Month: October 2013

‘American Promise’

October 31, 2013 Carmen Russell Podcast, Politics 00:14:21 0 Comments

Seun Sommers and Idris Brewster were admitted to the prestigious Dalton School in New York City as five year-olds.

Brewster’s parents, Joe Brewster and Michelle Stephenson, are filmmakers, and for thirteen years they chronicled their son and his friend’s lives in and out of Dalton.

The resulting film, “American Promise” tells stories about how race and gender can conspire to derail the education of black boys.

American Promise opens in DC this Friday at the E Street Cinema at 7PM, with the filmmakers present for a Q&A session after the screening.

Part 1:

Download audio file

Part 2:

Download audio file

 

A very racist Halloween!

October 29, 2013 Carmen Russell Podcast, Politics 0 Comments

#BlackTwitter strikes again! When a trio posted on social media a photo of themselves dressed up as “Robbin’ da Hood,” “George Zimmerman” with fingers pointed as if a gun toward, a bloody-hoodied, black-faced “Trayvon Martin,” folks inundated the workplaces of at least two of the posers with e-mails, phone calls and social media messages.
Joining me to talk about the power, and the responsibility of online activists is Mikki Kendall. She’s a blogger, a writer, and the brains behind “Hood Feminism”. We also bring up Julianne Hough and her unfortunate blackface Halloween costume as well.

Download audio file

“1 in 3” – Ending the stigma of abortion in America

October 29, 2013 Carmen Russell Podcast, Politics 0 Comments

 

By Jamila Bey

The reality in America is that abortion is neither rare nor concentrated among any singular segment of society.

One in three women in the US will have an abortion in her lifetime. This week kicks off a week of activists giving people the opportunity to speak up about their own abortions. College campuses around the country are hosting events, and the “1 in 3 Campaign” is hosting many of the stories shared by individuals who often spoke about their abortion for the first time. Carly Manes, a junior at the University of Michigan, and Julia Reticker-Flynn, the Youth Activist Network Manager at Advocates for Youth, are my guests.

 

Download audio file

Gitmo solidarity hunger striker takes force-feeding in DC

October 19, 2013 Carmen Russell Podcast, Politics 00:27:10 0 Comments

By Carmen Russell-Sluchansky

The DC District Court heard arguments today over an appeal by Guantanamo inmates charging that the force-feeding of hunger striking detainees is cruel and inhumane.

To emphasize this, protestors gathered outside the court after the proceedings and held a vigil that included a volunteer undergoing a real force-feeding himself to demonstrate just how painful it is. More than 160 detainees remain in detention at the base in Cuba, with 15 still on hunger-strike and being force-fed.

Voice of Russia talked to Todd Pierce, a retired U.S. Army Reserve officer with 20 years of active duty during which he served as defense counsel in the office of military commissions. He currently represents a Guantanamo detainee.

Part 1:

Download audio file

Voice of Russia also talked to Tighe Barry, CodePink activist trained as an EMT who participated in a rally against the force-feeding of Guantanamo detainees.

Part 2:

Download audio file

Video of Andres Thomas Conteris (of http://www.closegitmo.net/) being force-fed in front of the Federal Court of Appeals in Washington DC on Friday. He is on his 103rd day of a hunger strike in solidarity of Guantanamo Bay detainees. Filmed by Liudmila Chernova & edited by Sean Nevins.

Slide show of the Rally held outside the Federal Court of Appeals, Washington DC. Photos by Liudmila Chernova. 

National Science and Technology News Service

October 15, 2013 Carmen Russell Culture, Podcast 00:17:57 0 Comments

By Jamila Bey

Making sense of the entire world around us requires that people hold some understanding of science.

Unfortunately, from the water we drink to the medicines and foods we ingest, Americans’ understanding of science concepts and practices show the need for further education. For minority populations, the picture is even more bleak. A new organization, founded by scientists and journalists has been created to help to fix this. The National Science and Technology News Service, or on twitter @TheDarkSci, was founded with the mission to tell better science stories, and to do so with an eye toward ethnic media and audiences. Jamila is a founding member of the NSTNS, as are the panelists for tonight’s show. Dr. Danielle Lee, The Urban Scientist, is a biologist and expert in animal behavior, mammalogy, and ecology Dr. Caleph Wilson, is a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Pennsylvania and co-chair of the Biomedical Postdoctoral Council, and Dr. Marshall Shepard, professor of geography in the University and president of the American Meteorological Society. The discussion surrounds how to support science in the US, and how to encourage more students to consider science as their career.

