Divest! Pulling the plug on Fossil Fuels
Fossil fuels are a trillion dollar industry but environmentalists say they have a plan to pull the plug on the industry: divestment. The campaign to get institutions to end their investments in oil, gas, and coal companies has won supporters around the US and abroad. But is the strategy working? We hear from students in Boulder, Colorado who have been campaigning since 2012 and we hear about the close relationship between the oil...
Deadly Divide: Moving photos show the human cost of border enforcement
https://focmedia.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/deadly_divide_MP4_Small.m4v.mp4 Deadly Divide is a multimedia collaboration between Radio Producer Jasmin Lopez and Photographer Brandon Thibodeaux, with music by Diana Gameros, exploring the human cost of “prevention through deterrence,” a border enforcement strategy introduced during the Clinton administration. Click the box above to view the photo documentary. Click here to...
Deadly Divide: Migrant Death on the Border
Congratulations to Jasmin, George, Bradnon, Mitra and team for this show’s Excellence in Journalism Award from Society of Professional Journalists NorCal, for Feature Storytelling (radio/audio) 2015 ! Over 6,000 migrant deaths were recorded on the U.S. side of the border with Mexico between 1998 and 2013. The true number of deaths is likely higher, and thousands of families never hear from their loved ones again. This...
Making Contact’s 20th Anniversary
Every week since January of 1995, Making Contact has been bringing you voices and perspectives from the grassroots…analysis of the larger structures driving our global economies…and solutions being created by people all over the world. On this special 20th program’s creation by volunteers, and how this little radio show became part of a new generation of media outlets that continues to both counter the mainstream, and...
Oakland Reacts to #Ferguson in photos and audio
Yesterday evening was a time of protests, marches and mourning across the country as news broke that a grand jury had decided to not indict police officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of Micahel Brown on August 9th. Making Contact’s George Lavender and Jasmin Lopez collected photos and videos from Oakland, CA as the verdict was released and emotional protesters took to the streets. All photo and recording by Jasmin Lopez....
Migrant deaths, border crossings and immigration. An advanced listening session and community discussion this Sunday.
Over 6,000 migrant deaths were recorded on the U.S. side of the border with Mexico between 1998 and 2013. The true number of deaths is likely higher, and thousands of families never hear from their loved ones again. Bill Clinton’s presidency marked a major shift along the two thousand mile US-Mexico border. The border enforcement strategy know as “prevention through deterrence” was implemented, and those who...
Women Rising 26: A Ride on the People’s Climate Train
In September of 2014, Women Rising radio rode the People’s Climate train coast to coast, with over 200 activists heading to New York City to join the largest climate change march in history. Featuring: Valerie Love, Center for Biological Diversity, No Tar Sands Campaigner Penny Opal Plant, Indigenous climate activist Lauren Wood, Utah’s Peaceful Uprising co-founder Teresa Jimenez, Urban Tithe organizer Shannon Biggs, Global...
Restorative Justice: Reconciling Face to Face
Victims and perpetrators sitting down face to face…it can help heal their wounds, and our society. Incarcerating our way out of crime clearly hasn’t worked, and it’s costing us billions. Meanwhile, school suspensions are reaching record highs. Now, Institutions across US are finally starting to consider problem solving methods other than punishment. Restorative justice is gaining ground–in the schools, and behind bars....
Islamic state, Kurdistan, and the new U.S. war in Iraq
More than a decade after the start of the second Gulf War, the United States has embarked on a bombing campaign targeting Islamic State forces inside Iraq and Syria. It’s the third U.S. military action inside Iraq in as many decades. But the reasons for the new war keep shifting, from protecting ethnic and religious minorities, to preventing terrorist attacks on the U.S. As independent producer Reese Erlich reports from Northern...
These historical photos capture the fight for voting rights in the US.
As voters around the country head to the poles today we’re looking at the historical fight it took us to get here. Click the player below to listen to our show on the history of the Voting Rights Act while you scroll through the pictures. 1946 The District of Columbia delegation of the National Association of Colored Women joins delegates from across the country to picket the White House July 30 in response to the murders of...
