Indigo Radio: Recent Episodes
Indigo Radio
Indigo radio has its first Appalachian State University guest host, McKinney Simpson. McKinney is a senior at App State majoring in Public Health. She spends the hour discussing the impact and proliferation of AI on campus, student thoughts, and the adverse health and environmental impacts of AI.
Indigo Boone host Anna talks with Red and Eli from High Country Mutual Aid out of Boone, NC. High Country Mutual Aid is a grassroots community movement, based in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Western North Carolina, funded entirely by public donor support. We are an ever evolving group, comprised of folks of diverse identities and backgrounds, working to educate about the numerous ways our current systems are failing us, and utilizing collective coordination to create systems of care to meet the needs of our communities and strengthen all our relations. Connect with them at highcountrymutualaid.org
In today’s show, Chris Lievense, high school social studies teacher in Vermont and Kelly Junno 3rd grade teacher in Western Massachusetts, and Spark faculty, share with us their insights from the 2025 Socialism conference in Chicago and how those lessons are applicable to their work as K-16 educators. A major theme Kelly and Chris found at the conference was, how does the progressive left recapture the narrative. Fascist can’t win unless they capture education and the narratives around it that normalize injustice. How does the progressive left ask for the unimaginable. How do we ask for a better world where we don’t have prisons, where we don’t spend billions of dollars and billions of lives to have them and instead ask for what are the kinds of care we need and what are the things that we need to meet, at minimum, the basic needs for people: food, clothing, shelter, health, education, transportation. How do we bring the majority of people in the United States along with the possibilities of abolition. Most Americans can’t imagine an abolitionist society. How do we as educators change the conversation which then changes the narrative around this and make it imaginable? Most importantly that Capitalism can’t solve capitalism
Host Becca sits down with Dax who recently return from working and learning in India at Vandana Shiva's project Navdana. We discuss the historical and current work of agriculture. Navdana began as an example and teaching farm, showing that a farm without chemicals can exist. We also discuss on of the main aspect of the project, seeds saving as resistance to global capitalism.
Indigo host Anna sits down with Dr. Ari Brazier, community organizer & educator in Atlanta - Ari talks with us all about the #stopcopcity movement here in ATL, race, education, their work with ParentLab, children, abolition, and more!*Photo of Remix, provided by Dr. AriInstagram accounts to follow @atlparentlikeaboss@stopcopcity@thehighlanderschoolatl@saveweelauneeSongs:1) Hard Times, Baby Huey2) Violent, 2Pac3) I Wish I Knew How to be Free, Nina Simone4) Overjoyed, Stevie Wonder
Indigo host Anna sits down with Jasmine Burnett and Aja Arnold, organizers with Mainline ATL to talk about the upcoming Summer of Resistance here in Atlanta, learnings from past movements, organizing, and more. "Through this campaign—which will include a series of rallies, demonstrations, teach-ins, and a three-day music festival & convergence hosted by Mainline—organizers and community members hope to reignite various types of activism and community building in the city. While the fight to #StopCopCity continues, organizers say it’s time to bring all intersections of Southern struggle and resistance together to fight against elements that preceded Cop City and allow police militarization to continue."To connect with Summer of Resistance and follow events check out:www.mainlineatl.com, Instagram pages: mainline_atl; strikeblac_scc; saveweelaunee; and stopcopcitySongs:Neith Sankofa - Hummingbird MedicineBlue Scholars - Proletariat BluesJames Brown - Say it Loud: I'm Black and I'm ProudShow notes and resources:https://www.mainlineatl.com/atlanta-organizers-announce-summer-of-resistance-stop-cop-city-juneteenth/https://www.mainlineatl.com/police-escalate-harassment-south-atlanta-cop-city-site/https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/08/cop-city-tortuguita-human-rights-investigationBooks Guests are reading:Fanshen: A Documentary of Revolution in a Chinese Village by William Hinton The German Ideology by Karl MarxIn the Courts of the Conqueror by Walter R. Echo-Hawk
On the morning of April 25th, 2024 students at Emory University began their Gaza Encampment in the national movement to end the genocide and for academic institutions to divest from Israeli apartheid. Listen to the speeches of these brave students along with Rev Keyanna Jones as they peacefully speak out; and continue to center what they are fighting for. Minutes later they were met with violent repression from the Atlanta PD, GA state patrol, and Emory police. Student Op-Edhttps://mondoweiss.net/2024/04/we-are-occupying-emory-university-to-demand-immediate-divestment-from-israel-and-cop-city/
Hosts Anna & Chris sit down with Jayna Ahsaf & Jonathan Elwell of FreeHerVT. This show is Part II of our look at Vermont and prisons - from the historical context of VT carceral systems to today's campaign to stop new prison construction. Jayna Ahsaf is the lead field organizer for FreeHerVT and Jonathan an organizer. We talk with them about the FreeHerVT campaign, women in prison, criminalization of certain populations, & abolition. You can find Part I here:https://on.soundcloud.com/oT6SmwM8e6F6iPhJ8Songs:1) Loretta Lynn "Women's Prison"2) Wanda Jackson "Tennessee Women's Prison"3) Lightnin Hopkins "Jailhouse Blues"Show notes:- National website: https://www.nationalcouncil.us- FreeHer Zine: drive.google.com/file/d/11hILxjEc…qg9zTc-8ut3/view- VT’s website: https://www.nationalcouncil.us/vermont- VT Landing page (more info & links):http://the-council.us/freehervt- Jonathan's article: https://www.rakevt.org/2024/01/04/behind-the-smoke-and-mirrors-the-true-story-of-prin/- Mariame Kaba’s zine:https://www.interruptingcriminalization.com/what-about-the-rapists
Part I of a two-part show on Vermont and incarceration. Hosts Chris and Anna spend the hour with Jonathan Elwell, organizer with the FreeHerVT campaign. In Part I, Jonathan speaks with us about the purpose of prisons, the history of incarceration and surveillance in Vermont, and the criminalization of the poor. Part II will air next week and will focus on the FreeHerVT campaign with Jayna Ahsaf and Jonathan.Songs:1) Tom Waits: "Fish in the Jailhouse"2) Warren Zevon: "Prison Grove"3) Felice Brothers: "Rockafeller Drug Laws"4) Public Enemy: "Black Steel"Photo: VT State Prison, Windsor 1907show notes:FreeHer: https://www.freehercampaign.org/vermontFreeHer zinehttps://drive.google.com/file/d/11hILxjEcUBBU8KcjJOqxIqg9zTc-8ut3/viewBooks: Tip of the Spear - Orisanmi BurtonGolden Gulag - Ruth Wilson Gilmore
Host Anna sits down with Emory University students Bella and Zach Hammond, two leading organizers with Students for Socialism @ Emory. Bella and Zach talk about what influences shaped their political thoughts, organizing at Emory (and beyond!), media role, and hopes they have. Info on GILEEhttps://electronicintifada.net/blogs/rania-khalek/atlanta-mayor-rejects-demand-end-israel-police-trainingSongs:1) "Change Tomorrow" by DAM2) "Yama" by Gitkin3) "Me Gustan Los Estudiantes" by Mercedes Sosa
In a recent interview on Democracy Now, director of “Unseen” Set Hernandez quoted Ursula Le Guin: “Hard times are coming, when we’ll be wanting the voices of writers who can see alternatives to how we live now. … We’ll need writers who can remember freedom — poets, visionaries — realists of a larger reality.” In this episode we invited Emily and Nora Khilfeh, two Palestinian students: Emily is graduate student of writing at Arizona State University and she shares her poetry in our show today, Nora is a student at Edmonds College in Seattle. Both students share their experiences as Palestinian college students, their visits to their family home in Palestine, and poetry that speaks truth to power.Song #1: Lowkey - Long Live Palestine ft Frankie Boyle, Maverick Sabre (Part 3) [Music Video] | GRM Daily (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhEFrv-Xwtw)Song #2: Ramallah Underground - Sijen ib Sijen (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlRVdbMZSJk)
Listen to high school students in Vermont share their thoughts about what is happening in Gaza. C
On Sunday, March 10th ATLradicalart held a rally outside the High Museum in Atlanta, GA. Their rally was to say No Artwashing Israeli Apartheid! They ask: "How does Empire use Art against the people and to cover up complicity in genocide?" Listen to the voices from outside on the streets!Songs/Speakers in order:1) Song and chant - Priscilla Gay Smith2) Opening with Rozina Shivaz Gilani 3) Umaymah Mohammad4) Song by Emmanuel Lockett5) Andrea Ornelas - Gaza Monologue6) Nushrat Nur7) Poem by Keara Skates8) Gaza Monologue9) Cristy York10) Libre Sankara - Gaza Monologue11) Song by Divina Salam
We spend the hour with Umaymah Mohammad - Palestinian, organizer, and current MD/PhD student at Emory University in Atlanta, GA. Umaymah speaks with us about her own history, rejecting the silence of the university in not protecting the safety of those students who have been targeted by racist, anti-Palestinian, xenophobic, and Islamophobic harassment , international solidarity, and what she calls "victory outside of empire." Read Umaymah's Open Letter:https://drive.google.com/file/d/19WveLfyzyxalsmLg6SdKQ0O7oeLjqcbv/viewRead here: an Open Letter to Emory Jan 24, 2024 by a coalition of community and civil rights organizations, writing on behalf of Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim students and students perceived to be Palestinian or Muslim at Emory University.https://mondoweiss.net/2024/01/open-letter-on-the-anti-palestinian-and-islamophobic-environment-at-emory-university/
Part II in of our conversation with Dr. Sewell. Dr. Sewell is an Associate Professor in Sociology at Emory University in Atlanta, GA and also the founder and director of the Race and Policing Project. In part II, Dr. Sewell speaks on race in Atlanta, policing and adverse health, "carceral grief," and teaching. Listen to Part Ihttps://on.soundcloud.com/3KhfpDr. Sewell: https://sociology.emory.edu/people/bios/Sewell-Alyasah%20A..htmlhttps://www.abigailasewell.com/index.html
Indigo host Chris and Anna talk poetry, teaching, hope, and struggle. Chris shares some of the work that he is doing with his students at Springfield High School in Springfield, Vermont. Poems:Pablo Neruda "United Fruit Company"https://genius.com/Pablo-neruda-the-united-fruit-company-annotatedArticle: "From Guernica to Gaza"https://www.counterpunch.org/2023/12/25/from-guernica-to-gaza/Songs:Marvin Gaye: "Inner City Blues"LowKey: Instrumental PalestineNewsies Musical
On the heels of MLK Day we air our annual poetry and conversation show with Spark faculty, alum, and Indigo hosts. We read poems that speak to the moment as we look forward to 2024. With poems by:Derek Johnson -- D.C. teacher & Spark alumReads: "Climate Justice and Food Sovereignty Now!" by Elizabeth MpofuKatie Behan -- RI teacher & Spark alumReads: "All of us or None" by Bertolt BrechtJosh Wyman - Spark faculty, W. MassReads: "The Prison Cell" by Mahmoud DarwishPatrice Strifert - Spark faculty & Keene state professor, NHReads: "Refugee God" by Mahmoud Darwish and an original poemKyra Swain - Spark alum and Vermont education, VTShares an original poemDr. Janaki Natarajan - Spark founderShares an original poemSONGS:1) Nina Simone, Why? (The King of Love is Dead)2) Public Enemy, By the Time I get to Arizona
Indigo host Anna Mullany interviews Dr. Alyasah “Ali” Sewell of Emory University. Dr. Sewell is Associate Professor of Sociology at Emory and Founder and Director of The Race and Policing Project. Advancing quantitative approaches to racism studies, they assess empirical links between the political economy of race and racial health(care) disparities using policing and housing policy data.In Part I, we learn about Dr. Sewell's current work on housing and firearm epidemic in Atlanta, gentrification, housing & health, and their thoughts on Cop City and the surrounding areas. Part II will air in a few weeks!
