On the Ground w Esther Iverem

The dumpster fire known as the first presidential debate may still be burning in our minds but it is overshadowing a very important Congressional hearing held that same day, about white supremacists working as police officers. We speak to professor Gerald Horne and hear voices from the hearing. And the Bolivian diaspora returns to the scene of the crime: the Organization of American States, which...

The failure to indict Louisville police officers in the murder of Breonna Taylor and the arrests, instead, of those protesting police killings, proves once again that there are two systems of justice in the U.S.: One for cops and one for everyone else. We speak to Mara Verheyden-Hilliard. And whether the target is historian Howard Zinn, the New York Times 1619 Project, or Julian Assange, the Trump...

With Trump and the GOP increasingly unhinged as the election nears, this month’s episode of ‘The F-Word’ is right on time. We speak to Carl Dix of Refuse Fascism. Also, anti-racism protesters continue to be targeted by police. And despite being threatened, a brave nurse whistleblower tells of immigrant women being sterilized, given hysterectomies without their consent, at a feder...

Whether it was the fight against fracking, corporate power or NATO, nationally known activist Kevin Zeese always fought for the people and for peace. We hear from Kevin in his own words. And more on alternative voices in the 2020 national elections. We follow up with Nick Brana of the Movement for a People’s Party. We also follow Gloria La Riva of the Party for Socialism and Liberation as sh...

With their popular candidate and policies crushed by the Democratic National Committee during the last two presidential primary seasons, some progressives are breaking away from the Democrats and forming the Movement for a People’s Party. We feature speakers from the convention, including former Ohio state senator Nina Turner and journalist Chris Hedges. And this week, with more cases of pol...

After a White teenager kills two unarmed Black Lives Matter protesters in Wisconsin, his violence is not mentioned by speakers, including Donald Trump, at the Republican National Convention. Instead, the speakers slander the racial justice movement. Gerald Horne joins us. And Americans in DC and around the country rally to support our public postal service, not just to protect mail-in ballots but...

1619 is still cited as the year that enslaved Africans first arrived in the United States. But a new epic book gives more evidence to the contrary. We spend the hour speaking with historian Gerald Horne about his new book, The Dawning Of the Apocalypse: The Roots of Slavery, White supremacy, Settler Colonialism and Capitalism, in the Long Sixteenth Century. Headlines: At the Democratic National Co...

With reports that members of hate groups are among the troops deployed againstanti-racist protesters, we spend the hour hearing from researchers testifying before Congress on February 11, 2020.. Chaired by Rep. Jackie Speier of California, the panel included: Heidi Beirich, co-founder and chief strategy officer of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism Mark Pitcavage, senior Research Fellow...

For this show, part two of our presentation of some of the 16,000 residents of DC who offered testimony in June about cutting the half-billion-dollar budget for the district’s Metropolitan Police Department. We spend the hour hearing from residents of the most policed city in the U.S. Parents, teachers, lawyers, activists and others speak out about policing and how they think their tax dolla...

Nearly 16,000 residents of DC offered testimony in June about the half billion dollar budget for the district’s Metropolitan Police Department. (Only 24 people testified in 2019.) Almost all of those testifying during the council meeting echoed the national movement call to defund the police. We spend the hour hearing from residents of the most policed city in the U.S. about how they think m...

Monuments to those who fought to keep Black people enslaved in the United States continue to draw new ire, as well as renewed efforts by lawmakers to remove them. And the debate over who or what is honored is just one part of a bigger struggle in the U.S. right now, over what stories of American history and of current events will be told and who will tell them. It is our week for culture and media...

Corporate media and gatekeepers try their best to ignore the national Movement Against Racism. And they also ignore ongoing police brutality against peaceful protesters. We speak to ACLU DC attorney Scott Michelman, who is suing the Trump Administration and DC’s police department. And this month’s episode of the F-Word on fascism: After more than a decade of doing the bidding of corpor...

