The Next World

On this episode, we talk with Rukia Lumumba from the People's Assembly, Jackson, Mississippi. Together, we discuss the state of Mississippi's attempts to disenfranchise Black political power, and the revolutionary organizing happening now in response.Rukia Lumumba was named a "New Activist" by Essence magazine and an "Emerging Leader" by the Congressional Black Caucus. She is the daughter of community justice icons, the late Mayor Chokwe Lumumba and Nubia Lumumba, and continues the Lumumba family's rich history of advancing issues and initiatives that elevate the legal economical, health and educational rights of individuals, families and communities.For more than 18 years, she has worked within and outside the system to foster justice for all, especially as it relates to criminal justice disparities for people of color. A graduate of Howard University School of Law, Rukia clerked for the Juvenile Rights Division of the Washington, DC, Public Defender Service where she represented children and collected data on human rights violations at the former Oak Hill Youth Detention Center, one of the nation's worst juvenile facilities. She served on the board of directors of the National Conference of Black Lawyers, an association of lawyers, activists and legal workers who defend human rights and expose the criminal justice disparities for people of color. She served as national coordinator of the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, a membership-based organization dedicated to promoting human rights and self-determination. She co-founded Katrina on the Ground, an initiative that organized over 700 college students to participate in post-Katrina relief efforts in Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama. She launched the Community Aid and Development Day Camp, an education and cultural enrichment program for over 200 children ages 6-16 in Jackson, Mississippi.Rukia currently co-chairs the People's Assembly process in Jackson, Mississippi which works to increase community access to city government and to institutionalize People's Assemblies as community governing models that enable a deep democratic participation of people in their own governance. She was selected as one of the brightest and most promising women of color by New York University Wagner School of Public Service and she is a 2011 Youth for Justice Leadership Fellow for the National Juvenile Justice Network.You can read more about the topics we discussed at these links:JXN People's AssemblyPeople's Advocacy InstituteJXN UnidividedRukia Lumumba on twitterMakani Themba in The NationArticle from Mississippi Free Press on Power GrabPetition from Jackson UndividedColor of Change PetitionJXN Unidivided on youtubeSee more of the work of host Max Rameau at pacapower.org. Stay subscribed to The Next World for more news from the frontlines of movements for justice and liberation. Support the show

On this episode, hear from a recent panel discussion featuring Sofia Lopez, Tomás Rivera, James DeFilippis, & Kesi Foster. Together, they discuss strategies to wrest control of housing from the real estate industry.Sofia Lopez is Deputy Campaign Director of Housing for the Action Center on Race and the Economy. Tomás Rivera is Executive Director of the Chainbreakers Collective. Dr. James DeFilippis is Associate Professor, Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University.Kesi Foster, moderating this discussion, is Co-Executive Director of Partners for Dignity & Rights.For more information on the topics of this episode, see also:dignityandrights.orghttps://dignityandrights.org/resources/from-the-ground-up-community-centered-policies-to-scale-equitable-development/https://dignityandrights.org/resources/creating-community-controlled-deeply-affordable-housing-a-resource-toolkit-for-community-activists-allied-community-based-housing-developers/Support the show

On this episode we present a panel discussion featuring Jessica Gordon Nembhard, Raj Patel, Rafaela Rodriguez, & Kesi Foster. Together, they discuss how what we eat connects to labor rights, health, culture, and more.Jessica Gordon Nembhard is professor of Community Justice and Social Economic Development in the Department of Africana Studies at John Jay College, CUNY. Dr. Gordon Nembhard is a political economist specializing in community economics, Black Political Economy and popular economic literacy. Her research and publications explore problematics and alternative solutions in cooperative economic development and worker ownership, community economic development, wealth inequality and community-based asset building, and community-based approaches to justice. Her most recent book is Collective Courage: A History of African American Cooperative Economic Thought and Practice. Raj Patel ​​ is an award-winning author, film-maker and academic. He is a Research Professor in the Lyndon B Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas, Austin and is the co-author of Inflamed: Deep Medicine and the Anatomy of Injustice and author of Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System. His first film, co-directed with Zak Piper, is the award-winning documentary The Ants & The Grasshopper. He can be heard co-hosting the food politics podcast The Secret Ingredient with Mother Jones' Tom Philpott, and KUT's Rebecca McInroy. Rafaela Rodriguez is the Director of Partnerships at the Worker-driven Social Responsibility (WSR) Network. Prior to joining WSR Network staff, Rafaela worked for over seven years in various national and international settings as an advocate working alongside human-trafficking survivors, migrants, and undocumented communities. In 2016, she supported the implementation of the second national WSR-Program in the dairy industry in Vermont and New York. She helped develop the Milk with Dignity Standards Council, the third-party monitor responsible for implementation of the Milk with Dignity Program, bringing dignified living conditions to farmworkers. For more information on the topics of this episode, see also: wsr-network.org/dignityandrights.orgrajpatel.org/Support the show

