Today on Sojourner Truth, we kick off Black History Month hearing the words of James Baldwin and WEB Dubois.

Hakeem Jeffries is causing quite a stir in his new leadership position in the Democratic Party, so why are some worried about his positions on foreign policy, in particular controversy on his positions re the Israeli Palestinian conflict? 
Our guest is Stephen Zunes Professor of politics at the University of San Francisco who will be elaborating on this. 

And Anna Aurilio  with the Federal Campaign Director of Economic Security Project Action joins host Margaret Prescod to discuss the latest on the expanded Child Tax Credit on Federal and State levels providing an update on the EITC (Earned Income Tax Credit) and the movements for a guaranteed income and a basic income.

Wed. February 1, 2023

Sojourner Truth with Margaret Prescod is a news & public affairs program that airs Tuesday through Friday on KPFK Radio from 7 to 8 AM (PST), and nationwide on Pacifica Radio networks. 

If you're in Los Angeles, or Southern CA, tune in at 90.7 FM Los Angeles, 98.7 FM Santa Barbara, 93.7 FM North San Diego, 99.5 FM Ridgecrest-China Lake, or www.kpfk.org.

Tune in to daily Pacifica News headlines at the start of our show. 

Sojourner Truth brings you news and views on local, national & international policies and stories that affect us all. We draw out how those of us most impacted -women, communities of color and other communities are responding. We also discuss the inter-relationship between art and politics.

News

Malcolm X (born May 19, 1925, Omaha, Nebraska, U.S."died February 21, 1965, New York, New York) was an African American leader and prominent figure in the Nation of Islam who articulated concepts of race pride and Black nationalism in the early 1960s.

Malcolm X Birthday special

Today on ST we mark the Nakba which according to the UN means “catastrophe”.  This year will mark 76 years since the 1948 forced removal of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to establish the state of Israel.  Even according to UN reports prior to the Nakba  Palestine was a multi-cultural and multi-ethnic society. In December of 1948 the UN General Assembly passed resolution 194 which called for the Palestinian right to return, for property restitution and compensation, this has not happened 76 years later.  Indeed it was an act of the UN that caused the partition that displaced Palestinians from their land in the first place.  According to the UNRW the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees mor than 5 million Palestinian refugees are throughout the Middle East. 

We are now 7 months into the genocide where more than 35,000 Palestinians have been killed including 14,000 children.  8 thousand are reported missing.  This followed the attack on Israel by Hamas on Oct 7th where 1,200 Israeli’s were killed.  Palestinian fighters have resisted the occupation of Palestine going back to the 1930’s, even before the Nakba, when the operation to remove Palestinians from their land had begun.  

Meanwhile according to the Washington Post, Israel receives more military and aid of any type than any other country in the world since WWII.  The Post reports that since between 1946 and 2023 the US has provided 287 billion.

For the past 7 months protests have been building in countries around the world, SA took Israel to the ICC, and most recently occupations have sprung up on university and college campuses across the US and across the world.  Let us go to a clip about the impact of children of the genocide.  

Our guests are Zeiad Abbas Executive Director of the Middle East Children’s Alliance and Um Lana a Palestinian refugee living in Shatea Refugee camp in Gaza.

Free Palestine special with host Margaret Prescod

Today on Sojourner Truth, we continue our coverage on Haiti, bringing you the latest news on Haiti, from voices rarely heard in US media including Pacha Vobre who is on the Executive Committee of Fanmi Lavalas the political party of Haiti’s Jean Bertrand Aristide.  He spoke from the ground in Haiti in April 2424 as part of an event organized by the Haiti Action Committee.  Also we hear a presentation of an event entitled “From Haiti to Palestine’ which was held in March of 2024, you will hear the presentation given there by Robert Roth, a longtime human rights campaigner in particular for the grassroots movement for democracy in Haiti, Robert is with Haiti Action Committee.  And in an exclusive, we hear an interview with the Barbados Ambassador to CARICOM, an economic and political union of 15 Caribbean states. Ambassador Commissiong was recently interviewed on Good Morning Barbados about Haiti, including the transitional government that CARICOM played a key role in negotiating.

Continued coverage on Haiti, from voices rarely heard in US Pacha Vobre

Haiti crisis update: with guest Jeff Sprague, Pierre LaBossiere by Sojourner Truth with Margaret Prescod

Haiti crisis update: with guest Jeff Sprague, Pierre LaBossiere

Today on ST an update on Haiti.  Well-armed death squads in Haiti, are continuing their campaign of terror against impoverished Haitians.  Meanwhile some of the left in the US are confused and are promoting some of the key death squad leaders Guy Phillipe and Jimmy Cherizier (known as Barbque) as revolutionary leaders.  And the agreement brokered by CARICOM, the Caribbean heads of state, to establish a Transitional Council after which the much hated Ariel Henry would step down, has yet been finalized.   

Another name we hear reported on the media is Moise Jean Charles whose political party Petit Dessaline formed an alliance with Guy Phillipe and Barbecue.  Jean Charles is said to have ambitions to be President of Haiti.  Moise Jean Charles first agreed to be part of the Transitional Council, then changed his mind and said he would not be on the council. He has yet again changed has now said yes his that party would be part of the Council.  This has created confusion and further division.   Our guest are journalist and Haiti expert Kevin Pina and Haitian human rights campaigner and co-founder of Haiti Action Committee Pierre Labossiere.

Wed. February 1, 2023

Download our free app to listen on your phone