The Activist Files Podcast

We’re finally over the mid-term hump, so The Activist Files checked in with organizers on the east and west coasts to find out how the results of the mid-terms will impact their organizing strategies. We asked six progressive organizers two questions: 1) Now that we’re beyond the mid-terms, share your reflections for how the results could impact the communities in which you organize, and 2) Thinking about the political climate we've been battling the last two years, what's next for you and the communities in which you organize? What's a priority? The organizers touched on subjects from comprehensive bail reform and voter suppression to the Safe and Supportive Schools Act and the effect public charge will have on education to militarism, the war, and lawmakers accepting contributions from defense contractors. Tune in to hear the organizers’ insightful views and thoughts for how moving forward they will advance their agenda. 

The organizers are:

• Sharhonda Bossier, deputy director, Education Leaders of Color
• Andrea Colon, community engagement organizer, Rockaway Youth Taskforce
• Brittany DeBarros, co-director, Drop the MIC Campaign, About Face
• Jacinta Gonzalez, senior campaign organizer, Mijente
• Reggie Harris, deputy field director, Color of Change PAC
• Stanley Fritz, NYC campaign manager, Citizen Action of New York

On this bonus episode of The Activist Files, guest host and Senior Legal Worker Leah Todd talks to Bertha Justice Fellow Lupe Aguirre and Staff Attorney Angelo Guisado, who have just returned from the southern border at Tijuana, where they provided hands on legal support to asylum-seekers, along with Center for Constitutional Rights client and partner Al Otro Lado. Lupe and Angelo discuss what they witnessed, the differences in the way the media describes the situation and what is actually happening on the ground, and our case challenging Donald Trump’s unlawful attempt to limit asylum. They also describe uplifting moments, including attending three weddings in one week! Give it a listen and share this first-hand account of the caravan—in Angelo’s words, “an organized response to the collective need to seek safe-haven and refuge.” 

Al Otro Lado
New Sanctuary Coalition
Hope Border Institute
Detained Migrants Solidary Committee
Immigrant Defenders Law Center
CHIRLA

On the eighth episode of The Activist Files, Center for Constitutional Rights Advocacy Program Manager Nahal Zamani speaks with S’bu Zikode, a founding member and president of Abahlali baseMjondolo, the shack dwellers’ movement in South Africa. S’bu is one of the leaders of Abahlali baseMjondolo, one of the largest peoples’ movements to emerge in post-apartheid South Africa. S’bu talks to Nahal about what is at stake, how the movement rises above violent repression, and what the U.S. can learn from South Africa in this political moment. Listen to one of the most inspiring activists we know and work with. 

On the seventh episode of The Activist Files, your frequent host Senior Legal Worker Ian Head is joined by CCR Communications Director Chandra Hayslett to interview Jaribu Hill, a  civil and human rights attorney and the Executive Director of Mississippi Workers Center for Human Rights. Jaribu is also a former Ella Baker intern at CCR and former director of the CCR’s southern regional office. In the words of CCR Executive Director Vince Warren, if you have an activist, a lawyer, and a storyteller you can change the world—and Jaribu is all three. Listen to the interview to learn all she’s done and continues to do to change the world—from her early involvement with CCR as cultural artist, to her decision to practice law, to her current work using human rights framework to fight discrimination in housing, employment, and voting.