On this episode, we talk with Njera Keith and Kristina Brown, the co-founders and Ministers of Cohesion of 400+1, a Black cooperative federation based in Texas. Together, we discuss reproductive justice, creating and holding Black space, revolutionary organizing, vanguardism, and gender politics in social movements.Njera Keith is a Diaspora oriented Black organizer whose focus is the development of movement philosophy and infrastructure that supports cohesion and unity in revolutionary struggle. She is the Founder and Executive Coordinator of Black Sovereign Nation, a pro-Black, autonomy-focused, and community-centered organization based in Austin, Texas. She is also the co-founder of 400+1, the world's first Black cooperative federation, a liberatory blueprint, and a framework for dramatic economic and political shifts in global Black life.Kristina Brown is a social epidemiologist by training with a specialty in the identification and assessment of disparities (race and gender). Principally oriented in Black revolutionary struggle, Kristina is fascinated by the utility of spirit, culture and communications to define and cultivate a revolutionary agenda. Invested in applying her skills and empowering her community, she is the co-founder and executive director of Counter Balance: ATX. Counter Balance: ATX is a grassroots non-profit organization purposed to improving the quality of life of women of the global majority and impoverished women, by reimagining Black women's relationship to themselves and the world that impacts them. Most recently, Kristina co-founded 400+1; the world's first Black cooperative federation and Counter Balance's parent organization, to build economic and political power across the Diaspora. It is her hope that this framework will be the vehicle for mass movement and result in propelling Black folx to a world unimaginable, beyond survival. Kristina is currently exploring how sensory-based experiences can improve the health of the Diasporic consciousness. This includes information about what we are naming as healing habits that result in a holistic resistance to the impacts of racialized oppression.You can read more about the topics we discussed at these links:400+1's Spring Manifesto400+1's 2021 Liberated Zone /Occupation400+1's Reproductive Revolution Manifesto400+1 About Us400+1 LinktreeNjera Keith LinktreeNjera Keith article in the Nation400+1 Orisha LandSee more of the work of host Max Rameau at pacapower.org. Stay subscribed to The Next World for more news from the frontlines of movements for justice and liberation. You can read more about the issues we explore on our podcast and much more at dignityandrights.org, the website of Partners for Dignity & Rights, as well as dignityinschools.org.Please subscribe and spread the word. You can find our archives here, or on nearly all podcast platforms.Support the show

Seventeen years after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, join us in exploring the legacy of Katrina and education justice. In conversation with host Max Rameau is Ruth Idakula, Program Director of Dignity in Schools Campaign.Ruth discusses the principles of restorative justice, New Orleans schools after Hurricane Katrina, how to sustain yourself in this work, and her own path from a childhood in Nigeria to organizing in New Orleans.For nearly two decades, Ruth S. Idakula has dedicated her life energy to organizing, education and advocacy for social, racial, and economic justice and equity. Born and raised in Nigeria, Ruth has been a resident of New Orleans for over 23 years. As a proud mother of three sons, she was called into public education organizing, advocacy and policy development by the blatantly racist takeover and privatization of public schools in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Ruth's leadership is grounded in sustaining spiritual practices and she serves as a faith leader, religious educator, and facilitator for collective liberation in New Orleans and beyond. She is building a beautiful garden sanctuary in her backyard – and invites everyone to figure out what sustains you, what gives you life – and be not afraid to go do that!See more of the work of host Max Rameau at pacapower.org. Stay subscribed to The Next World for more news from the frontlines of movements for justice and liberation. You can read more about the issues we explore on our podcast and much more at dignityandrights.org, the website of Partners for Dignity & Rights, as well as dignityinschools.org.Please subscribe and spread the word. You can find our archives here, or on nearly all podcast platforms.Support the show

