Podcasts about kingian

If you find you're having unpleasant battles that create too much heat and too little light, or you're avoiding fraught discussions entirely, then come to this experiential event to learn the skill of nonviolent conflict management from Kazu Haga, the author of the acclaimed books Healing Resistance: A Radically Different Response to Harm and Fierce Vulnerability: Healing from Trauma, Emerging through Collapse. Find out how to deal with conflict in a way that repairs and deepens relationships instead of breeding resentment and anger. Kazu Haga is one of the most experienced trainers of Kingian nonviolence, which is derived from the work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He'll show us the framework and outline a few specific steps for defusing an argument in ways that we can put to immediate use in our lives. We'll practice a few exercises and come away with a solid start and a path to better relationships and leadership. Organizer: Eric Siegel   A Personal Growth Member-led Forum program. Forums at the Club are organized and run by volunteer programmers who are members of The Commonwealth Club, and they cover a diverse range of topics. Learn more about our Forums. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This month on a special episode of Unnatural Selection, join Emma and their partner Greg on a journey along the train tracks to find the adaptation process of Stephen King's The Body. How did they get the film title Stand By Me? Why is this Emma's favorite movie? Would Pokémon be the same as we know it today if the adaptation had kept more of the classic Kingian gross-outs?   Content warnings for The Body include: death of a child, child abuse, death of a sibling, PTSD, fatphobia, leeches, vivid descriptions of vomit, and a very bitter narrator.   Content warnings for Stand By Me include: all of the above, period-standard homophobia, heavy-handed 50's nostalgia.   Additional content warnings for this episode include: discussions of child actors and the common abuses they face, sexual misconduct in Hollywood, and references to drug overdose.   The articles and interviews Emma references in this episode can be found here: https://www.cinemablend.com/news/2571820/adapting-stephen-king-the-body-reflecting-nostalgic-beauty-stand-by-me https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxOou0vBRf0 https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2021/aug/09/how-we-made-stand-by-me-kiefer-sutherland-rob-reiner https://deadline.com/2023/12/kiefer-sutherland-stand-by-me-river-phoenix-1235681581/ https://www.pdxmonthly.com/arts-and-culture/2021/08/why-stand-by-me-is-still-important-movie https://ew.com/movies/wil-wheaton-says-abusive-childhood-inspired-stand-by-me-performance/   You can find Emma on twitter @ematsca and the show @UnselectPod. Greg can be found on tumblr at hedgeaugur and discord at Hamamelis. Unnatural Selection is a part of the Moonshot Podcast Network. If you like what you've heard from Emma and want to support them, you can become a patron at patreon.com/moonshotnetwork The music for this show was commissioned from and composed by Jake Loranger. You can check out more of his work at https://amaranthine.bandcamp.com/

GDP Script/ Top Stories for Jan 17th Publish Date:  Jan 16th        HENSSLER 15 From the Henssler Financial Studio Welcome to the Gwinnett Daily Post Podcast. Today is Wednesday, January 17th and Happy 92nd Birthday to actor James Earl Jones.   I'm Bruce Jenkins and here are your top stories presented by Gwinnett Public Schools. Woman Dies In Lawrenceville House Fire Former Wesleyan Pitcher is Going Bananas for Baseball Career in Savannah Martin Luther King Jr. Parade Reminds Gwinnettians To Carry On Civil Rights Leader's Work Plus, my conversation with Leah McGrath from Ingles Markets on Baking mixes for celiacs disease. All of this and more is coming up on the Gwinnett Daily Post podcast, and if you are looking for community news, we encourage you to listen daily and subscribe! Break 1: GCPS   STORY 1: Woman Dies In Lawrenceville House Fire A tragic house fire in Lawrenceville, Gwinnett County claimed the life of a woman on Saturday. Firefighters responded to the blaze at 100 Mae Belle Way after receiving a 911 call reporting the fire and a woman in a wheelchair inside. Despite firefighters' efforts, they discovered the woman deceased on the main level of the home. The victim's stepson informed them that his stepmother was bedridden and unable to escape independently. The cause of the fire remains under investigation. STORY 2: Former Wesleyan Pitcher is Going Bananas for Baseball Career in Savannah Former Wesleyan pitcher Andy Archer, hailing from Peachtree Corners, has signed with the Savannah Bananas for their barnstorming 2024 season, known for their unique Banana Ball games. Archer, a Georgia Tech and University of Hawaii alum, earned a master's degree in finance before pursuing a baseball career. Despite a recent shoulder surgery, he impressed the Bananas' coaching staff with a quirky audition, securing the last spot on the roster. Banana Ball, distinctive for its entertaining rules, offers a fresh and enjoyable baseball experience for fans. Archer anticipates a unique homecoming when the Bananas play in Lawrenceville on March 22-24. STORY 3: Martin Luther King Jr. Parade Reminds Gwinnettians To Carry On Civil Rights Leader's Work The United Ebony Society of Gwinnett County organized the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day Parade in downtown Lawrenceville, commemorating King's legacy and emphasizing the unfinished work for civil rights. Participants included marching bands, scout troops, churches, advocacy groups, and political figures. President Zachary Pratt urged Gwinnettians to carry forward King's message of love and equality. The theme, "It Starts With Me," emphasized individual responsibility. Gwinnett County Public Schools Superintendent Calvin Watts, the grand marshal, highlighted the journey toward equity, unity, and justice. Gwinnett County Sheriff Keybo Taylor noted persistent inequities, while Gwinnett County Commission Chairwoman Nicole Love Hendrickson stressed "Kingian nonviolence." The parade concluded with a celebration at Central Gwinnett High School.   We have opportunities for sponsors to get great engagement on these shows. Call 770.874.3200 for more info. We'll be right back Break 2: TOM WAGES – MOG – INGLES 6   STORY 4: Study says air pollution can make people lazy A study by the University of Leicester has found that long-term exposure to current levels of air pollution in the UK can lead to an additional 22 minutes per day of sedentary behavior. Sedentary behavior includes time spent lying, reclining, sitting, or standing still. The research involved 644 people at risk of type 2 diabetes who wore accelerometers around their waists for seven consecutive days. The study suggests that high levels of exposure to nitrogen dioxide were associated with increased sedentary time, emphasizing the need to reduce air pollution for public health benefits. STORY 5: King's granddaughter calls for goodwill among Georgians in celebration of civil rights icon During the annual celebration of Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday at the state Capitol, Yolanda Renee King, the civil rights icon's granddaughter, delivered a message of inspiration for Georgians. She emphasized Georgia's role in setting an example for the country in fighting for justice and equality. King encouraged residents to honor King's legacy through community service during the holiday weekend. The event also acknowledged the recent death of Christine King Farris, King's eldest sibling and a civil rights leader, who received tribute in Georgia's Capitol Rotunda. The ceremony included awards named after individuals who worked closely with King during the Civil Rights Era.   We'll be back in a moment   Break 3:  ESOG – DTL   STORY 6: LEAH MCGRATH And now here is my conversation with Leah McGrath from Ingles Markets on celiacs disease.   STORY 7: LEAH MCGRATH ***LEAH MCGRATH INERVIEW***   We'll have final thoughts after this.   Break 4: JACKSON – Henssler 60   Signoff – Thanks again for hanging out with us on today's Gwinnett Daily Post podcast. If you enjoy these shows, we encourage you to check out our other offerings, like the Cherokee Tribune Ledger Podcast, the Marietta Daily Journal, the Community Podcast for Rockdale Newton and Morgan Counties, or the Paulding County News Podcast. Read more about all our stories, and get other great content at Gwinnettdailypost.com. Did you know over 50% of Americans listen to podcasts weekly? Giving you important news about our community and telling great stories are what we do. Make sure you join us for our next episode and be sure to share this podcast on social media with your friends and family. Add us to your Alexa Flash Briefing or your Google Home Briefing and be sure to like, follow, and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Produced by the BG Podcast Network   Show Sponsors: henssler.com ingles-markets.com wagesfuneralhome.com esogrepair.com mallofgeorgiachryslerdodgejeep.com downtownlawrencevillega.com jacksonemc.com gcpsk12.org/jobs #NewsPodcast #CurrentEvents #TopHeadlines #BreakingNews #PodcastDiscussion #PodcastNews #InDepthAnalysis #NewsAnalysis #PodcastTrending #WorldNews #LocalNews #GlobalNews #PodcastInsights #NewsBrief #PodcastUpdate #NewsRoundup #WeeklyNews #DailyNews #PodcastInterviews #HotTopics #PodcastOpinions #InvestigativeJournalism #BehindTheHeadlines #PodcastMedia #NewsStories #PodcastReports #JournalismMatters #PodcastPerspectives #NewsCommentary #PodcastListeners #NewsPodcastCommunity #NewsSource #PodcastCuration #WorldAffairs #PodcastUpdates #AudioNews #PodcastJournalism #EmergingStories #NewsFlash #PodcastConversationsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The DOtD team provides some room service as we review Jan Mikael Håfström's “1408”. We discuss the film's Kingian protagonist, the movie's effective use of essentially one room, and one particularly famous actor. Spoilers on the tape recorder.Like & Subscribe to keep updated on new episodes!Website: https://www.dotdhorror.com/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dontopenthatdoorTwitter: https://twitter.com/DOtDHorror Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dotdhorror

Eva is the operations lead for the startup non-profit Pax Fauna. Pax Fauna exists to design a more effective social movement for animal freedom in the U.S. Eva has been organizing in the animal freedom movement since 2015 when she started working with Direct Action Everywhere (DxE) in Chicago, where she focused on building community, writing protest music, and compiling the movements' songs into an online songbook used by advocates around the world. She started working full time as DxE's legal coordinator in 2018, managing the organization's many legal cases, organizing trainings, and orchestrating large artistic demonstrations. Building on a background in Kingian nonviolence, Eva is a dedicated student of #nonviolentcommunication and is committed to bringing NVC's repertoire of creative problem-solving tools to the work of building a better culture in the animal movement. In Sentientist Conversations we talk about the two most important questions: “what's real?” & “who matters?” Sentientism is "evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings." The video of our conversation is here on YouTube. We discuss: 00:00 Welcome 01:39 Eva's Intro 02:48 What's Real? - "Growing up I definitely loved the supernatural... ghosts... god... mystical things" - Raised #episcopalian, baptised, church "I remember really enjoying that" - Considering confirmation but "starting to feel a little bit sceptical" - 5th grade: Debating people online about religion - "A sudden realisation... I don't actually believe all of this" - Looking for purpose - Identifying as an #atheist & focusing on the harms of religion (unaccepting, destructive, family rejections) - "I still don't believe in anything that can't be falsified" - "I'm really connected to the needs that can be met by religion..." working in an end of life hospice - "My own spirituality... characterised by #nonviolence" a Kingian perspective, nonviolent communication - Meeting the needs (community, morality)... without the supernatural - Valuing acceptance & care for others led to hostility vs. some religious ethics - #yoga & #meditation then finding "a more secular form of meditation" - Using supernaturalism as a metaphor - Naturalistic "spirituality"... "a felt sense of purpose" 13:20 What Matters? - Non-violence: Getting away from black & white "right and wrong" thinking to "thinking about needs" - Finding creative alternatives to meeting needs without violence - Needs & strategies to meet them - More fundamental needs: safety, sustenance, freedom from suffering - #maslow 's hierarchy, Scott Barry Kaufman's sailboat @ThePsychologyPodcast - Protective use of force. Justifiable force. "Nonviolence is definitely not #pacifism " - Mourning unmet needs ...and much more. Full show notes at Sentientism.info. Sentientism is “Evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings.” More at Sentientism.info. Join our "I'm a Sentientist" wall via this simple form. Everyone, Sentientist or not, is welcome in our groups. The biggest so far is here on FaceBook. Come join us there!

