|
| Just Peace |
| Monday 6pm - 7pm |
| Hosted By Heather Gray & Nadia Ali, Ph.D. |
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*******Samples from Previous Shows*******
July 6, 2009
On WRFG’s Just Peace tonight, as part of our on-going series on health care in America, we will talk with Rebecca Shanberg, producer of the film “Do No Harm.” We will also talk with Holly Lang of Georgia Watch, a consumer advocacy group that is bringing Rebecca Shanberg to Atlanta on July 10, for the showing of “Do No Harm” at Seven Stages Theater in the Little Five Points area.
"Do No Harm" tells the story of two reluctant whistleblowers in a small Georgia town who endure relentless attacks as they struggle to draw national attention to hospital corruption and the plight of the uninsured. At the center of this story is Phoebe Putney, a non-profit hospital in Albany, Georgia whose influence is felt by most Albany residents - everyone knows someone who works at Phoebe, owes Phoebe money, or who has been to the hospital for treatment. In 2003, Dr. John Bagnato and accountant Charles Rehberg stumble upon evidence that the hospital is overcharging uninsured and indigent patients and is using aggressive collections tactics to recover costs. Their subsequent investigation uncovered millions of dollars in offshore bank accounts and lucrative for-profit businesses under the control of the non-profit hospital - not only at Phoebe, but also at non-profit hospitals around the country. And most surprisingly – this is all entirely legal. When these discoveries become public, Bagnato and Rehberg become the targets of threats and intimidation, and were eventually prosecuted by local authorities for blowing the whistle on the hospital's practices. With their reputations and livelihoods on the line, the film depicts Bagnato and Rehberg as they confront what they’re willing to sacrifice to bring about justice.
Rebecca Schanberg was the Associate Producer of A Doula Story (PBS 2005) and coordinated the national educational outreach campaign for that film. Prior to joining Kindling, she was Director of Corporate Philanthropy at Polo Ralph Lauren, where she managed the corporation's charitable giving program and helped create and run the company's widely publicized "Pink Pony Campaign." She has also worked as a Community and Women's Liaison in The Office of the Manhattan Borough President under Ruth Messinger, and as a Team Leader and Program Designer for City Year, a national urban peace corps. "Do No Harm" is her first directorial effort.
Holly Lang has worked internationally and won several industry awards in the arena of journalism. She also runs Pine Magazine, an online-only general interest news, arts, music, fiction and opinion magazine. At Georgia Watch, Holly researches state hospitals and their indigent and charity care policies, authoring reports on those findings.
Founded in 2002, Georgia Watch is the state’s leading consumer group advocating for Georgia’s citizens and families and working to give families a voice in critical public debates. Georgia Watch is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to educating Georgia consumers on the health care, insurance and financial issues that impact them. Georgia Watch promotes consumer-friendly public policy and greater protections for victims of fraud, malpractice and misinformation.
March 16, 2009
Today on Just Peace, we welcome two longtime proponents of Feminism: Robert Jensen and Nawal El-Saadawi.
Dr. Robert Jensen is an associate professor in the School of Journalism at the University of Texas at Austin. He joined the UT faculty in 1992 after completing his Ph.D. in media ethics and law in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Minnesota. Prior to his academic career, he worked for a decade as a professional journalist. In his research, Jensen draws on a variety of criticial approaches to media and power. Much of his work has focused on pornography and the radical feminist critique of sexuality and men's violence. In more recent work, he has also addressed questions of race through a critique of white privilege and institutionalized racism. In addition to teaching and research, Dr. Jensen writes for popular media, both alternative and mainstream. His opinion and analytic pieces on such subjects as foreign policy, politics, and race have appeared in papers around the country. His new book, "All My Bones Shake: Seeking a Progressive Path to the Prophetic Voice," will be released in June, 2009.
