Making Contact

This week, Making Contact looks at The Cost of Deportations through the lens of one Central American nation that sends migrants north— Guatemala. Will Guatemala and the other countries these migrants left be prepared for an influx of returnees?

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

On May 18, 1980, the people of Gwangju, South Korea rose up for reunification and an end to U.S.-backed military dictatorships. Their actions changed the course of Korean history. We hear from survivors of the Gwangju Uprising about how they took on the tasks of history and the lesson they carry.

For this edition of Making Contact, we'll present the documentary, " She's Beautiful When She's Angry ," a reflection on the rise of the women's liberation movement in the United States, between 1966 and 1971. She's Beautiful explores the emergence of political thought that challenged systems of patriarchy.  

For Mother's Day: we bring you a discussion by women of color writers and poets who contributed to the anthology,  Revolutionary Mothering: Love on the Front Lines.  You'll also hear about a recent investigation into Black maternal and infant mortality.

Fresh water is one of our most precious natural resources. This week contributor Maria Doerr looks at what's being done to protect the watersheds of Mexico City-- natural water systems that provide water to one of the largest metropolises in the world.

On the 45th anniversary of the Attica prison uprising, hundreds imprisoned inside Michigan's Kinross Correctional Facility refused to report to work or lock down in their barracks. Instead, they joined the largest prisoner labor strike in U.S. history.

Daze of Justice is the story of trailblazing Cambodian-American women who break decades of silence, abandoning the security of their American homes on a journey back into Cambodia's killing fields, as witnesses determined to resurrect the memory of their loved ones before the UN Special Tribunal prosecuting the Khmer Rouge.

In 1948, Zionist militias expelled over 700,000 Palestinians from their villages and towns. The event, and the ongoing destruction and occupation of Palestine are referred to as the Nakba " the catastrophe. How did the events of 1948 shape Palestine and its diaspora? And generations later, how are Palestinians fighting to return home?

Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated 50 years ago, and is widely remembered for his speech, 'I Have a Dream.' Journalist Gary Younge analyzes the King's speech, highlighting the importance of remembering the entirety of King's message and evolution as a critical activist.

The Seekers, is the first in a two-part documentary series that examines the experiences of Central American migrants seeking asylum in the US. In this episode, we look at women fleeing violence from Guatemala.

Patrisse Khan-Cullors, co-founder of Black Lives Matter reflections on humanity, the end of policing and her new book, WHEN THEY CALL YOU A TERRORIST: A Black Lives Matter Memoir.  

Fifty years ago, the Vietnamese Liberation Front inspired people of color around the world who were building movements for self-determination.     Today, we hear from people who were organizing in the Spirit of Viet Nam fifty years ago, and those who are building on that work today. 

Gloria Ushigua and Aura Tegria, two legendary indigenous heroines of the Amazon rainforest, tell us about their activism to keep big oil and other exploitative industries off their ancestral territories, and out of the Amazon.    They describe their struggles to guard and conserve their own cultures, which depend on the health and safety of the Amazon.

Civil rights leader Fannie Lou Hamer, spoke words that are all too relevant today. In this episode, we hear archival recordings and excerpts from a new film featuring Fannie Lou Hamer. You'll hear about the context of her life, and the lives of other sharecroppers in Mississippi.

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

Producer Robert Raymond interviews Alex Vitale, author of The End of Policing--a critical examination on the history of the police, and the police's evolution as a tool for social control that exacerbates race and class divisions.

We head to Soseongri, a small village nestled in the mountains of Seongju County.  There, grandmas and grandpas in the 70s, 80s, and 90s are organizing daily protests and blockades to stop THAAD.  THAAD is part of a missile defense system that gives the U.S. the ability to carry out a nuclear first strike.

On this edition of Making Contact, we present Dr. Ibram X. Kendi discussing his latest book, Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America. Stamped offers a deeply researched, provocative narrative that is a comprehensive history of anti-Black racist ideas—their origins, and how they became founding principles in our nation's institutions.

Cash is increasingly being replaced with cashless systems including cryptocurrencies. This week, we hear about the political economy of blockchain. And we hear from Greeks who've been using cryptocurrencies since the capital controls of 2015.

President Donald Trump's tax plan may exacerbate wealth inequity in the US. Chuck Collins, Director of the Program on Inequality at the Institute for Policy Studies addresses the complex history of the wealth gap. Also, producers from the Upstream podcast ask: is it time for Universal Basic Income?

On this episode of Making Contact, journalist Juan González discusses his new book, Reclaiming Gotham. He chronicles the evolution of the growth machine in America's cities – from redlining and racial covenants in the early 20th century, to land grabs and privatization in the 21st – and the rise of progressive alliances to reclaim them. Special thanks to Pegasus Books for organizing the event and...

On this edition of Making Contact, we'll explore how the Brave New Voices  International Youth Poetry Slam Festival, particularly queer POC youth,   has challenged mainstream culture and created spaces that welcome and encourage marginalized communities to speak up about their life experiences – all through poetry.

Thousands of local social justice organizers, activists and other leaders passed away this year. People doing crucial work in their communities, whose deaths didn't make the headlines.  On this edition of Making Contact, as we do every December, we'll hear about some of the fallen heroes of 2017.

When one or both parents are in prison the whole family is, in a way, also imprisoned. Family members are negatively affected in ways that worsen existing struggles and inequities. Today we'll go to New York and New Hampshire to hear about programs for inmates and families that encourage relationships -- despite being separated by prison.