NtF Episode Descriptions This episode contains spoilers for the movie we are discussing! Ring Ring! Would you get that BLACK PHONE! That's right. 2022 month lives on! We'll do 2022 horror films forever!! This week we talk about the very Kingian entry from Joe Hill, The Black Phone. We talk about how the kids are the greatest actors since Olivier, how Ethan Hawke plays the heck out of Mr Banana The Grabber, and how landlines save lives I guess. I dunno. I needed a third thing for the list. Enjoy the episode! Check out the poster for 6cream that Alex mentioned on the show! 00:00:23 - Introduction 00:02:55 - Movie News 00:14:30 - Movie for the week 00:18:20 - Trailer 00:20:52 - Movie Discussion 01:17:48 - Scariest Part 01:20:25 - Ratings 01:22:25 - Something to Cheer Credits Thank you for listening and supporting the show. Your reviews and ratings help more people find us and help us continue to make more episodes. You can support the show but heading over to our Patreon found at Patreon.com/nothingtofear. Donation is on a pay what you can scale but we are suggesting a minimum of $1. For just One CANADIAN Dollar, you can help us keep the show going, help us rent movies and help us grow by getting things like episode transcriptions, upgrades to recording equipment and more things that we have planned. Consider supporting the show. We'll love you forever and ever. If you would buy a piece of NtF merch, follow the link to our TeePublic.com/nothingtofear store. You can also get more Luke content by checking out his show with Other Alex using this link here Full Spectrum Cinema https://www.mixcloud.com/lexacorm/ You can follow us on Instagram - @nothingtofearpodcast, @wansongaday, @DesignBillie Mastodon - @NtFPod@horrorhub.club Email - nothingtofearpodcast@gmail.com Let us know how you're doing and tell us what you're cheering using the hashtag #SomethingToCheer --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/nothingtofear/message --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/nothingtofear/message