Indigo hosts Anna & Josh spend the hour with Reverend Keyanna Jones. Rev. Jones, born and raised in Atlanta, GA, is a community activist and organizer. She talks with us about the #stopcopcity movement in Atlanta, the history of the Weelaunee forest, policing, the GILEE program & militarism, the connections between Gaza and Atlanta, and necessary international solidarity.Songs:The Revolution Can Not be Televised - Gil Scott HeronSo Grows the Flame - Matt RiversFight the Power - Public Enemy
On November 14, 2023 public health workers against Cop City held a rally outside of the American Public Health Association (APHA) annual meeting held in Atlanta, GA at the Georgia World Congress Center. Listen to the voices from the rally. CopCity is a public health issue & Atlanta is one of the most well-funded PDs in the country. From Atlanta to Palestine - militarization has got to go!Song played - Matt Rivers: "So Grows the Flame (The Ballad of Tortuguita)"Speakers:1) Rita Valenti - Project South2) Devin Franklin - Southern Center for Human Rights3) Dominique Grant - Women on the Rise4) Felipe5) Omid6) Dr. Katie Huffling - Alliances of Nurses for a Health Environment7) Devin Barrington Ward -Black Futurists Group, Community Org8) Dr. Mark Spencer -- introductions to Felipe, Omid, and Devin
Indigo Radio spoke with 4 educators in our back-to-school special. We discussed what is happening in students' and teachers' lives within and outside of schools, what their work looks like beyond the classroom, what gives them strength to meet the challenges facing, and more.
Indigo Radio interviewed Fred Magdoff, former Professor of Plant and Soil Science at University of Vermont. He is a director of the Monthly Review Foundation, and has written on political economy for many years. We discussed the importance of soil, how soil is alive, how human activities have impacted our soils, and what we can do to care for our soils. Fred helps us to make connections between environmental, social, political, and economic aspects in order to build an environmentally sound and economically just society.
We spend the hour talking about the life a Tina Turner though her music. As the first black person and women on the cover of Rolling Stones, Tina continued to strive despite the obstacles. Listen now to learn more and enjoy the tunes!
Memorial Day is a federal holiday in the United States for honoring and mourning the U.S. military personnel who have died while serving in the United States Armed ForcesAccording to the Costs of War Project at Brown University, U.S. wars since the September 11th attacks have cost over $8 trillion. A separate report by the group estimates 4.6 million people have died since 9/11 as a result of the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Syria, Yemen, Libya and Somalia. And over the past 16 months, Congress has approved more than $113 billion for Ukraine following Russia’s invasion.This Sunday, we replay our show on how young people are targeted by the military and highlight the amazing work that is being done to counter that recruitment. We will hear from Amanda Jordan-Starks about the work of Project YANO based in San Diego and Joanne Sheehan from the War Resisters League.
In the first of our series on the Atlanta Forest Defenders and Weelaunee Forest, we talk with a climate activist and forest defender about their time in the Weelaunee Forest during the March 2023 week of protest and action. J talks about the urgency of solidarity, resistance to Cop City, the beauty of Weelaunee Forest, and hope for all of our futures.Photo Credit: by a Forest Defender, sketch of the living room in Weelaunee
Today our society has developed through conquering lands and peoples, destroying our relationships with one another and the land in order to exploit and consume. We see ourselves above nature rather than a part of nature. Permaculture, rooted in the knowledge generated by indigenous communities worldwide, is a return back to earth based practices that encourage actions based on the rules of nature to enhance living systems and promote abundance. Listen to the track to hear more about permaculture and Greening the Desert in Jordan.
Indigo host Anna Mullany talks with Noa Isabella & Frank Osten, both health justice organizers with Out in the Open. They talk with us about the HEART program, rural health, & what we can all learn in supporting our LGBTQ+ community members in VT. 💜💜💜💜💜The HEART (Health Equity and Access for Rural TLGBQ+) Program aims to address common healthcare barriers faced by TLGBQ+ (Transgender, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Queer) people in Vermontwith original music by Noa Isabella!
To commemorate Earth Day 2023, we spend the hour on Nepal -- Nepal is considered the 4th most vulnerable country in terms of climate-related disasters. Today we speak to two graduate students from Nepal - Prakriti Shresthra & Chhimi Sherpa, who are both working toward their Master's degree in the International Dev., Community, and Environment department at Clark University in Worcester, MA. Prakriti and Chimmi speak with us about climate, health, gender, and youth activism in Nepal and share their hopes for our futures.*Photo: Ilam, Nepal
All new show this Sunday with host Anna and her Clark undergraduate students in the What is Public Health? course. Students discuss the issue of menstrual inequity at Clark University in Worcester, MA. From the students: "We chose to discuss menstrual equity because of its lack of visibility and the taboo around menstruation. We certainly learnt a lot from our discussion, and we hope you do too!"
We spend the hour with Leticia Gonzalez, a Visiting Fulbright Scholar at Clark University in Worcester, MA in the International Development, Community and Environment department. Leticia is working on her Ph.D looking at rural women and family farms in Latin America. She talks with Indigo about family farms, rural women, and what we can learn from women's movements in Argentina.
This week, Indigo host Anna Mullany passes the show over to her undergraduate students at Clark University in Worcester MA where she is currently teaching. A group of her public health students created a show - "Let's Talk About It: Sexual Assault at Clark" - this show tackles the very real issue of sexual assault on the Clark campus. Bringing in existing literature, Bea, Claudia, and Sarah investigate the structural causes of sexual assault and the underreporting of it. To supplement their conversation, they are joined by Clark's Title IX coordinator Brittany Brickman to explain more about Title IX and initiatives at Clark, as well as by Amira, who herself experienced assault at Clark.
Indigo Radio interviewed Ellen Schwartz, Sheila Adams, and Grace Beninson of the Vermont Worker's Center. They talk to us about their ongoing political education and health care issues as a front to also work on issues of poverty, race, food access, and social justice.
Humans are depleting and polluting the remaining clean water on our earth, already causing severe problems for many. Who owns the water and what happens when our water is privatized? are just some of the questions that asked by our hosts, broadcasting from Morocco!
Today’s show is about the recent unilateral decision by the soon to be Vermont State University to downgrade NVU Johnson’s sports teams from NCAA to USCAA, and downgrading Randolph and Williston sports teams to clubs, and to digitize the library system. We’ll start out with looking at how changes in the sports teams impact students, and students of color. I spoke with Winston Salisman, Jr and NVU Johnson student Chase Matlock. Here at Indigo Radio we make connections with broader social issues, so we’re going to take a look at the history of NCAA, Black players, and access to education, then we’ll look Vermont State University’s decisions in the context of a broader national trend of stripping and attacking education and libraries which are last holdouts of public goods.
Join us to hear Dr. MLK Jr.'s 1967 Speech "Beyond Vietnam" - read by Indigo hosts, Spark Teacher Institute faculty and Spark alumNina Kunimoto, Kyra Swain, Anna Mullany, Kelly Junno, Patrice Strifert, and Katie Behan
Indigo Radio was in conversation with Ryan Emerson, a labor organizer and political activist currently working as the Government and Labor Affairs Manager at Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 99, which represents over 30,000 education support staff across Los Angeles County. We reflect on the 2019 LA teacher strikes and what place a teacher union has in larger struggles against school privatization and other neoliberal takeovers.
In this show, we discuss some of the hidden layers of politics within sports around the world. Specifically, we discuss the 2022 World Cup and how we can analyze the world through sports entertainment. We interview two Moroccans about their thoughts on the Moroccan team's performance in the World Cup and football (soccer) in general.
We discuss how politics in sports are acceptable as long as the messages uphold the dominant narratives of militarism, masculinity, and consumerism. But politics that question the political and economic structures are seen as a disruption to the game. Not so different from the ways social justice education is deemed too "political" for our classrooms.
Indigo Radio Interviews Dr. Karanja Keita Carroll on Political Prisoners by Indigo Radio
Guest hosts - Clark University students Gelian Rosa, Emma Cheyney, Aiman Khan, and Erin McInerney host this week's Indigo Radio. They are students in Indigo host Anna Mullany's "What is Public Health?" course at Clark in Worcester, MA. They share their learnings on depression amongst college students and why this should be considered a public health issue. Thanks to Gelian, Emma, Aiman, and Erin for hosting! Songs: 1) Bruno Mars "Count on Me" 2) Reverie "Give it Time" 3) Alicia Keys "We are Here"
Indigo host Anna interviews Jeff Noh, writer & Visiting Professor in the English department at Clark University, Worcester, MA. Jeff talks with us about how history and global political forces shape us, reads an excerpt from his upcoming novel, gives insight into what the incorporation of resistance movements within fiction can teach us, and shares history of the Korean peninsula.