Dr. Nawal El-Saadawi is a world-renowned Egyptian feminist writer, activist, and psychiatrist. As Cosby Endowed Chair at Spelman College here in Atlanta, she is hosting the Creativity and Dissidence International Conference this coming weekend, March 20-21st, in the Cosby Academic Center building. Early medical positions in th 1970's included Assistant General Secretary in the Medical Association in Egypt, research on women and neurosis as a member of Ain Shams University's Faculty of Medicine, and United Nations Advisor for the Women's Programme in Africa (ECA) and Middle East (ECWA). It is Dr. El-Saadawi's novels and books on the situation of women, however, which have had a deep effect on successive generations of women over the last four decades. Her writing and political activism have long been controversial in Egypt - to the extent that in 1972 she lost her job at the Ministry of Health; in 1981, she was put in an Egyptian prison; in 1991, the Arab Women's Solidarity Association, over which she presided, was closed and its magazine shut down; from 1991-1996, she was forced to live in exile for five years; and in 2004, her two of her books were banned by Al-Azhar in Cairo. Despite all of this, Dr. El-Saadawi has been awarded several national and international literary prizes, her works have been translated into many languages all over the world, and many of them are taught in universities and colleges in different countries. She herself continues to lecture in many universities and to organize and participate in international and national conferences.
February 2, 2009
This Monday on Just Peace, we welcome Dr. Fatemeh Keshavarz, Co-Chair of Iranians For Peace (IFP). Iranians For Peace have recently published a letter to President Obama stating, "Exploring the current nuclear crisis, with the objective of enabling both sides to envision a solution, has been one of our goals." A full transcript of this letter may be read online at www.iraniansforpeace.net/index.html.
Dr. Kashavarz is an Iranian academic, writer and literary figure. She is a professor of Persian Language and Comparative Literature and chair of the Department of Asian and Near Eastern Languages and Literatures at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, where she has taught since 1990. She has served as Director of the Graduate Program in Jewish, Islamic, and Near Eastern Studies, Director of the Center for the Study of Islamic Societies and Civilizations, and President of the Association of Women Faculty. She earned her Ph.D. in Near Eastern Studies from the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London in 1985.
January 19, 2009
This Monday on Just Peace, we honor the memory and vision of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.. In the spirit of Dr. King's focus on sources of racism, militarism, and materialism, we will talk with Michel Chossudovsky, Canadian economist and professor at the University of Ottawa about his recent article, "War and Natural Gas: The Israeli Invasion and Gaza's Offshore Gas Fields," detailing his evidence and assertion that the Israeli invasion of Gaza bears a direct relation to Israel's desire for conquest and ownership of strategic offshore gas reserves off Gaza's coastline. A full version of this article may be read at http://www.globalresearch.ca/PrintArticle.php?articleId=11680.
Michel Chossudovsky is a noted academic, author, activist and relentless researcher concentrating on America's crusade to control Earth for its markets, resources and cheap exploitable labor. He's a Canadian economist and has taught at the University of Ottawa, as well as at academic institutions in Western Europe, Latin America and Southeast Asia. In addition, he's been an economic adviser to several developing countries' governments and a consultant for many international organizations, including the UN Development Programme (UNDP), UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, International Labour Organization (ILO), and the World Health Organization (WHO). He is also the editor of the Centre for Research on Globalization and its web site, www.globalresearch.ca.
Chossudovsky is an active member of the anti-war movement in Canada, and has written extensively on the war in Yugoslavia. Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 in the United States, he has also been involved in highlighting the historical relationship between the US government, Bin Laden and Al Qaeda. His publications have been translated into more than twenty languages. His latest book is entitled America's "War on Terrorism."
January 12, 2009
Last week on Just Peace, we spoke with Palestinian-American Ali Abunimah about the atrocities being perpetrated in Gaza by Israel. This week we will speak with two Israeli-Canadian women, Smadar Carmon and B.H. Yael, who were arrested this past Wednesday at the Israeli consulate in Toronto, protesting Israeli's assault on the people of Gaza. We will also speak with local Atlantan Alta Schwartz concerning similar reactions among Jewish-Americans.