A weekly magazine-style radio show featuring the voices and stories of Asians and Pacific Islanders from all corners of our community. The show is produced by a collective of media makers, deejays, and activists. This Thursday APEX Express proudly presents “South Asians and The Labor Justice Movement.” This episode highlights Sandhya Jha, a pastor, founder and former Executive Director of the Oakland Peace Center, and racial, housing, and labor justice activist. In the first half of the episode, we discuss Sandhya's life, their path into organizing, and what they're up to now. The second half is dedicated to their recent project with the South Asian American Digital Archive's Archival Creators Fellowship Program. This episode was interviewed, produced, and edited by Swati Rayasam Follow @Sandhya Jha on Facebook and check out Sandhya's website https://sandhyajha.com/    APEX Express is a weekly magazine-style radio show featuring the voices and stories of Asians and Pacific Islanders from all corners of our community. The show is produced by a collective of media makers, deejays, and activists. Listen to the episode live on KPFA 94.1 in San Francisco, 89.3 in Berkeley, and online at KPFA.org.  References throughout the Show and Links: Without Fear Consulting Interfaith Alliance Oakland Peace Center Book – Blueprint for a Revolution Book – The Selected Writings of Eqbal Ahmad Podcast – Bending Toward Justice: Avatar the Last Airbender for the Global Majority The Alliance of South Asians Taking Action – ASATA Bay Area Solidarity Summer South Asian American Digital Archive Archival Creators Fellowship Program Sandhya Jha's project, you can listen to all of the oral histories here. Solidarity Forever Online Exhibit Arab Resource and Organizing Center Block the Boat No Tech for Apartheid  University of California Labor Center Equality Labs California Trade Justice Coalition NAFCON – National Alliance for Filipino Concerns Filipino Community Center Madhvi Trivedi Patak Transcript: South Asians and Labor Justice  [00:00:00]  [00:00:00] Swati Rayasam: Good evening everyone and Happy Thursday, my name is Swati Rayasam. While I'm usually in the background of APEX Express editing, this week I'm honored to bring you a piece from a dear friend of mine Sandhya Jha. We explore Sandhya's background as a mixed race kid, a housing, labor, and racial justice organizer, and a faith leader.  [00:00:50] Swati Rayasam: And then we dive into an amazing project, Sandhya did for the South Asian American Digital Archive's Archival Creators Fellowship program. Stay locked in.[00:01:00]  [00:01:00] Swati Rayasam: I'm really excited actually today to talk to Sandhya Jha, who is a really close friend of mine. Hi Sandhya. Hi there. Sandhya is, a Pastor is a consultant and has been working on this really amazing project with the South Asian American Digital Archive that will get into later in the episode. But yeah, Sandhya I'm just really excited to learn more about you and to hear more of your story and, let's just dive in. [00:01:26] Swati Rayasam: Absolutely.  [00:01:27] Swati Rayasam: We should first talk a little bit about how we know each other, you have this long organizing background. I've been in the Bay Area for the past seven years and I would be totally lying if I said I have not historically been, or I'm not even currently an active fangirl of yours. You are literally a pastor. You are a movement worker, how did you get involved in organizing? [00:01:53] Sandhya Jha: Yeah. So I am the product of my parents who were generous, compassionate [00:02:00] people who thought about the world beyond themselves, but were never involved in organizing or activism or anything like that. I think for anybody who comes from immigrant backgrounds, it's hard to tell our stories without naming who we come from. Right. And so my father was Sunil Kumar Jha from the village of Tildanga in West Bengal. My mother, who is still alive is Jeanette Campbell Jha. She is from Glasgow. So I come from a mixed religion and mixed race home. My parents chose not to name me Sandhya Campbell Jha not to give me that kind of grounding, but I was called Sandhya Rani Jha, which is a lot to live up to, well, yes, Rani does mean Queen. But it was actually handed down to me, part of the reason they wanted that middle name was it was my aunt's name, Durga Rani Upadhyay and she was the one who really [00:03:00] brokered my mother's acceptance into the Indian family and I think that there was something about being accepted on the Indian side of the family and not for many, many years on the Scottish side. That caused my parents and particularly my mother to double down on making sure I knew who I came from and who I came from was my people in the village of Tildanga. [00:03:23] Sandhya Jha: I grew up in Akron, Ohio, so we immigrated to this country when I was a toddler, in the late 1970s, which was a complicated time for Asian immigrants to be in the Midwest because it was a time that the rust belt was rusting and there was a growing sense that we were the reason. But also I grew up alongside folks who were trying to figure out how to put food on the table. So I think that landscape shaped me in a lot of ways. And I also come from people who grew up in poor working communities. And[00:04:00] when I went off to college, there was an organizing campaign. The board of directors of the university had created a for-profit corporation with the exact same board.  [00:04:15] Swati Rayasam: Oh wow.  [00:04:16] Sandhya Jha: So that the universities could subcontract all of their catering, all of their custodial work to this… basically Shell corporation.  [00:04:28] Swati Rayasam: Are we telling on the university?  [00:04:29] Sandhya Jha: Mm, Yeah. Why not? It was Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, and I think that's relevant because the tension between Black communities next to Johns Hopkins Medical School and the school itself were very real because this was part of a very long history of exploiting community members. So the workers were organizing, and you know, I had read about activism, I cared about it. I paid as much attention as I could for a high school student. But when I got to college, this organizing [00:05:00] campaign was going, and the workers were really clear, Hey, college kids who are excited about this, we do have a role for you. It's to fill the crowd. It's to cheer us on. It's to when we ask you communicate to the university that our well-being matters to you because they will listen to you in different ways. But the campaign centered the workers and was really clear with us about what our role was because we were the folks with all the privilege by getting to be there, right? We had tons of privilege and it was a really good lesson for me. I am so grateful. The first organizing campaign I was a part of was a labor campaign that understood what it meant to center the people who were the most impacted by injustice and I think that shaped the rest of my career.  [00:05:46] Swati Rayasam: And that's so special too because I think for many people who come into organizing, and I will definitely cop to this myself, like coming up and organizing through high school and college level organizing. When you are a student, nobody ever [00:06:00] tells you that actually you are the least useful kind of organizer that exists. Right. You are in this incredibly enclaved community. Your oppressor, the university, all they have to do is wait for you to graduate institutional memory will not keep you. Yeah. Right. And I think that it is, it's this perfect storm of, you have actually sometimes cool ideas, sometimes very rudimentary ideas, but you also have this turnover issue and you have this sense of self import, which often comes with your teens, early twenties. Yep. As you're just figuring all of that out. So Yeah, self differentiation, right? It's a narcissistic phase in our development. .  [00:06:46] Swati Rayasam: It absolutely is and I think that's so important, and I can't imagine how my life would be shaped if I didn't have to spend a lot of time unlearning the self import and narcissism that I had gained through student [00:07:00] organizing. [00:07:00] Sandhya Jha: Yeah. No, I am really, really grateful for it.  [00:07:02] Sandhya Jha: My first job outta college was working for a member of Congress, which sounds super fancy and pretentious, but, a member of congress from Akron, Ohio. So put that all in perspective. His name, believe it or not, was Tom Sawyer. Oh, wow. What I loved about Tom was back in those days, he believed very strongly that 80% of legislation was nonpartisan and that was the part that he spent most of his time on. He would weigh in with his party, when they were dealing with that 20% pretty consistently. But he was more interested in the stuff that everybody could agree on and I remember for about 15 years after I worked for him, I looked back and found myself thinking that was so naive. How did he not understand where we were about to head with the divisions between the political parties? But at this point in my life, I realize the people I respect most in organizing work keep pointing out that the binary of [00:08:00] left and right actually doesn't serve us very well. One of my biggest heroes in the movement right now is the Reverend Dr. William Barber,  [00:08:07] Swati Rayasam: Hometown hero of mine. Yes.  [00:08:09] Sandhya Jha: Poor People's campaign from North Carolina. And he always talks about how it's not about right and left. It's about right and wrong. And it turns out that when we engage in organizing with the awareness that there are huge swaths of things that most of us are well served by, we can do better organizing. And that was actually how Tom was legislating. And at a certain point I realized that my deep passion was around racial justice, but the distinct experience I had in a multi religious household was an awareness of how religion was being used as a weapon. I had an obsession. Every paper in college I wrote was about the Christian coalition, this right wing, organizing body in the nineties. So a friend of mine [00:09:00] said, You know, there's an interfaith organization working against the Christian Coalition. And it was called the Interfaith Alliance. Her mom had been a superintendent in Washington state in eastern Washington and was a pretty conservative person by my standards. [00:09:18] Sandhya Jha: But, Dr. Chow believed in multiculturalism and believed in teaching evolution. And the Christian coalition had organized to push her out of her position as superintendent and the Interfaith Alliance of Washington State had supported her in that time. [00:09:38] Sandhya Jha: And so Liz said, you know, they've got a national chapter, a national office. And that's where I ended up, cutting my adult organizing teeth which was great because talk about learning lessons for our current moment where religion is being weaponized in ways that are anti-trans, that are anti-queer, that are anti-women, that [00:10:00] are anti reproductive rights, that are anti-immigrant and refugee. I am really grateful to have experienced the power of multi-faith organizing, around a lot of those same issues. So that was what I did in the early two thousands and then I went to seminary and public policy school, and then I ended up out here pastoring a congregation of 10 people in a building of 40,000 square feet. [00:10:29] Sandhya Jha: And long story short, that's how the Oakland Peace Center was born, was out of this dream of cultivating deeper collaboration among nonprofits who were dedicated to a shared cause. The Oakland Peace Center, which is a collective of 40 different nonprofits committed to dismantling the root causes of violence in our community. I was the founder of that organization and it was when I was pastoring First Christian Church of Oakland that I asked the handful of folks who were members of that church, what they wanted to [00:11:00] contribute to the community, and they said they wanted to contribute peace in the midst of violence. And for a dozen folks to have given birth to a space that in non pandemic years, saw over a hundred thousand people do things like the Lawyers for Black Lives Conference and to do Kingian non-violence training and to be a part of food and clothing distribution, to participate in all the very diverse ways that we can create peace is pretty impressive.  [00:11:30] Sandhya Jha: And a couple of years ago, I left the Oakland Peace Center because a colleague of mine said, Anybody can run a non-profit. We need you to do what you're actually good at, and what she meant by that was we need more people of color doing diversity, equity, and inclusion work that is actually grounded in power analysis. That isn't just how do we be nicer to each other in the workplace, but how do we recognize the ways that systems of white supremacy [00:12:00] unconsciously often shape the culture of our workplaces? And what do we do to dismantle that white supremacy culture so that we can be building nonprofits and institutions of higher education and faith organizations, and even corporations that are dedicated to our full liberation, our liberation, the lands liberation. [00:12:23] Swati Rayasam: I mean coming, especially from the place that you come in grassroots organizing and in faith based organizing, what is it actually to transition into this kind of consulting space around racial justice and really interface with a lot of people that I feel like as organizers, we don't really talk to? [00:12:42] Sandhya Jha: One of my favorite things about this shift in my work is I love getting to work with folks who don't think of themselves as organizers, who, it turns out are organizers, Right. I think we sometimes create a cult of here's what an organizer looks like, you [00:13:00] have to be a Martin Luther King or a Cesar Chavez and what I love is getting to work with moms and with teenagers and with folks who think of themselves as caring, compassionate, individuals, and when I go into an organization and work with their handful of folks who care about this issue, the DEI team, I get to teach them how to strategically organize. I get to teach them how do you create culture shift over time? I get to teach them how do you figure out who your allies are? How do you figure out how to move people who are neutral? It turns out that there are a lot more organizers out there than we realize if we don't create one definition of what an organizer needs to look like.  [00:13:45] Swati Rayasam: I have been reading this political scholar Eqbal Ahmed, who really talks about the way the burden is on those of us who are deeply committed to movement work, narrow definition people, the burden is really on us to try and [00:14:00] create a liberatory future that feels both achievable. Mm-hmm. and safe for everybody. Because when people engage in mass struggle and in revolution, there are people who are a hundred percent willing to put their lives on the line. People who are willing to die for the cause. And we absolutely need those people. And there are many people along the spectrum who, if you can create a future that feels like it's within their grasp, they will come with you.  [00:14:30] Sandhya Jha: Yep. I teach a lot of organizing classes and have gotten a chance to teach alongside my beloved colleague BK Woodson at Allen Temple Baptist Church, they have a leadership institute there. And one of the books we use is Blueprint for a Revolution by Srđa Popović. And I feel like I learned a lot as we read that book together and thought about how to apply it to the work we're doing in Oakland. They talked about how by engaging in nonviolent direct action, [00:15:00] they created space for elders to be a part of their work and youth to be a part of their work and families to be a part of their work. By making the movement playful. They gave people hope and gave people courage because dictators are terrified of being mocked.  [00:15:17] Swati Rayasam: Yeah, exactly. And I think by being really restrictive or narrow about who we view as actually valuable organizers. And I think labor movements teach us this a lot, right? We really cut ourselves off at the knees on our ability to build a network or to be in touch with the general population, many of whom are more connected than we ever give them credit for.  [00:15:41] Sandhya Jha: Yeah. Yep. it's part of why I love labor organizing. I talk with a lot of people who are disenchanted with organizing who ask me how I can have stayed involved for the past 25 years. And why I've been able to stay in it is cuz I'm organizing alongside workers and they have [00:16:00] full lives. And the work that they're doing in the movement is so that they can live their full lives. And there's something about having that perspective and recognizing the why all the time instead of getting lost in the weeds of the what. Is so important in this work. I think that has been a big theme of my organizing life is how do we build to the greatest common denominator? As my friend BK often says how do we build towards those shared values that often get erased when we are engaged in the right versus left debate. [00:16:39] Swati Rayasam: Yeah. I think that it is so important and I also think that it's really hard in this moment of what feels like constant trauma and re trauma. [00:16:51] Swati Rayasam: And to some extent especially when we're talking about the left right dichotomy there are real concerns [00:17:00] about safety. Yep. And there are real concerns about security and who you are in community with and who you can find even the smallest level of acceptance from to ensure that you won't have violence visited upon you. And I think that these conversations of united front organizing, Right. trying to bridge across difference mm-hmm. for a shared goal, for a shared liberatory future Yep. Are really important. And they feel kind of impossible to achieve right now.  [00:17:31] Sandhya Jha: It's interesting cuz I think that in many ways that is true. There are a lot of conversations that I think people with privilege expect, people who are marginalized to engage in. And those expectations are unfair, what I found very frustrating was the number of people with a lot of privilege who would be like, Ugh, I just can't talk to those people. And I'm like, Then who's going to? Exactly. and so I do think that some of this is about being willing to have [00:18:00] hard conversations in the places where we have privilege and recognizing who's at actual risk and showing up in ways that are protective of who is at risk. But that doesn't mean walking away from people who aren't where we are. Right. Because the fact of the matter is everybody's on a journey. And I have watched at the same time some of the disposability culture in movements write off people without giving them any way to address harm, repair harm, and find a pathway back into community. [00:18:41] Swati Rayasam: Yeah. And I think that's why, at least I am feeling really hopeful about, what I've seen over the past couple of years, this really important track into transformative justice and restorative justice, to acknowledge that there is harm that has happened, there are harms that happen every day between people. [00:19:00] And also we are all on our own journey to unlearn the things that we have been taught either directly or indirectly by our upbringing, by our environment and that you cannot easily dispose of people and that people are able to come back into community. Now that comes with a very important caveat that like they recognize the harm. Mm-hmm. that. They have done or how they've been party to it, that they acknowledge that there is healing work that needs to be done both with the person that they harmed and also probably in internally.  [00:19:35] Sandhya Jha: Well, and the community, folks who don't do RJ on a regular basis tend to skip the community aspect. Yeah. That there is actually repair that needs to be done with community and there's work community needs to do to figure out how to re-embrace reabsorb people who have done harm in ways that still protect the person who's been harmed. [00:19:55] Swati Rayasam: Exactly. In ways that do not erase the harm that has happened, but [00:20:00] acknowledge, contextualize it and say, Okay, we are patching this and we are working to move forward in step with each other. Absolutely.  [00:20:09] Sandhya Jha: Can I just say that one of the other things that I think you and I have in common is a real passion for bringing joy back into the work of Justice I quote Fabiana Rodriguez a lot on this particular thing, because I was at an event she was doing eons ago, and she looked out at us and most of us were activists and she said, Listen, y ‘all you keep inviting people to a struggle. I'm on your side and I don't wanna join a struggle. I want to join a party. And that was like a call to arms for me when I heard her say that. I was like, Oh my gosh, you're right. We are so much more fun. Like, I've hung out with people who are anti-trans and anti queer and anti-immigrant and anti refugee. They are not fun people. No, no. We have all of the best parties. So I don't know why we don't [00:21:00] capitalize on that more. So I think the role of joy and justice is so important. And this is why I was so excited to have you on the podcast that I launched recently. [00:21:11] Sandhya Jha: Right. Bending Towards Justice Avatar the last Airbender for the Global Majority.  [00:21:15] Swati Rayasam: So literally like bringing it together. Two of my favorite things right, is like TV shows, wholesome TV shows like Avatar, The Last Airbender that I deeply love and organizing. Yes. All the work that I love. And I think it's true You know, what is actually really the important work is to work to build toward a future that is desirable Yep. That people want to be a part of. Yeah. That people can see happen. Yeah. And I think that is a lot of the difficulty that I have seen in some organizing circles. We are so well versed in what we are against and all of the things that are bad that so many people have a really hard time seeing or visioning or communicating [00:22:00] what it is that we are fighting for. Yeah. Right. And it's not enough to say, I'm fighting for a world where we can all be safe. Right. Yeah. I'm not, I'm fighting for a world where we can all take long naps in the middle of the day if we'd like to do that. Right. Yeah. But like really building and visioning that future of like, in this world in which we are all safe, there will be harm that happens. How do we deal with that? Yeah. What do we do with that? How do we make sure that it is able to keep everybody safe and also able to account for the times in which it is not able to keep everybody safe. [00:22:38] Sandhya Jha: Visionary does not have to mean naive. And we need it to be visionary. And sometimes I forget to do the visionary stuff. I've got a colleague, Dave Bell, he's a farmer who is also an anti-racism trainer and we do a lot of work together. He's a white guy who lives in White Swan, Washington, on the reservation and I remember being at a training with him and I [00:23:00] was all fired up and I was so excited about the conversations we were having and the people were really ready to do the hard work and roll up their sleeves. And Dave says to them, I would like to not have to do this work. And I'm like, What is he talking about? This is amazing. We're doing such good work. And he says, I would like for us not to have to talk about racism all the time. I would rather be farming. I would rather be, taking care of the cows in my field. [00:23:26] Sandhya Jha: I would rather be talking about my pottery work that I'm doing badly but learning how to do, I would rather be doing anything than have this conversation. But I don't get to be on the farm with the wheat, with the cows, with my bad pottery until we figured out how to do this anti-racism work. And it was a really humbling moment for me because I also get into that like I'm an organizer, that's my identity space. And it was this reminder of Dave's doing this. So he gets to live in a world where he gets to hang out in the fields and he [00:24:00] gets to, love on the cows. There's something about being reminded that we're doing this so that eventually we don't have to do it. That I think is actually visionary in its own way and it's important.  [00:24:12] Swati Rayasam: Moving into a little bit more of the grit of like why I asked you to be on the show today. I met you originally when I moved to the Bay Area when you were the executive director of the Oakland Peace Center because At that time I was doing organizing work with the Alliance of South Asians Taking Action, which is a 20 year old bay area based organization, that was really founded around the Laki Reddy Bali Reddy sex trafficking. Yep. Caste and labor exploitation case that happened in Berkeley in 1999. And I was just so thrilled to be around and have in community so many rad desis. And you also did work with ASATA, right. Historically and are actively doing work with us.  [00:24:56] Sandhya Jha: Absolutely. One of the places I think I invested the most [00:25:00] energy in where we got to spend a lot of quality time in the kitchen was one of the projects, Bay Area Solidarity Summer, an organizing institute, camp, however you wanna refer to it. [00:25:10] Swati Rayasam: Political education, Summer camp.  [00:25:12] Swati Rayasam: Yeah, exactly. For young South Asian Americans who are committed to activism. What I think was the most beautiful part of that program when I was involved in it, and it's still the case today, is for young South Asians who think that they're the only ones who care about justice issues, who haven't met other people, who are South Asian, and identify as justice seekers first to meet each other and realize that there are people just like them. Then to look around and realize that those of us who are usually 10, 15, 20 years older than them are also committed to the work and have been doing it for decades. And then for them to get exposed to the long history of radical visionary organizing and activism of South [00:26:00] Asians here in the US and also in the homelands of India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and diasporic countries all over the world. [00:26:13] Sandhya Jha: There's something about realizing, Oh, you have contemporaries, oh, you have elders, oh, you have ancestors. Mm-hmm. Especially in the face of the model minority lie that so many of us have had imposed on us, this lie that all we are all we're supposed to be is cogs in this larger capitalist machine that are non disruptive, which is why we're allowed to survive. And if we are non disruptive enough, we might even be able to be comfortable. And to discover that there's more to our story than that is so exciting and I love, love, love being a part of that.  [00:26:52] Swati Rayasam: Yeah. I think that is like fundamentally one of the most important kind of activities that [00:27:00] happens in the ASATA universe, I was a kid who also grew up thinking that there were no other South Asians like me, or there were no other folks who were interested in justice. I spent a lot of time doing, reproductive and queer justice in the south; I always think about what would it have meant if I came in, BASS for 18 to 24 year olds. Yep. what would it have meant if I had come in at a fresh 18 and been able to basically be apprised of the fact that I have this history Yeah. That it's not just me. And that actually, immigration and white supremacy and neo-colonial culture has created this project of assimilation that all of our parents have been in on, in a way to survive Yeah. And to be safe. And I tell my, I tell my mom that a lot because she's always a little surprised about the organizing work that I do. And I was just like, Your job was to survive. My job is to liberate. Yeah. [00:28:00] You know? Yeah. And I could not do that if you were not so focused on creating that environment for me. [00:28:07] Swati Rayasam: I love that.  [00:28:07] Swati Rayasam: we'll drop in the show notes, but, BASS – Bay Area Solidarity Summer is solidaritysummer.org. So we'll put that in the show notes as well as ASATA, the Alliance of South Asians Taking Action is ASATA.org. And yeah, I think that is a really good segue into how we got involved in this amazing project.  [00:28:31] Swati Rayasam: You're tuned in to APEX express at 94.1 KPFA and 89.3, KPFB in Berkeley. And online@kpfa.org.  [00:28:43] Swati Rayasam: I think it was Fall 2021 that you and I were talking. Yep. And you were telling me that you were involved in this amazing archival fellowship project. Is run by the South Asian American Digital Archive and [00:29:00] that you were going to do your project about labor. Mm-hmm. and South Asians. Yep. And my immediate, incredibly naive response was, how many South Asians are there in labor?  [00:29:12] Sandhya Jha: Exactly. And it's not naive. It's interesting cuz I think that this project actually emerged out of my favorite part of BASS, which was when the young adults would ask what their opportunities were in the world of justice. And I would say, you know, there's a place for us in labor justice. It had never crossed most of their minds. Right. We don't think of ourselves as having a role especially in formalized unions. And so SAADA, the South Asian American Digital Archives has an archival fellows project. And the whole purpose of it is to diversify their archives and collect the stories that are usually overlooked in the telling of South Asian American stories. [00:29:56] Sandhya Jha: And they have done a great job over the years of collecting the [00:30:00] stories of informal organizing, like the Punjabi Taxi Drivers campaign, the Bangladeshi Nail Workers Campaign. Those were informal labor organizing campaigns. That have been really well archived and they're amazing stories. I wanted to make sure that the next generation of South Asian activists knew about the South Asians who were actually part of the formal organized labor movement. [00:30:30] Sandhya Jha: And so I spent this past year interviewing, maybe a half a dozen or so South Asian American workers. Generally, not always, but mostly what would be classified as low wage workers who found a pathway into formal organizing bodies, unite here or the building trades or any number of the formal unions that keep [00:31:00] the labor movement alive across the country today. And I'm really proud of the fact that we do have South Asian workers who have moved up the ranks to be official organizers or to be at negotiating tables. And so that's part of the story I thought it was worth us telling. [00:31:19] Swati Rayasam: And I am, I'm so excited that we get to dive deeper into this project and I really love your framing too, around the three large bins that you have, solidarity, spirit and struggle. [00:31:34] Swati Rayasam: Right? Yeah. Yeah.  [00:31:35] Sandhya Jha: I started out with certain assumptions about what I was going to learn, partly because I've been doing labor solidarity work for 25 years at this point. I really thought I knew what I was gonna hear. And what I discovered was there were these consistent themes across, the interviews. that there were these notions of, Oh, what's meaningful to me is [00:32:00] getting to organize across cultures, getting to organize with people who, on the surface and even deep down are very different than me, but we share this vision of what our lives can be. And so that solidarity message I found really powerful. Also, and admittedly because I come out of a spiritual background, was probably looking for it. I was really struck by how many of the interviews ended up talking about the role of spirituality and shaping people's values. And in a couple of instances, organizers said, what my religion taught me was that religion needs to be challenged. And building up that muscle was what helped me challenge systems of injustice in other places. But others said that their journey with their faith tradition was what guided them into the work of labor organizing. [00:32:52] Sandhya Jha: And then that third bucket of struggle, I think is the lived experience of how [00:33:00] hard it is to take on oppressive systems of capitalism, how hard it is to take on decks that are stacked against us and what it means to have somewhere to turn in the midst of those struggles. I will say there were also a couple of lessons I was surprised by because my South Asian identity is so central to my organizing work, I was expecting to collect stories of people who were proud South Asians, who were also proud to be involved in the labor movement. And I assumed that they would see connections between those things because I certainly do. But what I discovered is for the most part, they were like, Yeah, I'm South Asian. I'm not saying that doesn't matter, but it's not super relevant to my organizing work. My organizing work is about [00:34:00] our cross-cultural solidarity. And that was something I hadn't been expecting that emerged as I did those interviews. Interesting. And I'm really grateful that the South Asian American Digital Archives likes telling all of the stories because I think I promised them that what they were going to get was, we're proud to be South Asian organizers. And what I got was, yeah, we're South Asian, we're proud to be organizers. And the that SAADA is like, yeah, that's part of our story too.  [00:34:28] Swati Rayasam: Yeah. And I think that's, that I think is incredibly important. We have this really, amazing series of audio clips from your SAADA interviews that really represent a lot of the themes that you were highlighting about solidarity, spirit, and struggle. And I'm just really excited to play them as we talk through these larger themes in your larger project and the experience of South Asian labor organizers. [00:34:55] Swati Rayasam: This clip is from somebody that you and I both know, which [00:35:00] is Prem Pariyar. I was so thrilled that Prem was a part of your project. I think Prem is an incredible organizer, so yeah tell our listeners a little bit about Prem. Prem  [00:35:09] Sandhya Jha: It was pretty exciting to get to work with him you know, he moved here from Nepal and in Nepal he had been a Dalit activist and he came to the United States and had this notion that in the United States there is no caste and he was disabused of that notion very quickly as a restaurant worker dealing with anti Nepali bias in Indian restaurants, dealing with caste bias in Nepali restaurants, well dealing with Caste bias in all the restaurants.  [00:35:35] Swati Rayasam: Hey, everyone, Narrator Swati here, I just wanted to put in an explanatory comma, a la W Kamau Bell and Hari Kondabolu to talk about some terms you just heard. Sandhya referenced that Prem was a Dalit activist and also talked about Caste bias. For those of you who don't know, Caste is a violent system of oppression and exclusion, which governs social status in many south Asian countries, although it is [00:36:00] most commonly associated with India. It works on an axis of purity and pollution, and it's hereditary. At the top of the caste system are Brahmins, by the way Sandhya and I are both Brahmin, and not even at the bottom, but completely outside of the system are Dalits who were previously referred to by the slur untouchable and Adivasis who are indigenous to South Asia.  [00:36:25] Swati Rayasam: Despite being “illegal” Caste bias, Caste Oppression, Caste apartheid, are still prevalent, both in South Asia and as Sandhya references, in the United States. It manifests in many ways that people experience racial injustice, via socioeconomic inequality, systemic and interpersonal violence, occupation, and through the determination of marriage and other relationships. You can learn more at EqualityLabs.org and APEX currently has a show in the works that delves into this more deeply. Now. Back to Sandhya  [00:36:58] Sandhya Jha: What is [00:37:00] delightful to me is Prem went on to get an MSW and is building out amazing mental health resources for Dalit communities for the Nepali community. Seeking to build out a program where there are more and more people in Nepal who are trained with MSW skills.  [00:37:21] Sandhya Jha: I met with one of his professors from CSU East Bay where he got his degree and she said, You know, that the entire Cal State system is adding caste to its anti-discrimination policies thanks to the work he started at CSU East Bay. And it was really beautiful to hear that because the focus of my conversations with him were more around how his experiences in the restaurants led him into the solidarity work with nail salon workers. [00:37:53] Swati Rayasam: To just, kick back to the caste abolition work that Prem has been doing, that caste abolition work [00:38:00] at CSU East Bay has been such critical work in these ongoing conversations around caste that have been in the South Asian community primarily, but have been percolating elsewhere. [00:38:13] Swati Rayasam: You know, the state of California filed a lawsuit against Cisco systems Yep. For caste discrimination in their workplace and there have been all these conversations around caste and tech work and interplay that with the no tech for apartheid work. Right. That has been happening in Palestinian liberation circles. Yeah. And really building that solidarity movement. So I think that Prem is an absolute powerhouse Yeah. In that regard. But yeah, let's listen to this clip.  [00:38:42] Prem: During that time, I got connected with other community organizer, like workers group. I got connected and so I was connected with nail salon workers, who were exploited at their workplace and with them, [00:39:00] I got to go to the capital in Sacramento. And so I thought I need to advocate for the restaurant workers. that was my first experience, like working with other workers and with the assembly members and like other other policy makers I shared what is happening what kinds of discrimination happening at the workplace. So I advocated for the restaurant workers at that time. I shared my stories and I supported the rights of nail salon workers. I was there to support them and they supported me as well, and it was wonderful. And finally that advocacy worked. And the bill was drafted and it was passed finally. And so it was huge achievement at that time.  [00:39:49] Swati Rayasam: I love that. I think that is such a perfect story of when you win, we all win.  [00:39:56] Sandhya Jha: And what I also love about it is he goes on [00:40:00] to talk about how he has remained in relationship with those nail salon workers. That they show up for each other, that they take each other food, that they show up to each other's baby showers and birthday parties, and there's this sense of community that emerges out of this shared struggle. And so that's a cross-cultural campaign. They were mostly Vietnamese. There were some Bangladeshi nail salon workers, but it was mostly people from a different culture than his. [00:40:27] Sandhya Jha: But somebody at the Asian Health Services program that he was at, saw his gifts, saw his passion, and he really responded to that in exactly, the most powerful way. I can imagine. [00:40:38] Swati Rayasam: And I think one of the nice things as well about that is that person at Asian Health Services connected Prem in and the Nail Salon Worker group, California Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative, Prem came from Nepal, I'm not sure, but the extent to which his organizing background and how comfortable he was in the US organizing space around labor [00:41:00] issues was probably significantly less that worker group took it upon themselves when they saw Prem come in to say, Oh, you are advocating on behalf of restaurant workers. Great. Why don't you join us? Let's help support and so the nail salon workers saw Prem, saw solidarity with Prem and said, It is our responsibility mm-hmm to bring you into this space to connect you in and to move in, struggle together. Yeah. Toward our shared goals of safety, of health, of rights. Yep.  [00:41:35] Sandhya Jha: Exactly.  [00:41:36] Swati Rayasam: So, we have this clip from Daljit, tell me a little bit about Daljit. Daljit [00:41:42] Sandhya Jha: Yeah. Daljit was an attorney who now reads tarot for people because she needed a break from the toxicity of that career and how it was taking her away from her family. Daljit is a deeply spiritual person and, [00:42:00] as I mentioned before, this theme of spirit showed up in some really beautiful ways in some of the interviews. I loved the way she understood her Sikh tradition as foundationally being connected with the land and foundationally connected with the people who work the land. [00:42:15] Daljit: Agriculture is our culture and the religion that I was born into, Siki, the founder of that faith was a farmer. And so a lot of the scripture, the analogies, the metaphors, the poetry, the music, the songs, the boon, the traditional folk songs, that can be taunting and teasing banter, all that stuff the land is the framework for that. And my most favorite line from the Guru Granth Sahib, our holy book, is, [speaks Punjabi] and that basically means that, the waters our guru, the airs our father, but our mother is Earth. And that's the greatest of all , and that's adherence to ecosystem. That's the [00:43:00] indigenous Cosmo vision that should be paramount. And that's what I try to teach my children. And so I think that's what I was taught as a kid without necessarily being able to pinpoint it, but it was just infused throughout our songs, our music, our food, the Harvest, there's two times a year that our celebrations, whether it Baisakhi or Lohri. It's so connected to the harvest and what is coming out of the soil or not. And you're connected to the cycles of nature. [00:43:28] Swati Rayasam: The connection between nature land, spirituality the way that it shows up in so many faith backgrounds and so many faith organizers, I think is really, really beautiful.  [00:43:41] Sandhya Jha: And I love that Daljit Kaursoni who was raised in this tradition, has found her way to Buddhism and is raising her kids with those connections, but without ever losing this grounding in the liberation of the land, the liberation of the [00:44:00] people. [00:44:00] Sandhya Jha: And for that to be a key element of her spirituality, even as her spirituality evolves, I think it's pretty powerful.  Tafadar [00:44:08] Sandhya Jha: One of the other people I got to interview ,Tafadar, he's a Bangladeshi American in the building trades and is a deeply committed Marxist. For me, this was a particularly exciting interview because I'm Bengali, so from West Bengal, before partition, Bangladesh and what's now West Bengal, were one state. And so it was fun to get to talk with him and to say, Hey, this is our legacy as Bengalis is radical worker organizing. [00:44:40] Sandhya Jha: And I remember saying to him, Some people in the building trades are not super excited to be working with brown people. And some people in the building trades are a little biased against women. And as a very, very progressive South Asian? How do you navigate that [00:45:00] space? [00:45:00] Sandhya Jha: And he said, Here's the thing is, yeah, I organize alongside some moderate to conservative white folks from New Jersey and he said, but in the building trades, if that moderate to conservative white guy from New Jersey decides he doesn't like my feminist politics, or he doesn't like my brown skin, if he decides that's a reason not to train me, he might die. And it was really interesting because even though I've been doing labor justice work for a long time, it was one of those moments I was like, Oh, right. Your work is very dangerous and you all have to rely on each other whether you like each other or not. That is the magic of organizing that no one ever talks about. This is why we can do cross class, cross-cultural work because literally you have to trust each other with your lives. Right. That was a really clarifying moment for me. And it was one of those interesting moments where I was like, [00:46:00] Solidarity is not a romantic thing. Uh, it is very much a matter of life and death. [00:46:05] Sandhya Jha: And I think that is really important and that exact thing that you brought up, you don't even have to necessarily trust somebody. Right. But you do need them. Yep. Right. And like that really clear understanding that like your fates are intertwined and it is truly in everybody's best interest. If you are trained well, irrespective of whether or not at lunch, I'm interested in sitting anywhere near you. I think that's really great. [00:46:32] Sandhya Jha: One of the things that was really exciting about talking with Tafadar was the reminder that labor organizing and formal union organizing at its best can be in solidarity with other movements really worker justice and housing justice and racial justice are inseparable, on some level. And so, one of the most inspiring stories I got to hear across all of these interviews [00:47:00] was a campaign that brought together folks across the anti- gentrification, the immigrant rights, and the labor justice movement. [00:47:14] Tafadar: It's ironic, building affordable housing with deadly exploitation. And, um, to do this, the de blassio administration, they embark on massive major rezonings of poor areas to relax the local zoning laws to be able to bring in these developments. And a couple of years ago, my, my union in local 79's. Took a very sharp turn towards a community organizing approach because labor can't win on our own, and that's the perspective that all of labor should adopt. In order to fight against the sweatshops in our industry. We united with a lot of community organizations in the South Bronx. [00:47:53] Tafadar: We formed the South Bronx, Safe Southern Boulevard Coalition. And along with these groups, we [00:48:00] protested and did a whole lot of activism, lobbying, community organizing to stop the rezoning of Southern Boulevard, which is a massive stretch in the South Bronx, while the De Blassio administration had succeeded in another part of the Bronx where there's like massive displacement still underway right now. And we were determined to stop it there. And it was a beautiful thing that we can unite because on our end as labor, we had to prevent all these trash companies from coming in and exploiting workers. And we were working with these tenants who are afraid of being displaced. And people generally, we do need revitalization of our neighborhoods. We do need investment. We do need things to be changed and made better. For us. If it's not for us, if it's done without us, then eventually we're not even gonna be here anymore. So we had that alliance going on and not only did we manage to stop that rezoning, we also educated the local city councilman on why his position was wrong and supporting the rezoning. And he eventually completely flipped this [00:49:00] position. And now chairs the land use committee of the city council from the perspective that we educated him on, which it's just been a very interesting dynamic. But, there's a lot of rezoning battles all over the city that's like the main front of anti gentrification struggles. And I've been watching those kinds of campaigns go on since I began organizing about 15, 16. I've seen very different approaches to them, but I've never seen any model really work until that one kicked in where Labor and the community came together. So that was one of my favorite campaigns because of that lesson that we were able to concretely put into practice and set as an example for not only for community movements all over New York City, but also for Labor. [00:49:43] Sandhya Jha: I think this hit me in particular because I've done so much work around antis displacement in Oakland, and my experience has been. [00:49:53] Sandhya Jha: That while for most of us on the ground, the connection between housing justice and labor justice is really clear. When you [00:50:00] start getting into the technical policy issues and the funding issues, the folks who are running labor and housing justice or affordable housing, struggle to find ways to collaborate. And it's been one of my consistent heartbreaks for at least a decade at this point because I work at the intersection of those things and sometimes I despair of us being able to find ways to move forward together. And so to hear a story like this one and to be reminded at core, those justice issues can and must be we already knew, must be, but actually can function together to build a better community. That was actually really life giving for me to hear.  [00:50:45] Swati Rayasam: Yeah. I a hundred percent agree. And I think the point that Tafadar as well brings in the clip of just saying we knew that we could do this, but we knew we couldn't do this without community organizing. Right? Yeah. That labor couldn't do this alone. Yeah. [00:51:00] And I think that is a lot of what, when we talk about solidarity politics, it's not just a backdoor way of inclusion for inclusion's sake, we have to all do this. Actually, it is integral that all of us are involved in any of these campaigns because it impacts all of us. And because we are not going to win with only a single constituency and in the very same way that, Tafadar was identifying that labor couldn't do that alone. in community organizing spaces that you and I have been in mm-hmm. , like we are constantly talking about how we cannot do any of this without labor. Yep. And I think a beautiful example of that is the Block the Boat campaign yeah that the Arab Resource Organizing Center, started back in 2014 and then again during 2021 to block the Zim ship from the port of Oakland. And like this community organization [00:52:00] AROC could not do that without working with the longshoreman to collaborate with the port workers. And I think that when we see the marriage of community organizing and labor organizing, that is when we get the power of grassroots organizing. [00:52:16] Sandhya Jha: Something I wanna mention about the SAADA Fellowship that I was really grateful for: two things. First off, they did a really good job of making sure we got trained in grassroots oral history. So they took really seriously what it meant for this to be justice work. And they made sure we had exposure to methodology that was gonna lift up and honor and foster the voices of people whose stories don't get heard often enough. And that was a really big deal to me. The other thing is they made sure that we had an advisory board, people who are in this [00:53:00] work who could help us, figure out who to talk with, who could help us build out an event strategy. And you helped me build out my advisory committee. Anibel Ferris-Comelo who is with the University of California Labor Center,  [00:53:14] Swati Rayasam: Prem Pariyar, a Nepali Dalit restaurant worker, organizer pushing for Caste as a protected category with Equality Labs, a Dalit feminist organization, and a social worker supporting the mental health needs of his and many other South Asian communities in Alameda county.  [00:53:31] Swati Rayasam: Will Jamil Wiltchko with the California Trade Justice Coalition, Terry Valen who I did a lot of organizing with at the beginning of the pandemic, around the struggles that seafarers were facing with the onset of COVID-19. And he's the organizational director of the Filipino Community Center in San Francisco. The president of NAFCON which is the National Alliance for Filipino Concerns and just an all in all amazing organizer [00:53:57] Sandhya Jha: the last thing I wanna mention [00:54:00] is SAADA also helped me set up a digital exhibit with Art by Madhvi Trivedi Patak and I wanted to give them a shoutout because they're an incredible artist, but also they grew up in a working class family and didn't get exposed to what it looks like to do labor justice. And so as they developed the artwork to go with the digital exhibit, they got to experience the possibilities of labor solidarity that they hadn't gotten to experience as a child. And so I really loved that Madhvi was a part of this project as well [00:54:38] Swati Rayasam: All of the clips that you shared really identifying, again, these like huge fundamental pillars of solidarity and spirit and struggle. these clips were amazing. They are so rich and so layered with all of these people's varying and different experiences. Really showing in [00:55:00] all of these different walks of life at all of these ages with all of these experiences, that all of these people have this unified and shared identity in struggle, in spirit, and in solidarity for liberation. [00:55:14] Sandhya Jha: And one of the things that I think is worth celebrating is whether they see it as part of their South Asian identity or not. People who do identify as South Asian now have this resource that says there's a home for you in the labor movement. Yes, there are. There is a value to your voice. There is a value to your wisdom, there's a value to your experience in the labor movement. [00:55:36] Swati Rayasam: I think it's a beautiful project. Sandhya, I think it has been an amazing amount of work I've watched you do over the past year. These stories are so wonderful. I really encourage people to check it out. Where can they find your project? [00:55:49] Sandhya Jha: The website's www.saada.org/acfp [00:56:00] /exhibit/solidarity-forever. We'll put that in the notes. We'll definitely put that in the show notes. [00:56:05] Swati Rayasam: I just wanna make sure that we replug your podcast Bending Toward Justice Avatar, The Last Air Bender for the Global Majority and you can find that at tinyurl.com slash ATLA podcast, Capital P (tinyurl.com/ATLAPodcast). And then the last thing that I also wanna make sure that we plug is Without Fear Consulting. [00:56:27] Sandhya Jha: I love working with folks who know that their organization could be a little more liberative, and are, just not quite sure where to start. I love working with a team of folks who want to be about the work of incorporating diversity, equity, and inclusion into the DNA of their organization and I love setting them up so that they can keep doing that long after I'm working with them. So please do find me withoutfearconsulting.com. If you're interested in that.  [00:56:58] Swati Rayasam: Amazing. Sandhya [00:57:00] Jha, Pastor, Racial Justice consultant, podcast host, archivist, singer songwriter, amazing cook. You can do it all. I think you deserve a nap. it has been amazing talking to you. I am so glad to be able to hear about your project and also to hear a lot more about your life.  [00:57:23] Sandhya Jha: Yay. Thank you so much. [00:57:25]  Miko Lee: Please check out our website, kpfa.org backslash program, backslash apex express to find out more about the show tonight and to find out how you can take direct action. We thank all of you listeners out there. Keep resisting, keep organizing, keep creating and sharing your visions with the world. Your voices are important. Apex express is produced by Miko Lee Jalena Keane-Lee and Paige Chung and special editing by Swati Rayasam. Thank you so much to the KPFA staff for their support have a great night.  The post APEX Express 1.5.23 South Asians and The Labor Justice Movement appeared first on KPFA.

