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The World’s Largest Methanol Refinery (and the fight to stop it)-ENCORE
Making Contact · The World’s Largest Methanol Refinery (and the fight to stop it) – Encore The Fight to Stop the World’s Largest Methanol Refinery Barbara Bernstein’s story of several communities in the Pacific Northwest of the United States who are fighting mammoth fracked gas projects that would turn this green region into a fracked-gas export hub. For years, Bernstein has reported for Making Contact on David versus Goliath battles against oil and gas corporations, and the fight for a clean environment. Today you’ll hear part...
read moreLocked Down and Loaded: The 2020 Gun Surge and Violence Prevention (Encore)
Making Contact · Locked Down and Loaded: The 2020 Gun Surge and Violence Prevention (Encore) Image Caption: Tom Nguyen, founder of L.A. Progressive Shooters, at the Route 66 Shooting Park in San Bernardino, CA. March 27, 2021. Image Credit: Monica Lopez Regardless of race, gender, or political affiliation, Americans in 2020 bought guns, and many, for the first time. Before 2020, events like hurricanes and changes to gun laws were known to trigger spikes in gun sales. But last year’s dystopian trifecta of the COVID-19 pandemic, police...
read moreThe Many Faces of Justice: Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls of North America (Encore)
Making Contact · The Many Faces of Justice: Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls of North America (Encore) As reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act awaits a vote in the U.S. Senate, missing and murdered indigenous women and girls continue to face an unequal system of justice. In this show we’ll hear from indigenous women scholars and activists on what justice means for MMIWG2. Image Credit: Photo by Dulcey Lima on Unsplash Like this program? Please click here and support our non-profit journalism. Thanks!...
read moreSymbols of Resistance: A Tribute to the Martyrs of the Chicano Movement, Part Two – Encore
Making Contact · Symbols of Resistance Part Two: A Tribute to the Martyrs of the Chican@ Movement (Encore) Our radio adaptation of the film Symbols of Resistance: A Tribute to the Martyrs of the Chican@ Movement, offers a reflection on the untold stories of the Chican@ Movement with a focus on Colorado and Northern New Mexico. Produced by Freedom Archives, the film delves into issues of cultural identity, student activism; land rights and social justice, in the face of police oppression. The film represents an important component of...
read moreSymbols of Resistance: A Tribute to the Martyrs of the Chicano Movement, Part One – Encore
Making Contact · Symbols of Resistance: A Tribute to the Martyrs of the Chicano Movement, Part One – Encore Our radio adaptation of the film Symbols of Resistance: A Tribute to the Martyrs of the Chican@ Movement, offers a reflection on the untold stories of the Chican@ Movement with a focus on Colorado and Northern New Mexico. Produced by Freedom Archives, the film delves into issues of cultural identity, student activism; land rights and social justice, in the face of police oppression. The film represents an important...
read moreGeorge Floyd Anniversary & Reimagining Public Safety: Special YES!/PNS Report
Making Contact · George Floyd Anniversary & Reimagining Public Safety: Special YES!/PNS Report Minneapolis, MN – May 25 marks the one-year anniversary of the murder of George Floyd, by former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. Floyd’s death – captured on video that showed Chauvin’s knee on Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes – sparked a global uprising in defense of Black lives and against police brutality. But amid the coverage of protests in the wake of Floyd’s death, media...
read moreGrace Lee Boggs: Sister Revolutionary (Updated Encore)
Making Contact · Grace Lee Boggs: Sister Revolutionary (Updated Encore) Anti-Asian violence and hate has increased since the start of the pandemic last year. #StopAsianHate became a viral hashtag much like #BlackLivesMatter in the wake of Black people killed by police officers. The relationship between Black and Asian Americans is complicated. However, the groups are united in their efforts to call out white supremacy as the source of the violence against both groups. Solidarity between the Asian and Black community is common. Take...
read moreWhere There’s Smoke: Asthma, Wildfires, and Fossil Fuels
Making Contact · Where There’s Smoke: Asthma, Wildfires, and Fossil Fuels In this episode we bring you one little girl’s experience in a Northern California neighborhood with high asthma rates and other health challenges. We also look at one part of Southern California that is bombarded with pollutants from oil refineries, a trucking thoroughfare, and one of the world’s largest ocean ports. Special thanks to the Park Foundation for support of this program. Image Caption: Ta’Kira Dannette Byrd, 11-year-old Vallejo girl and Shawntierra...
read moreAngelic Troublemaker: Bayard Rustin
Making Contact · Angelic Troublemaker: Bayard Rustin On today’s program we honor Bayard Rustin, one of the most central figures in the African American struggle for Civil Rights and Freedom. Rustin was a pacifist, homosexual and practitioner of nonviolence who dedicated his life to racial equality, economic justice and ending warfare. Known as the lead organizer of the 1963 March on Washington and trusted advisor to labor leader A. Phillip Randolph and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Rustin’s methodology for challenging racial inequality and...
read moreLessons From Defund the Police
Making Contact · Lessons From Defund the Police It’s been a year since the call to “Defund the Police” rang out through the George Floyd Protests. The idea isn’t new – redistributing police funds into community projects that better support healthy communities -but, it’s never been as popular and forceful. Cities across the country have pledged to invest in mental health services, restorative justice programs, and housing. And they’ve promised to cut police budgets in order to do so. Have these...