A group of eight Jewish Canadian women occupied the Israeli consulate at 180 Bloor Street West in Toronto on January 7th, 2009, in protest against the on-going Israeli assault on the Palestinian people of Gaza. The group carried out their protest in solidarity with the 1.5 million people of Gaza and to ensure that Jewish voices against the massacre in Gaza are being heard. They demanded that Israel end its military assault and lift the 18-month siege on the Gaza Strip to allow humanitarian aid into the territory.
Israel has been carrying out a full-scale military assault on the Gaza Strip since December 27, 2008, ignoring international calls for a ceasefire and refusing to allow food, adequate medical supplies and other necessities of life into the Gaza Strip. Of the over 800 Palestinians killed in the Israeli assault since December 27th, the United Nations estimates at least 257 of them have been children, with children also make up a large part of the over 3,600 wounded Gaza civilians. The Jewish-Canadian women expressed their outrage at Israel¡äs latest assault on the Palestinian people and at the Canadian government¡äs refusal to condemn these massacres. They are deeply concerned that Canadians are hearing the views of pro-Israel groups who are being represented as the only voice of Jewish Canadians. The protesters occupied the consulate to send a clear statement that many Jewish-Canadians do not support Israel¡äs violence and apartheid policies.
Smadar Carmon was born on a kibbutz in Israel and served in the Israeli army for 2 years in the early 1970's. She initially left Israel in 1980, though she returned intermittently for several years at a time. Smadar traveled in the Far East and lived for many years in the United States, before finally settling in Toronto, Canada. In Toronto she became very active in opposing the Israeli Occupation of Palestine. She is a member of Zatoun: Palestinian fair trade olive oil (www.zatoun.com), Not In Our Name (NION) (http://www.nion.ca/ ), and Independent Jewish Voices (IJV) (http://jewishvoices.squarespace.com ). Smadar's main interest is human rights and she states, "Since I was born in Palestine I chose to focus on human rights for the Palestinian people."
B.H. Yael is also Israeli-born. She is now Professor and Chair of Integrated Media at the Ontario College of Art and Design and teaches a class on "Media & Social Change," among other topics. Yael began her activism for a just, sustainable peace in Israel/Palestine after the beginning of the second Palestinian Intifada in September, 2000, choosing to direct and produce a number of video projects on the issue. An initial piece, entitled "In the Middle of the Street," depicts a specific week in December of 2001, in which Palestinian, Israeli, and other international peace activists joined together in actions for peace. A later work, Palestine Trilogy (2006), is an independent, critical perspective on Israeli and Palestinian efforts toward coexistence. With one piece of the trilogy focusing on the massacre at Deir Yassin in 1948, one piece on activist initiatives in the West Bank, and the third a more poetic response to the conflict, Yael confronts the reality of terror, of displacement, of walls, and the constant surveillance on families and communities while simultaneously exploring the common recognition of the possibility of a different, more hopeful, reality. Yael works to challenge the traditional Canadian perception of peace efforts in the Middle East.
December 8, 2008
Tonight on Just Peace, we will talk with Minnesota's Secretary of State, Mark Ritchie, about the recount of the U.S. Senate race between incumbent Minnesota Republican Senator Norm Coleman and Democratic challenger Al Franken. This is the last challenged Senate race in the country now that the Georgia Senate run-off race was decided on December 2nd (with Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss prevailing over his Democratic challenger Jim Martin).
Mark Ritchie serves as Minnesota's Secretary of State, the state's chief elections officer. Mark previously worked under Minnesota's Governor Rudy Perpich in the Department of Agriculture, responsible for addressing the economic crisis facing family farmer and rural communities. He served for twenty years as the president of the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP), a Minnesota-based public research center working with businesses, churches, farm organizations, and other civic groups to foster long-term economic and environmental sustainability in Greater Minnesota. In 2003, Mark also led National Voice, a national coalition of over 2,000 community-based organizations from across the country working together to increase non-partisan civic engagement and voter participation. As part of his official duties as Secretary of State, Mark serves on the State's Executive Council, the State Board of Investment, and the Minnesota Historical Society. Mark and his wife Nancy Gaschott live in Minneapolis.