We welcome Martín Espada into the studio today to read from his award-winning book of poetry, Floaters. Espada has won the 2018 Ruth Lilly Prize in poetry and was a 2021 National Book Award winner for poetry. Martín talks with us about Puerto Rico, the legacy of his father, Frank Espada, political art, activism, and teaching. Martín will be reading at the Brattleboro Literary Festival Oct 15th, 11:30am at Epsilon Spires along with poet, Doug Anderson.
Indigo hosts Patrice and Nik interview Ksenia Voropaeva on her work with About Face - a group of post-9/11 US war veterans who work against militarism at home and abroad, support social movements here in the US, and urge young people to think twice before they enter the military. Check out: aboutfaceveterans.org for more information!
Bharat Rathod has a doctorate degree in International Education from University of Massachusetts Amherst and his research interest comprises caste, higher education in India and diversity, equity and inclusion framework. His book, Dalit Academic Experiences: Stories of Caste, Stigma and Exclusion in Indian Higher Education, will be published in 2022. He worked in in the ‘Inclusive Universities: Linking Diversity, Equity and Excellence for the 21st Century’ research project (2014 – 2017) which was funded by the United States-India Educational Foundation. Bharat is a trained facilitator and facilitated workshops on development topics and also worked as an instructional technologist at University of Massachusetts Amherst. He worked in the nonprofit sector and served as a leader in a community-based organization in his underprivileged neighborhood in India. Over the last decade, he has been associated with youth mentoring activities to promote higher education among the excluded communities in India. Bharat is developing an online mentoring platform, RiseUp Mentoring, to mentor and offer online resources to underrepresented youth from India. He has been associated with community development initiatives in India and involved with civil society organizations in India and the United States.
Dr. Olya Clark and Dr. Anna Mullany, both professors in public health, are in conversation with Indigo Radio. They help us re-frame reproductive health not as a matter of choices, which depending on your social location you may or may not have, but within larger social forces. They also connect us to the work that is being done in Mexico, Russia, and elsewhere to make abortion available.
Indigo Radio interviewed Perpetual Hayfron on doula work, its entanglements in enslavement and medicalization, and Black women's health. Perpetual is a Certified Full Spectrum Doula & Ph.D. Candidate at the University of Massachusetts Boston. She is also a creative and beautiful human being.
50 years ago on Aug 7 police assassinated Jonathan Jackson for trying to free his brother George Jackson who was murdered on this day, August 21, 1971 by police guards. In remembrance of their murders and Black August, we interviewed Dr. Keith Jones, poet and professor of Africana Studies at UMass Boston.
Part 1, we talked to youth about how the overturning of Roe v Wade impacts them. In this second part, we speak with Dr. Karen Cangialosi about the elimination of the Women and Gender Studies Program as a major at Keene State College in New Hampshire. We also discuss the dangers of historical amnesia without such programs and its impact on resistance.
Last week the body of Mary Anderson, 23, of Harvard, Mass., was found in Brattleboro, VT. Today we re-air our show on IPV in rural areas with Indigo host Anna along with 5 of her UMass undergraduate public health students.
Mikaela Simms and Kyra Swain invite youth voices to talk about what the overturning of Roe v Wade means to them and their lives.
This week Vermont Gov. Phil Scott vetoed a bill aimed at stemming the state’s overdose crisis. The bill was a way to explore supervised consumption or injection sites. Those sites would allow people to consume drugs under medical supervision to prevent an overdose. Scott says this is not the right strategy for Vermont. 💥REPLAY 💥 We replay our show on Supervised Injection Sites, harm reduction & addiction. We air an interview with Carrie Stefanson from Vancouver Coastal Health about Insite - the supervised injection site in Vancouver operating since 2003. We also discuss the ongoing discussion in Windham Co. around opioid-related deaths, poverty, and the conditions of people's lives that lead to addiction.
Poems and discussion with local BUHS student Z'aira Pacheco & hosts Mikaela Simms, Nina Kunimoto, and Anna Mullany. Today's show is dedicated to all the children/students around the world who have lost their lives to gun violence. We link mass shootings here in the U.S. to U.S. militarism and violence around the world.
We speak with Dr. Aline Gubrium and Dr. Elizabeth Salerno Valdez of UMass Amherst School of Public Health & Health Sciences who work to improve outcomes and reduce inequities in sexual and reproductive health among adolescents - Join us to hear about comprehensive sexuality education and reproductive justice. *Photo Credit: by J - taken as part of the STRIVE Youth Participatory Action Research Fall 2021 Retreat
We spend the hour with Dr. Luis Valdez of UMass Amherst School of Public Health and Health Sciences about chronic stress, health disparities, and racism. Dr. Valdez's work centers on Latino/x men, masculinity, and health.
SPECIAL We air voices from the Brattleboro street on this special Indigo Radio broadcast. Local voice their protest to the leaked supreme court document that would overturn the landmark 1973 ruling Roe vs. Wade that legalizes abortion. Thankyou to all that spoke with us.
We speak with Cynthia Espinosa Marrero, the executive director of Nueva Esperanza, Inc. to learn about their work in the Holyoke, MA community and the history of Puerto Ricans in Holyoke.
8 years on, we want to remind listeners - HANDS OFF YEMEN!! Chris Lievense and Nina Kunimoto discuss Yemen's history and its implications for the current war and humanitarian crisis. They speak with Neda Saleh, Coordinator with Action Corps. She is a Yemeni-born peace activist located in northern California. She is a volunteer with the Yemen Relief and Reconstruction Foundation as well as the founder of the youth organization, Hands Off Yemen. She hopes to take her advocacy work abroad to help achieve peace and stability in Yemen.
We discuss how politics in sports are acceptable as long as the messages uphold the dominant narratives of militarism, masculinity, and consumerism. But politics that question the political and economic structures are seen as a disruption to the game. Not so different from the ways social justice education is deemed too "political" for our classrooms.
We continue with our 2 part series on addiction with a show dedicated to women & substance use. We spend the hour with Dr. Alice Fiddian-Green - whose recent work focuses on public health and opiate use disorder amongst pregnant women and mothers. Tune in to hear about the particular stigmatization women face and expand our understanding around institutional violence that further causes suffering to women.
To hear Part I on our series click here https://soundcloud.com/user-654648353/supervised-injection-site-harm-reduction-the-social-determinants-of-addiction?fbclid=IwAR3f0M7v_zFFOVlUicnnK0Ss7dKQX9auY7NZGPyZlaanq23j6-D2yOqaYQQ
Listen to an interview with former Spark students who share their experiences about becoming teachers during the pandemic and lessons learned during their teacher training. Spark Teacher Education Institute (Spark) is a program of the non-profit Educational Praxis. Spark currently offers a licensure program in Teaching for Social Justice in the State of Vermont. The program strives to instill an understanding of self and others in conjunction with the development of skills, knowledge, critical thinking, and compassion required for creating an equitable and engaging learning environment for diverse learners. Find more information at SparkTeacherEd.org.
Hosts Nina and Anna spend the hour with Dr. Paul Pierre, Haitian physician and global health leader. Dr. Pierre talks with us about public health in Haiti, the late Dr. Paul Farmer, COVID, Haiti's political history, and global health infrastructure.
As the war drums are beating and as New Mexico Archbishop urges nuclear disarmament, we wanted to replay this interview with Father Patrick O'Neill. Indigo radio interviewed Patrick O’Neill who is just about to serve a federal sentence for breaking in to the Kings Bay naval base in Georgia with his comrades to protest against the trident missiles. Trident missiles are housed on submarines at Kings Bay ready to be deployed to start a nuclear war. Listen to Patrick recollect the history of this movement and why he is willing to go to prison to protest against the Trident Missiles.
We re-air a show with the local domestic crisis center - The Women's Freedom Center - here in Brattleboro. Host Anna Mullany talks with the WFC about their services, important info about the impact on those experiencing violence and the pandemic. The WFC 24-hr hotline is 802-254-6954
Chris Lievense and Nina Kunimoto discuss Yemen's history and its implications for the current war and humanitarian crisis. They speak with Neda Saleh, Coordinator with Action Corps. She is a Yemeni-born peace activist located in northern California. She is a volunteer with the Yemen Relief and Reconstruction Foundation as well as the founder of the youth organization, Hands Off Yemen. She hopes to take her advocacy work abroad to help achieve peace and stability in Yemen.
Kyra Swain, special educator in Vermont, and Sara Velia Nino, PhD candidate and education policy advocate join Indigo Radio to speak about dis/ability in the context of broader social structures such as carceral logic and system design. Check out our first episode in this series "Dis/ability in India, US, and Schools": https://soundcloud.com/user-654648353/disability-in-india-us-and-schools
Indigo hosts Anna and Nik air our interview with Greg Mingo. Greg was incarcerated for 40 years for a crime he didn't commit. He was granted clemency by Cuomo in August and was home in September. Greg shares his experience and his thoughts on teaching, health, hope, and more. Find out more at freegregmingo.com Photo by Laurel Golio
On today's show we play excerpts from Indigenous speakers this year's National Day of Mourning in Plymouth MA --
Since 1970, Indigenous people & their allies have gathered at noon on Cole's Hill in Plymouth to commemorate a National Day of Mourning on the US Thanksgiving holiday. Many Native people do not celebrate the arrival of the Pilgrims & other European settlers. Thanksgiving Day is a reminder of the genocide of millions of Native people, the theft of Native lands and the erasure of Native cultures.
Indigo hosts Anna and Josh spend the hour with Rick Winston, author of Red Scare in the Green Mountains: Vermont in the McCarthy Era. We talk with Rick about Hollywood Blacklist, surveillance of teachers, the importance of knowing history, and connections to today - Rick was one of the co-founders of Montpelier’s Savoy Theater and Green Mountain Film Festival. He has lectured widely on film history for the Vermont Humanities Council and currently teaches film through the Montpelier Senior Activity Center.
