On the Ground w Esther Iverem

The United States sent a billion dollars in advanced weapons to Ukraine last year, while rejecting all of Russia’s security guarantees. Did the U.S. want war? My conversation this week with activists Brian Becker and Walter Smolarek. Meanwhile, American corporations engage in price gouging, Congress fails to approve new funds for human needs, and a few words on International Womens Day. The...

The war in Ukraine is also a war of words, a fight on the battlefield for ideas and truth. We speak to journalist Jon Jeter about fact-free Western coverage. And thanks to independent media voices, the hypocrisy and racism of the U.S. and NATO, which have invaded and destroyed countries with people of color throughout the globe, is laid bare. Plus headlines: Mother of Tamir Rice, who was shot and...

After decades of watching the NATO military alliance move right up to its border—and after months of having its security guarantees dismissed—Russia attacks military targets in neighboring Ukraine. We speak to Our geopolitical analyst Professor Gerald Horne. In response to Russia’s action, the U.S. announced NEW economic sanctions claiming that Russia’s actions are unprovoked. Economist Richard Wo...

As the U.S. continues to ratchet up war tensions with Russia, there are fresh attacks on ethnic Russian communities in Eastern Ukraine. And as Western journalists and pundits take great license with the term genocide, Esther Iverem and Professor Gerald Horne discuss the legacy of the Civil Rights Congress. Seventy years ago, the Civil Rights Congress documented scores of lynchings and extrajudicia...

Activists in more than 55 cities tell the Biden Administration to stop misleading the American people in a build-up to war with Russia. And independent journalist Ford Fischer, who was on the ground January 6 and was demonetized on YouTube for documenting that history, discusses corporate media biased coverage of the left, the direction of right-wing protests, and how social media giants censor co...

One hundred organizations urge President Biden to end the brinksmanship between Russia and the United States. Our media critic Jon Jeter joins us to discuss the media’s part in beating the drums of war. Plus headlines: Biden Get a Backbone protest, DC Sanitation workers organize for job safety ad respect as essential workers. Atlanta DA asks FBI for security after Trump rally. HBCU bombs thr...

As the Biden administration, the Pentagon and NATO continue to provoke war with Russia, anti-war activists rally in front of the White House to stop a potential conflict between the world’s two largest nuclear powers. The U.S. is sending more lethal weapons and public treasure to Eastern Europe as, at home, working families struggle with housing, food and fuel prices and mounting death and s...

The U.S. exports its war economy, this time to the border of Russia. Here at home, the Senate deals a blow, perhaps a lethal blow, to voting rights and democracy. And for this month’s episode of the F-Word on fascism, Professor Thomas Homer-Dixon explains why he warned fellow Canadians about the U.S. descending into a violent autocracy. Voting rights activists speak out on MLK holiday. Plus...

Witness Against Torture Rallies at the White House to Mark 20 Years of Torture at the U.S. Guantanamo Detention Center… The U.S. Continues to Fail at Covid… OathKeepers Charged With Sedition for Jan. 6 Attack on the U.S.Capitol… Chantal James Critically Acclaimed Debut Novel… ‘ Plus More Headlines: DC Substitute Teachers Protest for Better Wages and Work Conditions&#8...

On the one-year anniversary of January 6, DC is still wrestling with the meaning and aftermath of that day, when a violent mob attacked the U.S. Capitol as Donald Trump tried to decertify Joe Biden’s win in the 2020 Presidential election. With voices from the streets, and a discussion between activist Brian Becker and Historian Gerald Horne. Plus more headlines: Wanda Mosley of Black Voters...

In Part 1, we covered the January 6th fascist attack on the U.S. Capital, the first year of the Biden administration, the conviction of Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd, ongoing cases of police terror and murder, including here in DC. And, finally, we began our discussion of international news with our geopolitical analyst professor Gerald Horne breaking down the latest on the triangul...

Our End-Of-Year Review, Part 1: January 6, to Chauvin Conviction, To More Police Violence, to Russia, China and Chile. The show is made possible only by our volunteer energy, our resolve to keep the people’s voices on the air, and by support from our listeners. In this new era of fake corporate news, we have to be and support our own media! Please click here or click on the Support-Donate ta...