November 24, 2008
This Monday on Just Peace, we will interview William Ayers, the man whose prior association with President Elect Obama stirred such controversy during the recent 2008 U.S. Presidential Campaign. Mr. Ayers, who is currently an elementary education theorist, was formerly a 1960s antiwar activist. Labelled a "domestic terrorist" by many, he is perhaps best known for the radical nature of his activism in the 1960s and 1970s. In 1969 he co-founded the radical left organization known as the Weather Underground, which conducted a campaign of bombing public buildings, including the New York City Police Headquarters in 1970, the U.S. Capital building in 1971, and the Pentagon in 1972. He is now a professor in the College of Education in the University of Illinois at Chicago, holding the titles of Distinguished Professor of Education and Senior University Scholar, and known for his current work in education reform, curriculum, and instruction. He is the author of many books, including his 2001 memoir, Fugitive Days: Memories of an Antiwar Activist, which has recently been reissued.
November 10, 2008
It's time once again for our WRFG Fall Marathon! To kick off the marathon, we welcome civil rights activist Charlie Cobb, recent author of the book, "On the Freedom Road: A Guided Tour of Civil Rights Trails."
A veteran of the civil rights movement, Charlie Cobb worked as a field secretary for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in the Mississippi Delta. He originated the Freedom School proposal that became a crucial part of the 1964 Mississippi Summer Project. A founding member of the National Association of Black Journalists, Mr. Cobb has reported for WHUR Radio in Washington, D.C., as well as NPR, PBS's Frontline, and National Geographic.
Cobb's book offers an in-depth look at the Civil Rights Movement by recreating the journey traveled by many of its activists. He guides the reader to its roots, visiting 400 historic sites and paying tribute to well known and unknown participants alike. In a journey that goes from Washington, D.C. through eight southern states, "On the Road to Freedom" travels inside the organizations that framed the movement, recreates the Freedom Rides of 1961, and includes first-person accounts about the events that inspired Brown vs. Board of Education.
We additionally focus on Charlie Cobb this Monday in continuation of our reflection on the historic election this past week of President-elect Barack Obama. Much has been made of the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. as laying the groundwork for the election of Obama. However, in the modern civil rights movement and the Democratic Party itself, perhaps one of the most direct links to this election is the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP) and its efforts to be seated at the Democratic Convention in Atlantic City in 1964. MFDP leader Fannie Lou Hamer was etched into history as she and others challenged the leadership in the Democratic Party and the all-white Democratic delegation from Mississippi. Our guest tonight, Charlie Cobb, was present in Atlantic City for the historic convention.
October 20th, 2008
Today on Just Peace, we welcome renowned historian Howard Zinn. Zinn will talk with us about the government bailout of Wall Street, as well as providing us with a historical perspective on government bailouts. Among other things, Zinn is perhaps best known for his book, "A People's History of the United States."
We will also talk with Charlie Flemming, President of the Atlanta Labor Council, and Susan Washington, Assistant to John Sweeney, President of the AFL-CIO, about the present economic downturn and the views of the labor movement.
October 6th, 2008
Today on Just Peace we remember J.L. Chestnut, the legendary civil rights attorney who died this past week. J.L. Chestnut started his law firm in Selma, Alabama, in 1959 as the city's first black attorney. He became renowned as a fighter against the Jim Crow South and for civil rights. More recently Mr. Chestnut was the lead counsel for Black farmers who filed suit against the US Department of Agriculture.
We will reminisce with Alabama State Senator and fellow attorney, Hank Sanders, also from Selma, about Mr. Chestnut¡¯s long and impressive history as a warrior for civil rights. Attorney Sanders is a member of the Chestnut, Sanders, Sanders and Pettaway law firm in Selma, Alabama.
