equality
Art and Apathy
Art and Apathy is a look at the relationship between conflict and creativity, a conversation between four short poetic pieces that describe the effects of the Israel Palestine conflict on Israeli artists.
Email this pageGRITtv: April 18, 2011
"What's at stake is whether assaults on working people will prevail," says Ellen Bravo, who fought with the Family Values @ Work Consortium to get paid sick leave for Milwaukee's workers only to see it banned in the state legislature--and the ban broadened to include the entire state. Meanwhile, to heighten the already tense situation in that state, Sarah Palin was there this weekend to speak to a Tea Party crowd. Laura spoke with Ellen via Skype from Milwaukee on the continuing importance of Wisconsin's place in the fight for workers' rights, and why she thinks that Wisconsinites, anyway, have a clear plan for success--as the third recall petition for a Republican State Senator is filed. On April 15, thousands of miles away from Bahrain, protests took place in Washington D.C. going from the Saudi Embassy to the White House, and finally ending in Central Park as thousands of Muslims and sympathetic Americans from around the world attended to show their support of the "forgotten oppressed." "Justice requires that we learn the lessons from these past disasters," says Tracie Washington of the Louisiana Justice Institute. And Antonia Juhasz, author most recently of Black Tide: The Devastating Impact of the Gulf Oil Spill, points out that nothing that we saw happen in the Gulf has been addressed, and clearly we have learned nothing from the disaster that occurred a year ago this week. Antonia joins Laura in studio, and Tracie by phone from New Orleans, to discuss what lessons need to be learned, what Gulf activists and advocates are doing to fight back, and why the US government is still subsidizing oil and gas drilling. Finally, it's tax day, and as corporations dodge paying, everyday folks moan and groan as they pony up cash. But Laura reminds us that taxes can be a mechanism for creating a more equitable society as well. Distributed by Tubemogul.
GRITtv: The F Word: Demonizing Taxes, Heightening Inequality
Today is Tax Day in the US, and that's almost universally greeted with groans and complaints. That tax word's been so effectively demonized that it may be there's no coming back. Is it time for a new word? Some research by Duke University's Dan Ariely suggests it might be. Distributed by Tubemogul.
GRITtv: Courage Campaign: Equality Now!
A judge this week overturned California's Proposition 8, which outlawed gay marriage in the state, but the fight is hardly over. Our friends at the Courage Campaign are continuing to track the National Organization for Marriage's Summer of Marriage tour, and provided us with this footage at yet another event.
GRITtv: Aug. 6 2010
Filmmaker Natalia Almada looks at the history of Mexico through a unique lens--her great-grandfather was Plutarco Elias Calles, a revolutionary general who became president of Mexico in 1924. He remains a controversial figure, remembered as much for his legacy in founding Mexico's premier political party and helping create its government as his dictatorial style and violent rule. Almada used personal footage, archival footage, and scenes from Hollywood films to help piece together a portrait of her great-grandfather--and a portrait of Mexico. She joins us in studio to discuss the process of making the film, which won the 2009 Sundance Film Festival U.S. Directing Award. El General can be streamed online from July 21 through Oct. 12 at pov.org. This week, we're bringing you a slightly different documentary for our Got Docs feature. Strange Powers: Stephen Merritt and the Magnetic Fields follows the popular indie band The Magnetic Fields, following their odd relationships and interesting history. Kerthy Fix, a noted documentarian and friend of the show, and her co- director Gail O’Hara did a great job capturing the difficult navigation of artistic production, and if you want to see more of Kerthy's work, you won't have to wait for long: she's next putting together a doc on the awesome Le Tigre. A judge this week overturned California's Proposition 8, which outlawed gay marriage in the state, but the fight is hardly over. Our friends at the Courage Campaign are continuing to track the National Organization for Marriage's Summer of Marriage tour, and provided us with this footage at yet another event. Finally, Andrea Plaid of Racialicious.com and Change.org has some words for Harry Reid and Senate Republicans on giving farmers of color their due.
GRITtv: Moving Forward From Maine
Tuesday we looked at the Maine Equality campaign leading up to the election, watching volunteers from around the country working to help Mainers keep the marriage rights granted by the state legislature. In the second half of this video, from Chase Whiteside and Erick Stoll of New Left Media, we see election day go from elation to heartbreak as Maine voted, by a thin majority, to revoke marriage rights from gay and lesbian couples. Reactions from volunteers range from defiant to determined, discussing accountability -- from national organizations, politicians, and especially President Obama and the DNC, who ignored the No On One campaign.
GRITtv: Nov. 18, 2009
Since last fall's financial collapse, we've heard more honest discussion about capitalism's failings than in years. Yet real change is still hard to find. David Harvey and Alexander Cockburn don't think small when it comes to change, as you'll see here during a discussion with Laura for an event at CUNY's Center for Place, Culture & Politics. Antonino D'Ambrosio, author of "A Heartbeat and a Guitar: Johnny Cash and the Making of Bitter Tears," dispells some myths about the Man in Black and connect him to the folk-protest tradition. Plus, in the studio, a new cover of a Cash protest song.
GRITtv: The F Word: Equality March Shows What Grassroots Can Do
The National Equality March on the D.C. mall Oct. 11 drew one hell of a crowd. If for-profit media had given each equality marcher the air time dedicated to the 60,000 or so teabaggers that came to D.C. a month ago, they'd still be hogging the airwaves, dawn to dusk. Most reports estimate Oct. 11's turnout at 100-200,000. We might have learned that the march was organized by locally-focused, nationally-connected activists representing every race, class and faith.Imagine what we'd learn, given half a chance.