Subscribe, Rate & Review Up On Game Presents right here “How do we transform our society for the better? Because we can't do it in ways that are destructive. Because at the end of the day, we're all connected now and interconnected. And we've got to find a way to coexist in this world and ensure that there is justice and equity, fairness and dignity and respect.” - Dr. Bernice King Welcome to Stay a While with Tommi Vincent! There is no doubt that we stand on the shoulders of those who've come before us. And we reap the benefits of the callings they chose to answer. Dr. Bernice A. King joins the Stay A While Podcast today to discuss not only the beauty of the legacies that have changed entire world systems but also the beauty and importance of placing our own bricks to continue those heritages. Dr. King shares beautiful moments with her mother, the late Coretta Scott King, and how her mother's perseverance helped her to thrive in not one, but two male-dominated vocations. She also gives a word on what it means to be the daughter of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the ways in which her calling and purpose are inextricably bound to what came before her. Dr. Bernice A. King is a global thought leader, strategist, solutionist, orator, peace advocate, and CEO of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center For Nonviolent Social Change (The King Center), which was founded by her mother as the official living memorial to the life, work, and legacy of her father. In this position, Bernice continues to advance her parents' legacy of nonviolent social change through policy, advocacy, research, as well as education & training through the Kingian philosophy of nonviolence, which she re-branded Nonviolence365® (NV365®). She is a licensed attorney and member of the State Bar of Georgia; a certified Mediator with the State of Georgia; a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated, the International Women's Forum (IWF), the National Council of Negro Women; a Board member of the National Black Bank Foundation as well as Faith and Prejudice. Dr. King is an innovative, inspirational, and transformational leader. She is dedicated to ensuring that her parents' legacy and teachings, The King Center, as well as the work of creating the Beloved Community, with Nonviolence365® as the pathway, are introduced to new generations of influencers. In this episode we cover [01:00 - 11:19] What It Takes to Leave a Legacy as a Woman [11:20 - 18:01] Sweet or Sour Moments with Food Bring Unforgettable Memories [18:02 - 38:49] Living a Purposeful Life Amidst the Weight of the World [38:50 - 41:25] Closing Segment Key Quotes “It's so important for us to keep people in our life that are more seasoned than us. Because there are some things about learning how to be a good human that comes along with being able to glean from the wisdom of people who've lived life longer than you have.” - Tommi Vincent “If there's somebody who's trying to gain the whole world and yet lose their soul, you know, I try to get them back to center them, understand it's okay to have a healthy self-centered concern, you know, to take care of yourself… Don't be a public success and a private failure.” - Dr. Bernice A. King “Love is never going to be outdistanced or outwon. In the end, it's going to prevail.” - Dr. Bernice King Connect with Dr. Bernice King Instagram: @BerniceAKing Twitter: @BerniceKing Website: www.thekingcenter.org Connect with Me! You can reach Tommi on Instagram @cheftommiv Visit https://vincentcountry.com and get connected with us on Vincent Country's Instagram @vincentcountry This episode was Produced By: Tommi Vincent, Tanner Vincent, and Skai Blue Media Music By: Stichiz - Big T. Music /Roj&TwinkiEbr... Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Subscribe, Rate & Review Up On Game Presents right here “How do we transform our society for the better? Because we can't do it in ways that are destructive. Because at the end of the day, we're all connected now and interconnected. And we've got to find a way to coexist in this world and ensure that there is justice and equity, fairness and dignity and respect.” - Dr. Bernice King Welcome to Stay a While with Tommi Vincent! There is no doubt that we stand on the shoulders of those who've come before us. And we reap the benefits of the callings they chose to answer. Dr. Bernice A. King joins the Stay A While Podcast today to discuss not only the beauty of the legacies that have changed entire world systems but also the beauty and importance of placing our own bricks to continue those heritages. Dr. King shares beautiful moments with her mother, the late Coretta Scott King, and how her mother's perseverance helped her to thrive in not one, but two male-dominated vocations. She also gives a word on what it means to be the daughter of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the ways in which her calling and purpose are inextricably bound to what came before her. Dr. Bernice A. King is a global thought leader, strategist, solutionist, orator, peace advocate, and CEO of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center For Nonviolent Social Change (The King Center), which was founded by her mother as the official living memorial to the life, work, and legacy of her father. In this position, Bernice continues to advance her parents' legacy of nonviolent social change through policy, advocacy, research, as well as education & training through the Kingian philosophy of nonviolence, which she re-branded Nonviolence365® (NV365®). She is a licensed attorney and member of the State Bar of Georgia; a certified Mediator with the State of Georgia; a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated, the International Women's Forum (IWF), the National Council of Negro Women; a Board member of the National Black Bank Foundation as well as Faith and Prejudice. Dr. King is an innovative, inspirational, and transformational leader. She is dedicated to ensuring that her parents' legacy and teachings, The King Center, as well as the work of creating the Beloved Community, with Nonviolence365® as the pathway, are introduced to new generations of influencers. In this episode we cover [01:00 - 11:19] What It Takes to Leave a Legacy as a Woman [11:20 - 18:01] Sweet or Sour Moments with Food Bring Unforgettable Memories [18:02 - 38:49] Living a Purposeful Life Amidst the Weight of the World [38:50 - 41:25] Closing Segment Key Quotes “It's so important for us to keep people in our life that are more seasoned than us. Because there are some things about learning how to be a good human that comes along with being able to glean from the wisdom of people who've lived life longer than you have.” - Tommi Vincent “If there's somebody who's trying to gain the whole world and yet lose their soul, you know, I try to get them back to center them, understand it's okay to have a healthy self-centered concern, you know, to take care of yourself… Don't be a public success and a private failure.” - Dr. Bernice A. King “Love is never going to be outdistanced or outwon. In the end, it's going to prevail.” - Dr. Bernice King Connect with Dr. Bernice King Instagram: @BerniceAKing Twitter: @BerniceKing Website: www.thekingcenter.org Connect with Me! You can reach Tommi on Instagram @cheftommiv Visit https://vincentcountry.com and get connected with us on Vincent Country's Instagram @vincentcountry This episode was Produced By: Tommi Vincent, Tanner Vincent, and Skai Blue Media Music By: Stichiz - Big T. Music /Roj&TwinkiEbr... Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you want to raise free black children into adults who can stand in their own birthright as humans worthy of love, you have to operate from the grounding principle: Love Does Not Abuse.Gentle Parenting is the 'new' trend in parenting techniques. In Episode 9, I share ideals researched and popularized by bell hooks nearly 30 years ago. Her ideals expound on the Kingian idea that to build the beloved community we must eradicate militarism.Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was both a theologian and philosopher. His theories on building the beloved community through nonviolence is an entire curriculum worth of study and discussion. I share more of Dr. King's theory in Season 1, Episode 31. Episode 9 of Season 2, I dive deeper in the ways in which we have internalized militarism, especially as it relates to parenting. Gentle Parenting, at it's core, eliminates domination as a primary parenting principle. A parent's assertive superiority rejects a child's autonomy and even fails to recognize their rights. Hence, coercive measures in parenting become detrimental to a child's growth. Therefore, domination in parenting counters a child's rights.So by it's very nature Gentle Parenting is feminist, anti-white supremacy, and when done right will in fact smash the patriarchy.  For more information on bell hooks' ideas please see the following resources:https://feminisminindia.com/2021/09/16/the-parenting-philosophy-of-bell-hooks-there-is-no-love-without-justice/?amphttps://rlstollar.com/2020/12/06/love-does-not-abuse-the-parenting-philosophy-of-bell-hooks/?fbclid=IwAR04dDTuvxt_DnH2GdYotBHXefEmkwtn7dd9WceBrqM4yVgx6zYstYTejxsWhat is Gentle Parenting