Listen to an interview with Ellen Kelly and Anne Rodriguez, a high schooler and university student who are part of Fridays for Future in Donostia Spain. #FridaysForFuture is a youth organized movement that began in August 2018, after 15-year-old Greta Thunberg and other young activists sat in front of the Swedish parliament every schoolday for three weeks, to protest against the lack of action on the climate crisis. Ellen and Anne discuss why they organize for a better world that includes putting people and the planet above profit. As always, we have a lot to learn from young people.
Listen to an interview with Ellen Kelly and Anne Rodriguez, a high schooler and university student who are part of Fridays for Future in Donostia Spain. #FridaysForFuture is a youth organized movement that began in August 2018, after 15-year-old Greta Thunberg and other young activists sat in front of the Swedish parliament every schoolday for three weeks, to protest against the lack of action on the climate crisis. Ellen and Anne describe why they are organizing for a better world which includes putting people and the planet above profit. As always, we have a lot to learn from young people.
Indigo Radio interviews Latha Patipandla Mallika and Kyra Swain about questioning the dominant concept of dis/ability. Latha is a visually impaired international student who arrived in Boston to start a PhD program at the University of Massachusetts Boston. Kyra teaches special education in Vermont. Check out Sam Schafer's work at http://www.schafers.co.uk/portfolio/blindness/
Patrice and Nik interview Ksenia Voropaeva on her work with About Face - a group of post-9/11 US war veterans who work against militarism at home and abroad, support social movements here in the US, and urge young people to think twice before they enter the military. Check out: aboutfaceveterans.org for more information!
Listen to our interview with Mariame Kaba back in 2016 -- Kaba is a long-time organizer, educator, author, and prison abolitionist. Her work focuses on ending violence, dismantling the prison industrial complex, transformative justice and supporting youth leadership development. She is the founder and director of Project NIA, a grassroots organization with a vision to end youth incarceration. She also published a children’s book titled “Missing Daddy” and her current book, We Do This Til We Free Us: Abolitionist Organizing and Transforming Justice, was published by Haymarket Press in February 2021 and was a New York Times Bestseller.
Spark Teacher Education Institute faculty and alum join with NMH Upward Bound to read Dr. King's "Letter From Birmingham Jail" - with introductory commentary from Indigo hosts Anna Mullany & Derek Johnson. King's letter was originally published June 12, 1963
Old yet new: an early Indigo Radio show from October 2016. Chris and Lauren discuss the solidarity between Black Lives Matter, Palestine, and Standing Rock. Chris and Lauren reflect on the stories and histories that were not taught or told to them. They speak with Professor Yakov Rabkin of the University of Montreal who they met at the World Social Forum.
Palestine and Hiroshima are more connected that we might think! Listen to Brattleboro Solidarity's Palestine and Hiroshima event, commemorating the 76th anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bomb by US forces. Professor Reiko Kato, Reverend Michael Yoshii, and Executive Director of the Arab Resource and Organizing Center Lara Kiswani join us to describe the importance of international solidarity work!
Hosts Mikaela and Anna talk with Silas Brubaker & Amar Vargas -- two VT teens of the cast of Listen Up! -- a musical amplifying VT teen voices. Join us for the hour to hear from Silas and Amar. The show is playing in Putney August 10th and 11th. Find out more https://www.listenupvt.org/about
Indigo Radio interviewed Mohammed Moussa of Gaza Poets Society and Gaza Guy podcast to share with us his poetry and what inspires him as an artist. Nina Kunimoto, the host, shares other poetry that inspires resistance and change.
Yoav Elinevsky is an Israeli-American activist and abolitionist. In this interview, he discusses his time in the Israeli military, how Israel fits in a global imperialist system, and resistance.
We spent the hour in conversation with 4 middle schoolers in Springfield Vermont about life during the pandemic, lessons learned and hopes for the future. They are part of Youth in Action, a group committed to learning about ourselves and our world. Projects include MLK SpeakOut, Community Gardens, and creating videos to teach their peers about racism. We will continue to meet throughout the summer for Art in the Park and continue finding ways to educate ourselves and others!
Indigo host Anna Mullany is joined in the studio with Lu ~ an artist, healer and educator from Argentina, member of the international net of Theatre of the Oppressed called “Magdalenas”. Lu has also been working with Theatre of the Oppressed and social clowning for 8 years in Central and South America. We discuss theater as a catalyst for change and the struggle against global femicide.
*Photo from NY Icarus Project
In this show, we discussed Jewish solidarity with Palestine. Mel Motel, Jewish Brattleboro community member, educator and activist, as well as Joe Levine, UMASS professor of Philosophy and organizer with Western Mass Jewish Voice for Peace. Listen as they share experiences growing up Jewish and how thoughts and actions have been shaped by new experiences. They now stand in solidarity with Palestine.
On the anniversary week of the brutal murder of George Floyd, we re-air our Voices from the Streets from the rally against police brutality and for Black lives - organized by Bratttleboro Solidarity and the Tenants Union of Brattleboro last May.
**Artwork by Palestinian artist Walid Ayyoub who painted a mural of George Floyd on Israel’s annexation wall in the West Bank.
We rebroadcast an interview from Pacifica Radio in San Fransisco to Gaza. In the midst of the onslaught of bombing during Israel's last assault on Gaza, we hear from Neveen, a 33 year old woman and mother of 3 children living in Gaza city.
Indigo host Anna in conversation with 5 of her UMASS Amherst Public Health undergraduates) ~ talk about their learnings this semester around the nuances of intimate partner violence, ethnographic research, the toll abuse and social stigmatization have on women's overall wellbeing, and thoughts on how we must do better. Big thanks to our 5 college students guests: Aimee Styklunas, Siobhan O'Reilly, Liz Chao, Suepriya Adhikari and Jackie Raguso.
Indigo hosts Kelly and Olivia discuss the proposed legislation across several states that bans discussion of racism, sexism, and other “divisive” topics in schools. We talk with a veteran New Hampshire social studies teacher as well as two high school students doing work around consent education. We also discuss related legislation that criminalizes protest and that aims to reverse gains made by social movements in recent years
Hosts Lauren and Anna air the voices of Western Mass workers involved in different labor struggles. The Labor Center at UMass Amherst back in 2019 held a conference: "Visions of Labor: Film and Worker Stories," a multi-faceted project that employs the power of worker stories, told through film and video, to inspire reflection and creative action.
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In this show, we discuss how young people are targeted by the military and the amazing work that is being done to counter that recruitment. We will hear from Amanda Jordan-Starks about the work of Project YANO based in San Diego and Joanne Sheehan from the War Resisters League. By 2012, 45% of all military members sent to Afghanistan and Iraq had returned with physical and mental disabilities. How can we work for a world, where our young people are not being funneled into the military to be hurt or to cause destruction and harm to others? We must humanize the world so that no one can pull the trigger.
Listen to an interview with co host Nina Kunimoto and Liam Noble, former Navy enlistee who shares his experiences as a soldier and how he became politically engaged in the struggle against war. Next weeks show will be about counter recruitment and what young people should know before joining the military and some practical steps to resist recruitment in schools.
Award winning poets Martin Espada and Lauren Marie Schmidt in the studio! Espada, is the 2018 Ruth Lilly Award winner - one of the most prestigious awards given to an American poet, Espada is the first Latino poet to win the award. Espada and Schmidt talk about their work, teaching, and how to use poetry to critically examine and talk about the world.
Jonathan Elwell from the VT Debt Collective joins hosts Nik and Anna to discuss the collective's national efforts, what's happening in VT, and the impacts of privatization on our lives. Find out more: https://debtcollective.org/
We spend the hour with Victoria Law and Maya Schenwar to talk about their book Prison By Any Other Name: The Harmful Consequences of Popular Reforms. Vikki Law is a freelance journalist who focuses on the intersections of incarceration, gender and resistance and Maya Schenwar is editor-in-chief of Truthout and a writer focused on prison-related topics.
Today we replay a show where we discussed gender. As human beings, we are assigned a gender, most of the time before we are even born. The gender that we are assigned at birth has real social implications as we grow up with increasing pressure to fit into the boxes created for both men and women, girls and boys, and for what? What is the purpose of the construction of gender, how is gender enforced, how do we learn and teach about gender in order to build a better world? We spoke with, Afsaneh Moradian, an author and educator in Oaxaca, Mexico. We were also joined in studio by educator and activist Carly Fox.
We are joined by psychiatric survivor and abolitionist Malaika Puffer for the hour. Hosts Anna & Josh talk with Malaika about "carceral psychiatry"; the proposed 16 bed "residential facility" for Vermont; and community care and humane alternatives.
Anti-war, Yemeni and humanitarian activists from all over the world are coming together for an international day of action on January 25th 2021. Vermonters are proud of Sen. Bernie Sanders' leadership to stop US participation in the illegal war in Yemen, and under a Biden Administration we can finally stop backing this devastating war. But we need to show Bernie that this is something Vermonters care about and want him to keep fighting for. Today we will rebroadcast a show that gives the war historical context.
How do we analyze and evaluate the media? What is the state of the media in our country currently? What would we like the media to be? Listen to a conversation with media educator Tim Sutton where we discuss these topics and more.
Indigo host Anna Mullany spends the hour with Ashley Messier from the Women's Justice and Freedom Initiative and Karen Tronsgard-Scott of the VT Network Against Domestic and Sexual Violence. Ashley and Karen talk about the conditions and abuses at Chittenden correctional facility - the only women's facility in the state; abolition vs reform; intimate partner violence; restorative justice; and how community can get involved to make change.
Josh does an interview with Bliss and Patrick from the Tenants Union of Brattleboro on housing and rent ordinance proposals.
Hosts Nina and Maresa discuss the social, political, and economic implications of mathematics and how math can be used for human liberation. Jariela Cruz, math coach in Holyoke, MA invites us to critically understand math and gives concrete examples of how she integrates social justice content into her math lessons for middle grades and secondary grades.
