On voter registration day Betty Reid Soskin turned 99 years old! Betty lives by the belief that there needs to be room for the existence and the acknowledgement  of multiple truths. This is an archived interview that we played on KPFA in March 2018. 

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Better Ginsburg died on September 18th at the age of 87. People across the country are committed to carrying on her work, using their voices and continuing to advocate for change. 

These are voices of some of the nearly 200 people who gathered in Walnut Creek on Sunday, September 20, 2020 for a RGB-Rest in Power vigil

The country mourns the loss of RBG.

Protesters in Kentucky continue to fight for the police to be held accountable in the death.

Pakistanis protest the top police official's blaming the victim statements in the aftermath of the gang rape of a women. 

In the midst of a pandemic, with fires blazing across the state of California, causing mediocre air quality, hazy orange skies and even ash showers throughout the Bay Area, the interconnectedness of issues of mass incarceration, health care and climate change are undeniable. Nearly half of California's fire fighters are incarcerated people. But what happens when due to a Covid-19 outbreak in prisons, the available incarcerated fire fighters is insufficient? What happens to the formerly incarcerated firefighters who'd like to continue their trade when they are released from prison? What obstacles do they face and how is the entire state of California impacted? 

This podcast gives the insight of an advocate and of a formerly incarcerated fire fighter, as they discuss what is at stake and what Assembly Bill 2147. 

Larry Williams is among the San Quentin Prisoners who tested positive for Covid-19 after being assigned to help transport the belongings of the inmates from Chino State Prison. In interviewing prison advocates as well as medical professionals who have toured the prison, I've noticed some differences from what people who've toured the facility have described and the lived experiences of those who reside there. 

Williams was moved to a sealed cell in the adjustment center in conditions that are much like solitary confinement. I interviewed Williams' significant other and she passed my questions onto him. Now, reportedly phone access is more limited so Larry forwarded a letter in hopes that it could illuminate what he describes as a dark situation in the prison.

Thank you to Ben Meisel for reading Larry's words. 

While covering the way the pandemic hit communities around the country and around the world, I interviewed a New York based doula and an expecting mom who took refuge in New Jersey to get a sense of the challenges of raising children in the close quarters of what was the epicenter of the pandemic and what was at stake for expecting mothers while also looking at the racial disparities. I interviewed these women, edited the story and produced the piece as part of the April 11, 2020 Newscast. The piece and the entire newscast that I edited and produced from home can be found in the 6pm weekend evening news section of the KPFA.org archives for April 11, 2020. 

Fellowship Note: These are excerpts of the progressing Covid-19 Crisis at San Quentin State Prison from the June 20, 2020 newscast when there were just over 90 cases and from July 4, 2020 when there were near 1,500 cases. I interviewed Arthur League from the Black Panther Party, Richard Tan, an attorney with the Labor Action Committee for Mumia Abu Jamal and Erin Wallace, the significant other of Larry Williams, an inmate at San Quentin who is prison.

Both of these pieces aired on KPFA 94.1 and can be found in the archives on KPFA.org

Fellowship Note: For the May 30, 2020 Newscast, I interviewed two demonstrators and one racial justice educator in Minneapolis and Wanda Johnson, the mother of Oscar Grant, who was killed by Bart Police Officer Johanese Mehserlee in 2009. I produced the entire 30 minute newscast and did all elements of this story ranging from the interviewing to the editing to the production on my own. This entire newscast can be found at KPFA.org in the archives on May 30, 2020 for the 6pm Weekend Evening News. 

Since Officer Derek Chauvin squeezed the life out of George Floyd by kneeling on his neck as one officer watched and two others held down Floyd's body people across the nation have been in the streets demanding accountability and change. 

Chanel Rivers is in Minneapolis and has been participating both in the protests and in the clean up of her city. She spoke about the situation in her city and offered some perspective on what narratives aren't being illuminated in mainstream media. Wanda Johnson, the mother of Oscar Grant, joined our conversation and spoke about what it's like to watch history repeat itself 11 years after her son's life was taken, and why she refuses to stop fighting or give up hope for change. 

A quote to ponder this Independence Day..

"None of us are free until all of us are free." Emma Lazarua