Join us in exploring art and abolition, with host Max Rameau and artist, professor, writer, and prison abolitionist Bryonn Bain.Bryonn talks with Max about his new book Rebel Speak: A Justice Movement Mixtape, and the multimedia production of his play Lyrics from Lockdown,  playing at the Apollo Theatre on August 29th. They also discuss the Prison Industrial Complex, organizing through the arts, the importance of mental health, and influences; including Albert Woodfox, Lani Gunier, and Kellis Parker. Artists mentioned include Maya Jupiter,  Liberation Family (artist Chen Lo) & Suckerpunch (Mic Crenshaw).Bryonn Bain is Brooklyn's own prison activist, actor, hip hop theater innovator and spoken word poetry champion.  Described by Cornel West as an artist who “...speaks his truth with a power we desperately need to hear,” his theater, film and television work are critically acclaimed – from his award winning BET talk show “My Two Cents,” and Emmy nomination for “BaaadDDD Sonia,” to this year's Emmy award for “LA Stories.” Playing over 40 characters in his one-man theater production, Lyrics From Lockdown is executive produced by Harry Belafonte (“BlacKkKlansman”), and tells the story of Bain's wrongful imprisonment through hip hop theater, spoken word poetry, blues, calypso, comedy and letters exchanged with fellow poet and friend, Nanon Williams – who was wrongfully sentenced to Death Row at just 17 years old.Wrongfully imprisoned in his second year at Harvard Law, Bryonn sued the NYPD, and told his story for 20 million viewers on "60 Minutes" in an interview with Mike Wallace. After writing The Village Voice cover story “Walking While Black: The Bill of Rights for Black America,” his work received the largest response in the history of the nation's most widely read progressive newspaper. Bain produced the Lyrics on Lockdown Tour, which reached 25 states, and spawned higher education courses using the performing arts to build literacy in prisons nationwide.  For the decade that followed, Bain taught courses using the arts on Rikers Island penal colony. After teaching hip hop, spoken word and theater at Harvard, Bain founded the prison education program at NYU to offer higher education and college degrees to men incarcerated in upstate New York. Bryonn founded and directs the Prison Education Program at UCLA, where he has developed and taught arts-based courses and programs in LA prisons including the California Institute for Women, Barry J. Nidorf Juvenile Hall, Camp Joseph Scott and Central Juvenile Hall.  You can read more about the issues we explore on our podcast and much more at dignityandrights.org, the website of Partners for Dignity & Rights. See more of the work of host Max Rameau at pacapower.org. Subscribe to The Next World for more news from the frontlines of movements for justice and liberation. Support the show

On this episode, we discuss the intersection where food justice meets Black liberation. Joining host Max Rameau are Mama Savi Horne and Baba Fred Carter, two organizers who are also on the board of the National Black Food & Justice Alliance.Baba Fred Carter works with Black Oaks Center for Sustainable Renewable Living, a 40 acre off-grid eco campus in Illinois that is engaged in a campaign against NICOR to stop the development of a pipeline and push for a Renewable Pembroke. Baba Fred is chair of the National Black Food & Justice Alliance.Mama Savi Horne works with Land Loss Prevention Project, a law firm and advocacy organization for farmers and land stewards, which has provided assistance and resources to those at threat of losing their land, as well as engaged in the advocacy and support around debt relief for Black farmers. Mama Savi is co-chair of the National Black Food & Justice Alliance.Baba Fred Carter talks about how the murder of his cousin Emmet Till affected his family, the power of your plate, Monsanto, and being inspired by a new generation of activists. Mama Savi Horne discusses what choices mean when it comes to food, the struggle against Black land loss, the right to food, and food access.See more of the work of host Max Rameau at pacapower.org. Stay subscribed to The Next World for more news from the frontlines of movements for justice and liberation. You can read more about the issues we explore on our podcast and much more at dignityandrights.org, the website of Partners for Dignity & Rights.Please subscribe, spread the word, and support the show.Support the show

On this episode, part two of a two part interview, Mamyrah Prosper discusses the aftermath of the assassination of Haitian president Jovenel Moïse, as well as grassroots responses. This interview was recorded just days before the recent earthquake added to the turmoil in Haiti.Mamyrah Prosper is International Coordinator for Community Movement Builders, and Assistant Professor of Global and International Studies at UC Irvine. She immigrated to the U.S. from Haiti at age 15, leaving her parents behind, and moved in with her sister's family in New Jersey. Following a family tradition of activism for social justice – her father was a human and labor rights activist – she champions causes including women's rights, affordable housing and land rights. Her doctoral dissertation focuses on the Haitian Platform for Advocacy for an Alternative Development, a central social movement for social justice in Haiti.Outside of the classroom, Mamyrah has volunteered at Take Back the Land, the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, and the Correctional Association of New York. During her time at FIU, she helped organize two conferences on Afro-Latino social movements and feminist reimaginings of the nation that involved academics, students, activists and performing artists. She also served as a teaching assistant and lecturer. Mamyrah has authored and co-authored dozens of peer-reviewed book chapters, peer-reviewed journal articles, book reviews and encyclopedia entries.See more of the work of host Max Rameau at pacapower.org. Stay subscribed to The Next World for more news from the frontlines of movements for justice and liberation. You can read more about the issues we explore on our podcast and much more at dignityandrights.org, the website of Partners for Dignity & Rights.Support the show (https://dignityandrights.org/donate/)