Part 1

Download audio file

Part 2

Download audio file

Part 3

Download audio file

Follow Dr. Danielle Lee on Twitter @DNLEE5

Follow Dr. Caleph Wilson on Twitter @HeyDrWilson

Follow The National Science and Technology News Service on Twitter @TheDarkSci

Values Voters Summit 2013

October 12, 2013 Carmen Russell Podcast, Politics 0 Comments

By Jamila Bey

The government continues its shutdown, but that hasn’t stopped the political right from their Voters’ Summit.

It’s that time of year where religious voters come to Washington to commune and advance their causes. This year we learned from Dr. Ben Carson that there is no “War on Women,” the Affordable Care Act is equivalent to slavery, and that the Christian god is in charge of the world. Host of “Due Diligence,” Carmen Russell-Sluchansky joins me to talk about what they’re talking about this year.

 

Download audio link

 

War on Women continues

October 12, 2013 Carmen Russell Health, Podcast, Politics 0 Comments

By Jamila Bey

Journalist and co-author of Crow After Roe: How “Separate But Equal” Has Become the New Standard In Women’s Health And How We Can Change That, Robin Marty joins the Sex Politics And Religion Hour to explain the tactics and political game plan of the factions that want to eliminate health care parity for women and eliminate the right of women to bodily and reproductive autonomy.

Follow her at @RobinMarty.

 

Download audio file

 

Violence against black women

October 12, 2013 Carmen Russell Podcast, Politics 0 Comments

By Jamila Bey

Dr. Brittney Cooper is assistant professor of Women’s Studies and Africana Studies at Rutgers University. Mychal Denzel Smith is a blogger at TheNation.com and a Knobler Fellow at the Nation Institute.

We talk about the writers’ recent pieces on Miriam Carey, the woman killed by police as she hit barriers at the Capitol and tried to exit her vehicle. We consider the assertion of these thinkers that this shooting speaks to a larger climate of expendable black women and turns a blind eye to violence toward them.

Follow our panelists on Twitter @mychalsmith @ProfessorCrunk.

 

Download audio file

 

Glover’s Pepper Sauce? Yes!

October 10, 2013 Carmen Russell Podcast, Politics 0 Comments

For the first time in SPAR with Jamila history, a foodstuff has risen to a level of newsworthiness and tastiness to hold Jamila’s attention!

Jamie Glover’s pepper sauce is an all-natural, locally produced product that really should be the next condiment on everyone’s table. It’s not a hot sauce, and it’s not sweet, but it absolutely goes with every food one can think of!

Glover and his wife make hand-crafted batches at DC’s Union Kitchen and the bottles are sold locally after aging for a full month.

Glover’s will be in attendance at the Taste of DC, and they’ll be hosting a Pepper Party on October 18th at Union Kitchen.

Download audio file

For more, see:

www.unionkitchendc.com
www.gloverspeppersauce.com

Supreme Court Update

October 10, 2013 Carmen Russell Podcast, Politics 0 Comments

Dr. Gloria Browne-Marshall, the first African-American woman to be credentialed to cover the US Supreme Court, joins Jamila to talk about the current crop of cases before the Justices.

From government-sanctioned prayer and campaign finance rules to abortion, the Court is sure to have some contentious issues to contend with.

 

Download audio file

Obfuscate me: media face-plant on shutdown coverage

October 8, 2013 Carmen Russell Podcast, Politics 0 Comments

Media analyst and critic Tracie Powell is the creator of AllDigitocracy.org, and she’s looking intensely at the way the media is covering the shutdown of the US government.

Unfortunately, the media is not properly informing the US population of the factors at work in the shutdown. As happens so often, too many reporters are claiming a false equivalency between the GOP and Democrats, and frankly, they’re not serving democracy with such weak analysis.

 

Download audio file

Shutdown, humanist style

October 8, 2013 Carmen Russell Podcast, Religion 0 Comments

Roy Speckhardt is Executive Director of the American Humanist Association, and he knows a thing or two about getting disparate factions to work together in common interest.

He, like many Americans, is disappointed in the federal government shutdown, and he looks to some non-religious and religious history to encourage leaders on Capitol Hill to get back to the business of governing!

 

Download audio file