Today on Voices From the Frontlines - we learn that civil rights leader and Black Lives Matter activist and Founding member, Dr. Melina Abdullah faces 8 felony charges… Why are our civil rights leaders facing prosecution in “liberal” L.A., you ask??? Find out… Join your community members, and The Strategy Center on Thursday, February 8th, 9 a.m., at 210 W Temple St. Dept. 43. Los Angeles, Ca., as we fight for Melina and request that Los Angeles City Attourney Mike Feuer drop ALL charges against Dr. Melina Abdullah, because criminalizing and silencing black voices WILL NOT HAPPEN!!! To sign the petition requesting that Mike Feuer drop these charges please click bit.ly/freemelina. For more background on these charges, and Melina’s diligent stand for justice, please visit https://thelandmag.com/the-people-v-melina-abdullah/

Eric and Channing talk about the Bus Riders Union film with Ayuko Babu. Eric talks about his encounter with Haskell Wexler and the making of this film which addresses the challenges faced during the fight to end transit-racism. The film has films within it, vignettes of real people, doing the work, and whose individual stories   impact the overall narrative; Della Bonner - leader of Bus Riders union, Rosolio Mendiola, was a room-service waiter who was highly dedicated to the movement, and several others. 

The Bus Riders film is in part a tribute to Haskell Wexlers legacy. Bus Riders Union film, Tuesday Feb 12th 6 p.m. during the Pan African Film Festival at Cinemark on the corner of MLK and Crenshaw. To request information write to [email protected], or visit www.paff.org for more details. 

In closing Eric and Channing talk with Ayuko Babu about the new documentary about the late, great, Aretha Franklin on, called Amazing Grace, which airs opening night of the PAFF at the Directors Guild of America (DGA). Ayuko also mentions three, of many, powerful films that you must see…

1. Power To Heal - by Director Charles Burnett. It’s a story of the fight by the civil rights movement to fight to expand health care and the fight for medicare. 

2. Dare to Dream - Cubas Latin American Medical School - Is the largest medical school in the world, training nearly 30,000 doctors since 1999.

3. Boss - The Black Experience in Business by Stanley Nelson; the struggle to create black business in America. The untold story of African American Entrepreneurship where skills, industriousness, ingenuity, and sheer courage in the face of overwhelming odds provided the back bone of nations economy and social growth. 

Take a listen and join the revolution!!!