On this episode, part one of a two part interview, Mamyrah Prosper discusses her personal history as the daughter of a political prisoner in Haiti through her movement activism and work as a scholar, as well as recent Haitian political history, from the Duvaliers through Jovenel Moïse. Stay tuned for part two, as we discuss the assassination of Moïse and the aftermath, as well as grassroots responses.Mamyrah Prosper is International Coordinator for Community Movement Builders, and Assistant Professor of Global and International Studies at UC Irvine. She immigrated to the U.S. from Haiti at age 15, leaving her parents behind, and moved in with her sister's family in New Jersey. Following a family tradition of activism for social justice – her father was a human and labor rights activist – she champions causes including women's rights, affordable housing and land rights. Her doctoral dissertation focuses on the Haitian Platform for Advocacy for an Alternative Development, a central social movement for social justice in Haiti.Outside of the classroom, Mamyrah has volunteered at Take Back the Land, the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, and the Correctional Association of New York. During her time at FIU, she helped organize two conferences on Afro-Latino social movements and feminist reimaginings of the nation that involved academics, students, activists and performing artists. She also served as a teaching assistant and lecturer. Mamyrah has authored and co-authored dozens of peer-reviewed book chapters, peer-reviewed journal articles, book reviews and encyclopedia entries.See more of the work of host Max Rameau at pacapower.org. Stay subscribed to The Next World for more news from the frontlines of movements for justice and liberation. You can read more about the issues we explore on our podcast and much more at dignityandrights.org, the website of Partners for Dignity & Rights.Please subscribe, spread the word, and support the show.Support the show (https://dignityandrights.org/donate/)

Cole WIlliams of the Greater New Orleans Citizen's Relief Team talks with host Max Rameau about liberating homes owned by the city of New Orleans, renovating them, and moving in unhoused people.Described as having ​“the heart of Bob Marley, soul of Sam Cooke and grit of Etta James”,​ New Orleans-based Cole Williams and The Cole Williams Band (CWB) has rooted their sound in the tradition of ​Gil Scott-Heron​, creating songs that reflect the everyday experiences and hopes of Black people all around the world. Their new album, ​“Give Power to the People''​ are anthems of the Movement for Black Lives and certainly for people struggling to make sense out of this dangerous and hopeful moment.Over the course of her career, Cole has provided vocals and percussion for Joey Bada$$, Chiddy Bang, Beats By The Pound, Aloe Blacc, Little Jackie, Diane Birch, Somi, Lisa Lisa and the Cult Jam, Kaissa, Dana Fuchs, Pimps Of Joytime, Holy Warriors (Harold Brown, Bill Summers, Bruce “Sunpie” Barnes), and commercial/tv recordings for CoverGirl, JCPenney, Suave, Smash, and Khloe and Kourtney Take Miami. CWBs' live performance highlights include The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, Joshua Tree Music Festival, French Quarter Festival, Blue Note NYC and opened for India Arie, Emily King, Ozomatli, The Wild Magnolias, Corey Henry and Treme Funktet, and Lauryn Hill.Following frequent street demonstrations at New Orleans' City Hall, Williams and T​he Greater New Orleans Citizens Relief Team​ organized and succeeded in getting the City to provide emergency housing in empty hotels in August 2020, and now they are renovating City-owned blighted houses with the presently unhoused people that will live in them. “We are calling all creatives to action. Now is the time for musicians, artists, dancers, rappers, poets, actors and actresses to unite and design a culture where we share our gifts, skills, talents and resources with the least of ours, specifically in the unhoused community, to create a world where wealth is shared equally, and white supremacy cannot survive”    The bedrock of The Cole Williams Band's new album and community organizing follows the course civil rights veteran, Ella Baker, taught that created a successful and historic freedom movement. ​“Give Power To The People”,​ articulates the core of their organizing: go to the poorest people, create a shared plan for advancement, raise the spirits and awareness of our people, gain broad support and make it happen. “We believe the practice of humanity is the blueprint for freedom and equality”.See more of the work of host Max Rameau at pacapower.org. Stay subscribed to The Next World for more news from the frontlines of movements for justice and liberation. You can read more about the issues we explore on our podcast and much more at dignityandrights.org, the website of Partners for Dignity & Rights.Please subscribe, spread the word, and support the show.Support the show (https://dignityandrights.org/donate/)