Indigo radio interviewed Patrick O’Neill who is just about to serve a federal sentence for breaking in to the Kings Bay naval base in Georgia with his comrades to protest against the trident missiles. Trident missiles are housed on submarines at Kings Bay ready to be deployed to start a nuclear war. Listen to Patrick recollect the history of this movement and why he is willing to go to prison to protest against the Trident Missiles.
Artis C. Street is a transformational coach and a math educator in a Boston Public School and at the University of Massachusetts Boston. He talks to us about BPS's new initiative to dismantle racism in the curriculum with transformational coaches working with teachers. And he discusses math and social justice pedagogically, especially as he teaches students of color.
Join hosts Mikala Simms and Cory Sorenson in conversation with Joe Keady and Mike Szostak from Brattleboro Union High School talk about white supremacy, rising white nationalist groups and racism.
This week's shows commemorates Indigenous People's Day - October 12th, 2020. We are joined for the hour by UMass, Amherst first-year students to talk about their learnings on Indigenous health, political-economic-social origins of illness, abolishing columbus day, and the meaning of solidarity -- in conversation with their teacher, Indigo Radio host, Anna Mullany. Big thanks to UMass, Amherst students Nayara Rodrigues, Breanna Joseph, Boula Estafanous, and Katie Zopf
In this episode our interviewees told stories of resistance: one of an enslaved person on the Virginia plantations, another about Freedom Summer, and a third about the water protectors of Standing Rock. Kelly and Maresa make connections among these three stories and to the conditions of today.
Spark Teacher Education Institute led a professional development, Teaching in Solidarity with Black Lives. This requires more than just methods or adding a social justice lesson. Teachers need to investigate and challenge white supremacy in their pedagogy and curricula to move the center to more equitable thinking and practices. On this show we aired interviews with participants about what they are taking with them from the PD!
Email SparkTeacherEdVt@gmail.com for more information about upcoming professional developments and donate to our Teach of Color Scholarship Fundraiser! https://www.gofundme.com/f/spark-scholarship-teachers-of-color
The Equal Justice Initiative (August 2020) reports that the coronavirus infects incarcerated people at a rate more than five times higher than the nation's overall rate. The death rate of inmates being at 39 deaths per 100,000 in comparison to the national rate of 29 deaths per 100,000, meaning nearly 160,000 incarcerated people and staff have been infected with coronavirus, and at least 1,002 have died.
Indigo Radio speaks with Kirk James, a Vermont resident, who was recently released, and Julian Andrew Johnson, who is presently incarcerated in a Maryland prison.
Listen as the two guests share their experiences within the prison industrial complex, the state of prisons during the COVID19 pandemic, and their thoughts around defunding the police and ending the U.S. carceral system.
What are the implications of reopening schools in a country that has 25% of the worlds coronavirus cases but only 4% of the world’s population? Do we feel that our society as a whole is striving to keep everyone safe? On this episode, we talked to educators in Vermont who are working to ensure we have a safe and just reopening to schools. Working to base our understanding on science, we discussed air quality and ventilation and the implications for schools. Listen to this episode to also learn more also about the School Workers Action Committee, a group committed to building a more democratic union with the goal of shifting political power to serve the needs of all Vermonters.
Indigo hosts Chris and Henry focus on the relationship between capitalism, patriarchy, and violence. With special guest Anna Mullany, we will look at how capitalist development and gender inequality go hand in hand and ideas for teaching about this.
Indigo Radio hosts Nina, Derek, Anna, & Chris commemorate Black August and the legacy of George Jackson by reading letters by George, written while imprisoned at San Quentin [from his book Soledad Brother]. Jackson's words still ring true today and can inspire us to read, organize, and act. George was assassinated August 21, 1971.
Indigo Radio speaks with Manolo de los Santos and Subin Dennis, two of the co-authors of the study CoronaShock and Socialism released by Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research. Listen to learn more about how socialist states – in particular Cuba, Venezuela, Vietnam, and Kerala (India) – have been able to handle the virus more effectively despite harsh attacks by the far-right and by US imperialist forces.
Welcome to Indigo Radio's second ever show for kids. In this show, Kelly and Maresa explore the science of viruses, public health and mutual aid. The show is in three parts that you can listen to altogether or one at a time. We hope that you share the show with the kids in your life and that you use it to talk and learn together!
Indigo Radio aired an episode from the podcast In the Company of Black Women. In this episode co-hosts Mikaela Simms and Bessie Jones are in conversation with Eric Jackson of Black Yield Farm.
https://www.instagram.com/inthecompanyofblackwomen https://soundcloud.com/bessie-mikaela
https://www.blackyieldinstitute.org/
Dr. David Stovall is professor of Educational Studies and African American Studies at the University of Illinois Chicago. He is the author of Born Out of Struggle: Critical Race Theory, School Creation, and the Politics of Interruption; and co-author of Twenty-First-Century Jim Crow Schools: The Impact of Charters on Public Education. He speaks to us about the uprisings in Chicago after the murder of Laquan McDonald, Black precarity, police abolition, youth, and teachers. Mikaela Simms links the conversation with teacher preparation and education that centers questioning and social justice.
Spark Teacher Education Institute faculty and alum join with NMH Upward Bound to read Dr. King's "Letter From Birmingham Jail" - with introductory commentary from Indigo hosts Anna Mullany & Derek Johnson. King's letter was originally published June 12, 1963
Welcome to Indigo Radio's first every show for kids! If you can believe it, quarantine and social-distancing have been going on for over three months! In this show, Kelly and Maresa talk about all the learning do be done during this time outside of school. We explore how communities are taking care of each other, what is an essential worker, and what kids can do and learn during this time.
High schoolers organized a protest in Springfield Vermont on June 5th to join with thousands across the country to demand that Black Lives Matter and justice for the families of black people killed by the police. Today we aired speeches from students, parents and teachers and dedicate this show to the youth leading the way to build a world in which all people have what they need and are liberated.
We air voices from streets - last Sunday's action in Brattleboro and Tuesdays Youth-led rally. We also play music from the Black Lives Matter movement. Photo Credit: David Shaw.
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Indigo Radio extended special on Epidemiology 101 with Dr. Luke Mullany. Luke has worked in the field of public health for over 20 years - he is a long-time Professor of International Health at the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and 2015 recipient of the JHU Global Achievement Award. He works currently as a Senior Scientist in the Applied Physics Lab at John Hopkins. Luke joins us to talk about the science of disease and viruses, answers many questions on the global pandemic, and shares his thoughts on our health system and his hopes for what's to come.
Spend the hour listening to some of your favorite area Spark educators read poetry and talk about teaching - poems include Assata Shakur, Nikki Giovanni, Bertolt Brecht, Maya Angelou, June Jordan, Langston Hughes, Audre Lorde, and an original from Dr. Janaki Natarajan, co-director of Spark Teacher Training Institute.
Part II of our show with undergraduate Public Health majors at UMass, Amherst. Students speak out about how the pandemic has impacted their lives, challenges they face, racism, media, what is needed for public health, and more! Includes interview with Anna, Indigo host and instructor in the Public Health department at UMass, Amherst
Indigo host Anna talks with her college students about the impact of the pandemic on their lives. Part I of a two part show with UMass, Amherst Public Health students. Part II will air Sunday April 26th.
Indigo Radio spoke with Fred Magdoff to discuss COVID 19 and the response in the US!
Fred Magdoff is Emeritus Professor of Plant and Soil Science at the University of Vermont. Recent books include What Every Environmentalist Needs to Know About Capitalism (written with John Bellamy Foster) and Creating an Ecological Society (written with Chris Williams).
On this show, cohosts Caridad and Becca discuss how mutual aid organizing should be part of the long term struggle in our attempts to transform the world so that all people have what they need to live healthy and happy lives. We interviewed Jax Padilla about mutual aid organizing in Western Mass and Janaki Natarajan, co-direct of Spark Teacher Education Institute.
Today we spend the hour with Vickie, the director of the Women's Freedom Center in Windham County and Donna, the legal advocate at the center. We talk about the impact of COVID-19 on those experiencing abuse in the homes. The WFC 24 hour hotline is 802-254-6954
Today we are talking about Mutual Aid in the Era of COVID 19 - How can we work towards solidarity not charity! We interviewed Story from Western Mass Community Mutual Aid network and Eva from Out in the Open, an organization based in Brattleboro working to connect rural LGBTQ people to build community, visibility, knowledge and power.
This will be part 1 of a series in which we will continue to add more as stories of mutual aid organizing emerge in this time of crisis.
In this show from 3/15/20, Henry and Amar dive into how capitalism is in crisis and how the coronavirus is exposing its systemic failures. We get into the contradiction between socialism for big business and individualism for the masses, the failure of the private health care system and the botched US response to the coronavirus, among other topics.
Music influences our daily lives; join Indigo Radio for a conversation around anti-war music and its influence in the US. From the Vietnam War to recent threats against Iran, ordinary people have resisted the US government's draft, perpetual war, and the maiming of innocent lives here and abroad.
On Mondays in March Brattleboro Solidarity will be facilitating a study group on Iran. We will learn about Iran’s history and culture, U.S.-Iranian relations, and how to resist war against Iran. What do you think of when you think of Iran? Khomeini? Hostages? Oppressed women in chadors? Too often, in the U.S. media events in Iran are ahistorical and decontextualized. These tropes about Iran that are at the forefront of our minds makes it easier for people in the U.S. to blindly support going to war with Iran. In this show we will briefly go over some of the topics to be un-covered in the study group: history, Western narrative of the Middle East, culture, and current events
Storytelling through Hip-Hop music (Music show) We’re listening today from artists and activists and thinking about the experiences lived by people here in the US though Hip-Hop (it’s roots in Folk Spirituals, Jazz, and Blues to its early incarnations, to artists today) And thinking for ourselves about what kind of world is possible?
Indigo Radio interviews Ambedkar Pindiga, researcher of Tricontinental Institute of Social Research, on their recently released dossier, “Peoples Polyclinics: The Initiative of the Telegu Communist Movement”.