August 25th, 2008
Tonight on Just Peace, we welcome Rev. Alex Elias Awad, a missionary of the General Board of Global Ministries of the United Methodist Church, serving in Palestine/Israel with his wife, Brenda. Reverend Awad is the Senior Pastor at East Jerusalem Baptist Church, as well as the Dean of Students at Bethlehem Bible College. He has authored two bokos, "Through the Eyes of the Victims" and "Palestinian Memories: The Story of a Palestinian Mother and Her People."
Reverend Awad was born and raised in Jerusalem. His formative years were marked by the death of his father, who was killed in 1948 during crossfire between the Israeli and Jordanian armies. After the family became refugees, his mother was faced with the task of raising seven children between the ages of six months and eleven years.
Influenced by his mother's strong Christian faith, Rev. Awad left Jerusalem as a young man to attend a Bible college in Switzerland. Unable to return to his homeland because of the War of 1967, he then traveled to the United States and earned a B.A. in Biblical education from Lee University in Cleveland, Tennessee. While there he met and married his wife, Brenda, and they spent the next seven years teaching in public schools and various church ministries in Tennessee and here in Georgia. He became a naturalized American citizen during this time.
In 1989, the General Board of Global Ministries of the United Methodist Church commissioned Rev. Awad and his wife to serve as missionaries. They spent the next few years struggling to obtain visas to return to Palestine/Israel. During that period, they served as Mission Interpreters in Residence (MIIR) in Ohio from 1989-90; peace and justice educators in upstate New York from 1990-91; and Mission Interpreters in Residence in the South Central Jurisdiction from 1991-94. In 1994 they finally were allowed to return to Palestine where they continue to serve at Bethlehem Bible College and East Jerusalem Baptist Church.
In addition to Palestine/Israel and the United States, Rev. Awad's experiences include pastoral and teaching ministries in various other countries, including Norway, England, Romania, Brazil, Indonesia, South Africa, Sweden, Holland, and Germany.
August 18th, 2008
This Monday on Just Peace, we welcome former Army Captain Luis Montalv¨¢n. Montalv¨¢n served twice in Iraq, leading cavalry elements and advisory teams. He contributed to the 3d ACR's success in 'Operation Restoring Rights' in Tall Afar in 2005 and served as a participant in the American Enterprise Institute's Iraq Planning Group in 2007. Among his military service awards are the Combat Action Badge, two Bronze Stars, the Purple Heart and commendations medals for valor. Luis is presently working on dual Master's degrees in Journalism and Strategic Communications at Columbia University in NYC. He is a member of the Council for Emerging National Security Affairs (CENSA). He departed the Army honorably on September 11, 2007, and is recovering from wounds sustained in combat.
Montalv¨¢n will talk with us about the Iraq Veterans' Refugee Aid Association (IVRAA), a newly established non-profit organization set up by two veterans of the Iraq war, himself and former Marine Capt. Tyler Boudreau, to aid Iraqi refugees. IVRAA launched its first humanitarian mission this month, when Boudreau and Montalv¨¢n travelled Jordan to gauge, from a point of view untainted by politics or muffled by censorship, the plight of nearly one million Iraqis who have sought refuge from the devastation in their homeland.
Montalv¨¢n and Boudreau, who between them completed three tours of duty in Iraq and have 29 years' experience in the US military, are using the information gathered during this mission to educate the public as to the urgency of the humanitarian crisis facing Iraqi refugees and to determine how best to help them.
The driving forces behind IVRAA are the desire to repay a debt to the Iraqi people and to give US veterans another means to repair and heal the wounds left by the Iraq war.
The recent mission to Jordan is believed to be the first by Iraq veterans seeking to help the very people US soldiers were sent to liberate but whom they instead left shackled to misery and displacement. The visit is in keeping with the tradition of Veterans of Vietnam and World War II returning to the theaters of the wars they fought in to repay a debt to the peoples who were once their foes. Unlike missions by veterans of wars past, the IVRAA visit took place as the Iraq war continues....