M. Adams, Co-Executive Director of Freedom, Inc, talks with host Max Rameau about Black-Asian solidarity, lessons from multiracial organizing in a mostly white Midwest city, and their recent victory in removing police from schools in Madison, Wisconsin.M. Adams is a community organizer and co-executive director of Freedom Inc. Born and raised in Milwaukee, Adams has been in Madison since 2003. Adams's dad has been incarcerated most of her life and she comes from a community that has been the extreme targets of police violence.  In March 2016, Adams's mother transitioned after fighting cancer and many forms of violence. Adams is also a parent and sees her family as a primary motivator for her work. As a queer Black person, Adams has developed and advocated for a strong intersectional approach in numerous important venues. Adams is a leading figure in the Take Back the Land Movement, she presented before the United Nations for the Convention on Eliminating Racial Discrimination, she is a co-author of Forward from Ferguson and a paper on Black community control over the police, and she contributed to intersectionality theory in Why Killing Unarmed Black folks is a Queer issue.Freedom, Inc. (FI) is a Black and Southeast Asian non-profit organization that works with low- to no-income communities of color in Madison, Wisconsin. Their mission is to achieve social justice through coupling direct services with leadership development and community organizing that will bring about social, political, cultural, and economic change resulting in the end of violence against women, gender-non-conforming and transgender folks, and children within communities of color. FI works to challenge the root causes of violence, poverty, racism and discrimination. Their belief is that people who are most affected by these issues must have voice, power, resources and choice, in order for true social change to happen. See more of the work of host Max Rameau at pacapower.org. Stay subscribed to The Next World for more news from the frontlines of movements for justice and liberation. You can read more about the issues we explore on our podcast and much more at dignityandrights.org, the website of Partners for Dignity & Rights.Please subscribe, spread the word, and support the show.Support the show (https://dignityandrights.org/donate/)

Philadelphia Housing Action used direct action to force the city of Philadelphia to relinquish over 60 vacant homes for a community land trust for housing for the homeless. Sterling Johnson and Jenn Bennetch, two organizers with Philadelphia Housing Action, join host Max Rameau to discuss their victories and setbacks in their work to take over vacant housing in Philadelphia, and explore lessons for the movement for housing.See more of the work of host Max Rameau at pacapower.org. Stay subscribed to The Next World for more news from the frontlines of movements for justice and liberation. Thank you to Jesse Strauss for Audio Mixing and Editing.You can read more about the issues we explore on our podcast and much more at dignityandrights.org, the website of Partners for Dignity & Rights.Please subscribe, spread the word, and support the show.Support the show (https://dignityandrights.org/donate/)

This episode, adapted from a recent webinar hosted by Partners for Dignity & Rights, is an important conversation on community solutions to the interconnected crises we are facing in this political moment. Liz Sullivan-Yuknis of Partners for Dignity & Rights facilitated a conversation with frontline organizations, including: Scot Nakagawa, ChangeLabAdriana Foster, United WorkersLetha Muhammad, Education Justice Alliance & Dignity In Schools CampaignCrystal Hayling, The Libra Foundationand poet Sunni Patterson.See more of the work of host Max Rameau at pacapower.org and Sha'Condria "iCon" Sibley at icontheartist.com. Thank you to Jesse Strauss for Audio Mixing and Editing. Stay subscribed to The Next World for more news from the frontlines of movements for justice and liberation. You can read more about the issues we explore on our podcast and much more at dignityandrights.org, the website of Partners for Dignity & Rights.Please subscribe, spread the word, and support the show.Support the show (https://dignityandrights.org/donate/)

On this special bonus episode of The Next World, we feature highlights from a recent conversation with organizations of essential workers and impacted communities. Cathy Albisa of Partners for Dignity & Rights facilitated a conversation on how we can not just save lives, but also expand human rights and make us all safer in the future. Speakers on this episode include:Poet and organizer Cynthia Dewi Oka.Tim Bell, Executive Director, Chicago Workers' Collaborative.Magaly Licolli, Cofounder of Venceremos.Merle Payne, Co-Director of Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en Lucha (CTUL).Scott Nova, Executive Director, Worker Rights Consortium.Marita Canedo, Program Coordinator, Migrant Justice - Justicia MigranteTodd Cherkis, Co-Founder, United WorkersNijmie Zakkiyyah Dzurinko, co-founder and co-coordinator Put People First! PA, co-chair PA Poor People's Campaign and national steering committee member.Letha Muhammad, Director, Education Justice Alliance and Coordinating Committee Member, Dignity In Schools Campaign.Regan Pritzker, Board President, The Libra Foundation.And (in the Q&A) Marley Monacello, Staff, Coalition of Immokalee Workers.See more of the work of host Max Rameau at pacapower.org. Thank you to Jesse Strauss for Audio Mixing and Editing. Stay subscribed to The Next World for more news from the frontlines of movements for justice and liberation. You can read more about the issues we explore on our podcast and much more at dignityandrights.org, the website of Partners for Dignity & Rights.Please subscribe, spread the word, and support the show.Support the show (https://dignityandrights.org/donate/)

