GRITtv » activism

Angela Davis at Occupy Wall St., NYC

LauraFlanders — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 23:26:59 +0000

Author, activist, Angela Davis spoke at Occupy Wall St. in Washington Square Park on Sunday October 30. Thanking the OWS movement for transforming politics in the universe, she spoke to the brutal police crack-down on the Occupy encampment in her home town of Oakland and supported the call for a national strike on November 2 in response to that violence. She also spoke to the perils of language, calling on the movement to transform the meaning of the words occupation, democracy and unity. Speaking through the "people's mic," Davis drew particular attention to questions of inclusion and urged the movement to embrace a "complex unity" within the concept of "99 percent." Quoting African American lesbian poet Audre Lorde she said: "How can we come together in a unity that is complex and emancipatory? Differences must not be merely tolerated but seen as a fund of necessary polarities between which poles creativity can spark like the dialectic." Asked about the coming US election, Davis responded: "The two-party system has never worked; it does not worked now, and we clearly need alternatives. Personally I believe we need a powerful, radical, third party. In the meantime, this movement, which is not a party, can accomplish much that political parties are unable to accomplish and so it would seem to me, that the best way to exert pressure on that corrupt two party system is to continue to build this movement and to demonstrate that it reaches not only across the country but across the ocean."

Students and Teachers Fight California University Cuts

admin — Sat, 23 Apr 2011 14:00:43 +0000

Budget cuts are everywhere we look these days, but they often come right along with giveaways and moves to further enrich those at the top. In San Francisco, students and teachers came out to protest massive budget cuts in the California State University system, express outrage over the obscene salaries of the dean of students and voice their concern about their financially debt ridden future.

This video comes courtesy of Davey D and OpenLine media.

East WillyB, The Price of Sex, and San Francisco Action

admin — Sat, 23 Apr 2011 00:00:41 +0000

"We need to be able to laugh about issues but we also need to know that aside from the comedy that we find in the series when cultures collide, there is a very real issue of displacement in many urban communities," says Julia Ahumada Grob, the co-creator and lead actor of the web TV series East WillyB. The show is set in Bushwick a rapidly gentrifying neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York, and it addresses the problems of gentrification and displacement of communities of color through humor, and brings high-quality TV production values to the 'net.

Julia and actor Flaco Navaja join Laura in studio to discuss dealing with pressing social issues through humor, addressing the "new generation Latino" and why they moved to create their own media.

The job of the journalist is not to give people a voice, filmmaker Miki Chakarova explains to her students: "People have a voice," she says, "It's just that they don't have an outlet." In her recent film, The Price of Sex, Chakarova went to great lengths to provide that outlet by embedding herself in the world of Eastern European sex trafficking. The resulting film is an intimate portrait of the individuals that comprise an industry, and the way that corruption thrives in the context of poverty.

The film is playing around the country at select venues and will have its NYC premiere this summer at the Human Rights Watch Film Festival.

This video comes courtesy of Davey D and OpenLine media.

Finally, a new story in The Nation shows that the Supreme Court's also made it a lot easier for companies to pressure their employees directly about voting. Laura has some thoughts on the way Citizens United is changing the workplace as well as the ballot box.

Ellen Bravo, Antonia Juhasz & Tracie Washington, and Tax Day

admin — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 16:25:18 +0000

"What's at stake is whether assaults on working people will prevail," says Ellen Bravo, who fought with the Family Values @ Work Consortium to get paid sick leave for Milwaukee's workers only to see it banned in the state legislature--and the ban broadened to include the entire state. Meanwhile, to heighten the already tense situation in that state, Sarah Palin was there this weekend to speak to a Tea Party crowd.

Laura spoke with Ellen via Skype from Milwaukee on the continuing importance of Wisconsin's place in the fight for workers' rights, and why she thinks that Wisconsinites, anyway, have a clear plan for success--as the third recall petition for a Republican State Senator is filed.

On April 15, thousands of miles away from Bahrain, protests took place in Washington D.C. going from the Saudi Embassy to the White House, and finally ending in Central Park as thousands of Muslims and sympathetic Americans from around the world attended to show their support of the "forgotten oppressed."

"Justice requires that we learn the lessons from these past disasters," says Tracie Washington of the Louisiana Justice Institute. And Antonia Juhasz, author most recently of Black Tide: The Devastating Impact of the Gulf Oil Spill, points out that nothing that we saw happen in the Gulf has been addressed, and clearly we have learned nothing from the disaster that occurred a year ago this week.

