VFTFL Archive, All Years

Solidarity organizer Esther Portillo reports live from El Salvador with scholar-activist Hector Perla on the how the FMLN made history, going from armed rebel movement to winners of the 2009 presidential election. Breaking down how  journalist turned candidate Mauricio Funes and thousands of FMLN cadre beat back 20 years of rightwing ARENA rule.

The Black Liberation and Labor Movement veteran talks with Eric Mann about his recent article co-authored with Barbara Ehrenreich in The Nation titled "Rising to the Occasion -- Reimagining Socialism." On the lessons of past socialist experiments and forging a new vision.

Filipino scholar-activist Walden Bello has been the first World Social Forum in 2001. In conversation with Tammy Bang Luu, he takes stock of the World Social Forum project and international social movements and declares the dawn of a new era of global social democracy.

Children's Defense Fund organizer breaks down why a black boy born in 2001 has a 1 in 3 chance of going to prison in his lifetime and a Latino boy a 1 in 6 chance? What are the conditions facing children of color and poor children that put them on the pipeline to prison rather than to college and good jobs? And what is the Children's Defense Fund doing about it.

An expert on criminal DNA databases breaks down this frightening new aspect of the prison/police state in the US. On the significance of California Proposition 69, the current and potential future use and abuse of DNA databases by the government, and the impacts for communities of color.

Advancement Project civil rights attorney Edward Hailes asks if the criminal theft of the Presidential election in 2000 through
the purging of thousands of Black voters could happen again in 2008?

Free Gaza Movement activist Huwaida Arraf, Electronic Intifada co-editor Ali Abunimah and reporting live from Gaza, Amal Subawi discuss how a months-long Israeli blockade has created a humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip. How will Obama and the rest of the world respond?

Writer of the Times Magazine and co-editor of online magazine Ukhamapacha Bolivia, Jean Friedman-Rudovsky, talks about a progressive new constitution as Bolivia takes a bold step forward in creating a just society.

Californians United for a Responsible Budget (CURB) spokesperson Rose Braz and Public Advocates civil rights attorney Guillermo Mayor unmask California's budget crisis, prison juggeraut, and future of public transportation.

Southern California-based Salvadoran activist, Eshter Portillo, talks about Path to Power: FMLN wins big in Legislative Elections

Offering unprecendented access into the world of active gangs, a new film looks at culture and context for the Bloods and Crips...

Two veterans of the Palestinian movement, Rabab Ibrahim and Ziad Abbas, discuss the Israeli Siege of Gaza and the trajectory of Palestinian Struggle.

Black Liberation Movement organizer Kali Akuno, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network co-founder Sara Kershnar, and Assn. of Legal Aid Attorneys former president Michael Letwin discuss what role the Black Liberation Movement, the Labor Movement and the Jewish Community play in building a Palestine Solidarity Movement in the US.

Revolutionary Road - A Road Not Taken.  Film review by Eric Man. 

WE-ACT for Environmental Justice climate policy expert and environmental justice organizer Cecil Corban-Mark asks whether or not the free market solutions that created the climate crisis should be used to fix it.

Editor of the journal Socialism and Democracy, Victor Wallis, answers the question, can we really slow down or reverse the global ecological crisis?

Two longtime rank and file activists in the United Auto Workers, Jerry Tucker and Greg Shotwell, talk about the UAW and the US Auto Industry at the Crossroads.

Executive Editor of Black Agenda Report and previously co-founder and host of America's Black Forum, Glen Ford, says when you give the War Portfolio to the Warmongers and the Treasury Portfolio to the speculative bankers, you are demonstrating your intention to have continuity between the Bush Administration and yours.

Longtime Black Liberation Movement and union leader and editor of the Black Commentator, Bill Fletcher, talks about what we need is for social movements to take action!

Member of the stragety center, Eric Mann, says contrary to the popular illusions of liberals and many on the Left, Barack Obama is not in charge of the system; the system is in charge of him.

Expert on South Asian history and politics, Vijay Prashad, answers the question, if the Mumbai attacks are India's "9/11", will the Indian government respond with their own version of the Bush doctrine?

Author of "Revoltuion: South America and the Rise of the New Left.", Nikolas Kozloff, answers the question, does Venezuela under Hugo Chavez remain on a revolutionary course?

Chairman of Kilusang Mayo Uno, Elmer "Kabong" Labog, talks about US-backed President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo returning the country to the repressive era of Ferdinand Marcos. A  courageous labor leader speaks out.

Nationally recognized indigenous environementalist, Winona Laduke, breaks down the impacts of dirty energy on indigenous peoples throughout the US

Black historian, scholar, and activist Robin D.G. Kelley, answers the question, what does Obama's election mean in the long view of the Black Struggle for freedom and liberation?