On this episode of The Next World, we focus on the organization Moms 4 Housing. Our guests are two members of the organization, Carroll Fife, Director of the Oakland chapter of Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment and current candidate for Oakland's District 3 City Council seat, and housing activist Dominique Walker, who participated in the first Moms 4 Housing housing takeover. Carroll and Dominique joined host Max Rameau to discuss what brought them to the act of civil disobedience of moving families into empty housing in Oakland, how they are handling the current pandemic, and what is next in the movement for housing. The episode also features an introduction and closing poem from Sha'Condria 'iCon' Sibley.Dominique Walker is a member of Moms 4 Housing who participated in the Oakland takeover and lived at the house with her family.Carroll Fife is an on-the-ground organizer, educator, mother and 20-year resident of Oakland. She has served as co-founder and co-chair of the Oakland Alliance, Oakland Justice Coalition, and the Community Ready Corps where she works to create racial justice and increase access to quality jobs, housing, and education for those who need them most. Carroll is the founder of Black Women in Elected Leadership PAC and an elected member of the Oakland NAACP's Executive Committee. In 2014, she served as the Campaign Coordinator for a mayoral race that became the City's political compass and in 2016 she ran Oakland's first African American, all-female slate. She currently serves as Director of the Oakland/San Francisco Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE) and is a candidate for Oakland's District 3 City Council seat.Sha'Condria "iCon" Sibley stands for those whose names are often overlooked and whose voices are even more so silenced in today's society. A New Orleans based award-winning poet, writer, author, visual artist, multidisciplinary performing artist, teaching artist, event curator & coordinator, little girl (turned grown woman) with a big name, iCon has had much of her work featured on outlets such as Upworthy, Huffington Post, For Harriet, Fusion, Marie Claire, Teen Vogue, BET, and BBC World Radio. She uses her work/ words largely to speak on issues affecting Blk women as they relate to self-acceptance/ Love, (re)defining beauty, race relations, experiences growing up in the deep South, identity, and healing. See more at https://icontheartist.com, and look out for her new book, My Name is Pronounced Holy, this summer!See more of the work of host Max Rameau at pacapower.org. Stay subscribed to The Next World for more news from the frontlines of movements for justice and liberation. Thank you to Jesse Strauss for Audio Mixing and Editing.You can read more about the issues we explore on our podcast and much more at dignityandrights.org, the website of Partners for Dignity & Rights.Please subscribe, spread the word, and support the show.Support the show (https://dignityandrights.org/donate/)

This month: We are excited to welcome Michelle Mascarenhas-Swan and Mateo Nube of Movement Generation Justice & Ecology Project. Movement Generation inspires and engages in transformative action towards the liberation and restoration of land, labor, and culture. Michelle and Mateo joined host Max Rameau to discuss viral superhighways, land & capitalism, and environmental justice.Michelle Mascarenhas-Swan has worked for the last 25 years building movement vehicles for frontline communities to move a shared vision and strategy. Prior to Movement Generation, Michelle co-led the Center for Food and Justice, National Farm to School Initiative, Rooted in Community, and School of Unity and Liberation (SOUL). Michelle is also currently on the board of the New Economy Coalition.Mateo Nube is one of the co-founders of the Movement Generation Justice & Ecology Project. He was born and grew up in La Paz, Bolivia. Since moving to the San Francisco Bay Area, he has worked in the labor, environmental justice and international solidarity movements, and is also a member of the Latin rock band Los Nadies. Check out Movement Generation's new course: Course Correction: Just Transition in the Age of COVID-19.See more of the work of host Max Rameau at pacapower.org. Stay subscribed to The Next World for more news from the frontlines of movements for justice and liberation. Thank you to Jesse Strauss for Audio Mixing and Editing.You can read more about the issues we explore on our podcast and much more at dignityandrights.org, the website of Partners for Dignity & Rights.Please subscribe, spread the word, and support the show.Support the show (https://dignityandrights.org/donate/)

In this special bonus episode, Laketa Smith of Voice Of The Experienced (VOTE) in Louisiana joins host Max Rameau to discuss environmental justice, prisons, and prison reform versus prison abolition. Laketa Smith is a proud dual member of Voice Of The Experienced in their New Orleans & Baton Rouge Chapters, Executive Director of A Bella LaFemme Society, and a mentor and advocate for social justice.This episode was recorded before COVID-19 had been declared a pandemic across the U.S. Of course, communities in jails and prisons are more at risk now than ever before, and the need to free them all has become more urgent than ever. For that reason, we wanted you to hear from a grassroots organization that is led by the formerly incarcerated, even though this episode does not directly address COVID-19 organizing. You can find out about and support VOTE's organizing to free Louisiana's prisoners in response to COVID-19 at vote-nola.org/covid-response.Thank you to Jesse Strauss for Audio Mixing and Editing.You can read more about the issues we explore on our podcast and much more at dignityandrights.org, the website of Partners for Dignity & Rights. See more of the work of host Max Rameau at pacapower.org. Stay subscribed for more news from the frontlines of movements for justice and liberation. Support the show.Support the show (https://dignityandrights.org/donate/)