August 11th, 2008
This Monday on Just Peace, we welcome back Azadeh Shahshahani. Shahshahani is the Director of the newly launched National Security/Immigrants' Rights Project at the ACLU of Georgia. The project is aimed at advocating for immigrant communities in Georgia who have experienced grave erosion of their civil liberties in the post 9/11 atmosphere. The overall goal for the project is to bring the treatment of immigrants in Georgia (including immigrant detainees) into compliance with international human rights standards, following the report recently released by U.N. Special Rapporteur Jorge Bustamante denouncing immigrant detention policies and facilities that fail to meet these standards.
Azadeh Shahshahani previously served as Interim Legal Director for the ACLU of Georgia. Before her move to Atlanta, she worked with the ACLU of North Carolina as Muslim/Middle Eastern Community Outreach Coordinator. In that capacity, she initiated a statewide campaign against racial profiling, coordinated a Continuing Legal Education seminar to train attorneys to represent Muslim and Middle Eastern clients facing civil liberties violations, and led a statewide campaign calling for the investigation of a North Carolina-based air carrier which has transported foreign nationals to torture and detention.
Shahshahani is a 2004 graduate of the University of Michigan Law School, where she was a participant in the Third Colloquium on Challenges in International Refugee Law and served as Article Editor for The Michigan Journal of International Law. While in law school, Shahshahani completed a fellowship with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Washington, DC, a research fellowship with a women's rights organization in Iran, and an internship with an immigrants' rights organization in Los Angeles.
August 4, 2008
This Monday, in the second week of WRFG's 2008 Summer Marathon, we will interview Vincent Bugliosi, the author of the recently published and much acclaimed book, The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder. Bugliosi is touted as one of America's most skilled prosecutors and is particularly famous for the conviction of the Manson Family. Vincent Bugliosi received his law degree in 1964. In his career at the L.A. County District Attorney's office, he successfully prosecuted 105 of 106 felony jury trials, including 21 murder convictions without a single loss. His most famous trial, the Charles Manson case, became the basis of his classic, Helter Skelter, the biggest selling true-crime book in publishing history. Two of Bugliosi's other books, And the Sea Will Tell and Outrage, also reached #1 on the New York Times hardcover bestseller list. No other American true-crime writer has ever had more than one book that achieved that ranking. His 2007 book, Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy, has been heralded as "epic" and "a book for the ages." HBO, in association with Tom Hanks' PlayTone Productions, will be producing this as a ten-hour mini-series.
Bugliosi's latest book, THE PROSECUTION OF GEORGE W. BUSH FOR MURDER, was published by Vanguard Press on May 27, 2008. BBC Audiobooks America is publishing the title in CD and as a download through its BBC Audio imprint. The audio book includes an in-depth question and answer session with the author.
June 30, 2008
This Monday on Just Peace, we will talk with Keya Lea Horiuchi, director, editor, cinematographer and narrator for the film, Considering Democracy: 8 Things to Ask your Representative. Prior to working on this film, Ms. Horiuchi spent most of her career as an educator, teaching on the Navajo Indian Reservation, on the western slope of Colorado and in Denver. She had created one short film before this one, entitled Red Tibet, Free Tibet, in 2004.
The premise of Ms. Horiuchi's film lies in answering the questions, "What does the rest of the world think about the United States? More importantly, what is true about the things people say?" Considering Democracy brings refreshing points of view to the political discussion, while bringing a new meaning to the term independent filmmaking, the filmmaker having traveled across 10 countries collecting interviews by herself, as well as having produced, directed, shot, and edited the film. The rest of the world is a source of intelligence that acts as a beautiful, yet pragmatic reflection of political power in the United States. For more information, check out www.consideringdemocracy.com.
April 14, 2008
Last July, we discussed on Just Peace the scheduled execution in Jackson, Georgia, of Death Row inmate Troy Anthony Davis. Davis was convicted in 1991 of murdering Police Officer Mark Allen McPhail in Savannah, Georgia. His execution was scheduled for Tuesday, July 17, 2007; however, many Georgians were concerned that their state might execute an innocent man, since both State and Federal Courts had refused to hear the recanted testimony of 7 out of 9 witnesses in his trial - and there was no other evidence linking Davis to the murder. Mr. Davis himself has continually maintained that he is on death row for a crime he did not commit. Since our interview last July, Mr. Davis' execution was stayed while his case went before the Georgia State Supreme Court to determine whether or not he would be allowed a new trial. On March 17, 2008, however, the court returned its verdict, ruling 4-3 to deny the motion for a new trial.