“How do we transform our society for the better? Because we can't do it in ways that are destructive. Because at the end of the day, we're all connected now and interconnected. And we've got to find a way to coexist in this world and ensure that there is justice and equity, fairness and dignity and respect.” - Dr. Bernice KingWelcome to Stay a While with Tommi Vincent! There is no doubt that we stand on the shoulders of those who've come before us. And we reap the benefits of the callings they chose to answer. Dr. Bernice A. King joins the Stay A While Podcast today to discuss not only the beauty of the legacies that have changed entire world systems but also the beauty and importance of placing our own bricks to continue those heritages. Dr. King shares beautiful moments with her mother, the late Coretta Scott King, and how her mother's perseverance helped her to thrive in not one, but two male-dominated vocations. She also gives a word on what it means to be the daughter of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the ways in which her calling and purpose are inextricably bound to what came before her.Dr. Bernice A. King is a global thought leader, strategist, solutionist, orator, peace advocate, and CEO of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center For Nonviolent Social Change (The King Center), which was founded by her mother as the official living memorial to the life, work, and legacy of her father. In this position, Bernice continues to advance her parents' legacy of nonviolent social change through policy, advocacy, research, as well as education & training through the Kingian philosophy of nonviolence, which she re-branded Nonviolence365® (NV365®). She is a licensed attorney and member of the State Bar of Georgia; a certified Mediator with the State of Georgia; a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated, the International Women's Forum (IWF), the National Council of Negro Women; a Board member of the National Black Bank Foundation as well as Faith and Prejudice.Dr. King is an innovative, inspirational, and transformational leader. She is dedicated to ensuring that her parents' legacy and teachings, The King Center, as well as the work of creating the Beloved Community, with Nonviolence365® as the pathway, are introduced to new generations of influencers.In this episode we cover[01:00 - 11:19] What It Takes to Leave a Legacy as a Woman[11:20 - 18:01] Sweet or Sour Moments with Food Bring Unforgettable Memories[18:02 - 38:49] Living a Purposeful Life Amidst the Weight of the World[38:50 - 41:25] Closing Segment Key Quotes“It's so important for us to keep people in our life that are more seasoned than us. Because there are some things about learning how to be a good human that comes along with being able to glean from the wisdom of people who've lived life longer than you have.” - Tommi Vincent “If there's somebody who's trying to gain the whole world and yet lose their soul, you know, I try to get them back to center them, understand it's okay to have a healthy self-centered concern, you know, to take care of yourself… Don't be a public success and a private failure.” - Dr. Bernice A. King“Love is never going to be outdistanced or outwon. In the end, it's going to prevail.” - Dr. Bernice KingConnect with Dr. Bernice KingInstagram: @BerniceAKingTwitter: @BerniceKingWebsite: www.thekingcenter.org Connect with Me! You can reach Tommi on Instagram @cheftommivVisit https://vincentcountry.com and get connected with us on Vincent Country's Instagram @vincentcountry This episode was Produced By: Tommi Vincent, Tanner Vincent, and Skai Blue MediaMusic By: Stichiz - Big T. Music /Roj&TwinkiELEAVE A REVIEW + and SHARE this episode with someone who wants food for the soul, and the key ingredients to embracing their true, authentic self. Listen to previous episodes on Spotify, Spreaker, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts!