You can read the dossier here - https://www.thetricontinental.org/dossier-25-polyclinics/
On any given night there are over 500,000 people homeless in the U.S. and historically high housing rents make it so over 50% of people struggle to pay their rents in this country. We air highlights from the Homeless Vigil in Brattleboro this past week and an interview with David Dunwell of Springfield No One Leaves working on housing issues in Springfield, MA. Join us for an hour on housing and homelessness in the area.
Host Mikaela Simms is joined by Bessie Jones, mother, long time educator and director of Sow Well Tots, and Julie Cunningham, mother, grandmother and Executive Director of Families First to talk about their experiences of being a black women living in the Northeast and raising children in this area.
Nik, Anna, and Josh discuss the decade and some of the defining protest movements that took place during 2010-2019. From the Occupy Movement, to Standing Rock, #blacklivesmatter, gun violence, youth action, and whistleblowers, this decade people continued to take to the streets and resist increasing police repression and state violence. We discuss how to continue connecting our struggles and what we can learn from people's individual and collective courage as we move into 2020.
Indigo Radio host Becca Polk talks to UMass, Amherst history professor Kevin Young about the coup and current crisis in Bolivia, plus connections to US imperialism. Professor Kevin Young’s main research and teaching interests are in modern Latin America. His 2017 book - Blood of the Earth: Resource Nationalism, Revolution, and Empire in Bolivia traces the history of Bolivian struggles over mineral and hydrocarbon resources.
Today we discuss the IMF and austerity measures as mechanisms for the wealthy to capture for massive profits while the people are left to struggle amongst themselves in an ever divided and polarizing climate. People across the globe have come together in recent weeks - protesting all demanding change to existing economic, political, and social systems.
This week on Indigo Radio Henry and Josh are discussing pollution from the military industrial complex and the connected issue of Nuclear waste storage's impact on Indigenous Peoples living under US occupation.
The three economically most powerful countries, Japan, Germany and the United States, with the United States leading also as the global military threat, are the three countries that continue to censor history while flying the banner of justice, equity and rights. Our focus today will be on Japan and the United States. Reiko Maejima, PhD candidate in Ancient Oriental Philology. Her thesis is “political power of the neo-Assyrian Empire and the Construction of the Royal Library at Nineveh in 7th Century B.C.: A re-examination of the Colophons of Assurbanipal’s Library. She has taught secondary social studies in Japan for over ten years at the Gunma Kokusai Academy and Shukutoku Sugamo High School. To commemorate the US bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, on August 11, 2019, we spoke with Reiko Kato, professor of Intercultural Communication, Pedagogy, Contemporary Social Issues, and Diversity Inclusion and Equity at Kyushu Institute of Technology (Institute of Liberal Arts) about Japan’s role in imperialism in the past and present. Today we speak with Reiko Maejima about specific narratives in Japanese textbooks today that censor history. Finally, Cory Sorenson, elementary school teacher, talks about his students' project evaluating books in the library based on their portrayal of Native Americans.
Today we discuss the human made climate crises and youth organizing for climate justice. We heard from two middle school students, and learned more about the profits behind climate destruction. We end with an Indigo Radio special "people power on the rise, now it's time to organize!"
We spend the hour with James Douglas and Matty Whelan - talking about the homeless revolution, organizing in Brattleboro, poverty, and criminalization.
We will be talking about the challenges of building community in our schools and if that is possible in a world that encourages competition and divisions. We will speak with a student about their organizing efforts in Montpelier and to teachers about their thoughts on classroom community and school structures that either support or go against the schools we want for our children.
Teachers unions have been a powerful force for change. With strikes across the nation addressing teaching conditions and student learning and living conditions, we discuss Vermont teachers. Healthcare discussions and ongoing bargaining between the state and the VT-NEA continues to pit teachers against other workers. We know that everyone must have healthcare and stand in solidarity with workers across the state in the struggle for universal health care for all.
We commemorate the US bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. We spoke with Reiko Kato, Professor of Intercultural Communication, Pedagogy, Contemporary Social Issues, and Diversity, Inclusion and Equity at Kyushu Institute of Technology (Institute of Liberal Arts), Japan about how the bombings are remembered in Japan and how to maintain the collective memory as Hibakusha are dying. We also talk about Japan's imperial past and current push towards militarization and U.S. nuclear threat.
Voices from today's rally and protest outside the Municipal Center in Brattleboro, VT. Organized by Homeless Place in Brattleboro - a group working to improve the lives of those experiencing homelessness in and around Brattleboro.
We continue with our 2 part series on addiction with a show dedicated to women & substance use. We spend the hour with Dr. Alice Fiddian-Green - whose recent work focuses on public health and opiate use disorder amongst pregnant women and mothers. Tune in to hear about the particular stigmatization women face and expand our understanding around institutional violence that further causes suffering to women.
To hear Part I on our series click here https://soundcloud.com/user-654648353/supervised-injection-site-harm-reduction-the-social-determinants-of-addiction?fbclid=IwAR3f0M7v_zFFOVlUicnnK0Ss7dKQX9auY7NZGPyZlaanq23j6-D2yOqaYQQ
We spend the hour on Supervised Injection Sites, harm reduction & addiction. We air an interview with Carrie Stefanson from Vancouver Coastal Health about Insite - the supervised injection site in Vancouver operating since 2003. We also discuss the ongoing discussion in Windham Co. around opioid-related deaths, poverty, and the conditions of people's lives that lead to addiction.
Hosts Anna and Henry focus on the history of US concentration camps. While the current dialogue around the US run migrant concentration camps on the southern border is focused largely on the humanitarian aspect of the camps, this show will try to place these camps in a historical context. Concentration camps have been used throughout US history as an effort to silence dissent and to protect the interests of capital. This show will look at how these events (both past and present) are shaped by larger historical forces
US intervention and imperial interests in Latin America - specifically in the context of Venezuela & Honduras - and the solidarity and resistance by the people. We are joined in the studio by Hector Figarella - Venezuelan-American activist, on the phone AsÎs Castellanos - Honduran sociologist & activist & Beth Geglia - anthropologist and activist working on Honduras since 2009. Our guests talk about the long history of US interference in the region, neoliberal policies wreaking havoc on the ground, solidarity amongst nations, and the resistance and hope for a better future.
Chris and Maresa play songs of war resistance and describe some of the contradictions of the US's so-called conflict with Iran.
Fred Magdoff, a frequent contributor to Monthly Review and is the author of Creating an Ecological Society: Toward a Revolutionary Transformation (2017), What Every Environmentalist Needs to Know About Capitalism (2011), and more, Professor Emeritus of Plant and Soil Science at the University of Vermont joins Indigo Radio in conversation on capitalism's effect on people, the central role capitalism plays in the destruction of our environment and our earth, and revolution: some principles on creating an ecological society.
The Springfield, VT Birthing Center closed early May - We air an interview with Shannon Glidden - Shannon is a resident of Charleston NH and used the birthing center for the birth of her first two children - she is now pregnant with her third, due at the end of July.
We are also joined by Dr. Sally Mullany Assistant Professor, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Women's Health (OBGYN) at the Univ of MN. Dr. Mullany is the Director of the Gynecologic Oncology Fellowship Program in the Department of OB/GYN and Women’s Health.
Why are so many people undernourished and hungry when there is enough food for all? We speak with author of "Farming While Black" and Director of Soulfire Farm, Leah Penniman about her work, then we speak with Becca Polk about her garden in Springfield, VT and what she teaches her students about their relationship to food. Finally we speak with Joe Frigo, science teacher, who gives us a ecologocal and poitical-economic understanding of the agri-business.
Today's show reviews the Stand Up! Fight Back Education conference in Brattleboro Vermont last weekend. The show also talks about Wikileaks founder Julian Assange in terms of what kind of criticism and reporting on capitalism and imperialism is allowed. This is connected to the torture of Chelsea Manning and similar events wchich helped to frame the Vietnam War.
Today on Indigo Radio ~ we play an interview that Cohost Becca Polk did with our friend and comrade Vijay Prashad a few weeks ago. They discuss food sovereignty, struggles around water, US imperialist wars, and how these larger forces impact the lives of humans throughout the world.
Vijay Prishad is an Indian historian, journalist, author, as well as one of the Social Research Directors at the Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research Director
This is a special show produced by Guilford Central School’s 4th grade class! The episode features “Voices of the People of Guilford,” a quilt and poetry project the class worked on in collaboration with Abenaki artist and educator, Judy Dow, and Guilford poet, Verandah Porche. The episode will play interviews with working people in Guilford that were conducted and edited by fourth graders. Some of the students poems will also be read aloud!
Christina Schiavoni, food sovereignty scholar and activist speaks to Indigo Radio about What is Food Sovereignty and examples of movements around the world including Venezuela.
Hosts Lauren and Anna give a sneak peek into a labor conference coming in November at UMass Amherst. We air the voices of Western Mass workers involved in different labor struggles. The Labor Center at UMass Amherst is sponsoring "Visions of Labor: Film and Worker Stories," a multi-faceted project that employs the power of worker stories, told through film and video, to inspire reflection and creative action. The conference will take place November 2019.
This show is about the state of housing in Brattleboro. We speak with Rhianna Kendrick from the Groundworks Collaborative to delve more deeply into vacancies, rent, ownership, and affordable housing in Brattleboro. We also look at the Short Term Rental Summit coming to Brattleboro in May. The summit is sponsored by Airbnb and hosted by the Downtown Business Alliance. What does a push for short-term rentals mean for the larger Brattleboro community?
This is part three of our series on Venezuela. Hector Figarella, a Venezuelan, speaks to Indigo Radio about the Bolivarian Revolution and what is happening on the ground in Venezuela.
This is the second part of our feature on Venezuela. We talk about what is happening today, the politics of food and the media misrepresentation around it, and talk about Elliot Abrams.
Alejandro Velasco, NYU professor and author of "Barrio Rising: Urban Popular Politics and the Making of Modern Venezuela, discusses the historical context of Bolivarian uprisings as connected to the current attempted coup of Venezuela by the United States.
The LA Teachers Strike: What happened? What were the teachers fighting for? How is this strike connected to larger struggles around labor and education in the US? How is this strike connected to education issues in Vermont?