Tonight on Just Peace, we return to Mr. Davis' case. We will be talking with Laura Moye, Deputy Director of Amnesty International USA Southern Regional Office (www.amnestyusa.org) and Chair of Georgians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (www.gfadp.org).
January 14, 2008
Tonight on Just Peace, we will talk with Reverend Lennox Yearwood, president of the Washington D.C. Hip-Hop Caucus (www.hiphopcaucus.org). Reverend Yearwood made national news on September 10, 2007 when he was arrested and injured by Capitol police as he attempted to enter the Congressional hearing of General Petraeus. Yearwood said that he was prevented from entering the hearing because he was wearing a button that says "I love the people of Iraq." In the press release he called his arrest an example of "democracy while black."
Rev. Lennox Yearwood, Jr., is a minister, community activist, and one of the most influential people in Hip Hop political life. Firmly grounded in his Caribbean and Louisiana roots, Rev. Yearwood is a fierce advocate for the poor and minorities. A powerful and fiery orator, Rev. Yearwood works diligently and tirelessly to encourage the Hip Hop generation to utilize its political and social voice. He currently serves as President of the Hip Hop Caucus in Washington, D.C. The Hip Hop Caucus is a national, nonprofit, nonpartisan, organization that inspires and motivates those born after the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s.
Rev. Yearwood is also known for his activist work as the National Director of the Gulf Coast Renewal Campaign in which he organized a coalition of national organizations and grassroots organizations to advocate for the rights of Hurricane Katrina survivors. More recently, Rev. Yearwood has become an important figure in the peace movement as an outspoken critic of the war in Iraq and the Bush Administration. He was an Officer in the U.S. Air Force Reserve and recently led a "Make Hip Hop Not War" national tour to engage more young people in the movement for peace.
November 19, 2007
This Monday on Just Peace, we are delighted to speak with Selma James, activist, author, strategist, critical thinker, and lifelong campaigner for women's rights and anti-racism. Ms. James is engaging in a North American speaking tour marking the 35th anniversary of the International Wages for Housework Campaign, which she founded in 1972. Since 2000, she has also coordinated the Global Women's Strike and has worked closely with grassroots women's democratic struggles in Venezuela since 2002.
Selma James' writings range from the classic "A Woman's Place" in 1952 to"The Power of Women and Subversion of the Community" in the early 1970's to "Creating a Caring Economy: Nora Castaneda and the Women's Development Bank of Venezuela" in 2006. Other books include "Sex, Race, and Class," "Marx and Feminism," "Strangers and Sisters: Women, Race and Immigration," " The Global Kitchen," and "The Milk of Human Kindness: Defending Breast Feeding from the Global Market."
Ms. James is also the widow of renowned Marxist theorist and Pan-Africanist, C.L.R. James. She will be speaking here in Atlanta on November 25th at the Atlanta Friends Meeting House in Decatur.
October 8, 2007
Tonight on Just Peace we will interview Dr. Catherine Thomasson, National President of Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR). Dr. Thomasson traveled to Iran this past spring as a peace diplomat with Fellowship of Reconciliation, amidst new sanctions. She is currently organizing a reciprocal tour for Iranian physicians. She is here in Atlanta this week to report on her trip and to summarize the health consequences of a potential attack on Iran. Dr. Thomasson will be speaking at the CDC, the Rollins School of Public Health, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Atlanta, and the Quaker Meeting House.
Dr. Thomasson received her medical school training from Wayne State University in Michigan. She completed her Internal Medicine Residency at Oregon Health Sciences University, where she currently works as a Residency educator, in addition to teaching and practicing medicine at Portland State University. She has been an educator and advocate for solutions for global warming, as well as participating on city and county advisory panels addressing West Nile virus prevention and safe, effective water treatment. Together with the Oregon PSR chapter, she created a video for use in educating about the severe health threats from war and advocating PSR's alternative approach, "Sensible Multilateral American Reponse to Terrorism."
Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) is a non-profit advocacy organization that is the medical and public voice for policies to stop nuclear war and proliferation and to slow, stop and reverse global warming and toxic degradation of the environment. In 1985, PSR shared the Nobel Peace Prize with International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War for building public awareness and pressure to end the nuclear arms race.
May 7, 2007
Tonight on Just Peace, we will speak with former U.S. Ambassador Joe Wilson, best renowned for his revelations on what he did not find in Africa. In February of 2002, Wilson was asked by the CIA to go on a fact finding mission to Niger, Africa, to investigate Iraq's possible purchase of "uranium yellow cake" for nuclear bomb production. He found no proof of Iraq having made such a purchase.
On January 28, 2003, however, George Bush famously stated in his State of the Union address that "The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa." It was a major justification for the subsequent US invasion of Iraq. Wilson publicly refuted the President's statement four months later, in an Op-Ed in the New York Times on July 6, 2003 (http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/06/opinion/06WILS.html?ex=1372824000&en=6c6aeb1ce960dec0&ei=5007).
Not long after the publication of Wilson's Op-Ed, columnist Robert Novak leaked the undercover identity of Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame, as a CIA operative, thereby putting her life in danger and compromising national security. It is a crime to reveal the name of an active CIA operative. Critics of the Bush administration have claimed that the White House was ultimately behind the leak of Plame's identity, in retaliation for her husband's public contradiction of Bush. The Wilsons have since filed a civil action lawsuit against multiple defendents, including Lewis (Scooter) Libby, Karl Rove, Richard Cheney, and Richard Armitage.
Wilson will be presenting the keynote address at the Georgia ACLU "Annual Bill of Rights Dinner" here in Atlanta later this week, on Saturday, May 12th. For more information about this event, please go to www.acluga.org. Debbie Seagraves, Executive Director of the Georgia American Civil Liberties Union, will also join us tonight on Just Peace.
Selected articles by Heather Gray
January 24, 2007
"Surviving in War: People are Resilient"
March 6, 2006
"Anne Braden: "The South's Rebel Without a Pause"
January 17, 2005
"A Matter of Life and Death: Misconceptions About King's Methods for Change"
December 11 / 12, 2004
"How the South Became Republican: It's About Race" - An Interview with John Egerton
December 30, 2003
"Agriculture, Corporate Greed and Bush"
December 22, 2003
"Everybody Wants to Claim God is on their Side"
Recommended books on the south and justice movement:
"Black in Selma: the Uncommon Life of J.L. Chestnut" by J.L. Chestnut and Julia Cass (1990)
"Race and Reunion: the Civil War in American memory" by David Blight (2001)
"Mind of the South" by Wilbur J. Cash (second edition) 1969
"The Selling of the South: The Southern Crusade for Industrial Development, 1936-1990" by James Cobb (1993)
"Leo Strauss and the American Right" by Shadia Drury (1999)
"Race Against Empire: Black Americans and Anti-colonialism, 1937-1957" by Penny Von Eschen (1997)
"Strength to Love" by Martin Luther King, Jr. (1963)
"Stride Toward Freedom" by Martin Luther King, Jr. (1958)
"Century of War: Politics, Conflicts, and Society Since 1914" by Gabriel Kolko (1994)
"Another Century of War?" by Gabriel Kolko (2002)
"W.E.B. Dubois" by David Levering Lewis (2000)
"The Philippines Reader: a history of colonialism, neocolonialism, dictatorship and resistance" edited by Daniel Schirmer & Stephen Shalom
"Ready for Revolution: the life and struggles of Stokely Carmichael (Kwame Ture)" by Stokely Carmichael with Ekwueme Michael Thelwell (2003)
"A People's History of the United States" by Howard Zinn (1980) |
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