This month: Cathy Albisa, co-founder and executive director of Partners for Dignity & Rights, and Ben Palmquist, Program Director for Health Care and Economic Democracy at Partners for Dignity & Rights. Cathy and Ben join host Max Rameau to discuss a human rights response to COVID-19, focusing on housing, healthcare, dignity in schools, and workers' rights.See more of the work of host Max Rameau at pacapower.org.This our first episode of season two of The Next World! Stay subscribed for more news from the frontlines of movements for justice and liberation. Thank you to Jesse Strauss for Audio Mixing and Editing.You can read more about the issues we explore on our podcast and much more at dignityandrights.org, the website of Partners for Dignity & Rights.Support the show.Support the show (https://dignityandrights.org/donate/)

This month we are excited to host a podcast from our friends at The Next System Podcast, published by The Next System Project. This episode features the podcast's host, Adam Simpson, discussing a wide range of policy proposals with his colleagues that aim to transform the economy, from public ownership of banks to a national housing guarantee and beyond. This conversation offers a strong rebuttal to the neoliberal conception of "wish-list economics" that tells working people that they're asking for too much. You can follow The Next System Project at thenextsystem.org/podcast.Stay subscribed, and get ready for our second season, featuring more ideas and strategies for movement building. Thank you to Jesse Strauss for audio mixing and editing season one.Intro and end music for this episode from https://filmmusic.io:"Too Cool" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com) Licence: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).You can read more about the issues we explore on our podcast and much more on NESRI.org, the website of the National Economic and Social Rights Initiative.Support the show (https://dignityandrights.org/donate/)

Surviving the Apocalypse (But Not How You Might Think).Artist, educator and organizer Diana Nucera and Allied Media Projects executive director Jenny Lee join host Puck Lo to discuss technology, organizing, catastrophe bonds, and how to survive times of crisis and apocalypse.Diana Nucera, aka Mother Cyborg, is an artist, educator, and community organizer that explores innovative technology with communities most impacted by the digital divide. Her specialty is developing popular education experiences, supported by dynamic documentation that empower communities to use media and technology as visionary tools. In 2009 Diana co-founded the Detroit Digital Justice Coalition (DDJC). In 2014 she founded the Detroit Community Technology Project (DCTP). Through DTCP, Diana's work has expanded community technology in Detroit through the Equitable Internet Initiative, and in New York through the New America Foundation's RISE: NYC Program. Her latest publications include the Opening Data Zine and the Teaching Community Technology Handbook. Diana's magical, musical alter ego, Mother Cyborg weaves her community organizing and education work into elaborate musical art, installations and performances. Currently, Mother Cyborg is creating on Automata, uncovering the nature of the Artificial Intelligence. Jenny Lee is the executive director of Allied Media Projects (AMP), where she has worked in various leadership roles since 2006. Over this period she has led the growth and evolution of the organization through facilitative leadership, innovative program design, resource mobilization, and network cultivation. She honed the theory and practice of media-based organizing that is at the core of AMP's work, and has applied this organizing method to launch transformative initiatives such as the Detroit Digital Justice Coalition and the 12 Recommendations for Detroit Funders. She received her education in visionary organizing from her involvement with the youth leadership organization, founded by James and Grace Lee Boggs, Detroit Summer, and the national feminist collective INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence. She is a mom, a dancer, and a motorcycle rider.This our final episode of season one of The Next World! Stay subscribed, and we'll be back in a couple months with our second season. Also, for more on this month's topic be sure to listen to the How To Survive The End of the World podcast, hosted by Autumn Brown and adrienne maree brown.Thank you to Jesse Strauss for Audio Mixing and Editing.Music for this episode from https://filmmusic.io:"Too Cool" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com) Licence: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).You can read more about the issues we explore on our podcast and much more on NESRI.org, the website of the National Economic and Social Rights Initiative.Support the show (https://dignityandrights.org/donate/)

