WPKN Community Radio

Hosted by David Green of The Cultural Alliance Of Fairfield County.

Fairfield County Dance Festival

This month, we celebrate Dance in Fairfield County on the occasion of the Second Fairfield County Dance Festival, taking place in July 2022 across six towns in our region, from Tuesday July 12 in New Canaan and continuing in Fairfield, Bridgeport, Norwalk, Darien & Westport through July 28.

Hear from the co-directors of the Dance Festival, Ted Thomas, with Thomas/Ortiz Dance, the New England Academy of Dance and the New England Dance Theater in New Canaan, and Claire Mazza, co-founder and artistic director of the East Coast Contemporary Ballet. Putting the Festival in the context of the history of dance and dance performance in our region of Fairfield County, hear Marti Etter, founder of the Ballet School of Stamford, which recently moved into its latest quarters in the Stamford Town Center Mall, in an exciting partnership with the internationally renowned, New York-based, Parsons Dance.

A trusted meteorologist in Illinois has jumped into the race for Congress. He's been talking about climate change for years. Plus, talks by local advocates in WV and VA working to stop the Mountain Valley fracked gas pipeline.

Gemini & Apollo Astronaut Jim Lovell discusses his NASA Mission, including the 1st Mission to orbit humans around the Moon (Apollo 8), & the remarkable safe return of the Apollo 13 Astronauts after the onboard explosion.

* Supreme Court Extremist Majority Deprives EPA of its Power to Protect Climate and Environment; Jason Rylander, Senior Attorney with the Climate Law Institute at the Center for Biological Diversity; Producer: Melinda Tuhus.

* On Independence Day in 60 Cities Activists Protest the End of Reproductive Rights; Emma Kaplan an organizer with the group RiseUp4AbortionRights; Producer: Scott Harris.

* Minority Rule Appears to be Supreme Court's Goal; Bill Blum, a Los Angeles lawyer and a former State of California Administrative Law Judge; Producer: Scott Harris.

- The Supreme court handcuffs Environmental Protection Agency

- Italy devastated by a recent drought

- Billions “directly exposed” to one-in-a-hundred-year floods

- Mormon crickets cause crop damage out west

- San Diego is making clean air a priority

- Climate activists glue themselves to a Van Gogh’s

- California’s "toughest plastics reduction rules”

Stanley Heller is an activist, organizer, video host and producer with Promoting Enduring Peace, Middle East Crisis Committee, and The Struggle Video News.

For more on the Democratic Socialists of America, or DSA's, "No Appetite for Apartheid" campaign:

www.thestruggle.org

For more on the murder of Shireen Abu Akleh:

www.JusticeForShireen.webador.com

For more on the Russian invasion of Ukraine:

www.UkrainePosts.webador.com

For more on the work of Promoting Enduring Peace:

www.PEPeace.org

www.facebook.com/PromotingEnduringPeace/

For more on Middle East Crisis Committee:

www.facebook.com/pages/category/Community-Organization/Middle-East-Crisis-Committee-MECC

LGBTQIA and Women's Reproductive Rights are under attack in the United States. The nearly fifty year old federal law, Roe V Wade has been struck down by the United States Supreme Court. This is the first in the history of the United States Supreme Count, a right has been taken away. The United States is at a very serious cross roads. It is only a backward nation which takes away a right enjoyed by so many. It is Roe V Wade today, tomorrow they may seek to return Black people into shackles and chains. Do not, for one moment believe returning Black people to servitude is impossible. For many years, pro-women's rights activists has been warning this day would come. The people of the United States need to mobilize, organize, and vote against all Republicans in every nook and cranny of the United States in the upcoming Mid-term elections in November 2022. The Republicans are now a cult, and need to be purged from the political system of the United States.

On this broadcast of the show, host Garnett Ankle speaks with Kenyatta Thompson, Director Of Organizing, at Katal Center For Equity, Health, & Justice. Listen as Kenyatta Thompson fields questions surrounding LGBTQIA & Women's Reproductive Rights; and the strking down of Roe V Wade & its impact on those two aforementioned communities.

Three voices of people I met on my two-week Walk for Appalachia's Future against the Mountain Valley fracked gas pipeline along its route in WV and VA.

Juanita James: Juanita is President & CEO of Fairfield County’s Community Foundation. Formerly, she was Pitney Bowes’ Chief Marketing & Communications Officer.

She earned a master’s degree in Business Policy from Columbia University and a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University. She also holds Honorary Doctor of Laws degrees from Mitchell College and Fairfield University, and an Honorary Associate Degree in Humane Letters from Housatonic Community College.

She recently announced her retirement from FCCF on October 1, so we are glad to have her here to share reflections on her time in local philanthropy.

Heather LaTorra: Heather leads Marrakech in New Haven. She started there as a college intern 35 years ago, was offered an entry-level job upon graduation in 1986 (from Southern CT State Univ, BS, MS) and then was named president and CEO in 2014. She is known for her positive, can do attitude. Marrakech employs more than 750 of the most talented, caring and dedicated people and supports more than 1,200 Connecticut residents with disabilities or who face other barriers.