Voices From The Frontlines

Voices Radio; United All Workers for Democracy, and Defund Police in LA City Schools. by Eric Mann

On this day, Voices From the Frontlines Radio puts our beloved Paul Robeson on his rightful pedestal! Paul Robeson is a writer, scholar, athlete, film star, Pan Africanist, activist, and brilliant vocalist. A person of such magnitude, he and W.E.B DeBois fought the color lines of US imperialism on the global scale and were punished unmerciful for their proletarian internationalism; the US government withdrew their passports in an attempt to prevent them from continuing their work all over the world.

Tune in to listen to clips of Paul Robeson’s Portraits of the Artist box set and Eric Mann’s Playbook for Progressive, The 16 Qualities of the Successful Organizer, Katrina’s Legacy.

We also have Alan Minsky and Channing Martinez in the studio joining us for this amazing conversation about the masterful life, and work of Paul Robeson!

How do we stop the Biden administration from creating and implementing a new imperialist cold war against The People's Republic of China?

Also, as we create a Black and Brown, South Central Los Angeles, Third-World Alliance we talk about what it will take to bring oppressed people of the world together in solidarity, working toward peace and self-determination.

Good Morning Voices listeners!

Tune in today at 3pm PST for a conversation with Eric Mann, Channing Martinez, and Jessica Meany from Investing in Place.

Jessica and Channing will discuss the recent motion passed by the Metro Board for fareless transportation for k-12 and community college students and the newly introduced Bus Riders Union Motion for Free Public Transportation. Please find the full text of the Bus Riders Union Motion below.

Please read the full text of the Bus Riders Union Motion and consider signing up to become a dues paying member of the Bus Riders Union Today.

The Bus Riders Union Motion for Free Public Transportation

The Bus Riders Union calls on Metro to implement complete free public transportation on buses and trains until January 2022. Thereafter we urge Metro to continue Free Public Transportation permanently. We urge board members who are not ready to continue the program to at the very most implement a $26 cap on any monthly passes indefinitely on the way to implementing a universal Free Public Transportation system. The universal $26 dollar pass shall not be tied to any low income programs and absolutely no income tests or self-attestation processes. We further call on Metro to implement a universal honor system and no enforcement of fares. Any additional dollars received by the Metro from state and federal sources shall be directed to support a Universal Free Public Transportation System.

This week on Voices From the Frontlines we hear from Marcy Winograd of Code Pink on the US's war economy, and California's recall election. We also get an update on Channing Martinez' work with the Police-Free Schools Coalition and their defunding of LA schools by 35%. Then Eric talks with us about the work that he is doing with China's Not the Enemy.

This week on Voices From the Frontlines, Eric and Channing speak with @DesireéLuckey, Director @URGE_org - Unite For Reproductive & Gender Equity, about Texas' new SB 8 anti-abortion law that went into effect last week, and may be a foreshadow of the Supreme Court overturning Roe V. Wade., thus amplifying and nationalizing the war on women. 

We also hear Eric's recount of his friendship with the late Ed Asner and their work with United Auto Workers. Eric plays clips of Ed Asner’s narration, from the Film Tiger by the Tail, where he narrates the story of a union (United Auto Workers) trying stop GM from closing the Van Nuys plant.

We hear from Eric Mann speaking about his book Comrade George, and another excerpt from Angela Davis on her thoughts on George Jackson. Opening the show we hear a ballad from Matt Callahan and Yvonne Moore who wrote a book about the 99 books series.

We recap last weeks show, Part 1, and Eric goes through the 99 books that were found in George Jackson’s prison cell after he was assassinated.

This week on Voices From the Frontlines, Eric and Channing speak with Claude Marks and Nathaniel Moore of the Freedom Archives, about the life and legacy of George Jackson. We celebrate Jackson on the 50th anniversary of his assassination.

George Jackson was assassinated in San Quentin prison on August 21, 1971. The following week, the prison released an inventory of the items in his cell, including his library of 99 books.

FREE KEVIN “RASHID” JOHNSON AND ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS

Eric Mann and Channing Martinez in Conversation with

Shupavu Wa Kirima, General Secretary of the Revolutionary Intercommunal Black Panther Party, and wife and comrade of Rashid.

Eric Mann is in conversation with James Burke about lessons learned from the Just-Concluded New York City Mayor and City Council Elections:

- On June 22nd, New Yorkers voted across the state in primary races

New York City the largest city council in the U.S. (51 council members) voted to elected a new Mayor, new council members, borough presidents, District Attorney, and Comptroller

- DSA and progressive/left groups worked from Buffalo to Brooklyn to elect socialist candidates aligned with Defund the Police, Green New Deal, and other key issues like social housing and funding for mass transportation

- New York City voters experimented with Ranked Choice Voting which for the first time allowed voters to choose up to 5 candidates on their ballots

- AOC and her affiliated PAC made key endorsements but failed to win the Mayor's race in which Eric Adams and former NYPD officer won on a campaign built on public safety

- Progressive organizations put forward various slates of City Council endorsements, often overlapping in their endorsements. In some cases, as with the Working Families Party and the Democratic Socialists, an endorsement comes with different types of institutional support, from strategy consulting to volunteers to fundraising assistance.

- The New York City Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), meanwhile, supported only six candidates in separate Council districts, concentrating resources on those who explicitly identify as socialists and noting that “12% of the City Council could be socialist.”

Despite progressives losing the NYC Mayor's race in Buffalo, India Walton is on the path to becoming the mayor of Buffalo, New York – the first socialist mayor elected to a US city since 1960, when mayor Frank Zeidler of Milwaukee, Wisconsin left office.

James Burke, a long-time organizer in Harlem who worked on city council races will offer his insights into the role of progressives trying to impact the electoral arena and answer Eric’s and your questions.