries who came to Albany, Georgia in 1961, was a tenor singer out of the Nashville sit-in movement. The youngest member of SNCCs staff, by 1961 he had been on the Freedom Rides, working in voter registration and participated in sit-in demonstrations. He formed the first group of Freedom Singers from the movements he had been active in across the country.

Overall, the power of congregational-style singing, fused with Black Baptist a cappella church singing and protest songs and chants, became instrumental in empowering and educating listeners about civil rights issues. It was also a powerful social weapon of influence in the fight against Jim Crow segregation.

Today on Sojourner Truth, we hear music from the The Freedom Singers performed live during the 50th anniversary conference of SNCC in Raleigh, North Carolina in 2010. Join us as we travel back in time and listen to the songs that mobilized millions of people across the country and around the world for peace and equality.

During the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 60s, music played an integral role in the inspiration and mobilization of Black and white people across the United States against racism and poverty. Groups like The Freedom Singers, which began as a student quartet in 1962 at Albany State College in Georgia, provided the soundtrack to the mass movement that was taking place in that era. Organizations like the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, known as SNCC, began using this music as a tool for progress.

The Freedom Singers were organized by Cordell Reagon in 1962. After witnessing the power of the singing in the Albany mass meetings, Pete Seeger suggested to James Forman that a singing group would be very supportive of the organization in building support, sharing information and raising funds. Cordell, one of the SNCC field secretaries who came to Albany, Georgia in 1961, was a tenor singer out of the Nashville sit-in movement. The youngest member of SNCCs staff, by 1961 he had been on the Freedom Rides, working in voter registration and participated in sit-in demonstrations. He formed the first group of Freedom Singers from the movements he had been active in across the country.

Overall, the power of congregational-style singing, fused with Black Baptist a cappella church singing and protest songs and chants, became instrumental in empowering and educating listeners about civil rights issues. It was also a powerful social weapon of influence in the fight against Jim Crow segregation.