The national uprising against racism in the U.S. started with Minneapolis police killing George Floyd. And Floyd’s murder is five years after Freddy Gray was killed by police in Baltimore. We speak to Baltimore civil rights attorney Latoya Francis-Williams. And as protesters are uncompromising about the truth of American history, new battle lines are drawn about heroes, sacred cows and gatek...

As the U.S. Movement Against Racism continues to claim victories, corporate media changes the subject from U.S. police terror to Russia. We speak to human rights activist Ajamu Baraka. And, after two months of being ignored, the family of a young female soldier missing from Fort Hood in Texas, travels to DC to get justice. Plus headlines, including the latest from DC protests, victories from the m...

Those working to preserve and honor an African burial ground in the DC area say that time is running out to save it as new construction has desecrated the site. And a month after George Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police, monuments to racism and white supremacy continue to be toppled. We also speak to journalist Jon Jeter for this month in media and culture.  Plus headlines: The world-wid...

For this month’s episode of the F-word on fascism, we speak to Erica Ramirez, director of applied research at the Auburn Seminary, about the protest movement against racism, state violence, and her essay, “Is a Belief in Capitalism Required to be Truly American?” Also, for many protesting in the streets, the Juneteenth holiday is an historic reminder of the failure of the law to...

In the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police, a worldwide anti-racist movement is toppling symbols of white supremacy and inspiring a flurry of new laws designed to protect citizens from police abuse. We hear testimony before Congress and voices in the streets. But are these new measures, banning chokeholds or stripping power from police unions, enough for a mo...

In the wake of the police killing of George Floyd, a national uprising is continuing, with protesters enduring more police brutality, curfews, and, here in DC, actual U.S. soldiers deployed on the streets. Activists on the ground explain what they want, and what is next. And, for many, the present is continuing to echo the past. We speak to Natonne Elaine Kemp, author of There Is Something About E...

From Minneapolis, to the Washington, DC area, where a lesser known police killing of a Black man–Finan Berhe–occurred this month, communities are demanding an end to police terror. And, as we cope with a myriad of crises and an economic system failing to meet human needs, how do we laugh to keep from crying? We speak with comedian Lee Camp about being angry and funny. The show is made...

The deadly coronavirus is laying bare the cruelties of the United States neoliberal order. But it is also bringing into sharper focus the sorry state of journalism. We speak to journalist and author Jon Jeter. And activists all over the world celebrate the birthday of Malcolm X and African Liberation Day. Includes excerpt from Malcolm X’s famous speech “The Ballot or the Bullet.”...

As the world marks the 75th anniversary of the defeat of the Nazis in World War II, a discussion about fascism and todays failed neoliberal order with historian Vijay Prashad. And we hear the voices of nurses honoring their colleagues who have died of COVID19. Nurses say lawmakers have failed to protect them and the American people. Plus headlines: Two months after the Coronavirus shutdown  &...

From the cold-blooded killing of a young black man in Georgia, to imperialist attacks by the US around the world, the present is echoing the past. We speak to our geopolitical analyst professor Gerald Horne. And we go to the streets of DC to hear voices from the Shutdown DC-Climate Strike protest on May Day. Also, voices from the National People’s Bailout action. Plus headlines: –Dems...

May Day 2020 culminates of a week of action in the midst of massive unemployment in the United States, and often dangerous working conditions during the COVID-19 crisis. We go to the streets of DC to hear from workers and activists who say this day marks the launch of a new era for the U.S. labor movement. Voices: April Goggans, Deborah Washington, Brian Becker, Sean Blackmon, Yasmin Zhara and Mar...

As the United States remains the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic, a concerted effort by lawmakers, their funders and corporate media blames China for the U.S. failure to protect its own population. We speak with Dr. Margaret Flowers and Professor Gerald Horne. And with 26 million Americans filing for unemployment benefits in the last five weeks, and promised government aid slow to arrive or not...

At the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, Americans are fighting for survival, not only against COVID-19 and economic collapse, but also against polluters and their friends in DC who destroying our environment for profit. We speak to Ryan Schleeter of Greenpeace. And for this month’s episode of the F-Word on fascism, voices on policing, surveillance and militarism in the midst of a pandemic. We...