apartheid

Omar Barghouti talks about the origins, successes, challenges, and future of the BDS movement (Boycott/Divestment/Sanctions), which he started as a civil resistance movement against Israel for their practice of apartheid against Palastine. "Alternate Focus" promotes an alternative view of Middle East issues not usually seen by American audiences.

Expectations were high following the end of South African apartheid. Yet, even though the ANC promised to redistribute 30% of the land in 5 years, by 2000 less than 5% of the land was redistributed. Despite the alleged end to the apartheid regime, there were still familial and ancestral ties to the land compounded by pervading racism. Yoruba Richen made the film, “Promised Land,” to explore the black, the white, and the shades of gray of post apartheid tensions. The film follows the Mekgareng, and impoverished tribe, removed from their land forty years ago as they try to reclaim their land from wealthy, white farmers and developers. The land issue becomes a “ticking time bomb,” posing an ever-present threat to volatile post-apartheid South Africa. Yoruba Richen joins us in the studio to describe the politics and process of her research and film-making, and South Africa as it exists today.

Obama has passed ground breaking stimulus bills and health care reform in the past year and a half, but what is the perception of these compared to the reality? Executive Director of the Taxi Workers Alliance Bhairavi Desai joins us in studio to tell us how the economic atmosphere is for one of the most insecure fields in the private sector, the taxi business. Along with job insecurity, many taxi drivers are immigrants who face dangers ranging from their job duties to racism and hate crimes. In most instances, it is not wealth but rather bigotry and ignorance that trickle from the top down. One thousand American troops have been killed in Afghanistan, officially surpassing the death toll in Iraq. Perhaps these numbers are beginning to elucidate how this costly and bloody war is doing the opposite of securing American security. Brave New Films presents "1,000 Dead Americans" to commemorate these losses in hope that this horrific sacrifice will inspire a change in public opinion. America is the land of the free and the home of the brave that welcomes people of all creeds and colors and promotes family values, right? Nope. Think again. Ellen Bravo of the Multi State Working Families Consortium joins us in studio and Sylvia Herrera, organizer with Puente Arizona joins us via Skype from Arizona to discuss how just the atmosphere of SB1070 not only endorses racism and apartheid, but is tearing families of suspected illegal immigrants apart. Luckily, many of those who oppose the bill are using these dramatic aspects to gain momentum in the fight for justice. Laura's F Word covered the corruption of the Catholic Church who seems to think it is legitimate to condemn abortion and ignore pedophilia. Remember! GRITtv is in Pledge Mode. Can we make it to $100,000? You tell us.

In South Africa during the years of colonialism and apartheid, land was systematically taken from Africans and given to the white minority population. 16 years later, only 5 percent of that land has been redistributed. In this week's Got Docs segment, we look at a film in progress by Bernadette Atuahene, Sifuna Okwethu, which translates to "We Want What's Ours." The film looks at the difficulties of reclaiming stolen land under the continuing neoliberal control. The filmmakers are looking for support to finish the movie, and you can help them out at their website.