On the Frontlines

The Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum is coming to Seattle in August. But what is APEC, and why are some of Front and Centered's coalition members and allies organizing a countersummit against it? Jill and Edgar talk with Carly and Adrián of the International League of Peoples' Struggle (ILPS) Seattle-Tacoma , an anti-imperialist and democratic formation that encompasses a b...

Jill and Edgar return to kick off Season 3 of On the Frontlines with a special live recording at Columbia City Theater in South Seattle! Recorded during Front and Centered's week of programming for their Earth Deserves More Than a Day event, this episode features Jill and Edgar talking about the history of South Seattle, as well as the history of Edgar's union, Familias Unidas por la Jus...

For this special episode of On the Frontlines , Jill and Edgar are joined by Donna Denina of the International Women's Alliance and GABRIELA Seattle , as well as Liz Darrow of CommunityVoz Radio , for a conversation on human rights. They discuss why December 10 is International Human Rights Day, who gets to define what human rights are, and how the concept gets co-opted to justify war and oth...

Now that Edgar is back in Washington, what's next for movement leaders who went to COP27, such as those in the It Takes Roots coalition ? How do international agreements at the COP affect what national, regional, and local governments do in the name of responding to climate change? Jill and Edgar discuss the concept of "loss and damage," one of the provisions of the negotiated agree...

For this installment, Jill checks in with Edgar during his last day of crashing COP27 to talk about some final updates before Edgar heads home, including the fact that Edgar ran into Governor Jay Inslee . Edgar tells us about the run-in, why the governor was in Sharm El Sheikh , and his experience seeing Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the newly reelected President of Brazil , give a speech. Jill and E...

Is the COP rigged? Why does it feel like there's a predetermined agenda filled with false solutions ? Is it time for an alternative to the COP , led by the grassroots? In this week's episode, Jill and Edgar break down the idea of "climate finance" —where the most wealthy nations fund climate mitigation and adaption projects in countries without the resources to implement these...

What is the price of a whale? How many tons of carbon can you offset with a humpback? For this installment of Crash #COP27 , Edgar talks about the mental toll the COP is taking on him. From the tightly controlled atmosphere that limits dissent and on the ground actions from civil society representatives, to the absurdity of the false solutions being peddled (like whales as carbon offsets), it&apos...

NOTE: We had some connectivity issues while recording speakers at COP27 for this podcast, so you may hear some low-quality audio at some points. Apologies! In this special bonus episode of Crash #COP27 , we present audio from different Black and Indigenous environmental justice leaders at COP27's Blue Zone . Listen directly to their stories and hear the sounds of the COP and Sharm El Sheikh ,...

NOTE: We had some connectivity issues while recording this podcast, so you may hear some choppy audio at some points. Apologies! For this installment of Crash #COP27 , Edgar tells Jill about his first day in COP27's Blue Zone , including meeting Dr. Robert Bullard (the "Father of Environmental Justice") and participating in an action honoring and drawing attention to those incarcera...

John Kerry, President Biden’s climate envoy, is at COP27 , and the United States' plans for climate finance were leaked prior to their unveiling at the COP. Unfortunately, the funding the US is aiming to procure for developing countries is to come from carbon offsets and market mechanisms, and as the Climate Justice Alliance and the It Takes Roots coalition have argued, Biden's plan will...

For this episode of Crash #COP27 , Edgar reports back on what he's seen so far in the COP27 Green Zone . Notable is the dominating presence of organizations peddling false solutions, particularly nuclear power. Jill and Edgar discuss how Washington State, once a leader in the green movement, has now become an innovation hub for false solutions , including geoengineering technology as well as...

Crash # COP27 comes to you with a special feature episode! For this installment, Edgar is joined by José Bravo, Executive Director of the Just Transition Alliance , for a wide-ranging interview. José, who served on the drafting committee for The Principles of Environmental Justice (1991) ,  tells Edgar about his personal history, connecting it to the history of the environmental justice movement i...

COP27 is here! Jill and Edgar check in after the first day of COP27  to discuss how scientists are increasingly aligning with the urgency and concerns of communities of color and others on the frontlines, how scarcity is manufactured by the wealthy and powerful to keep the rest of us fighting over scraps, and how there are a massive number of organizations at the COP pushing for market-based mecha...

