Women Fight Back!

On February 4th, China has stepped forward to make a statement in support of Russia as the U.S. and NATO continue to ratchet up tensions on the border of Ukraine. Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping came together after a meeting and have announced a demand to end the expansion of NATO and a call for the U.S. to abandon it’s cold-war era ideological approaches. In similar news we are on the 60 year anniversary of the crippling blockade on Cuba. We take a look at the impact of sanctions on Cuba and other nations around the globe. 

Later in the show we turn our attention to the ongoing right-wing protests happening in Ottawa where truck drivers are clogging up downtown around their shared goals of opposing the vaccine mandates and lockdowns. They have raised more than $7.8 million on GoFundMe, one of the biggest campaigns in its history. Elon Musk, Donald Trump (whose flags they are waving), and others get behind to support these right-wing actions. We discuss how misinformation is legitimized and how not all protests are progressive. 

In our final segment, we discuss the recent report from Australia’s National Research Organization for Women’s Safety that found that during the pandemic Women experiencing high financial stress were three times as likely to experience physical or sexual abuse, and in particular women who were the breadwinners were 1.6 times more likely to face physical abuse. We dive into how these numbers legitimize what women on the ground already know.

On today’s show, we talk Russia and Ukraine. If you listen to the mainstream media and U.S. politicians on the airwaves, it certainly seems like Russia is about to invade Ukraine. What’s going on? Are we on the verge of a new war between Russia and the United States? 

Musician Neil Young has decided to remove his music from Spotify in response to the fact that Joe Rogan has continued to push forward COVID-19 misinformation. #CancelSpotify has been trending on twitter and the drama that has ensued raises serious questions on the issue of censorship and so-called free speech. We are joined by Chris Garaffa of Tech for the People to discuss.

The irony was thick today when Joe Biden arrived in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to boast about the infrastructure bill passing, only to arrive hours after a nearby bridge collapsed. Activists and community members in Pittsburg demand real action on the failing infrastructure in Pittsburg among many other failures of the capitalist system. We are joined by Kitt Baril from the Party for Socialism and Liberation in Pittsburg.

Sunday, January 30th marks the 1 year anniversary of the brutal murder of 84 year old Thai elder Vicha Ratanapakdee in San Francisco. His death has been seen by many as a galvanizing moment in the fight against Anti-Asian violence. Organizers in cities across the country have been mobilizing to demand justice for Vicha and to demand an end to the racist violence that continues to terrorize the asian community. We are joined by Don Vu Founding Member of Stand with Asian Americans.

In Hawaii thousands of people have been displaced and had their water poisoned by the Red Hill Navy facility. This is after two fuel leaks just this year, and a major fuel leak of 27,000 gallons of fuel in 2014. The Navy sacrifices water for war by refusing to do anything about the facility, which activist demand should be closed and fuel tanks drained immediately.  We are joined by Marti Townsend, former director for the Sierra Club Hawaii and lead organizer in the effort to protect O’ahu’s water supply.

In New York City, workers employed with the United Jewish Council (UJC) home care agency rallied to end the 24-hour work day and demand their stolen wages on the morning of December 16. While home care workers in New York are being forced to work 24-hour shifts for poverty wages, 11 hours worth of that pay is stolen by their employers.  We are joined by Vicki Niu with the Ain't I A Woman Campaign. 

Finally, the holidays are upon us and there’s no better way to celebrate them than by dealing with angry right-wingers aggressively yelling Merry Christmas in your face! We talk more about the origins of the War on Christmas and the profits Fox News has seen from it.

On today’s show, the Supreme court has upheld the Texas abortion ban, the strictest abortion legislation in the country. The Texas ban has essentially been  greenlit by the Supreme Court, despite the fact that they have also ruled that abortion providers will be able to sue. What does this all really mean? To make sense of it all, we are joined by Jessica Mason Pieklo, Executive Editor and  Senior Vice President with Rewire News Group. 

This last week, Russia has been center stage in the crosshairs of Washington and the mainstream media following mutual expulsions of U.S. and Russian diplomats. We wade through the disinformation campaign launched by the pentagon with Walter Smolerek, producer with The Socialist Program. 

Islamophobia is alive and well, and  we don’t need Lauren Boebart’s comments about Ilhan Omar  to prove that to us. Joining us to  discuss the personal impacts of islamophobia and the islamophobic policies of the pentagon is activist and immigrants rights advocate, Adama Bah. 