For our final episode of the F-Word on fascism for 2021, we present this conversation with our geopolitical analyst, professor Gerald Horne on “The Social Program” podcast with Brian Becker. We pick up the conversation with Gerald talking about how the model of U.S. genocide of the indigenous populations and enslavement of Africans served as a model for fascist Germany. It’s crun...

As the legislative calendar for Congress comes to a close, people are marching in DC to get the attention of lawmakers and the White House to pass the Build Back Better Act to meet the human needs of Americans families, fight climate catastrophe and keep fading promises made by Democrats to win the White House, House and Senate. We’ll hear voices on the rights of the undocumented and a call...

As a far-right majority on the Supreme Court heard arguments this week in a case that could overturn the landmark abortion rights law, Roe v. Wade, reproductive justice activists spoke outside the court at the Abortion Is Essential Rally. These organizers from around the country competed for ear space with hecklers and nearby anti-abortion activists, including those specifically targeting Black wo...

Three Court Verdicts About Race and Racism in the US… Journalist Jon Jeter on False Ethiopia Coverage, Censorship, Threats Against Student Journalists at Howard U and More… Native Americans Mark National Day of Mourning. The show is made possible only by our volunteer energy, our resolve to keep the people’s voices on the air, and by support from our listeners. In this new era of fake corpor...

PEASE SUPPORT OUR YEAR-END DRIVE! Under the pressure of extreme Republican gerrymandering and voter suppression around the country, activists demand federal voting rights legislation and Democrats take the next steps to provide promised benefits for America’s working families. And in this months episode of the F-Word on fascism, we speak to Professor Gerald Horne about mounting threats from...

From climate justice warriors in Glasgow, to the elected government of Ethiopia fighting for its sovereignty, to the Poor Peoples Campaign here in the United States, the urgent demand is for an end to imperialist wars, and an end to economic and environmental exploitation. And one journalists fight to get the real story out about Ethiopia is evidence of a larger fight — against the same talk...

ot even existential threat can stop corporate polluters and their political minions from digging our graves. We hear some sane voices from the UN Climate Summit in Glasgow Scotland. And in Washington, DC, an environmental justice scandal with national reverberations. As students at Howard University are in their fourth week of protesting student housing plagued by mold and rodents. Civil rights le...

As the United States arrives at an inflection point about a federal budget for human needs versus billionaire and corporate greed, we speak to the Rev. William Barber and the Poor People’s Campaign rallies on Capitol Hill. And then, journalist Jon Jeter joins us for this month’s deep dive into culture and media — from the war on truth, to the right-wing embrace of political viole...

Two Tales of Colin Powell… How a Natural Disaster Turns Into a Human Rights Disaster: The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights Investigates the Disaster Response Toward People of Color during and After Hurricane Harvey… Alex Saab, CRT, Texas Mandates “Both Sides” of the Holocaust… and Headlines.. The show is made possible only by our volunteer energy, our resolve to keep t...

Imperialism in the 21st Century With Brian Becker… Gerald Horne on Taiwan… More than 500 Arrested at People Vs. Fossil Fuels Protests. Plus headlines on Indigenous People’s Day, George Floyd’s 48th birthday, other BLM news and more. To come: bonus content with Gerald Horne on Ethiopia and Iran The show is made possible only by our volunteer energy, our resolve to keep the people’...

A new documentary investigates the unsolved death of Kendrick Johnson, the high school sophomore whose body was found rolled up in a school gym mat in Valdosta, Georgia in 2013. Was the death a tragic accident or a case of murder with racial overtones in the deep South?  Plus headlines. Link to Department of Justice Report, Subverting Justice . The show is made possible only by our volunteer energ...

Progressives in Congress stand up for American working families… On Meng Wanzhou’s release and the New U.S. cold war with China… Congresswomen offer their own stories of abortion to support abortion rights. Plus headlines on funding human needs versus war, cancel the rents protests in more than 50 cities, report about plot to assassinate Julian Assange, rallies to support Haitian...

With the broken U.S. immigration system is in the news, we hear voices of those rallying on the National Mall at the March for Citizenship, Climate and Care. And we speak to Jemima Pierre of the Black Alliance for Peace about Haitian migrants at the Southern border. And finally, when it comes to these and other complex issues, corporate media obscures more than it explains. Journalist Jon Jeter is...