Unconventional Journalist

Unconventional Journalist

By Sam OserNewsPolitics
Download on the App Store

Unconventional Journalist episodes

  • From Organizer to Running for Senate w/ Molly Cook

    Molly Cook, RN, ER nurse, an organizer and advocate for a more sustainable transportation future joins me to talk about her campaign for Texas Senate, District 15. We talk about:

    • How the system is built so the working class doesn't have flexibility in getting elected let alone participate in the legislative process
    • Her goals for if she's elected, and how she plans to get the community involved in the "democracy" largely owned by corporations
    • Medicare for All
    • Abortion
    • John Whitmire, the current elected official, has been in there for decades and plans on leaving barely half way through his term to run for Houston mayor - this would leave District 15 without representation and open for Republicans. If you want to volunteer for Molly's campaign, click here.

      If you want a sustainable transportation future, there is a group working on exactly that - click here.

      ***

      So you vote in the Democratic Party - do you know about precinct chairs? Delegates and caucuses? What a party platform is and how it's supposed to hold the party accountable? It's okay if you don't. In this Left of Liberal throwback, I interview Prince E Winbush III, state delegate twice and more, and we talk specifically on this education. If you can, you should definitely learn more about the processes of the party.

      24 min
    • Housing Insecurity in the Courts w/ Franklin Bynum

      Franklin Bynum is running for re-election for judge of the Harris County Criminal Court at Law #8. He joined me to talk about his re-election campaign. During our conversation, we cover how intensely racist the "justice" system is and how the overall issue in his courts is how capitalism fails people. Most are houseless and turn to "crime" for survival. 

      He is a socialist organizer, a prison abolitionist, and a member of the Democratic Socialists of America. Click here if you want to join his campaign.

      If prison abolition interests you, there is an abolitionist collective in Houston - click here.

      ***

      So you vote in the Democratic Party - do you know about precinct chairs? Delegates and caucuses? What a party platform is and how it's supposed to hold the party accountable? It's okay if you don't. In this Left of Liberal throwback, I interview Prince E Winbush III, state delegate twice and more, and we talk specifically on this education. If you can, you should definitely learn more about the processes of the party.


      49 min
    • Medicare for All Movement in Houston/Harris County

      Lauren, Houston DSA member, and Stephanie, DSA Medicare for All Steering Committee member, talk to me about the movement to have Harris County support Medicare for All by voting on a resolution. What is a resolution? Why does this matter? We tackle those questions and more.

      Action items:

      • Have conversations with friends and family about M4A
      • Have people think about their personal stories/experiences
      • Attend the next Harris County Medicare for All Coalition meeting on Wednesday, January 26th from 7 to 8 PM on Zoom (1st meeting of the new year) - Registration link
      • Petition: Sign the “Support a Harris County Medicare for All Resolution!” Action Network petition that calls on the Harris County Commissioners Court to introduce a M4A resolution.
      • Local: Call and e-mail any of the Harris County Commissioners Court members, and sign up to speak at the meetings.
      • Federal: Call and e-mail your Congressmember and tell them to co-sponsor the M4A bill, if they haven’t already, and especially if you are a constituent of Sylvia Garcia or Lizzie Fletcher
      • For questions, email: [email protected]

        32 min
      • Organizing Tenant Power: Fat Property

        Spike, Houston Tenants Union organizer and Brompton tenant, joins me to talk about Fat Property, the corporate landlord, and the campaign to hold them accountable to tenants.

        Help the tenants of Terraces on Brompton apply more pressure by shining a light on Fat Property’s inadequacies and reducing their ratings across the web! Here are the instructions on how to help.

        Follow:

        Montrose Local

        Houston Tenants Union


        33 min
      • White Supremacist Activity, Patent-Free Vax, Movement Updates

        Today we talked about the Denver mass shooter and the Patriot Front. This thread has the GoFundMe links for the victims of the Denver shooter.

        We then talked about national news including Enbridge gave funds to the cops/prosecutors that are hurting Water Protectors. 

        Bringing it back home:

        • Houseless Organizing Coalition is looking for volunteers and is having a donation drive.
        • Hunger Health SETX in Beaumont is having a donation drive.
        • Labor Victory!! Harris County voted to support Fair Chance Hiring.
        • Houston Abolitionist Collective is asking folks to help stop the transfer of ~500 pretrial defendants from Harris County to Louisiana. 
        • 33 min
        • Recap of 2021 w/ Nation With No Flag

          Professor Justice and D.Elohim are fellow podcasters on All Real Radio and have their show, Nation With No Flag. They recently joined me to recap 2021. While it was an insane year where the system continued to purposely fail, the labor movement came in strong as folks continue to fight back and reclaim their wages.

          1 hr 20 min
        • The Work Behind the Nation's First Essential Workers Board

          The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the deep disparities between essential workers and people who got to stay at home. In summer 2020, the Workers Defense Project partnered with coalitions and workers on the ground to create an Essential Workers Board at the Harris County level - the first of its kind in the nation. This board is for workers, by workers.

          In this interview, Sandra and Yabsira, with Workers Defense Project, go through the process of how this board was created and how the board will likely function in the future. 

          Episode art is from the Workers Defense Instagram, see here.

          59 min
        • Freeway Expansion Resumes With Incomplete Civil Rights Investigation

          Kendra, founder of Our Afrikan Family, and Molly with Stop TxDOT I-45 join me discuss how the pause on the I-45 freeway expansion was randomly and unexpectedly lifted last week. The I-45 expansion will displace 1079 homes, 2 schools, 5 places of worship, and 344 businesses, learn more here. Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) originally paused the project to investigate violation of residents’ civil rights through Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Now, the pause on construction has been lifted for section 3A, 3B, and parts of 3C of the freeway despite the civil rights investigation being incomplete. 

          This week the FHWA will be visiting Houston to continue the civil rights investigation. Kendra and Molly join me to discuss why the pause has been lifted despite the investigation still being in process.

          If you are an affected resident, you can make an appointment with the FHWA and/or submit a Title VI complaint, here.

          From the Stop TxDOT 1–45 press release:

          “What has changed recently is that there has been a concerted push from TxDOT and insider parties to leverage their money and access to end the FHWA’s Title VI investigation prematurely. At the Transportation Advocacy Group’s (TAG) ‘State of TxDOT’ fundraiser, TxDOT commissioner Laura Ryan explicitly asked attendees to make calls and leverage their relationships to move the project along. Several members of congress, none of whom represent anyone losing a home to the I-45 Expansion, asked the FHWA recently to ‘quickly finish’ the investigation into claims filed by affected residents that TxDOT is in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.”
          1 hr 11 min

        About Unconventional Journalist

        From the publisher's feed

        Reporting on the movements that fight back at All Real Radio.