Kyle Rittenhouse, a 17 year old vigilante murderer walks free. This verdict has set the precedent for fascist paramilitary groups around the country to be able to kill protesters without any consequences. This is hardly the first time that the police have relied on paramilitary right-wing violence to put down resistance movements. 

In local news, a street will be named after police brutality victim, Akai Gurley who was shot and killed in the Pink Houses by officer Peter Liang in 2014. After years of struggle, activists have fought to have a street named after Akai to enshrine the struggle for justice for Akai in history, and to make sure that the city never forgets what happened. Akai Gurley's Aunt, Heretencia Peterson joins the show to talk about the bittersweet victory of the street naming.

Thanks-taking is coming up and around this year's dinner tables it's important to remember that native struggle is not in the past - but happening right now. In NY state in the hamptons, one of the wealthiest areas in the country, The Shinnnecock nation is being sued by NY state for building billboards to raise money for their tribe. The audacity of the state is on full display, as the state wastes resources to deny the Shinnecock's treaty rights, but did little to nothing to support the tribe during COVID-19. Joining the show is Tela Trogue, attorney and organizer with the Shinnecock Nation.

On today’s show we will start off with the slashing - not the halloween kind of slashing - but rather the slashing of the budget reconciliation bill by not the republicans, but the Democrats. We get into what this means and it’s impact with Anoa Changa host of the podcast The Way with Anoa. 

The ongoing trial of Kyle Rittenhouse continues forward and despite being right at the beginning we already get a sense of his this trial will go when the judge announced that the defense can refer to the people that Rittenhouse killed as “rioters” and “looters.” 

Finally, Betsy DeVos got swindled out of nearly $100 million by biotech company Theranos. The best irony here is that the DeVos family made their millions off of Amway, a well known Muti-Level Marketing scheme, and they are responsible for lobbying to keep these scams going. So it seems the scammers got scammed! 

On today's episode of Women Fight Back we continue on with Striketober! Workers struggles are heating up, and internal struggles within the union are growing. We are joined by Evangeline Byars, the first woman to run for President of TWULocal100 the Largest Transport Workers Union in America. 

Evangeline is fighting back against corruption in the union with a campaign to revitalize the labor movement and fight for workers power. However, she has been disqualified from running and is speaking out about this sabotage. 

Mark Zuckerberg has officially decided to go full Matrix. In true sci-fi fashion, Facebook is rebranding from a social media company to a “metaverse” company. What is a metaverse and why is this an important development in late stage capitalism? We are joined by Chris Garraffa editor of techforthepeople.org to find out.

To top off this exploration of the capitalist hell-scape the hosts of Women Fight Back discuss the Squid Game and why millions of working class people around the globe resonated with this dystopian capitalist reality.

On today’s episode of Women Fight Back,  in historic numbers workers go on strike this STRIKETOBER! Workers across the country from John Deere, Hollywood film studios, Mercy Hospital, Kellogg’s cereal, and more are either on strike  or preparing for one. This is the first time we have seen such a significant number of workers on strike at the same time since the 1980's. We are joined by Rhiannea Shaheen, Local 871 member, 5-year film industry worker and Yasemin Zahra, the Chairwoman of Labor Against Racism and War. 

What does it mean to fight for a world without mass incarceration and police violence? On today’s show we joined by human rights lawyer, organizer, and author Derecka Purnell to discuss her new book titled "Becoming Abolitionist: Police, Protests, and the Pursuit of Freedom." 

We reflect together on how capitalism is at the heart of the continued violence at the hands of the police, and what future is possible beyond this system. Join us in exploring the themes from Derecka's book, like the history of slavery, settler colonialism, imperialism, as well as the love at the heart of the struggle. 

On this episode of Women Fight Back, we discuss the U.S. cold war on China and the treatment of Haitian migrants at the border.
 
President Joe Biden told the world Tuesday that the United States is not seeking a new cold war without naming the target, obviously being China. What does this mean especially as the US leads the way in developing the AUKUS, a new "defense" agreement comprising the U.S., U.K. and Australia?  Joining the show to discuss is Amanda Yee, host of Radio free Amanda.

Later in the show we will hear from Jack Herrera, independent reporter and contributing editor at Politico magazine, speaking on his experiences on the ground in Del Rio. He will be sharing  his eyewitness account from the Haitian migrant camps on the border where recently images emerged of border agents whipping Haitians seeking Asylum.