Sojourner Truth Radio

Today on Sojourner Truth, Nana Gyamfi guest hosts. Nana is an attorney & Executive Director of Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI). Our first guest is co-founder of Black Voters Matter Fund, Cliff Albright who kicks off the show discussing some of the most contentious races in Georgia during the midterm, voter suppression and the conservative wave of votes cast by white women in Georgia. WNBA basketball superstar Britney Griner has been sentenced to a 9.5 year sentence in Russia for allegedly carrying cannabis cartridges in her luggage. Britney Griner is a recent example of a Black American being criminalized for a nonviolent crime, and while her case gained international awareness due to her celebrity as a pro star athlete, this is the reality for many Black Americans and immigrants criminalized for marijuana offenses impacting their daily experience, we contextualize the history of criminalization of cannabis in the U.S. and its continued iterations with executive director of the National Immigrati

Today on Sojourner Truth, our Friday round table panel is back with our panelists including: former member of the California State Assembly, and current LAUSD governing school board member Jackie Goldberg, international correspondent Laura Carlsen and historian Dr. Gerald Horne, we discuss the Brazil election and major changes in Israeli politics that place Israel the farthest to the right in its electoral history, we also discuss the U.S. midterm elections and the unexpected victories and losses. as well as the role in this historic midterm of Gen Z, the highest voting majority group than any other age group in the U.S.

The 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference, more commonly referred to as Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC, or COP27, is the 27th United Nations Climate Change conference and is being held from 6 November until 18 November 2022 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. Today on Sojourner Truth journalist Tina Gerhardt, correspondent for The Nation Magazine covering Cop 27, joins us for the hour to discuss why debt and inequality will be key issues at COP 27 and the first week of COP27 including the speeches given by U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres and Mia Mottley, Prime Minister of Barbados, and CARICOM Chair. At COP 27, countries come together to take action towards achieving the world’s collective climate goals as agreed under the Paris Agreement and the Convention. Building on the outcomes and momentum of COP 26 in Glasgow last year, nations are expected to demonstrate at COP 27 that they are in a new era of implementation by turning their commitments under The Paris Agreement into action. The

Today is Election Day in the U.S. voters across the US will have their last opportunity to go to the polls and vote. It is a critical election that will determine which party Democrats or Republicans will control the House of Representatives as well as the Senate. Additionally, there are other key elections across the country including governors, mayors, judges and senators. Many are calling this election one of the most critical as it comes at a time that the country is polarized with the influence of Donald Trump strongly felt. This election will determine the direction of the country. Will it go in the direction of Italy, for example and shift further to the right, and if so what does that say about the state of civil rights, womens', lgbtq+rights, immigrants rights and ecological devastation? Today on Sojourner Truth we bring you a special on the significance and importance of voting, and the fight to defend the vote. You will hear the main speakers at a recent get out the vote webinar organized by

Sojourner Truth Radio continues our November 2022 election coverage. Today, we unpack polling results as they come in with our panelist roundtable including: Attorney and civil rights icon Barbara Arnwine, Progressive Democrats of America Executive Director Alan Minsky, Chicano Liberation and Environmental Justice artivist Bill Gallegos and London-based labor union artivist Sam Weinstein.

Today on Sojourner Truth: our Friday Roundtable is back. Dr. Gerald Horne, international journalist Laura Carlsen and school board member Jackie Goldberg join host Margaret Prescod to discuss the latest developments internationally. Beginning with the US Senate that has passed a short-term government funding bill that provides an additional $12.3 billion in aid to Ukraine. The Biden administration promises to maintain financial support for Kyiv to battle the Russian invasion. This while Russia has annexed four Ukraine territories in a controversial by force vote that is being condemned as a sham and a violation of international law by Ukraine, the United Nations, and the U.S. and its allies. What does this mean for the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine and its continued impact felt across the globe? This Sunday's election in Brazil will be one of the most-watched in Latin America, as two polar ideological opposites fight for the presidency in the world's fourth-largest democracy. Current President Jair

Today on Sojourner Truth: We continue our coverage of the growing movement for restitution and reparations for people of African descent. Today we have an opportunity to hear a wide-ranging discussion on reparations by participants from across the continent of Africa at an event organized by Africans Rising. You will hear a variety of speakers including from Senegal, Kenya, the Sudan and more. Some ask pointed questions, others make statements and/or proposals. The discussion took place during the All-African Movement Assembly held on Aug 29-31, 2022 and organized by Africans Rising.