What would it look like to engage in nonviolent direct action consistently, through strategic organizing? That's what Kai Newkirk (Founder of For All www.forallorg.us) and Rev. Stephen Green (Pastor, Scholar, and Activist) explain in today's episode, as they discuss the piece they co-authored, “Why Kingian democratic socialism is the best path forward for the progressive left.” This is especially relevant in the context of our current society where unarmed Black people continue to be murdered by police. They also dig into why we need statehood in D.C. in order to make winning Georgia actually count and see progress on reparations. Read their article here: https://wagingnonviolence.org/2021/04/why-kingian-democratic-socialism-best-path-forward-for-progressive-left/ Executive Producer: Adell Coleman Producer: Brittany Temple Distributor: DCP Entertainment For additional content: makeitplain.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a radical revolutionary genius who has been relegated in American history to a caricature for complacency. In today's episode I am back in the studio solo dolo committed to continuing the conversation on the Kingian principle of beloved community.Let's begin with an exert from Dr. King's speech "The Other America." In the 1 minute and 55 second I share today, Dr. King talks about how time is used in politic and in our lived experienced.  Dr. King once said, "Social progress never rolls in on the wheels of inevitability; it comes through the tireless efforts and the persistent work of dedicated individuals..." Time is only on the side of the individual or group who uses it with deliberate dedication to sculpt the world in their own image.American Progressives play defense. Defense is reactive and short sighted. Defense is a response to a proactive play. The reason why America trek toward a more progressive and inclusive nation has been such a slow and arduous process is because Progressive do not play the long game. They are not offensive players. But guess who is?For more information about Kingian Principles visit: https://thekingcenter.org/about-tkc/the-king-philosophy/To hear Dr. King's speech The Other America in it's entirety go to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOWDtDUKz-U

This is a summer rerun episode! Mark returns next week, and until then, we're taking a look back at some of the year's best episodes. What would it look like to engage in nonviolent direct action consistently, through strategic organizing? That's what Kai Newkirk (Founder of For All www.forallorg.us) and Rev. Stephen Green (Pastor, Scholar, and Activist) explain in today's episode, as they discuss the piece they co-authored, “Why Kingian democratic socialism is the best path forward for the progressive left.” This is especially relevant in the context of our current society where unarmed Black people continue to be murdered by police. They also dig into why we need statehood in D.C. in order to make winning Georgia actually count and see progress on reparations. Read their article here: https://wagingnonviolence.org/2021/04/why-kingian-democratic-socialism-best-path-forward-for-progressive-left/ Executive Producer: Adell Coleman Producer: Brittany Temple Distributor: DCP Entertainment For additional content: makeitplain.com

Dr. Laura Emiko Soltis serves as the Executive Director at Freedom University, an underground school for undocumented students in Atlanta. Born in rural Minnesota, Emiko was raised in a biracial Japanese/Slovak household and developed passions for working-class politics and music performance in equal measure. Emiko's early work experiences in low-wage industries alongside diverse immigrants in restaurant work, janitorial services, and farm labor inspired her to study interracial labor movements and human rights. Emiko graduated from the University of Georgia in 2006 and received her Ph.D. in 2012 from Emory University, where she wrote her dissertation on an interracial migrant farmworker movement led by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers in South Florida. After the closing of Freedom University in Athens by its founding faculty, Emiko re-opened Freedom University in Atlanta in September 2014. As the organization's first Executive Director, Emiko introduced the human rights framework to the center of its mission, expanded the curriculum to include the arts and social justice leadership training, and began connecting undocumented youth to veterans of the Black Freedom Movement. Emiko works to advance the undocumented student movement by educating and mentoring a new generation of undocumented freedom fighters and advocating for fair admissions policies in higher education across the United States. At Freedom University, Emiko continues to serve as the Professor of Human Rights, teaching classes in international human rights, social movement theory, and immigration history. As an organizer, Emiko has engaged in numerous direct actions for workers’ rights and immigrant justice, and has been arrested four times in the Kingian tradition of nonviolent civil disobedience. Emiko is also an accomplished violinist, photographer, and sings with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chamber Chorus. Follow Emiko on Twitter. Follow the work of Freedom University. –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– To support this podcast, please visit www.kindful.activistheology.com. To follow Activist Theology on Twitter: @activistheology To follow Activist Theology on Instagram: @activistheology To follow Activist Theology on Facebook: @activistheology To be in touch with Dr. Robyn: robyn@activistheology.com or @irobyn To be in touch with Rev. Anna: anna@activistheology.com or @unholyhairetic

Dr. Laura Emiko Soltis serves as the Executive Director at Freedom University, an underground school for undocumented students in Atlanta. Born in rural Minnesota, Emiko was raised in a biracial Japanese/Slovak household and developed passions for working-class politics and music performance in equal measure. Emiko's early work experiences in low-wage industries alongside diverse immigrants in restaurant work, janitorial services, and farm labor inspired her to study interracial labor movements and human rights. Emiko graduated from the University of Georgia in 2006 and received her Ph.D. in 2012 from Emory University, where she wrote her dissertation on an interracial migrant farmworker movement led by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers in South Florida. After the closing of Freedom University in Athens by its founding faculty, Emiko re-opened Freedom University in Atlanta in September 2014. As the organization's first Executive Director, Emiko introduced the human rights framework to the center of its mission, expanded the curriculum to include the arts and social justice leadership training, and began connecting undocumented youth to veterans of the Black Freedom Movement. Emiko works to advance the undocumented student movement by educating and mentoring a new generation of undocumented freedom fighters and advocating for fair admissions policies in higher education across the United States. At Freedom University, Emiko continues to serve as the Professor of Human Rights, teaching classes in international human rights, social movement theory, and immigration history. As an organizer, Emiko has engaged in numerous direct actions for workers’ rights and immigrant justice, and has been arrested four times in the Kingian tradition of nonviolent civil disobedience. Emiko is also an accomplished violinist, photographer, and sings with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chamber Chorus. Follow Emiko on Twitter. Follow the work of Freedom University. –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– To support this podcast, please visit www.kindful.activistheology.com. To follow Activist Theology on Twitter: @activistheology To follow Activist Theology on Instagram: @activistheology To follow Activist Theology on Facebook: @activistheology To be in touch with Dr. Robyn: robyn@activistheology.com or @irobyn To be in touch with Rev. Anna: anna@activistheology.com or @unholyhairetic

What would it look like to engage in nonviolent direct action consistently, through strategic organizing? That’s what Kai Newkirk (Founder of For All www.forallorg.us) and Rev. Stephen Green (Pastor, Scholar, and Activist) explain in today’s episode, as they discuss the piece they co-authored, “Why Kingian democratic socialism is the best path forward for the progressive left.” This is especially relevant in the context of our current society where unarmed Black people continue to be murdered by police. They also dig into why we need statehood in D.C. in order to make winning Georgia actually count and see progress on reparations. Read their article here: https://wagingnonviolence.org/2021/04/why-kingian-democratic-socialism-best-path-forward-for-progressive-left/ Executive Producer: Adell Coleman Producer: Brittany Temple Distributor: DCP Entertainment For additional content: makeitplain.com