In this episode of Crash #COP27 , Jill checks in with Edgar before the official start of COP27. Edgar reports back on the priorities of the It Takes Roots coalition , who are at the Conference of Parties to demand climate reparations , defend Indigenous rights , and say no to false solutions . Jill and Edgar go into detail on some false solutions to climate change that are currently being peddled...

You probably know that climate change is displacing communities, but did you expect that a climate conference would uproot people too? In our second episode of Crash #COP27 , Jill checks in with Edgar to chat after he arrives in Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt , a couple of evenings before COP27 begins. They discuss how folks were moved out of Sharm El Sheikh to make room for the COP27 proceedings and to...

Season 2 of On the Frontlines kicks off with Edgar heading to Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt to Crash the COP ! For Crash #COP27 , Jill and Edgar will be taking us into COP27 with stories from the grassroots, connecting Washington State to Sharm El Sheikh at the ground level. In this episode, Edgar phones in from Istanbul during a layover on his way to Egypt. You'll hear about why Edgar's goin...

NOTE:  We had some connectivity issues while recording this podcast, so you may hear some choppy audio at some points. Apologies! On the 50th anniversary of Executive Order 1081—Ferdinand Marcos, Sr.’s proclamation of Martial Law in the Philippines —Jill and Edgar are joined by Rene and Josie for a special episode to close out the first season of On the Frontlines . With announcements of Ferdinand...

Jill and Edgar join Liz Darrow of Community to Community (C2C), a Front and Centered member organization, to discuss the recent extreme air quality conditions in Western Washington, and as well as the work of organizing in communities while continuing to push for meaningful legislation to protect farmworkers and the working poor, who are disproportionately impacted by wildfires and other impacts o...

Jill and Edgar join Liz Darrow of Community to Community (C2C), a Front and Centered member organization, for a conversation with filmmaker and creative director Tani Ikeda and artist Michelle Kumata . Tani and Michelle share stories about Emerging Radiance , their project that celebrates the untold stories of Nikkei farmers who lived in Bellevue from 1920 to 1942. This episode was also published...

Jill and Edgar join Liz Darrow of Community to Community (C2C), a Front and Centered member organization, to talk about the Just Transition framework for change and building solidarity with workers in rural communities. This episode was also published by CommunityVoz , C2C's ecofeminist radio show and podcast, on July 13, 2022. Find On the Frontlines at frontandcentered.org/podcast

For this special extended episode, Jill and Edgar are joined by Ananda Lee Tan, Strategy Advisor for the Just Transition Alliance , to discuss the Just Transition and Hoodwinked in the Hothouse , a zine about  false solutions to climate change that was authored by the grassroots, veteran organizers, movement strategists, and thought leaders from across the climate and environmental justice movemen...

Jill and Edgar talk with Mylene Cabalona, president of BIEN (BPO Industry Employees Network) , about BIEN's efforts to organize call center workers in the Philippines and the need for international solidarity.  Mylene was visiting Seattle as part of the Kapit-Bisig Solidarity Tour . This episode was also published by CommunityVoz , C2C's ecofeminist radio show and podcast. C2C ( Communit...

Did you know that Washington State houses the third largest arsenal of nuclear weapons anywhere in the world, after the United States as a whole and Russia? Jill joins Liz Darrow and Tara Villalba of Community to Community (C2C), a Front and Centered member organization, to learn some shocking facts about nuclear, to talk about the false solution that is nuclear energy, and to understand how the e...

In this installment, Jill and Edgar discuss the Washington Futures Fund and the potential it has to help disrupt poverty in Washington State. They also reflect on Cooperativa Tierra y Libertad , a cooperative farm in Everson, and how COVID-19 has not only radically changed the way we think about work but also shone a bright light on issues frontline communities have been talking about for a long t...

On the Frontlines goes international in its second episode! In the aftermath of the election of Bongbong Marcos and Sara Duterte as President and Vice President of the Philippines, Jill and Meesha of Malaya Movement call in from Seafood City in Tukwila to break down the results with Edgar. They discuss the state of politics in the Philippines, the concerns around election fraud , and the active ro...