Today on Sojourner Truth: Guest host Nana Gyamfi will share excerpts from Vijay Prashad's recent speech: Democracy Beyond the US Empire hosted by the People’s Forum at the famed Riverside Church in Harlem, New York City. Prashad addresses US myth busting in the Global South and the co-opted words of the movement. Joining her for this discussion and further analysis of the blocades vs. Cuba and Venezuela is Manolo de los Santos, the co-executive director of the People’s Forum and co-coordinator of the People’s Summit for Democracy. Manolo is a researcher at Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research. The devastation of the present hurricane to hit Puerto Rico continues to reverberate. Here to discuss what Puerto Ricans are doing to help and for survival is Francisco Andres Santiago Cintron, coordinator of Accion Independista and community coordinator of the Red Comunitaria de Respuesta, which groups more than 13 communities around Puerto Rico on the principal of solidarity and sovereignty. Our final g

Today on Sojourner Truth, the yearly UN General Assembly Meetings were held at the UN headquarters in NYC from September 21-23, 2022. It is a time when heads of state or their representatives address the world. The occasion is used to promote, chastise, make proposals on vital issues facing their respective nation and the world. Quite often there is a disparity in focus and priorities when one contrasts the speeches from governments of the Global North to most of those from governments of the Global South. The Global North speeches tend to justify their form of government and their economic and social policies, while the Global South speeches often tend to point to the disparity in wealth and resources and the fact that it is the Global North that causes more of man-made climate change, the environmental crisis, and it is countries of the Global South that bears the brunt of climate. RE the term Global South, on the movement front, Fridays for Future, the movement founded by environmental justice campaigner

Today on Sojourner Truth we bring you Part 3 of our series coverage of the Mass Poor People's & Low-Wage Workers' Assembly and Moral March on Washington and to the Polls, you will hear from a variety of speakers including: Reverend William Barber II, co-chair of the Poor Peoples Campaign, writer Phyllis Bennis, Planned Parenthood, immigration reform and prison reform organizers, faith leaders, and the testimonies from poor and low income people from across the U.S. detailing their first-hand experience with interlacing injustices: infringement on women's bodies and reproductive rights, generational poverty ensued by low wage work and the war economy/militarism and misallocation of resources, all of which are facilitated by what the PPC refers to as" a distorted moral narrative of religious nationalism, that needs to be reconstructed," in order to end these oppressive injustices once and for all.

Today on Sojourner Truth, Pierre Labossiere, founder of the Haiti Action Committee, and one of the most respected voices on Haitian politics, joins Margaret Prescod for the hour to give us an update on the latest developments in Haiti. Labossiere will also dispel inaccuracies promoted by the mainstream media, and give us good news on the status of a forthcoming hospital.

Today on Sojourner Truth we bring you excerpts from a recent webinar titled, Haitian Voices of Resistance Today. Listeners receive an update on the crisis in Haiti from organizers on the ground.

Today on Sojourner Truth: Our Friday roundtable panel is back with governing school board member Jackie Goldberg, Moores Professor of History & African-American Studies at the University of Houston and Director of the Americas program and international correspondent Laura Carlsen, joining Margaret Prescod for the hour to discuss the call for reparations since the passing of the Queen, the latest in the war in Ukraine and global realignments, Trump's threats regarding the ongoing investigation and much more.

Today on Sojourner Truth: International Journalist Laura Carlsen joins us for the hour to discuss the history of Chile's authoritarian regime, its remnants and its impact on the recent vote down of what could have been the first progressive constitution to be enacted in Latin America. What is the youngest, most progressive President of Chile Gabriel Boric, planning to do moving forward in an attempt to salvage this failed vote? We also discuss Brazil and its impending presidential election, the danger President Jair Bolsonaro poses for Brazil if he chooses to follow suit with his threats, taking a page from former President Trump’s reaction to the Presidential election he lost to President Biden, claiming the election is rigged. We conclude with a brief update on the 43 missing students in Guerrero Mexico.