read moreLocked Down and Loaded: The 2020 Gun Surge and Violence Prevention
Making Contact · Locked Down and Loaded: The 2020 Gun Surge and Violence Prevention Image Caption: Tom Nguyen, founder of L.A. Progressive Shooters, at the Route 66 Shooting Park in San Bernardino, CA. March 27, 2021. Image Credit: Monica Lopez 2020 and the first few months of 2021 are shaping up to be some of the biggest periods ever for U.S. firearms sales. In California, however, gun sales last year decreased slightly. For the past six months, reporter Monica Lopez has been digging into the data to understand more about gun buying and gun...
read moreAftershocks of Disaster: Puerto Rico Before and After the Storm (Encore)
Making Contact · Aftershocks of Disaster: Puerto Rico Before and After the Storm (Encore) Three years after Hurricane Maria hit, Puerto Ricans are still reeling from its effects and aftereffects. We bring you a Haymarket Books talk by Marisol LeBrón, Yarimar Bonilla, and Molly Crabapple, on a collection of essays called “Aftershocks of Disaster: Puerto Rico Before and After the Storm” which discusses the legacy of Maria, and also community organizing in the face of government abandonment. This event includes the premier of the new...
read moreMOVE Demands Justice for Children and The Return of Stolen Remains
Making Contact · MOVE Demands Justice for Children and The Return of Stolen Remains On this episode of Making Contact, MOVE members and supporters of the Black radical liberation group demand that the University of Pennsylvania and Princeton University return the remains of two children killed in the 1985 MOVE bombing in Philadelphia. Both Universities claim to not know where the remains of the two children, Tree Africa, age 14, and Delisha Africa, age 12 are being housed. Image Credit: Joe Piette Image Caption: On April 28, 2021,...
read moreDomestic Violence in Lockdown: COVID-19 and the UK’s Domestic Abuse Bill
Making Contact · Domestic Violence in Lockdown: COVID-19 and the UK’s Domestic Abuse Bill (Encore)” Domestic abuse affects everyone it touches—intimate partners, children, and elders. COVID-19 created new problems for victims of domestic violence and made some worse. This show looks at the challenges to survivors and their advocates posed by the pandemic and examines a landmark piece of legislation in the UK that could change the way countries there handle domestic abuse cases. Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons Like this program?...
read more70 Million: Where Housing, Not Jails, Is the Answer to Homelessness
Making Contact · 70Million: Where Housing, Not Jails, Is the Answer to Homelessness The national homelessness crisis has reached unprecedented levels and local jails play a direct role in the problem. 15% of all people detained or incarcerated report having been homeless. And roughly 48,000 people enter shelters every year nearly directly from prisons or jails. In California, so-called “quality of life” laws target panhandling, living in cars or blocking sidewalks essentially making homelessness a crime. Reporter Sarah McClure...
read moreWolves at the Well: The Corporate Grab of Public Water (Encore)
Making Contact · Wolves at the Well: The Corporate Grab of Public Water (Encore) Water is critical to maintaining the balance of all life on Earth. As humans go, the United Nations estimates that each person needs about 50 to 100 liters a day for drinking and washing. It must be safe, accessible, and affordable. Some corporations claim ownership of fresh water sources to bottle and sell for profit. Others use water as a tool to extract oil and gas from the ground. In this episode of Making Contact, we’ll hear from communities...
read moreMovement Building and Transnational Freedom Struggles
Making Contact · Movement Building and Transnational Freedom Struggles Amid national outrage over the police killing of George Floyd in May of 2020, and other police-shootings of Black people, the movement to “defund the police” became a rallying cry to reimagine our approach to public safety. In this show, we’ll hear from renowned scholars about how we can build a global movement to spark lasting change or dismantle oppressive systems and the types of shared knowledge, strategies, and organizing an internationalist...
read moreSelf Evident: Hate Goes Viral
Making Contact · Self Evident: Hate Goes Viral We take a look at the ongoing rise in hate incidents against Asians in the U.S., a long-running history of anti-Asian racism, and a new push by Asian Americans — especially in underserved communities — to expose and overcome this ugly side of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this episode (the first of a three-part series by Self Evident), we hear the stories of these two Asian Americans on the frontlines of anti-Asian hate. Then, with a little help from researcher and activist Melissa Borja, we...
read moreThe Many Faces of Justice: Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls of North America
Making Contact · The Many Faces of Justice: Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls of North America As reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act awaits a vote in the U.S. Senate, missing and murdered indigenous women and girls continue to face an unequal system of justice. In this show we’ll hear from indigenous women scholars and activists on what justice means for MMIWG2. Image Credit: Photo by Dulcey Lima on Unsplash Like this program? Please click here and support our non-profit journalism. Thanks! Featuring: Mary...
read moreWomen Rising Radio: Election Protection and Democracy Part Two
Making Contact · Women Rising Radio: Election Protection and Democracy Part Two Election protection is increasingly seen as a critical issue in the United States, a nation that travels worldwide to “supervise” other nations’ elections. Since the gutting of the Voting Rights Act by the Supreme Court, there’ve been major problems with voter purging, voter ID laws, poll taxes or policies that make people pay to vote, closing of precincts, and other attempts to make voting harder for US citizens. But grassroots election protection and...
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