Kelly Juno just came back from the U.S.-Mexico border where she volunteered on the Mexico side to support migrants. Joining Indigo Radio is Jonathan Donald Jenner, who works with the Pioneer Valley Workers Center and other organizations around Western Massachusetts. He also just returned from the border.
Today we discuss gender. As human beings, we are assigned a gender, most of the time before we are even born. The gender that we are assigned at birth has real social implications as we grow up with increasing pressure to fit into the boxes created for both men and women, girls and boys, and for what? What is the purpose of the construction of gender, how is gender enforced, how do we learn and teach about gender in order to build a better world? We spoke with, Afsaneh Moradian, an author and educator in Oaxaca, Mexico. We were also joined in studio by educator and activist Carly Fox.
Report back from the School of America's Border Encuentro, November 16-18, in solidarity with those disappeared, murdered and imprisoned by border patrol and ICE. To learn more about US militarization and struggles along the US/Mexico border, we interviewed SOA Watch organizers Dévora Gonzalez and María Luisa.
Indigo Radio attended National Day of Mourning in Plymouth, MA, organized by United American Indians of New England. This show presents Indigenous Speakers from the 49th National Day of Mourning event, including a letter written by political prisoner Leonard Peltier, read by Indigenous Elder Bert Waters.
"What I want to say to America..They have the power to stop Saudi Arabia" - Somia Elrowmeim
We spend the hour on Yemen - we are joined by activists Somia Elrowmeim and Isaac Evans-Franz in NYC to discuss the humanitarian crisis and the US backed Saudi war in Yemen. Image by Ahmed Jahaf - Yemeni graphic designer and artist
In the tradition of Armistice Day, we interviewed Kourtney Andar from Veterans for Peace to discuss soldiers resistance to imperialist wars and the militarization of society.
Indigo Radio host Mikaela Simms talks with organizers from MOCHA - a movement working to improve the health of men of color in Springfield, MA. Thanks to Hank, Lamont, and David for joining us in our Brattleboro studio and sharing with us all the work you are doing in your community.
For this show, we look at the commodification of natural resources through talking about the history of dams and the current uses of rivers for electricity. We are joined by Kathy Urfer, River Steward for the CT River Conservancy, and Joe Frigo, Science teacher and former Trout Unlimited employee.
Hosts Nik & Anna discuss privatization and mass incarceration - we will be airing interviews with Bianca Tylek from the Corrections Accountability Project at the Urban Justice Center in NYC and Nico Amador at ACLU-Vermont. We cover Vermonters move to a CoreCivic privately owned prison in Mississippi that happened early October, prison slave labor, the criminalization of the poor, and divestment.
hosts Cory & Anna talk Patriarchy, analyze the #metoo movement, and air voices from the men's rally last week organized as a protest against Kavanaugh and in support of survivors. We will also be joined in the studio by local community member Brad Heck who is working to organize local men to action.
The United States continues to legitimize the dominant narrative of the legacy of colonialism. For this Indigenous People's Day weekend Nik and Nina discuss the legacy of colonialism that began with an invasion of the Americas, what it means to betray our ancestors, and resistance against colonialism over time.
Hosts Kelly and Anna take a look at methadone, addiction and recovery for the hour. We are joined by Dr. Rashiah Elam who works in a methadone clinic outside of NYC and local Brattleboro community member, Jed Popp talks about his own process of recovery. We also discuss the private ownership of Methadone clinics by Bain Capital- the Boston based investment firm, profiting off of disease, and what people need for recovery.
We give an update on the nationwide prison strike which has been ongoing since August 21st. August 21st is also the anniversary of the murder of George Jackson in San Quentin prison in Marin County, California.
We will get a brief update on the strike from Amani Sawari, who joined us last month on Indigo Radio to talk about the prison strike and prison divestment, and then we will speak with Paul Wright, the Director of Human Rights Defense Center and the Editor of Prison Legal News who will discuss the prison conditions and slavery in the US.
Across the world thousands of people fighting for political freedom are disappeared every year. In this particular show we will be talking about the disappeared in Syria. Dani Qappani, a Syrian from Moadamiyat el Sham in the countryside of Damascus, who now works with the Syria Network for Human Rights, and Mahmoud Nawwar, a Palestinian Syrian writer and journalist, who himself was a prisoner of the Syrian government during this prolonged conflict will be joining us.
Today on Indigo Radio, we replayed a part of the show on panhandling that aired in October 2017. During this show, we discussed the nature of homelessness and panhandling in Brattleboro and the United States. Also on this show was a discussion with Nik and Becca about upcoming community events in Brattleboro, the first being Opposing the Criminalization of Poverty this Wednesday (Aug 29) and Thursday (Aug 30) their will be a film showing of The Prison in 12 Landscapes.
Hosts Maresa and Anna have District 2 Town Reps -HB Lozito and Daniel Quipp in the studio to talk about the structure of our town governance, local politics and why they matter. We discuss what are ways people can get involved locally in pushing for change in their community and how this connects to national and global struggles.
Hosts Cory and Anna air an interview with Amani Sawari, who works on behalf of Jailhouse Lawyers Speak - a group of incarcerated prison rights activists that have called for a national strike Aug 21 - Sept 9th - Hear about why they have called the strike, conditions in US prisons, the legacy of George Jackson, how people on the outside can help and more.
On August 6 seventy-three years ago the US dropped two atomics bombs, one on Hiroshima and another on Nagasaki. What is less known are the criminal testing and human experimentation in the 1960's on the people of the Marshall Islands. The US dropped one Hiroshima atomic bomb PER DAY for 12 years in the 1960's on the Marshall Islands and used the people as guinea pigs to see the effects of radiation on humans. Randy Kehler will talk about his work as a war tax resister and the economic realities of nuclear weapons and nuclear war.
Indigo Radio spends the hour with award-winning poets Martín Espada and Lauren Marie Schmidt. Espada, is the 2018 Ruth Lilly Award winner - one of the most prestigious awards given to an American poet, Espada is the first Latino poet to win the award. Espada and Schmidt talk about their work, teaching, and how to use poetry to critically examine and talk about the world.
Nik and Maresa discuss the connections among the foster care system, eugenics, criminalization of the poor, and separation of migrant families.
Nurses are on strike across the nation because they are not paid well and are overworked. Right here in Brattleboro, the Brattleboro Retreat nurses are gearing up for a strike on July 3 for similar reasons. They had an informational picket last Tuesday at the Brattleboro Commons. Today we will speak with Edward Dowd, a nurse at the Brattleboro Retreat and the Vice President of the United Nurses and Allied Professionals and Lu Hawkins, biologist, educator and a nurse's assitant who used to work at the Retreat. We will also tie these struggles to workers in general in the United States and a recent report by Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Philip Alston who said, “The United States has the highest rate of income inequality among Western countries…. The consequences of neglecting poverty and promoting inequality are clear. The United States has one of the highest poverty and inequality levels among the OECD countries….But in 2018 the United States had over 25 per cent of the world’s 2,208 billionaires. There is thus a dramatic contrast between the immense wealth of the few and the squalor and deprivation in which vast numbers of Americans exist.”
This is a rebroadcast of the show on U.S. imperialism in Central America, a conversation left out of the immigration "debate." U.S. imperialism in Central and South America dates back to the early 1800s and it has continued unabated and perhaps has intensified recently. We have a conversation with Laura Jean Embree-Lowry of Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES).
Today on the show, we discussed the ways in which we have been taught individualism and how do we see ourselves and our "identities" as historical. Can our identity be used as a tool of liberation and where do we go from here?
Mikaela Simms and Maresa Nielson interview local parents, educators, and activists Angela Berkfield, Lana Dever, and Bessie Jones about talking to children about difficult topics. They confront the adage, "developmentally appropriate" and discuss teaching whiteness, bringing up issues when they don't arise naturally, and what they wish they had been taught as children.
In this show, we discussed Jewish solidarity with Palestine. Mel Motel, Jewish Brattleboro community member, educator and activist, as well as Joe Levine, UMASS professor of Philosophy and organizer with Western Mass Jewish Voice for Peace. Listen as they share experiences growing up Jewish and how thoughts and actions have been shaped by new experiences. They now stand in solidarity with Palestine.
Today we’re talking about early childhood in Vermont and beyond. And it’s Mother’s Day, so we want to give a shout out to all the mothers out there working nonstop to love and nurture our children. This past Friday, too, was Provider Appreciation Day--- where we, like Mother’s Day, took ONE official DAY to say thank-you to our childcare providers who work tirelessly, often without livable wages, to care for our children. Our two guests on the show, Kay Curtis and Billie Slade, are both mothers and providers and we’re looking forward to talking with them today.
Becca Polk, Nina Kunimoto, Mikaela Simms and Robin Morgan discuss the May Day event Voices of Working People and Diversity Day.
Brattleboro, Bellows Falls, Holyoke - countless towns down the Connecticut River Valley were not long ago teeming with mills and factories that employed thousands of people. Yet so many of them are closed now that owners can make higher profits where wages are lower. What happened to the people who worked there, and how has their upsurge and departure been an important factor in the issues we see in town today?
What do we mean by "Housing Crisis?" Mikaela and Anna were joined in the studio by Josh Davis, Executive Director of Groundworks Collaborative here in Brattleboro and Susanna Blankley from Right to Counsel NYC Coalition to talk about housing, evictions, homelessness, and health.
Indigo radio hosts went to Boston-area Educators for Social Justice conference to interview teachers about the state of public education and efforts to organize within teachers unions. We discuss educational struggles to struggles outside the classroom - as our world, the economic system and political decisions all effect what happens in our classrooms.
Land Day in Palestine commemorates the confiscation of Palestinian land by the Israeli state. On this years day of commemoration, 17 Palestinian were killed in Gaza during the peaceful "Great Return March". Coming up on May 15, 2018, we look to the Nakba - or Catastrophe - to remember the 70th year anniversary of Palestine being stolen from its indigenous population. Join us to listen to Zeiad Abbas Shamrouch, a Palestinian refugee from Dheisheh Camp.
