Visions of Democracy Podcast

On this Earth Day special episode, we learn about the battle to save Cape May Harbor. The Cape May Harbor was slated for development in 1988. Residents of the island city banded together to stop the construction of a resort alongside this man-made waterway. Members of the Committee to Save Cape May Harbor waged a grassroots battle against developers and won. Thanks to their five-year effort, the h...

On this episode of Visions of Democracy, we explore the peculiar histories of American welfare through the radical potential of Head Start. The Child Development Group of Mississippi was one of the first Head Start programs. As Dr. Crystal Sanders shares, CDGM offered a radical curriculum of empowerment to working-class Black students and well-paying jobs to many of their mothers. Transcript avail...

In season two of Visions of Democracy, we will explore the economic aspects of democracy. As we all know, in democracies, citizens vote for their leaders. Elected officials represent their constituents’ interests in the policy-making process. As representatives make laws, they distribute public resources. Through the funding of public schools and libraries, the construction and maintenance of infr...

In this episode of Visions of Democracy, we hear from Al Haber and Dr. Davis Allen and we explore the commons. After the 1960s, many of the activists continued to organize in their local communities. Al Haber fought to establish a commons in Ann Arbor. His campaign succeeded. But what is a commons? How do people conceptualize common ownership of land? Dr. Davis Allen, an expert on the history of c...

In this episode of Visions of Democracy, we explore efforts to realign the Democratic Party. In the early 1960s, members of the Students for a Democratic Society and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee wanted to build a new alliance under the Democratic Party. Their goal was to expel Southern Democrats, economically-liberal politicians who supported Jim Crow, and bring in Progressive Rep...

In this women's history month special episode, we explore how women on welfare demanded representation in their local government. Transcript and sources available at: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/19SMuOfQhsmvsVGYhXOsIIWn4TsWslsSc?usp=sharing Music- Wanna Go by INOSSI | @inossi Music promoted by www.free-stock-music.com Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License creativecommons.org...

In this episode, we hear from Carole Close and explore how student activists stayed involved after graduation. Close tells us how she used used "democratic classroom management" and promoted engaged citizenship in her classroom. Transcript available at: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/19SMuOfQhsmvsVGYhXOsIIWn4TsWslsSc?usp=sharing Music- Wanna Go by INOSSI | @inossi Music promoted by www.fre...

In this episode, we hear from Daniel Brustein, who refused to register for the draft, a crime punishable by three years in prison. Brustein tells us what draft resisters hoped to achieve by choosing prison over the draft. Sources: "Daniel Brustein interview, 29 July 2016" (2016). Cleveland Regional Oral History Collection. Interview 750008. https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/crohc000/770 Trans...

In this episode, we hear from Oliver Fein and Charlotte Phillips, who organized medical students to oppose the Doctors Draft and the Vietnam War. Additionally, we explore changes to conscientious objector status which occurred during the 1960s. Transcript available at: https://drive.google.com/drive/u/1/folders/19SMuOfQhsmvsVGYhXOsIIWn4TsWslsSc Music- Wanna Go by INOSSI | @inossi Music promoted by...

In this episode, we hear from antiwar and anti-draft activists who opposed the Vietnam War. Additionally, we explore the racist and classist effect of the draft. Transcript available at: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/19SMuOfQhsmvsVGYhXOsIIWn4TsWslsSc?usp=sharing. Sources: "Carole Close Interview, 18 June 2011" (2011). Cleveland Regional Oral History Collection. Interview 911056. https://e...

In this episode of Visions of Democracy, we explore the Cleveland Community Theater. Members of the Students for a Democratic Society organized a theater project in 1965. Their goal was to create community bonds and to politically organize impoverished Clevelanders. Transcript available at: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/19SMuOfQhsmvsVGYhXOsIIWn4TsWslsSc?usp=sharing Sources: Music- Wanna G...