Meet our immigration and elections reporters -Valeria Fernandez and Marco Vera
We’re moving full steam ahead with our Immigration and Elections project and now’s the time to join in. Your contributions help us hire all these special reporters. Meet the first two journalists: Welcome Valeria Fernandez and Marco Vera! Both journalists are experienced multi-platform media makers with deep roots in immigrant communities. They each bring a wealth of knowledge and energy to this project. We’re already impressed with...
#BlackLivesMatter: Alicia Garza on the Origins of a Movement
Black Lives Matter. This simple phrase has become the motto of a growing movement calling for true justice and equalty for black people. Alicia Garza, co-founder of Black Lives Matter, first typed out those three words back in 2013. In March of 2015, Alicia Garza visited the University of Southern Maine to tell the story of how Black Lives Matter came to be, and express her hopes for where it’s headed. We hear her speech. Featuring:...
Let’s talk about immigration and elections
Immigrants and Elections a special miniseries Part 1 From Dreamers in Arizona to Muslims in Michigan: Immigrant Communities Upholding Democracy From Dreamers in Arizona to Muslims in Michigan, we’ll meet immigrant communities upholding democracy. We’ll also have a conversation with the Brennan Center for Justice President and author of the Fight to Vote, Michael Waldman about how immigrants throughout history have expanded the right...
Not Throw Away Women: Black and Indigenous Women Disrupt Violence
On this week’s show we’re exploring how some women have been dehumanized to the point of indifference. We’ll learn how one community is undoing the silence around the violence women of color face. We’ll also hear about how serial killers were able to hunt down mostly Black women for three decades in South Los Angeles. Then we’ll take you to the Yucatan where pregnant indigenous women struggle under a health care system failing...
Bipolarized: Rethinking Mental Illness
Ross McKenzie was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, but after 15 years on Lithium, he wasn’t getting any better. He decided to take matters into his own hands, get off the drug, and find out why so many people are being told they have mental illnesses. This week on Making Contact, we bring you an abridged version of the film Bipolarized; Rethinking Mental Illness, chronicling McKenzie’s journey. Featuring: Ross McKenzie,...
Changing Communities, Imminent Threats: Katrina’s Legacy
On August 29, 2005 Hurricane Katrina ripped through the Southern Gulf Coast. Drawn by reconstruction work, the number of Latino immigrants has nearly doubled. Reconstruction after Hurricane Katrina drew thousands of people from India, Brazil, Mexico, Honduras, and other Latin American countries. Workers were charged with pulling dead bodies from abandoned homes and rebuilding New Orleans. But the influx of migrant workers also...
Getting Out: the journey out of prison
Nationally, American prisons release more than 650,000 people into society every year. That’s equivalent to the entire population of Memphis or Boston. On this edition, producer Aaron Mendelson followed ex-prisoner Kevin Tindall on his journey out of prison. Special thanks to Claire Schoen and the University of California Berkeley, School of Journalism. Featuring: Gordon Brown, ex-prisoner Monta Kevin Tindall, ex-prisoner Jerry...
Not a Drop to Drink: our dwindling access to clean drinking water
It’s something many of us take for granted: access to clean drinking water. But for many Americans it’s not something they can rely on. From chemical spills in West Virginia to ecoli in the water on the Texas-Mexico border, to contamination from farming in California. On this edition, we hear what happens when there’s not a drop to drink. Featuring: Angela Walker, Charleston resident Neena Satija, environment reporter Texas Tribune...
Thwarting Democracy, the Battle for Voting Rights
Since the 2013 Supreme Court ruling on the Voting Rights Act, many states have pushed changes to voter laws that raise disturbing connections to the past. Before the anniversary of the Voting Rights Act on August 6th, we revisit the hard fought battles for voting rights and the implications of new laws. Featuring: Reverend Tyrone Edwards, civil rights historian in Plaquemines Parish Louisiana Tyrone Brooks, Georgia State...
Spoken word: Police trained victims
As with any generation the oral tradition depends upon each person listening and remembering what we have heard together-that creates the whole story of the people. This poem, “Statistically Speaking,” endeavors to share a chronological documentation of a process, in which young people in the inner cities across the nation are conditioned to become victims if they internalize negative childhood messages, or allow...
