On the Ground w Esther Iverem

The F-Word: Twenty Years Since 9/11…USA Gymnasts Ask Why FBI and USA Olympics Have Not Been Held Accountable for Ignoring Sexual Abuse…Plus Headlines on Philadelphia Mother Assaulted by Cops Awarded $2 Million… And Much More… With Voices: Gerald Horne, Makani Themba, Simone Biles, McKayla Maroney The show is made possible only by our volunteer energy, our resolve to keep the people&#82...

A summer of activism in DC -– protests for voting rights, for housing, for a living wage, for climate policy, for the right to tell the truth about Black History and be protected from police terror– culminated on August 28th in a day of actions, including the Make Good Trouble Rally, which brought together a coalition of organizations on the 58th anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington f...

During an historic evening in Congress, on May 13th 2021, members of the House of Representatives delivered a full hour of speeches in support of rights of the Palestinian people. The impassioned remarks, including by the only Palestinian member of Congress, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, were the first such efforts in Congress, which approves annually nearly $4 billion dollars for the apartheid state...

For this hour, the subject is Afghanistan and the future of U.S. empire. Our geopolitical analyst professor Gerald Horne spoke on the podcast ‘T he Socialist Program with Brian Becker ‘ on August 19th, before the August 26th deadly terrorist bombings at the Kabul airport that killed dozens of Afghan civilians and at least 13 members of the U.S. military. Brian has also joined us here o...

While we may have given our eulogy for the Afghanistan War, what does this defeat mean for U.S. empire? On the National Mall, Fawn Sharp, president of the National Congress of American Indians, is among the indigenous leaders vowing to fight back against continued violation and pollution of treaty lands. DC Residents Sue to Save Historic, Last Green Space. Plus headlines. With Fawn Sharp, presiden...

As the Taliban overtakes at least a dozen provincial capitals in Afghanistan, and the U.S. leaves in defeat, I speak with historian Gerald Horne who gives his eulogy on this country’s longest war. And in a major milestone in the five-year battle to save a desecrated African cemetery in Maryland, descendants of those buried at the site file a lawsuit to prevent the land, now covered by a park...

An occupation on the steps of the U.S. Capitol leads to a victory for millions of families facing the threat of eviction during the COVID-19 pandemic. And while the Russiagate hoax still bubbles up among Hillary Democrats and corporate media, an actual multi-million-dollar campaign by pro-Israel lobbyists interfering in Nina Turner’s bid for Congressional seat is ignored. Plus headlines on c...

Hundreds of protesters rally in front of the White House to say “Let Cuba Live” and to demand that the illegal U.S.embargo and sanctions on Cuba be lifted. While supporting a campaign led by Cuban Americans to end the blockade, these protesters were also the target of hostile far-right demonstrators who tried but failed in their attempt to stop this action for Cuba solidarity, which is...

Whether it is the fight for voting rights, infrastructure or real aid to the suffering Cuban people, progressives are confronting urgent issues. And with a very sophisticated social media WAR waged by the U.S. against Cuba and ongoing attacks in the U.S. on teaching historical facts, it’s time, once again, to talk with our media critic Jon Jeter. Plus headlines: President Biden issued new sa...

Whether it is a social media bot campaign or a murky assassination plot, the call is: “Hands off Haiti” and “Hands off Cuba.” And for this month’s episode of the F-Word on fascism, Esther Iverem wonders aloud and about racist Jim Crow conditions and brutal dictatorship before the Cuban Revolution and asks writer and activist Manolo De Los Santos if this is the throwba...

For this hour,  our geopolitical analyst professor Gerald Horne, on the real meaning of the July 4th holiday, the new Juneteenth holiday and the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, which is also being marked this month, starring on July 1st, 2021. Gerald speaks with Brian Becker, host of the The Socialist Program podcast, which I also contributed to every w...

As deadly heat kills hundreds in the Pacific Northwest and Canada, sets fire to entire communities, and overwhelms power grids, climate activists stage demonstrations over three days in front of the White House, demanding that President Biden not abandon his promise to fight the climate catastrophe. And, outside the Organization of American States, Peruvians and their supporters celebrate the soci...

