2008 Archive : Voices from the Frontlines Radio

4/7/08

Hosted by: Eric Mann

Commentary by Eric Mann on "Reverend Wright for President."

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3/24/08

Hosted by: Eric Mann

Wendell Pierce plays Detective Bunk Moreland on The Wire. Originally from New Orleans, Louisiana, Pierce has acted in numerous films such as Get on the Bus, Waiting to Exhale and Spike Lee's 2006 HBO documentary When the Levees Broke on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Andre Royo plays Bubbles on The Wire. Originally from the Bronx, New York City, Royo is a regular in the film festival circuit. He wrote a short film, called Andre Royo's Big Scene, which drew acclaim at the Pan African Film Festival. He has been featured in television shows such as Strong Medicine and Cuts.

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3/17/08

Hosted by: Eric Mann

Sonja Sohn plays Detective Shakima "Kima" Greggs on the HBO series The Wire, the first role of a lesbian police officer on national television. Before her professional acting debut, she was a highly regarded poet and performance artist. Considered a trailblazing veteran of the slam poetry movement, Sohn wrote and co-starred in the film Slam (1998).

Rafael Alvarez was a writer for the HBO series The Wire. He is a veteran reporter of the Baltimore Sun City Desk and an author of six books, including A People's History of the Archdiocese of Baltimore and Truth Be Told, a companion book to The Wire. In addition to writing, Rafael is an occassional laborer on ships crewed by the seafarers international union. He is a life long union member devoted to issues concerning the working class.

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Hosted by: Damon Azali-Rojas

Introduction of show segments.
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Noura Erakat is a Palestinian-American legal activist. She joins us to address the struggle around the recent border lockdown of Gaza. After Israel's closure of all border crossings into Gaza on January 17th, which resulted in massive food and feul shortages, Palestinians in the southern city of Rafah forced openings into the Egyptian border allowing tens of thousands of Gazans access to supplies. Twelve days later, the Egyptian government resealed the remaining border gaps, effectively ending the temporary freedom of movement for Palestinians.
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Alex Caputo-Pearl is a history teacher at Crenshaw High School, UTLA chapter chair, and active member of the Coalition for Educational Justice. Alex speaks with us about the recent movement in the Los Angeles Unified School District toward achieving greater school site autonomy. This autonomy comes in the form of a new Innovation Division, which demands that LAUSD must cede control over budget and curriculum to each member school's leadership team of administrators, teachers, parents, older students and community members.
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Hosted by: Damon Azali-Rojas

Introduction of show segments.
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Byron Gudiel is an organizer with the Coalition for Educational Justice. He joins us to discuss the case of Kahllid Al-Alim, a fellow community activist and parent leader with Coalition for Educational Justice who will be sentenced on February 1st for alleged charges of resisting arrest and assualt of an officer after being severly beaten by police who had raided a building Juneteenth celebration. His case was originally dropped, but later reopened after changes in the District Attorney's office and he now faces up to 12 years in prison.
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Saladin Muhammad is the National Chair of Black Workers for Justice and an organizer with the We Charge Genocide Campaign. He speaks with us about the Green Ribbon Campaign and the overall struggle for the Right of Return and a just reconstruction for Black people in the Gulf Coast.
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Songs:
DJ Jazzy Jeff
Papoose
Tracy Chapman
Femi Kuti

Hosted by: Manuel Criollo

Introduction of show segments.
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Nancy de los Santos is a writer and Boardmember of the Writers Guild of America, the foremost labor union that represents film, television and radio writers across the United States. Nancy speaks with us about the current state of the writers strike that began on November 7th, 2007, and offers insight into the context and direction of the strike in light of the upcoming Hollywood award season.
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Panama Alba, long time New York City activist, joins us to discuss the latest attempt of the US government to suppress the Peurto Rican pro-independence movement. Panama speaks with us about the recent subpeonas of three young oro-independence activist and artists who have been ordered to appear before a Brooklyn federal grand jury. Their lawyers successfully filed motions to postpone their court dates, as thousands in New York, Puerto Rico and across the country rallied in support of the three young activist and calling on the US Justice Department, FBI and US government to end their harassment and persecution of pro-independence Puerto Rican activist and organizations.
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Javier Rodriguez, long time Chicano/Mexicano activist, writer and strategist in the migrant and immigrant rights movement, discusses his latest essay on immigration - History in on our Side part II. Javier's careers spans over the past 30 years, and he speaks with us today on the particular challenges posed by the 2008 Presidential Election to the immigrant rights movement.
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Songs:
Roy Ayers
Pleneros de la 21
Joe Baatan
Femi Kuti

Hosted by: Tammy Bang Luu and Manuel Criollo

Introduction of show segments.
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Father Roy Bourgeouis is the founder of the School of the Americas Watch. Initially opened in 1946, the SOA, frequently dubbed the "School of Assassins," has trained over 60,000 Latin American soldiers in counterinsurgency techniques. On November 18th, over 25,000 marched on Fort Benning, Georgia calling to close the School of the Americas. Father Roy joins us to discuss the efforts to keep the momentum going to close down the School of the Americas.
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Vijay Prashad is an Associate Professor of International Studies at Trinity College and author of several books including the most recent Darker Nations:A People's History of the 3rd World (published by the New Press). He joins us to discuss the assassination of Pakistan's former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and the U.S role in the region.
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Songs:
Marvin Gaye
Ozolmatli
Ray Barreto