Making Contact

Thousands of local social justice organizers passed away this year. People doing crucial work in their communities, whose deaths didn't make the headlines.  On this edition of Making Contact, we'll hear about some of the fallen heroes of 2016.

The Get on the Bus program provides support and free transportation for children and families throughout California to visit their mothers and fathers in prison.  

On this edition of Making Contact we look at some of the struggles and victories in the fight for transgender access to gender-specific spaces and programs.

The Black Panther Party combined Black Power's militancy with socialist ideology, and infused funk music with Franz Fanon's writings.  Their impact on American culture, from music to style to community organizing, continues to resonate today.   Fifty years after the birth of Black Panther Party, we take a look at the lasting cultural legacy of the Black Panther Party through the eyes of the genera...

The Murder of Fred Hampton began as a film on Hampton and Illinois Black Panthers, but midway through the shoot, Chicago police murdered Hampton. Filmmakers arrived to shoot crime scene footage later used to counter news reports and police testimony.

The actions at Standing Rock against the Dakota Access Pipeline continue. We share interviews from the Voices of Standing Rock. Vincent Medina is a Chochenyo Ohlone Native working to revitalize the Chochenyo language for future generations.

Given Trump's winning the election, and the difference between his popular votes and electoral votes, we revisit our show on the Electoral College. It's history in the era of slavery, and how it works today.

As relations between the United States and Russian governments continue to deteriorate, people are growing concerned that we're on the brink of another nuclear arms race.  Both the U.S. and Russia are modernizing their nuclear arsenals.  According to Jackie Cabasso, Executive Director of the Western States Legal Foundation, "it's frighteningly easy to imagine how something could go wrong in that s...

Greg Palast , is an investigative reporter and documentary filmmaker. His new film, "The Best Democracy Money Can Buy: a Tale of Billionaires and Ballot Bandits," unmasks the continuing and unrelenting Jim-Crow attempts by America's "Billionaire Bandits" to prevent minority communities from exercising their constitutional right to vote.  Featuring: Greg Palast , Investigative reporter, documentary...

In the US, the right to vote is one of the country's most cherished and hard-fought rights. But it doesn't mean that everyone has equal access to the polls.  In 2013 the Supreme Court struck down a key civil rights provision of the Voting Rights Act. This November will be the first presidential election in 50 years where voters will not have the full protection of the original law. In this second...

Since the 2013 Supreme Court ruling on the Voting Rights Act, many states have pushed changes to voter laws that raise disturbing connections to the past. Before the anniversary of the Voting Rights Act on August 6th, we revisit the hard fought battles for voting rights and the implications of new laws. Featuring: Reverend Tyrone Edwards,  civil rights historian in Plaquemines Parish Louisiana Tyr...

As relations between the United States and Russian governments continue to deteriorate, people are growing concerned that we're on the brink of another nuclear arms race.  Both the U.S. and Russia are modernizing their nuclear arsenals.  According to Jackie Cabasso, Executive Director of the Western States Legal Foundation, "it's frighteningly easy to imagine how something could go wrong in that s...

Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem was founded on a promise to serve all patients with the same, excellent care. This week, against the backdrop of military occupation, we go inside Hadassah 's Mount Scopus maternity ward. There, the separation of Jewish and Arab mothers resulted in conflict between midwives at the hospital.

In a world that increasingly seems to strive for uniformity, afro-descendant Creole people on the eastern coast of Nicaragua seek to hold on to their unique culture through their food. Incoming palm plantations are fragmenting traditional Creole farmland and making it difficult for local coconut oil businesses. Overfishing and pesticides from the palm fields are reducing stocks of fish in the lago...

September marks the 5 year anniversary of Occupy. We go to Zuccotti Park, and Oakland to talk to individuals that were part of Occupy Wall Street and Occupy Oakland to gain insight and reflection on the movement that swept the nation. Featuring: Samara Ward, Occupy Oakland participant Joyous DeAsis, Young Oakland organizer, Occupy Oakland participant Marisa Holmes, Filmmaker, Occupy Wall Street fa...

The US military didn't shrink much under President Obama, and our perpetual state of war has barely waned since 9-11. Author Rosa Brooks says the consequences of this 'new normal' reach deep into our society; far beyond the body count of those killed overseas. On this edition, Rosa Brooks speaks about her new book,  How Everything Became War and the Military Became Everything. Special thanks to Po...

September 11, 2001 ushered in an era marked by the unending War on Terror, dragnet government surveillance programs, and escalating attacks on people perceived to be Muslim. Just last month, Khalid Jabara, a 37-year old Lebanese American man was shot and killed on his front porch in Tulsa Oklahoma by a neighbor who had harassed his family for years, calling them 'dirty Arabs' and 'Mooslems'. This...

Millions of people around the world work in jobs that aren't formally recognized or afforded legal protections typical of wage earning jobs. They're often not even thought of as legitimate work. On this edition of Making Contact, we're going to meet people making work where there is no work for them. From recyclers, to border couriers, to waste pickers, we're exploring the informal labor sector an...

It's the second most-traded commodity in the world after oil but how much do you think about your cup of coffee? From coffee farmers in Colombia to the trash produced by your single-cup coffee machine, Making Contact and Green Grid Radio team up to count the costs of your morning cup o'joe . Featuring: Jairo Martinez , Mariana Cruz , Suzana Angarita , coffee farmers Jeff Goldman, former executive...

The alternatives to prison are few and far between.  And after serving time, the options for getting back on your feet are even worse.  Finding food, a job and a place to live with a criminal record can become an almost impossible task.  On this edition, Women building their own support network after being released from prison. We'll hear "A New Way of Life and the New Underground Railroad" a docu...

Women Rising radio profiles food sovereignty activists from India, Mexico, and Native American communities. If you are interested in GMOs, TTP, seed saving, herbal medicine, food, trade & activism –then tune in! Featuring: Vandana Shiva , founder of Navdanya Adelita San Vicente Tello , founder of Semillas de Vida Sage La Pena , Native American, ethno- botanist and food sovereignty activist Kanyon...

In the midst of police shooting community members and gunmen shooting police, and as the republican and democratic conventions wrap up, we look back at the history of secret surveillance and disruption of organizations dissenting and struggling against all odds. COINTELPRO, the secret FBI project to infiltrate and disrupt domestic organizations thought to be "subversive," targeted many African-Ame...

In the midst of police shooting community members and gunmen shooting police, and as the republican and democratic conventions wrap up, we look back at the history of secret surveillance and disruption of organizations dissenting and struggling against all odds. COINTELPRO, the secret FBI project to infiltrate and disrupt domestic organizations thought to be "subversive," targeted many African-Ame...

Ross McKenzie was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, but after 15 years on Lithium, he wasn't getting any better. He decided to take matters into his own hands, get off the drug, and find out why so many people are being told they have mental illnesses. This week on Making Contact, we bring you an abridged version of the film Bipolarized; Rethinking Mental Illness, chronicling McKenzie's journey. Fe...

Fredy Villanueva was playing dice in a park in Montreal North when police officers arrived. In less than a minute, the 18-year-old was fatally shot by police. Eight years later, what happened in those sixty seconds remains unclear. The documentary play Fredy tries to untangle what happened before and after the shooting, as it asks questions about racial profiling, systemic discrimination, and the...