FInd Thomashttps://www.instagram.com/thomassagepedersen/http://www.linktr.ee/thomassagepedersenAbout ThomasIn high school, a mentor asked Thomas what his purpose was in life. Thomas wrote down “To help people with music”. That phrase has been the seed that has grown into who he is today. Along the way, Thomas has been an explorer of life, pursuing different passions and ideas in order to understand what his purpose is on this planet. From living in a tent in the woods, to working and living on an organic farm, he has followed his passions wherever they led him. The path eventually led him to music and psychology. He began to explore being a professional musician and composer, but realized that this was not the path for him. He went back to school for psychology, and worked as a Residential Counselor for adults with mental health disorders. Through the experience of being a counselor, Thomas fully realized his passion for holding space for people and helping guide them to their fullest potential. He eventually returned to music, and found teaching, which allowed him to use his talents as both a counselor and a musician in order to help people. This led him to found Everyone's Music School, with the mission to create positive and lasting change in people's lives using music education. Using the skills he refined as a counselor, he coaches and trains his teachers at the music school to help them build real connections with their students, and to show them how to truly find a place where music can live within them.As a mixed-race black man who was raised in a white conservative family in a small, white majority town, race has always been part of Thomas's identity, but it was not until 2018 that he started to look more deeply at the issue. He finally began to explore what blackness was, and his own history.In 2019 he attended an event called “The Unapologetically Black Art Show”, which would be a turning point in his life. The night was an awakening for him, making him aware of a part of himself he had been suppressing for his whole life. He signed up that night to go to Selma, Alabama, to be trained as a Kingian nonviolence trainer, as well as to gain a greater understanding of black culture in the USA.  During his trip, he learned a lot about the culture of this country, as well as a lot about black history that he had not been taught in school. He came back with a mission to help fight systemic racism in the US using the tools of MLK, Gandhi and Thoreau.This experience influenced him to start Speak For Change Podcast, with the mission to inspire and promote positive change and growth in the world. The podcast is centered around in-depth conversations with leaders, activists, artists, and other people who are in the arena of life, actively doing things to promote positive change. Thomas  currently lives with his wife in the Santa Cruz Mountains. He is The CEO/Founder of Everyone's Music School, Founder & Host of Speak For Change Podcast, a Kingian Nonviolence Trainer, A member of the Steering committee for The Santa Cruz County Black Coalition of Racial Justice and Equity, A member of the SC Equity Collab , writer, mentor, Artist and SpeakerSupport the show (Http://Www.patreon.com/speakforchangepodcast)

Voting is the cornerstone of a democracy, and with this year's election being what some call "the most unprecedented election ever," the importance of casting that vote is on many minds, nation-wide. To gain a local perspective on that topic as well as a look at some of the most pressing issues at hand, WBOI's Julia Meek invited two community leaders into the studio, expressly chosen for their community connections and dedication to this cause. Delois "Dee" McKinley, currently an educator and case worker for Fort Wayne Community Schools embarked on her own mission back in her hometown of Bessemer, Alabama in the early 1960's. By March of 1963 she joined the ranks of students who were participating in demonstrations for Civil Rights in neighboring Alabama cities, following the examples of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., John Lewis and other leaders of that day, which led her to continue that work when she came to Fort Wayne in 1969. Reverend Angelo Mante has devoted his life to affecting change through relationships and education, embracing the Kingian philosophy of nonviolent demonstration. He is the pastor of Peace and Justice at Faith United Methodist Church in the city's southeast quadrant, and is also the founder and executive director of Alive Community Outreach. Along with its mission to cultivate a community of nonviolence, the organization offers direct support to co-victims of homicide and community education in Kingian nonviolence. WBOI Artcentric is brought to you by WBOI's own Julia Meek and Ben Clemmer. Our theme music is “Me voy pal campo” by KelsiCote. Our administrative assistants are Olivia Fletter and Brittany Smith. Our production assistants are Monica Blankenship, Steve Mullaney, and Sydney Wagner.

  On “White Fragility” A few thoughts on America's smash-hit #1 guide to egghead racialism   Matt Taibbi,               A core principle of the academic movement that shot through elite schools in America since the early nineties was the view that individual rights, humanism, and the democratic process are all just stalking-horses for white supremacy. The concept, as articulated in books like former corporate consultant Robin DiAngelo's White Fragility (Amazon's #1 seller!) reduces everything, even the smallest and most innocent human interactions, to racial power contests. It's been mind-boggling to watch White Fragility celebrated in recent weeks. When it surged past a Hunger Games book on bestseller lists, USA Today cheered, “American readers are more interested in combatting racism than in literary escapism.” When DiAngelo appeared on The Tonight Show, Jimmy Fallon gushed, “I know… everyone wants to talk to you right now!” White Fragility has been pitched as an uncontroversial road-map for fighting racism, at a time when after the murder of George Floyd Americans are suddenly (and appropriately) interested in doing just that. Except this isn't a straightforward book about examining one's own prejudices. Have the people hyping this impressively crazy book actually read it? DiAngelo isn't the first person to make a buck pushing tricked-up pseudo-intellectual horseshit as corporate wisdom, but she might be the first to do it selling Hitlerian race theory. White Fragility has a simple message: there is no such thing as a universal human experience, and we are defined not by our individual personalities or moral choices, but only by our racial category. If your category is “white,” bad news: you have no identity apart from your participation in white supremacy (“Anti-blackness is foundational to our very identities… Whiteness has always been predicated on blackness”), which naturally means “a positive white identity is an impossible goal.” DiAngelo instructs us there is nothing to be done here, except “strive to be less white.” To deny this theory, or to have the effrontery to sneak away from the tedium of DiAngelo's lecturing – what she describes as “leaving the stress-inducing situation” – is to affirm her conception of white supremacy. This intellectual equivalent of the “ordeal by water” (if you float, you're a witch) is orthodoxy across much of academia. DiAngelo's writing style is pure pain. The lexicon favored by intersectional theorists of this type is built around the same principles as Orwell's Newspeak: it banishes ambiguity, nuance, and feeling and structures itself around sterile word pairs, like racist and antiracist, platform and deplatform, center and silence, that reduce all thinking to a series of binary choices. Ironically, Donald Trump does something similar, only with words like “AMAZING!” and “SAD!” that are simultaneously more childish and livelier. Writers like DiAngelo like to make ugly verbs out of ugly nouns and ugly nouns out of ugly verbs (there are countless permutations on centering and privileging alone). In a world where only a few ideas are considered important, redundancy is encouraged, e.g. “To be less white is to break with white silence and white solidarity, to stop privileging the comfort of white people,” or “Ruth Frankenberg, a premier white scholar in the field of whiteness, describes whiteness as multidimensional…” DiAngelo writes like a person who was put in timeout as a child for speaking clearly. “When there is disequilibrium in the habitus — when social cues are unfamiliar and/or when they challenge our capital — we use strategies to regain our balance,” she says (“People taken out of their comfort zones find ways to deal,” according to Google Translate). Ideas that go through the English-DiAngelo translator usually end up significantly altered, as in this key part of the book when she addresses Dr. Martin Luther King's “I have a dream,” speech: One line of King's speech in particular—that one day he might be judged by the content of his character and not the color of his skin—was seized upon by the white public because the words were seen to provide a simple and immediate solution to racial tensions: pretend that we don't see race, and racism will end. Color blindness was now promoted as the remedy for racism, with white people insisting that they didn't see race or, if they did, that it had no meaning to them. That this speech was held up as the framework for American race relations for more than half a century precisely because people of all races understood King to be referring to a difficult and beautiful long-term goal worth pursuing is discounted, of course. White Fragility is based upon the idea that human beings are incapable of judging each other by the content of their character, and if people of different races think they are getting along or even loving one another, they probably need immediate antiracism training. This is an important passage because rejection of King's “dream” of racial harmony — not even as a description of the obviously flawed present, but as the aspirational goal of a better future — has become a central tenet of this brand of antiracist doctrine mainstream press outlets are rushing to embrace. The book's most amazing passage concerns the story of Jackie Robinson: The story of Jackie Robinson is a classic example of how whiteness obscures racism by rendering whites, white privilege, and racist institutions invisible. Robinson is often celebrated as the first African American to break the color line… While Robinson was certainly an amazing baseball player, this story line depicts him as racially special, a black man who broke the color line himself. The subtext is that Robinson finally had what it took to play with whites, as if no black athlete before him was strong enough to compete at that level. Imagine if instead, the story went something like this: “Jackie Robinson, the first black man whites allowed to play major-league baseball.” There is not a single baseball fan anywhere – literally not one, except perhaps Robin DiAngelo, I guess – who believes Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier because he “finally had what it took to play with whites.” Everyone familiar with this story understands that Robinson had to be exceptional, both as a player and as a human being, to confront the racist institution known as Major League Baseball. His story has always been understood as a complex, long-developing political tale about overcoming violent systemic oppression. For DiAngelo to suggest history should re-cast Robinson as “the first black man whites allowed to play major league baseball” is grotesque and profoundly belittling. Robinson's story moreover did not render “whites, white privilege, and racist institutions invisible.” It did the opposite. Robinson uncovered a generation of job inflation for mediocre white ballplayers in a dramatic example of “privilege” that was keenly understood by baseball fans of all races fifty years before White Fragility. Baseball statistics nerds have long been arguing about whether to put asterisks next to the records of white stars who never had to pitch to Josh Gibson, or hit against prime Satchel Paige or Webster McDonald. Robinson's story, on every level, exposed and evangelized the truth about the very forces DiAngelo argues it rendered “invisible.” It takes a special kind of ignorant for an author to choose an example that illustrates the mathematical opposite of one's intended point, but this isn't uncommon in White Fragility, which may be the dumbest book ever written. It makes The Art of the Deal read like Anna Karenina. Yet these ideas are taking America by storm. The movement that calls itself “antiracism” – I think it deserves that name a lot less than “pro-lifers” deserve theirs and am amazed journalists parrot it without question – is complete in its pessimism about race relations. It sees the human being as locked into one of three categories: members of oppressed groups, allies, and white oppressors. Where we reside on the spectrum of righteousness is, they say, almost entirely determined by birth, a view probably shared by a lot of 4chan readers. With a full commitment to the program of psychological ablutions outlined in the book, one may strive for a “less white identity,” but again, DiAngelo explicitly rejects the Kingian goal of just trying to love one another as impossible, for two people born with different skin colors. This dingbat racialist cult, which has no art, music, literature, and certainly no comedy, is the vision of “progress” institutional America has chosen to endorse in the Trump era. Why? Maybe because it fits. It won't hurt the business model of the news media, which for decades now has been monetizing division and has known how to profit from moral panics and witch hunts since before Fleet street discovered the Mod/Rocker wars. Democratic Party leaders, pioneers of the costless gesture, have already embraced this performative race politics as a useful tool for disciplining apostates like Bernie Sanders. Bernie took off in presidential politics as a hard-charging crusader against a Wall Street-fattened political establishment, and exited four years later a self-flagellating, defeated old white man who seemed to regret not apologizing more for his third house. Clad in kente cloth scarves, the Democrats who crushed him will burn up CSPAN with homilies on privilege even as they reassure donors they'll stay away from Medicare for All or the carried interest tax break. For corporate America the calculation is simple. What's easier, giving up business models based on war, slave labor, and regulatory arbitrage, or benching Aunt Jemima? There's a deal to be made here, greased by the fact that the “antiracism” prophets promoted in books like White Fragility share corporate Americas instinctive hostility to privacy, individual rights, freedom of speech, etc. Corporate America doubtless views the current protest movement as something that can be addressed as an H.R. matter, among other things by hiring thousands of DiAngelos to institute codes for the proper mode of Black-white workplace interaction. If you're wondering what that might look like, here's DiAngelo explaining how she handled the fallout from making a bad joke while she was “facilitating antiracism training” at the office of one of her clients. When one employee responds negatively to the training, DiAngelo quips the person must have been put off by one of her Black female team members: “The white people,” she says, “were scared by Deborah's hair.” (White priests of antiracism like DiAngelo seem universally to be more awkward and clueless around minorities than your average Trump-supporting construction worker). DiAngelo doesn't grasp the joke flopped and has to be told two days later that one of her web developer clients was offended. In despair, she writes, “I seek out a friend who is white and has a solid understanding of cross-racial dynamics.” After DiAngelo confesses her feelings of embarrassment, shame and guilt to the enlightened white cross-racial dynamics expert (everyone should have such a person on speed-dial), she approaches the offended web developer. She asks, “Would you be willing to grant me the opportunity to repair the racism I perpetrated toward you in that meeting?” At which point the web developer agrees, leading to a conversation establishing the parameters of problematic joke resolution. This dialogue straight out of South Park – “Is it okay if I touch your penis? No, you may not touch my penis at this time!” – has a good shot of becoming standard at every transnational corporation, law firm, university, newsroom, etc. Of course the upside such consultants can offer is an important one. Under pressure from people like this, companies might address long-overdue inequities in boardroom diversity. The downside, which we're already seeing, is that organizations everywhere will embrace powerful new tools for solving professional disputes, through a never-ending purge. One of the central tenets of DiAngelo's book (and others like it) is that racism cannot be eradicated and can only be managed through constant, “lifelong” vigilance, much like the battle with addiction. A useful theory, if your business is selling teams of high-priced toxicity-hunters to corporations as next-generation versions of efficiency experts — in the fight against this disease, companies will need the help forever and ever. Cancelations already are happening too fast to track. In a phenomenon that will be familiar to students of Russian history, accusers are beginning to appear alongside the accused. Three years ago a popular Canadian writer named Hal Niedzviecki was denounced for expressing the opinion that “anyone, anywhere, should be encouraged to imagine other peoples, other cultures, other identities." He reportedly was forced out of the Writer's Union of Canada for the crime of “cultural appropriation,” and denounced as a racist by many, including a poet named Gwen Benaway. The latter said Niedzviecki “doesn't see the humanity of indigenous peoples.” Last week, Benaway herself was denounced on Twitter for failing to provide proof that she was Indigenous. Michael Korenberg, the chair of the board at the University of British Columbia, was forced to resign for liking tweets by Dinesh D'Souza and Donald Trump, which you might think is fine – but what about Latino electrical worker Emmanuel Cafferty, fired after a white activist took a photo of him making an OK symbol (it was described online as a “white power” sign)? How about Sue Schafer, the heretofore unknown graphic designer the Washington Post decided to out in a 3000-word article for attending a Halloween party two years ago in blackface (a failed parody of a different blackface incident involving Megyn Kelly)? She was fired, of course. How was this news? Why was ruining this person's life necessary? People everywhere today are being encouraged to snitch out schoolmates, parents, and colleagues for thoughtcrime. The New York Times wrote a salutary piece about high schoolers scanning social media accounts of peers for evidence of “anti-black racism” to make public, because what can go wrong with encouraging teenagers to start submarining each other's careers before they've even finished growing?   “People who go to college end up becoming racist lawyers and doctors. I don't want people like that to keep getting jobs,” one 16 year-old said. “Someone rly started a Google doc of racists and their info for us to ruin their lives… I love twitter,” wrote a different person, adding cheery emojis. A bizarre echo of North Korea's “three generations of punishment” doctrine could be seen in the boycotts of Holy Land grocery, a well-known hummus maker in Minneapolis. In recent weeks it's been abandoned by clients and seen its lease pulled because of racist tweets made by the CEO's 14 year-old daughter eight years ago. Parents calling out their kids is also in vogue. In Slate, “Making a Mountain Out of a Molehill” wrote to advice columnist Michelle Herman in a letter headlined, “I think I've screwed up the way my kids think about race.” The problem, the aggrieved parent noted, was that his/her sons had gone to a diverse school, and their “closest friends are still a mix of black, Hispanic, and white kids,” which to them was natural. The parent worried when one son was asked to fill out an application for a potential college roommate and expressed annoyance at having to specify race, because “I don't care about race.” Clearly, a situation needing fixing! The parent asked if someone who didn't care about race was “just as racist as someone who only has white friends” and asked if it was “too late” to do anything. No fear, Herman wrote: it's never too late for kids like yours to educate themselves. To help, she linked to a program of materials designed for just that purpose, a “Lesson Plan for Being An Ally,” that included a month of readings of… White Fragility. Hopefully that kid with the Black and Hispanic friends can be cured! This notion that color-blindness is itself racist, one of the main themes of White Fragility, could have amazing consequences. In researching I Can't Breathe, I met civil rights activists who recounted decades of struggle to remove race from the law. I heard stories of lawyers who were physically threatened for years in places like rural Arkansas just for trying to end explicit hiring and housing discrimination and other remnants of Jim Crow. Last week, an Oregon County casually exempted “people of color who have heightened concerns about racial profiling” from a Covid-19 related mask order. Who thinks creating different laws for different racial categories is going to end well? When has it ever? At a time of catastrophe and national despair, when conservative nationalism is on the rise and violent confrontation on the streets is becoming commonplace, it's extremely suspicious that the books politicians, the press, university administrators, and corporate consultants alike are asking us to read are urging us to put race even more at the center of our identities, and fetishize the unbridgeable nature of our differences. Meanwhile books like The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and To Kill a Mockingbird, which are both beautiful and actually anti-racist, have been banned, for containing the “N-word.” (White Fragility contains it too, by the way). It's almost like someone thinks there's a benefit to keeping people divided.