Antonia joins Laura in studio, and Tracie by phone from New Orleans, to discuss what lessons need to be learned, what Gulf activists and advocates are doing to fight back, and why the US government is still subsidizing oil and gas drilling.

Finally, it's tax day, and as corporations dodge paying, everyday folks moan and groan as they pony up cash. But Laura reminds us that taxes can be a mechanism for creating a more equitable society as well.

Antonia Juhasz & Tracie Washington: One Year Later, BP’s Oil Still There

admin — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 15:00:29 +0000

Laurie Penny: Saturday’s London Protests

admin — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 11:00:16 +0000

"It wasn't just students involved in this protest. There was a lot of people from all walks of life involved," says Laurie Penny of the New Statesman, who joins us from London to talk abut the newest round of protests led by UK Uncut. Saturday's protests saw crowds in excess of 500,000 and violent clashes with police forces.

Penny joins us from London where she has been observing the protests first-hand to talk about the protests, the media coverage, and what comes next. This segment is concluded with a piece of a new video by The Alternatives entitled "It Cuts Both Ways."

Cary Alan Johnson: David Kato’s Fight for LGBT Uganda

admin — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 15:00:33 +0000

"Violence is visited upon us when our lives are made to be valueless," says Cary Alan Johnson of the International Gay & Lesbian Human Rights Commission. The murder of David Kato in Uganda last week after a tabloid had splashed his name and picture under the headline “100 Pictures of Uganda’s Top Homos” and called for their murder. But homophobia in Uganda has US roots as well--evangelical leaders had promoted the country's notorious bill that advocated the death penalty for "aggravated homosexuality."

Johnson joins Laura in studio to discuss the murder, the flow of US money--both official and through churches--to Uganda, and why it is our responsibility to speak up for the lives of LGBT people around the world.

Outwaiting Mubarak, Cary Alan Johnson, and Killing the Internet

admin — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 01:00:51 +0000

"Does Mubarak want to leave quietly or is it going to be a messy exit?" That's the only question left in Egypt, according to Haroon Moghul of the Maydan Institute. The protests continue, and Mubarak has announced that though he won't be running for reelection, he doesn't plan on stepping down.

Haroon and Samer Shehata of Georgetown University join Laura to discuss the ongoing revolution in Egypt, the history behind it, the groups involved, and why US news outlets that are obsessed with the Muslim Brotherhood are missing the real story in their fearmongering.

Finally, Egypt's struggle continues under near-total communication blackout--thanks in part to a US company. Laura has some thoughts.

Remembering Howard Zinn: The People Speak

admin — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 15:00:44 +0000

Rebel historian Howard Zinn died a year ago, and we miss him more than ever. As Cairo erupts in protest, as Tunisia drives out its dictator, poet and GRITtv guest Staceyann Chin tweeted "The People Speak." Staceyann was one of many actors, artists, and activist performers who joined Howard for a performance of the pieces collected in his work by that name, inspired by his classic People's History of the United States.

To remember Howard and to celebrate the people everywhere fighting for their rights, we bring you selections from the film The People Speak, featuring Staceyann Chin.

Edwidge Danticat, Howard Zinn, and John Nichols

admin — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 01:30:28 +0000

"Writing is nothing like dying in, for, and possibly with, your country," writes novelist and essayist Edwidge Danticat in her book Create Dangerously: The Immigrant Artist at Work. But writing and creating can inspire action, whether it's revolution in the streets or simply managing to survive under seemingly hopeless circumstances.

Edwidge was born in Haiti but moved to the US when she was twelve, and her writing focuses on both sides of the immigrant experience. She is also the editor of Haiti Noir, part of a crime noir series which looks at Haiti's dark side, and she joins Laura in studio to discuss the books, the ongoing state of Haiti, and the role of the immigrant and particularly the Haitian-American artist in the world.

To remember Howard and to celebrate the people everywhere fighting for their rights, we bring you selections from the film The People Speak, featuring Staceyann Chin.

Wisconsin's new governor is charismatic, good-looking and pleasant, says John Nichols--and he's out to destroy government. The 2010 elections swept in a wave of Tea Party-backed conservatives bent on union-busting, slashing spending, and shrinking government to a size that would fit in Grover Norquist's proverbial bathtub. John stopped by our studio recently, visiting from his home in Wisconsin, to tell us why his governor is one we should particularly have our eye on.