campus
GRITtv: Student Organizing in the Age of Obama
The current stage of the recession sees state budgets hitting crisis points around the country, and one of the areas targeted for cuts has been state univerisities. Students, already dealing with prohibitive levels of debt, have been coming together to protest tuition hikes and budget cuts in some of the largest student protests since the 1960s. Is this a new era for student activism? Did the Obama campaign train young organizers to turn their skills onto their local campus, or is it just the pressure of paying the bills? Christian Ragland, Student President at Pennsylvania State University, and Angus Johnston, founder of StudentActivism.net, join us to discuss.
Email this pageGRITtv: August 31, 2010
Recently at Netroots Nation, Laura sat down with Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky, who's been a leader in the fight against the use of private contractors like Blackwater in war zones (and at home). ; Our friends at the UpTake captured this video for us, as she spoke with Laura about jobs, the economy, military contractors, and the war in Afghanistan--especially the role of women in the conflict there.The struggle for green jobs brings together the struggle for sustainability and a cleaner environment and the fight against poverty--a struggle for justice for all. Green for All unites these struggles into one movement, as CEO Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins explained at Netroots Nation, in a personal discussion of her past and present experiences with poverty and the environment.The current stage of the recession sees state budgets hitting crisis points around the country, and one of the areas targeted for cuts has been state univerisities.
GRITtv: Creative Movements for Change in Palestine
This week was the 34th anniversary of Palestinian Land Day, and also a day for awareness of the growing boycott, divestment, sanctions movement. Land Day commemorates the deaths of six peaceful activists in a demonstration, and today we talk about activism and its ability to make change. Remi Kanazi, a poet and activist, and Phyllis Bennis of the Insitute for Policy Studies join us in studio to discuss the ways that art, nonviolent protest, and pushes for creative boycotts are changing the way Americans look at Israel and Palestine.
GRITtv: April 1, 2010
The announcement this week that Barack Obama would open up space along the Atlantic coast for offshore oil drilling wasn't a cruel April Fool's joke, sadly. The president who pledged not to "drill, baby, drill" our way out of energy and climate issues seems to be going back on his word. Is it really that bad? We ask David Roberts, senior staff writer at Grist.org. This week was the 34th anniversary of Palestinian Land Day, and also a day for awareness of the growing boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement. Land Day commemorates the deaths of six peaceful activists in a demonstration, and today we talk about activism and its ability to make change. Remi Kanazi, a poet and activist, and Phyllis Bennis of the Insitute for Policy Studies, join us in studio to discuss the ways that art, nonviolent protest, and pushes for creative boycotts are changing the way Americans look at Israel and Palestine. While people in the U.S. may be changing their minds about Israel and Palestine, citizens in East Jerusalem continue to suffer. Jennifer Utz visited East Jerusalem recently and reported on the plans to demolish up to 88 homes in the neighborhood of Al Bustan. Street clashes earlier this month were only the latest symptom of the mounting tensions. Finally, the Apple iPad is hitting stores, but is there something interesting about the content available for it?
GRITtv: Bumbling Buggers or Intelligence Operatives?
Yesterday, Laura called our attention to the strange tale of the attempt at bugging Sen. Mary Landrieu's New Orleans office, noting the stories uncovered by indie reporters connecting the dots between the ACORN sting, the break-in, and funding flowing into universities from the nation's intelligence agencies -- as well as right-wing organizations. David Price wrote a piece in Counterpunch, "Silent Coup," about the intelligence operations on campus, and Lindsay Beyerstein uncovered the connection between one of the Landrieu arrestees and those same programs; her work was cited in Raw Story's "Landrieu Phone Plot: Men Arrested have Links to Intelligence Community." They joined us to talk about the disturbing layers to this story, and discuss where it goes next.
GRITtv: Feb. 2, 2010
Yesterday, Laura called our attention to the strange tale of the attempt at bugging Senator Mary Landrieu's New Orleans office, noting the stories uncovered by indie reporters connecting the dots between the ACORN sting, the break-in, and funding flowing into universities from the nation's intelligence agencies--as well as right-wing organizations. David Price of Counterpunch and Lindsay Beyerstein of the Media Consortium joined us to talk about the disturbing layers to this story, and discuss where it goes next. Last week, rebel historian, best-selling author, and lifelong activist Howard Zinn passed away at age 87. We speak with four people whose lives, careers, and activism were shaped by his work: poet Staceyann Chin, author of The Other Side of Paradise: A Memoir, progressive sportswriter Dave Zirin, Nation contributor and author of several books, including A People's History of Sports in the United States, and teacher, actor and activist Brian Jones. Benjamin Jealous is the youngest-ever head of the NAACP, but he has a long history with the organization--he is the fifth generation of his family to be involved. He joined us to remember Howard Zinn and to discuss the importance of knowing your own history and the history of the everyday men and women around us, the ones who shaped movements like the Civil Rights movement and continue to press for social justice the world over. Zinn's work has been translated into nearly every format imaginable: we also have the history of the American empire told through cartoons and narrated by Viggo Mortensen. Chevron oil company has contributed for years to devastating environmental damage in Ecuador and the Amazon region. Citizens of Ecuador call on new Chevron CEO John Watson to do the right thing and help clean up the damage his company has caused. Finally, we continue to bring you stories from the Haiti earthquake recovery from the students at the Cine Institute in Jacmel. In this video, we hear stories of rescues during the aftermath of the quake.