This month, Amina Massey joins host Puck Lo and guest Wendi Cooper for a conversation on on LGBT Rights, Police, and Louisiana's "Crime Against Nature" Law.Amina Massey is a medical sociologist, health educator, researcher, interviewer, photographer, writer, musician and artist. Her work as a medical sociologist looks at social determinants of health, chronic illness and systemic disenfranchisement.Wendi Cooper is a transgender woman of color and a native of New Orleans, Louisiana. She is program coordinator for TRANScending Women and CANScantSTAND at Operation Restoration. She has been a healthcare provider and mental health professional for over a decade, with a B.S. in biology from Southern University at New Orleans, and an Executive Masters of Criminal Justice with a concentration of juvenile justice from Southern University. Because of her connections with the transgender community, Wendi was appointed to Mayor Latoya Cantrell's transition team. She was a community organizer for the NO Justice Project in New Orleans, where she provided key testimony in the federal lawsuit that successfully challenged Louisiana's Crime Against Nature by Solicitation (CANS) law, securing the removal of more than 700 women from the sex offender registry. Wendi has been featured in MSNBC, ColorLines, and other outlets. Wendi's goal is to help all women, particularly transgender women, to overcome their fears. She is also organizing a march for justice on August 31 at 1pm in New Orleans.Thank you to Jesse Strauss for Audio Mixing and Editing.Music for this episode from https://filmmusic.io:"Too Cool" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com) Licence: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).You can read more about the issues we explore on our podcast and much more on the website of the National Economic and Social Rights Initiative, nesri.org.Support the show (https://dignityandrights.org/donate/)

Once a month, we explore and celebrate the work of poor people's movements, especially in the U.S. We highlight systemic organizing led by women, LGBT folks, and people of color, pushing forward new models for change. You can read more about these issues on the website of the National Economic and Social Rights Initiative, nesri.orgThis month, Kristina Kay Robinson joins host Puck Lo and guest Ashana Bigard for a conversation on so-called "Education Reform," the School to Prison Pipeline, Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, and the idea of Home.Kristina Kay Robinson is a writer, curator, and visual artist born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana. She is the coeditor of Mixed Company, a collection of short fiction and visual narratives by women of color. Her curatorial and artistic endeavors include Khalid Abdel Rahman's ” A Disappearance” and Republica: Temple of Color and Sound, an aesthetic reimagining of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. She is the current editor of Room 220 , an online arts journal  and program of Antenna Gallery in New Orleans. She is a 2019 Monroe Fellow of Tulane University and nominee for the Rabkin Prize for visual arts journalism, her writing in various genres has appeared in Guernica, The Baffler, The Nation and Elle.com among other outlets. Ashana Bigard is a life long resident of New Orleans, mother of three, social justice organizer, and a long-time advocate for the health and wellness needs of children and families in Louisiana. She has extensive experience in organizing and advocating for the rights of students and parents in New Orleans' complex, demoralizing, and rapidly privatizing public education system through her leadership with the Education Justice Project of New Orleans. She is also an adult ally advisor to United Students of New Orleans. In addition to education equity activism, Ashana organizes with the Woman's Health & Justice Initiative and for expended housing affordability opportunities for low-income families. Ashana has worked with a diverse range of youth, education, and juvenile justice-based organizations including the New Orleans Parents Organizing Network, Families and Friends of Louisiana's Incarcerated Children, and Agenda for Children. Thank you to Jesse Strauss for Audio Mixing and Editing.Music for this episode from https://filmmusic.io:"Too Cool" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com) Licence: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).Support the show (https://dignityandrights.org/donate/)

Once a month, we explore and celebrate the work of poor people's movements, especially in the U.S. We highlight systemic organizing led by women, LGBT folks, and people of color, pushing forward new models for change. This month, co-host Max Rameau joins host Puck Lo and guest Rob Robinson for a conversation on community control of police, land and resources.Max Rameau is an organizer and political theorist with Pan-African Community Action in DC, working on a Community Control Over Police campaign to have local police come under the control of local communities, through a Community Police Control Board. He also works with the Organization for Human Rights and Democracy.Rob Robinson is staff volunteer at National Economic and Social Rights Initiative. After losing his job in 2001, he spent two years homeless on the streets of Miami and ten months in a New York City shelter. He eventually overcame homelessness and has been in the housing movement based in New York City since 2007. In the fall of 2009, Rob was chosen to be New York City chairperson for the first official mission of a UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing, and was also member of the Leadership Committee of the Take Back the Land movement.Thank you to Jesse Strauss for Audio Mixing and Editing.Music for this episode from https://filmmusic.io:"Too Cool" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com) Licence: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).Support the show (https://dignityandrights.org/donate/)

Co-hosts Puck Lo and journalist Sarah Lazare in conversation about reparations, the Green New Deal, capitalism, and an exploration of the fight against the school to prison pipeline with guest Zakiya Sankara-Jabar of Dignity in Schools Campaign. See more info at https://nesri.org, https://inthesetimes.com, and http://dignityinschools.org.Support the show (https://dignityandrights.org/donate/)

Puck Lo welcomes journalist Lewis Wallace as a co-host. They talk journalism, Palestine, healthcare, and trans rights. Then they are joined by organizer Oscar Otzoy of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, who discusses his work holding corporations accountable.Support the show (https://dignityandrights.org/donate/)