Guests Tim Kipp, retired history teacher and activist since the 1960's and Nicholas Biddle, retired history professor and activist join hosts Nina and Anna to discuss the connections between domestic gun violence, global arms trade and imperialism.
Join us today on Indigo Radio. This week we will be bringing forth the voices of students who participated in the March 14th National Walkout Day. 1 million students across the US walked out of their classes for marches and moments of silence at 10 AM in all 50 states and with international acts of solidarity as well. Students’ actions ranged from moments of silence for the 17 victims of the Parkland Massacre to rally’s and marches demanding that members of Congress stop taking money from the NRA and make decisions instead that contribute to ending gun violence.
We will be speaking with students from Putney Central School, Riverside Middle School in Springfield, VT, Bronx Latin in NYC, and a student at BUHS about the walkouts at their schools, their thoughts about violence, and their thoughts on ending gun violence.
Hosts Mikaela and Anna hold a discussion around mental illness, stigma, criminalization, how we cope, get our needs meet and take care of each other. Joined in the studio is Calvin Moen from Vermont Psychiatric Survivors in Brattleboro and Hannah, a community member that has been directly impacted by the mental health care system.
This show is about immigration and the recent ruling by the supreme court that says that immigrants (including permanent residents) can continue to be held without bond hearings indefinitely.
Nik and Maresa discuss the current statistics on those who have become wards of the state, as well as the history of the foster care system. Interviews by Jo Dery, a local foster parent, as well as Judy Dow, Abenaki researcher and educator. Analysis of the role of the state as it relates to family life from the early 1900s to today. Part 1 of the series.
Hosts Asis and Nina interviewed David Vine, author of Base Nation: How U.S. Military Bases Abroad Harm America and the World, and discussed the consequences and purpose of the over 800 known U.S. military bases abroad.
Cory and Chris host a discussion about men, patriarchy, and capitalism. What are the origins of patriarchy? How profitable is patriarchy and how does it divide people? How do we have these conversations in our classrooms and communities?
Part II of our discussion around mass incarceration, Riker's Island, and reform vs. prison abolition. Hosts Anna & Mikaela will be continuing their conversation with Lateef Taylor (working on Riker's) and Justin Helepololei of Great Falls Books Through Bars, doing work in Western, MA. For Part I : https://soundcloud.com/user-654648353/part-i-rikers-island-prison-jails-race-and-local-issues
Indigo radio hosts Mikaela and Anna play an interview with Lateef Taylor, a Senior Human Resources Generalist working at Riker's Island - NYC's main jail complex. We also were joined in the studio by Justin Helepololei with Great Falls Books Through Bars - a group working in Turners Falls, MA that distributes books to those incarcerated. This is Part I of a two part series on mass incarceration, prison abolition and prison reform.
Becca Polk and Maresa Nielson discuss and play clips from the MLK Speak Out events in Springfield, VT and Brattleboro, VT.
Discussion around Honduras, history of US intervention, and the current political crisis happening. Indigo host Henry talks with Honduran educator Asis Castellanos and professor Adrienne Pine at American University and author of the book Working Hard, Drinking: On Violence and Survival in Honduras
Indigo Radio interviews Ziad Abbas, Asis Castellanos, Abby Mnookin and comrades in the streets of Brattleboro to discuss occupation in Palestine, Honduras, in our environment, and in the world.
On todays show we looked at music as a form of resistance. We analyzed both the context in which songs were written, what are the messages and history we get through songs, as well as current struggles such as borders, labor and the Tax Bill.
Hosts Anna Mullany & Cory Sorenson talk about the myths around Thanksgiving and discuss their experiences at the National Day of Mourning at Plymouth, MA. We are joined on the line by Roberto Borrero, member of the indigenous Taino Nation and president of the United Confederation of Taino People to talk about continued indigenous resistance and the history of Thanksgiving. We also play political prisoner, Leonard Peltier's statement read at the Day of Mourning.
Hosts Becca Polk and Nina Kunimoto interviewed Professor Kozue Akibayashi of Doshisha University in Kyoto, Japan to discuss resistance against U.S. military bases in Okinawa, Japan. Becca and Nina will contextualize the bases in the U.S. imperialist project and Professor Akibayashi enlightens us of the human and environmental costs of the bases, especially sexual assault.
Dr. Aviva Chomsky discusses U.S. imperialism in Latin America and Immigration. Hosts Kelly Juno and Nina Kunimoto add to the conversation with creative resistance against capitalism in Latin America.
Discussion of the nature of homelessness and panhandling in Brattleboro and the United States. Critique of the responses to panhandling, and discussion of structural causes.
On this show we discuss the current state of our healthcare system and whether it can meet the needs of people. We talk with Martha Allen at the VT NEA about the teachers union struggles over healthcare, Ellen Schwartz and the Vermont Workers Center, and Dr. Roona Ray a family doctor and public health specialist.
In this show we will be discussing the legacy of colonization and whether or not Columbus should be celebrated as a hero, featuring young people from Guilford and Springfield Vt.
Listen to an interview with Nancy Mansour, Palestinian woman from Haifa, born and raised in London. She'll be talking about the occupation of Palestine and it's effects on ordinary Palestinian people. From the West Bank to Gaza, settlers and soldiers violate the dignity and land of indigenous Palestinians. What can we do here in the US? Tune in!
Join us as we discuss Betsy DeVos's personal history, the history of corporatization and privatization of schooling, and connections to schools in Brattleboro and Puerto Rico.
U.S. imperialism in Central and South America dates back to the early 1800s and it has continued unabated and perhaps has intensified recently. We have a conversation with Laura Jean Embree-Lowry of Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES).
The topic today is white supremacy and we'll be interviewing Dottie Morris, Chief Officer of Diversity at Keene State College, Christopher Tinson, Professor of Africana Studies and History at Hampshire College, and Carly Fox, History Teacher at Vermont Academy. We will explore how white supremacy manifests in our day-to-day lives and its historical roots.
Syrians escape war to Lebanon, many to the capital of Beirut and even more now living in informal encampments in the Bekaa Valley in East Lebanon. Ali and Hiba discuss their work supporting Syrians escaping war to the Bekaa Valley, their living conditions and their growing insecurity.
Conversation around racism and white supremacy in the U.S.
Joining us on Indigo Radio was Joe Keady, a current graduate student at UMASS Amherst and was recently in Charlottesville during the white supremacist "Unite the Right" rally as part of the counter-protest & Mike Szostak, who runs the restorative justice program at Brattleboro Union High School.
This week we have an interview with Dr. Charles Mullany, a doctor that has been working at the Maricopa County jail in Phoenix AZ for 9 years. Maricopa County is home of the self proclaimed "America's Toughest Sheriff," Joe Arpaio, who just this month was found guilty of criminal contempt in a racial profiling case during his time as sheriff. He served as sheriff of the jail from 1993-2016. Indigo's Radio's Anna Mullany conducted the interview with Dr. Mullany on a recent trip to AZ - she'll also will be sharing her own learnings within the jail and conversations she had with mental health staff working there.
This show is about the Vermont Eugenics Survey in connection with the movement to change the name of the Dorothy Canfield Fisher book award. We will be talking with Judy Dow, an Abenaki educator, and Lauren Perlstein, a school librarian, about why they support changing the name of the award. By the end of this month, Scott Murphy, the governor-appointed state librarian, will be making a decision about the name-change.
Why grow food? Why eat what we eat? Today’s show we are discussing programs that engage young people in conversations about where their food comes from and how to grow their own food. We will hear voices from the Lettuce Grow Food summer camp. We will also be joined by Dr. Roona Ray family doctor and public health specialist discussing her experience with a community garden in the Bronx that connected medicine and health and Amanda Jordan-Starks who teaches youth about growing food through turning abandoned lots into gardens.
This is part two of a multi series on Puerto Rico. The first part touched on US colonialism of Puerto Rico, decolonization and resistance in Holyoke, and the debt crisis. In this part we talk more about the history of US colonialism in Puerto Rico and the diaspora in Holyoke. We interview Dr. Heyda Martinez, a professor at the University of Massachusetts' Social Justice Education Program.
Current trends in higher education around increasing part-time faculty, how this effects students and teachers, and how union-organizing can fight back.
We were joined in the studio by: Cindy Polinsky - AFT VT field rep for higher education - union rep for state of VT and 25 years of experience in the labor movement.
Joe Berry is the author of Reclaiming the Ivory Tower: Organizing adjuncts to change higher education. He is a retired contingent labor educator from U of IL and City College of SF and has taught also in IA and PA. He has worked with all the major unions that organize contingent faculty and is presently the retiree rep on the Exec. Bd. of AFT 2121 at City College of San Francisco. He lives in both Berkeley, CA and Jamaica, VT. He currently (Fall 2017) teaches labor studies at Ton Duc Thang U in Ho Chi Minh City in Viet Nam.
Kathleen Moore is mediator, counselor, and coach, and has been teaching at the Community College of Vermont for more than 10 years.
The music has been edited out of this podcast version (available on iTunes) for copyright purposes.
In 1493, Columbus stopped off in Puerto Rico and 15 years later Juan Ponce de Leon invaded it. The Spanish colonized Puerto Rico for 400 years until the Spanish lost to the United States in 1898 in the Spanish-American War. For 12 hours, Puerto Ricans had independence from Spain only to find that they became the colony of the United States. This show explores the current debt crisis and the ensuing austerity measures that affect Puerto Ricans on the island and here. Roman Nelson, City Council member of Ward 2 of Holyoke and Executive Director of Nuestra Esperanza, talks about the Puerto Rican diaspora, debt, resistance and hope.
Today, our theme is on unions: particularly, the rise of unions under capitalism, the recent teachers' union struggle in Vermont, and how unions can serve to deaden labor struggles. DUE TO COPYRIGHT ISSUES, THE MUSIC IS EDITED OUT OF THIS PODCAST.
Becca Polk and Anna Mullany joined with Rhonda Anderson who recently returned from Standing Rock. Rhonda is an area Inupiaq-Athabaskan Indigenous woman from Alaska, living in nearby Colrain, MA. Listen to our discussion about her time at Standing Rock as well as local indigenous struggles and resistance.