According to the White House, there have been 3.6 million official eviction filings so far in 2022. We should expect the number of eviction filings to increase, given that Data from the US Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey released in 2021 found approximately 4.2 million adults report being at risk of eviction or foreclosure in July and August. The data indicated that those facing eviction are significantly more likely to be Black, Indigenous, Latinx, or other people of color. Analysis by PolicyLink (Cal Matters) indicates that about 900,000 households in California are behind on rent, with an average of $4,600 in rental arrears. Today on Sojourner Truth guest host Nana Gyamfi is joined by Pete White, Executive Director of the Los Angeles Community Action Network aka LACAN. LA CAN’s constituency consists of extremely low-income and homeless people, primarily those living in Downtown LA and South Central LA. Christina Griffin and Natasha Brown of the California Black Power Network join Nana to discu

With the death of Queen Elizabeth and the succession of her eldest son, Charles III, there are new calls from former and present-day British colonies for Britain to make amends by paying reparations, issuing apologies, returning stolen artifacts and breaking with the British monarchy as did the island nation of Barbados in the fall of 2021. Queen Elizabeth was crowned in 1952 when more than a quarter of the world’s population were under British rule–according to NPR that was more than 700 million people. The old saying went: the sun never set on the British Empire, which included countries in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, the Pacific and the Caribbean. And British imperial power was known for slavery, massacres and other violence and theft. The resulting suffering was felt around the world, even as the royal family accumulated great wealth, much of that wealth is secret. Even the crown jewels of the late queen were stolen from India and South Africa. Today we focus on the colonial impact and legacy of Britai

Today on Sojourner Truth: Guest host Nana Gyamfi, attorney and Black Alliance for Just Immigration Executive Director discusses the polluted water crisis occurring in Jackson Mississippi with her first guest Rukia Lumumba, attorney and Executive Director of Peoples' Advocacy Institute, who has been on the ground since the crisis began. You will also hear excerpts from the recent UN Committee on Eliminating Racial Discrimination and their findings and recommendations. The UN committee cite abortion rights, reparations and policy brutality as three of the most pressing issues that require follow up from the US. Maraky Alemreged with BAJI, joins Nana to discuss surveillance and the forthcoming abolition week. Lastly, Matyos Kidane, organizer with Stop LAPD Spying joins Nana to contextualize mass policing at the local level in Los Angeles as well as the national level, keeping in mind Biden's recent plan to hire thousands more police making it clear he stands behind addressing national safety issues by funding

Today on Sojourner Truth: Our Friday panel round table discussion is back featuring international journalist and Director of the Americas Program Laura Carlsen, historian and Moores Professor of History & African American Studies, Dr. Gerald Horne and Los Angeles school board member Jackie Goldberg, joining host Margaret Prescod to discuss Biden's state of the union speech, the ongoing Department of Justice investigation involving former President Trump, left wing politics in South America, reactions to the passing of the former President of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorvachev across the Atlantic, and an update on Israeli-Palestinian relations.

Today on Sojourner Truth we bring you our annual Labor Day show honoring workers across the nation and and across the globe fighting for fair wages, working conditions and benefits. Our guests are Chairman of the LA Long Beach Labor Coalition Larry Barragan, National and CA organizer with Workers United, Evelyn Zepeda and Tyler Keeling, a Starbucks worker at one of the only unionized Starbucks in Southern CA who will share his experience during the recent workers’ strike protesting unfair labor practices.

Nichelle Nichols died of heart failure on Saturday July 30th in Silver City NM. She was 89 years old. Nichelle Nichols first appeared on Star Trek on Sept 8, 1966 as Lt. Nyota Uhura. She was one of the first Black women to have a leading role on TV according to the NYT. Star Trek was on TV from 1966 to 1969, but the show remains popular and iconic and Nichelles Uhura remains beloved by fans all over the world. Nichelle appeared in 66 episodes of Star Trek. According to the NYT, In 1977 she became an ambassador of sorts for NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), she later spoke of her pride in recruiting the first Black and woman astronaut hopefuls. Her efforts resulted in over 2,600 women and people of color applicants. In 2012 she was a keynote speaker at the Goddard Space Center. Our guest is Lawrence Ware, Co-director of Oklahoma State University African Studies Program and a contributing writer to Slate, the NYT, The Root. Commentary on race and politics have appeared in the Huffington Pos