La-Verna Fountain has spent decades listening.  She is a practitioner and teacher of Kingian and Gandhian methods for conflict resolution.  The one thing she knows for sure is that we all have answers inside of us.  On this week’s podcast, Hannah, Cecilia, La-Verna and Victoria Benitez, two black and two white sixty something women, talk.  La-Verna asks each of us to answer the question: What do you know?     Then we consider what we still have to learn. www.MeaningfulCommunicationsMatter.com

Organizing trainers & practitioners Kazu Haga (East Point Peace Academy) and Carlos Saavedra (Ayni Institute) join us to talk about Kingian nonviolence, spiritual discipline, restorative justice, and healing for the long haul. (And a little bit about food.) Join Book Club to read Kazu's new book, "Healing Resistance: A Radically Different Response to Harm," with others all over the world. You'll also get further resources, including a live conversation with Kazu this May, at http://www.irresistible.org/BookClub Buy the book from Parallax Press with code PODCAST for 15% off Transcript and full show notes with sources & thank yous at www.irresistible.org/podcast/60 Check out the following episode to practice Metta Meditation with Kazu. ---- Thanks to Jacob White & Zach Meyer for production, Josiah Werning & Alyson Thompson for design and social media, and Ana Cecilia for music. Irresistible is sponsored by Kalliopeia Foundation: Dedicated to reconnecting ecology, culture, and spirituality. Learn more at kalliopeia.org

Kazu Haga of East Point Peace Academy leads us through a Metta Meditation, as part of our spiritual training for nonviolent discipline. Join Book Club to read Kazu's new book, "Healing Resistance: A Radically Different Response to Harm," with others all over the world. You'll also get further resources, including a live conversation with Kazu this May, at http://www.irresistible.org/BookClub Buy the book from Parallax Press with code PODCAST for 15% off Transcript and full show notes with sources & thank yous at www.irresistible.org/podcast/60p Listen to the previous episode to hear Kazu talk with Carlos Saavedra about Kingian nonviolence, spiritual discipline, restorative justice, and healing for the long haul. ---- Thanks to Zach Meyer for production, Josiah Werning & Alyson Thompson for design and social media, and Ana Cecilia for music. Irresistible is sponsored by Kalliopeia Foundation: Dedicated to reconnecting ecology, culture, and spirituality. Learn more at kalliopeia.org

My dear friend and collaborator, Samuel Sarpiyra, is an award winning Nigerian peacemaker, church planter, Kingian community organiser and entrepreneur. Samuel inspires me! Samuel opens up for us Matthew 9:35-38 and we discuss community development in South Africa, church planting in America, and his work confronting and transforming police violence. For more, visit his website: https://nonviolencect.com Support us on our Patreon Page

My dear friend and collaborator, Samuel Sarpiyra, is an award winning Nigerian peacemaker, church planter, Kingian community organiser and entrepreneur. Samuel inspires me! Samuel opens up for us Matthew 9:35-38 and we discuss community development in South Africa, church planting in America, and his work confronting and transforming police violence. For more, visit his website: https://nonviolencect.com Support us on our Patreon Page

Jon sallied into Episode 9 with the confidence of a man who knows he’s got a cracking horror movie pitch in his pocket. Being an ‘odds’ week its KJyon’s turn and he doesn’t disappoint with his delirious descent into the demented ‘Hand of Anubis’. JDubz pitches his thoughts on Ep 8’s ‘Spoils of War’ back to us in Act 1 (as well as a wee tune he made) and Act 2 touches on Tigers Are Not Afraid with an update on Jon’s ‘Kingian’ condition. Plus all the usual morbidly glib nonsense.Act 1 – 03:56m - Listener updates to Spoils of WarAct 2 – 15:22m - This week’s horrorish highlights inc. Tigers Are Not AfraidAct 3 – 20:11m - Horror Pitch: Hand of AnubisAct 4 – 37:36m - Pitch post-mortem & title search‘Clarence’As ever, contributions & input welcomed – find as at letsmakeahorrormovie@gmail.com and/or Twitter @LMAHMpod, Instagram, Telegram, Binary Phone etc.

Dr. Samuel Sarpiya is a fascinating man with a unique perspective on race in America. Samuel has over 20-years’ experience as a businessman, educator, social worker, community developer, Christian leader, and expert in Kingian nonviolence.  Samuel is Nigerian but lived in South Africa before moving to Rockford, Illinois in 2009 to pastor a church. In 2012 he co-founded the Center for Nonviolence and Conflict Transformation, which educates and trains organizations including police departments and schools in nonviolent conflict resolution and reconciliation. 

Effective advocacy The Gathering excels at bringing coalitions together with a common agenda; rapid and urgent response to crisis situations in communities; organizing, like marching in protest to Washington, D.C., from New York; and advocacy for criminal justice reform bills with members of Congress. In addition, it works with incarcerated youth through cultural education and non-violence training, and facilitates dialogue between communities and formerly incarcerated people. Kingian nonviolence Kingian non-violence is the practice of de-escalating tensions between groups who disagree and discussing their differences peacefully. Some of the principles are to suspend first judgments and to attack the forces of evil not the people doing evil. Meeting people where they are creates a level playing field, which makes it possible to champion others to your cause. In 2010 North Lawndale High School had the highest instances of daily violence in public school in the Chicago area. After training students in Kingian non-violence, the school went two academic years without a single violent incident. The power of storytelling At the intersection of art, theater, and activism, our stories can be shared for powerful effect. The Exonerated, a play of monologues by inmates on death row successfully showed their humanity and helped change the misconceptions and conversations around the death penalty. Bringing the stories of the actual, lived experience to the public provides a perspective that raises awareness and expands our discourse beyond stereotypes. Find out more: Julianne Hoffenberg is the Director of Operations of The Gathering For Justice. She is also Co-Founder of Project A.L.S.; theater and film producer; Advisory Board member of SAY, an artistic home for children who stutter; and member of the theater company, Naked Angels. You can follow Julianne on Twitter at @JulesHoffenberg.

We open by talking about the victory of a candidate by the name of Corey Stewart in the Virginia Primaries. Then we try to make sense of the meeting between President Trump and Kim Jong Un, which just occurred in Singapore. In the second half, we are visited in-studio by Bishop Gregg Greer of Freedom First International (https://freedomfirstinternational.net/tag/bishop-gregg-l-greer/), someone who has been greatly inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King's way of bringing social change. He and Tariq have an enlightening discussion on the topic. Guest: Bishop Gregg Greer Host: Tariq I. El-Amin Co-host (1st half), Engineer: Ibrahim Baig Executive Producer: Abdul Malik Mujahid Music: Lessazo - Moussa - http://bit.ly/2wHdV6z Manuele Atzeni - La Nuit - http://bit.ly/2sUDn7 Image: Courtesy of Bishop Gregg Greer - https://gregglgreer.com/

The Total Tutor Neil Haley will interview Rolling Stone Writer Matt Taibbi, Author of  INSANE CLOWN PRESIDENT. Matt Taibbi frames his campaign reporting with original essays that explore the seismic shift in how we perceive our national institutions, the democratic process, and the future of the country. Not just a postmortem on the collapse and failure of American democracy, INSANE CLOWN PRESIDENT offers a darkly comic, riveting, surreal, unique, and essential experi­ence of seeing the future in hindsight. Matt Taibbi's first piece on the 2016 presidential election, published in August 2015, opens with these words: "The thing is, when you actually think about it, it's not funny. Given what's at stake, it's more like the opposite, like the first sign of the collapse of the United States as a global superpower. Twenty years from now, when we're all living like prehistory hominids and hunting rats with sticks, we'll probably look back at this moment as the beginning of the end." The 2016 presidential contest as told by Taibbi, from its tragicomic beginnings to its apocalyptic conclusion, is in fact the story of Western civilization's very own train wreck. Years before the clown car of candidates was fully loaded, Taibbi grasped the essential themes of the story: the power of spectacle over substance, or even truth; the absence of a shared reality; the nihilistic rebel­lion of the white working class; the death of the political establishment; and the emergence of a new, explicit form of white nationalism that would destroy what was left of the Kingian dream of a successful pluralistic society.    

Ever try to talk to your child about Martin Luther King, Jr.? Here’s a quick intro to his vision of nonviolence. Learn about six principles of Kingian nonviolence from 5th grade teacher and Kingian nonviolence trainer, Robin Wildman on this episode of Parent Power Podcast! Listen here, or at the player underneath my bio box. You can also find this podcast on iTunes. Share this widely, and make sure to add your comments below.     The post Six principles of Kingian Nonviolence appeared first on Metta Center.

My dear friend and collaborator, Samuel Sarpiyra, is an award winning Nigerian peacemaker, church planter, Kingian community organiser and entrepreneur. Samuel inspires me! Samuel opens up for us Matthew 9:35-38 and we discuss community development in South Africa, church planting in America, and his work confronting and transforming police violence. For more, visit his website: https://nonviolencect.com Support us on our [Patreon Page](http://www.patreon.com/inverse)