During a week when the right-wing of the Senate blocked debate on voting rights legislation, protesters converged on Washington DC to demand action, not just for voter protections, but for climate justice, housing, healthcare, immigrant rights and jobs. Meanwhile, As Republican lawmakers  disparage education about systemic racism, they get schooled by an army general. Also, I speak to Journalist J...

An exclusive interview with John Shipton and Gabriel Shipton, father and brother of Julian Assange, imprisoned founder and editor of Wikileaks… Historian Gerald Horne has a new take on Juneteenth… Journalist Deneen L. Brown gives an update on the Tulsa Massacre investigation and is featured in a new documentary, ‘Rise Again: Tulsa and the Red Summer.’  Plus other headl...

Climate, labor and indigenous activists feel betrayed by Biden’s negotiations with Republicans to possibly cut his infrastructure bill even more, scuttling already pared-back projects to address the climate crisis and create good jobs. We hear from activists speaking at a rally on May 24, 2021 organized by the Sunrise Movement in front of the White House. Gerald Horne weighs in on the anti-C...

In the aftermath of Israel’s bombing of Gaza, killing more than 250 people, including 66 children, tens of thousands converged on Washington, DC on Saturday, May 29th for the National March for Palestine. Sparked by violent incidents that went viral of Israel’s seizure of homes of Palestinians in East Jerusalem and Israeli soldiers firing on worshippers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the march...

During an historic evening in Congress, on May 13th 2021, members of the House of Representatives delivered a full hour of speeches in support of rights of the Palestinian people. The impassioned remarks, including by the only Palestinian member of Congress, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, were the first such efforts in Congress, which approves annually nearly $4 billion dollars for the apartheid state...

Though Israel has ceased missile attacks on Gaza, military occupation, siege and apartheid policies continue. Palestinians say they can’t go back to business as usual. Israel’s recent attacks have sparked a new mass movement of solidarity with the Palestinian struggle.  Interviews with the Palestinian Youth Movement and Professor Gerald Horne. Voices from the massive DC Nakba 73 m...

Global support grows for Occupied Palestine after more than 100 people are killed in Gaza, Israeli forces attack worshippers at the third holiest site in Islam, and after Israel’s ongoing ethnic cleansing of Palestinians is caught on video and goes viral. And, as in the case of George Floyd, murdered by ex-cop Derek Chauvin, what is happening on the ground in the apartheid state of Israel is...

On May Day, International Workers Day, thousands of undocumented immigrants and their allies march on Washington, demanding permanent protection, dignity and respect. Esther interviews a member of Movimiento Cosecha, one of the groups that marched. And a DC rally celebrates Mothers Day in a different way. Honoring so many whose sons and daughters were killed by police but whose names are not known...

An international panel finds that police violence and murders of African Americans amount to crimes against humanity. And for family members of those slain, the conviction of Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd is just the tip of the iceberg of accountability. We devote the hour to the April 27, 2021 press conference of the International Commission of Inquiry on Systemic Racist Police Vio...

This jam-packed week included a guilty verdict for Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd and Earth Day 2021, as climate experts say we have less than seven years to stave off the worst impacts of climate catastrophe. And in our monthly extended segment on culture and media: TRUTH, LIES and VIDEOTAPE; How one 17-year-old stepped forward in history; first they came for your vote, now they&#82...

While the eyes of the nation are on two high profile cases of police terror in Minnesota, there have been at least four cases of people shot to death by police in the DMV during the last two weeks. Families and communities demand justice. And for this month’s episode on The F-Word on fascism, we discuss new documentaries, including Raoul Peck’s new four-part masterpiece, ‘Extermi...

Why are basic needs of people in the United States being held hostage by a senate rule, which is not even a law or in the Constitution? Faith leaders say that the filibuster is immoral and speak out on Easter Monday. And more on that poison pill inserted into the proposed and highly promoted federal voting rights bill, The For the People Act, which will actually make it much harder for third parti...

Prosecutors may deny it, but policing in the United States is on trial along with Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd. We speak the attorney who uncovered the truth in the death of another Black man, Elijah McClain. And people rally in DC and in 60 cities and towns to make the link between anti-Asian hate and the legacy of U.S. wars killing millions of Asian people in their homelands. Plu...