Making Contact

I Am Not Your Negro is a journey into black history that connects the past of the Civil Rights movement to the present of #BlackLivesMatter. It is a film that questions black representation in Hollywood and beyond.

The Poetic Address to the Nation, brought together poets to speak powerfully against the current administration. Featuring Cam Awkward, Guillermo Gomez Peña, Michelle ‘Mush’ Lee, and many others.

On this encore edition of Making Contact, we present the final installment in a two-part series on the pressure to transform a region of iconic landscapes and environmental stewardship into a global center for shipping fossil fuels.

On this encore edition of Making Contact, we present the first in a two-part series on the pressure to transform a region of iconic landscapes and environmental stewardship into a global center for shipping fossil fuels.

“From almost every kind of responsibility and tie from engagement and from faith. So the artist--our task is to move ourselves and the rest of us in the opposite direction. Toward more engagement, towards stronger ethics, toward a social that's open and inclusive to all toward seeing each other in full, to challenge us to recognize the debts, and yes, the reparations that we owe to each other.” Jeff Chang offers ideas to reinforce the importance of art and artists in today’s sociopolitical climate.

Fannie Lou Hamer's 100th birthday is Oct 6. She's no longer alive, and may not be as widely known as others in the civil rights movement --- but her words have a relevant ring today.

Making Contact's Community Storytelling Fellows Vincent Medina and Isabella Zizi share deep and personal stories on Native American Organizing and Activism on Ohlone lands.

This week, we begin with the story of a woman who was in flight to the US when President Trump signed his first travel ban. We later hear how immigrant and refugee support groups are responding.

On May 18, 1980, the people of Gwangju, South Korea came together for reunification and an end to an era of martial law imposed by U.S.-backed military dictators. Over the course of ten days, they staged mass protests, battled riot police and soldiers, and were met with brutal repression. Together, they successfully drove the military out Gwangju and governed the city together. Their actions changed the course of Korean history. On Part 1 of this episode of Making Contact, we hear from survivors of the Gwangju Uprising about how they took on the tasks of history and the lessons they carry. Image Credit: HONG SUNG-DAM http://ow.ly/3tC130f7ule

Women Rising Radio features amazing stories of women from Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres. MSF's teams head to difficult, dangerous, and medically deprived places on Earth to treat and rescue survivors of violence and climate change.  

Collective housing, cultural co-ops, land trusts, community banks are community-rooted enterprises that empower those that have been excluded from traditional economic institutions. Solidarity economy models exercised throughout the country are becoming viable solutions towards sustainable and economically just living.

“Mirrors of Privilege” is a film and conversation guide designed to help bridge the gap between good intentions and meaningful change. From Shakti Butler, director of “Cracking the Codes: The System of Inequity” and “The Way Home: Women Talk About Race in America,” “Mirrors of Privilege” features stories from white men and women on overcoming issues of unconscious racism and entitlement.

As people respond in the wake of actions in Charlottesville,VA, perpetrated by white supremacists and Nazi's emboldened by President Trump, we interview Alicia Garza, one of the founding leaders of Black Lives Matter. You'll hear Garza's specific definitions of power and white supremacy, as she contextualizes this moment, and you'll learn about concrete actions that people, especially white people can take to move forward and organize. Special thanks to Kate Raphael & Women's Magazine on KPFA.

On this edition of Making Contact we present, The Struggle Inside: The Murder of George Jackson, a program about the modern anti-prison movement.

In this edition of Making Contact, we look at two major changes to statewide curriculum in California, and where schools nationwide may be headed under Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.

On this edition of Making Contact, we’ll meet people challenging polluters in their own backyard. Not to push hazardous industries into another neighborhood. Instead they’re developing visionary solutions for a better life for all and for the future of the planet. From urban to rural communities, we'll learn about indigenous-led efforts to protect public health and the environment for future generations.

On this edition of Making Contact, we’ll explore the aftermath of the Ghost Ship fire and the battle to preserve live/work spaces, and then we look at the San Pablo fire in Oakland California that displaced at least a hundred residents…many of whom are now living on the streets in tent encampments. Special Thanks to KALW and Jeremy Dalmas.

On this edition of Making Contact we go from Cape Town, South Africa to Los Angeles and Oakland, California— three cities grappling with evictions, displacement, and homelessness.

On this edition, we hear from Dr. Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, Associate Professor in the Department of African American Studies at Princeton University. Taylor most recently wrote, From Black Lives Matter to Black Liberation. We’ll be sharing a talk with Dr. Taylor’s insights on Black Liberation as framed through this most recent election.

It was the 1960s – and throughout the United States, opposition to the War in Vietnam was growing.  The Draft forced young men to make a choice about their own participation in the war. And many chose to resist. On today’s Making Contact we look back at the resistance to the Draft to the War in Vietnam.  What form did that resistance take?  And what lessons are people bringing to building resistance to war and empire among soldiers today, in the absence of an official draft?