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GRITtv: April 5, 2011
On April 4, GRITtv traveled to Newark, New Jersey for the We Are One rally, speaking with workers, racial justice activists, and leaders from the new national movement. Why New Jersey? Hetty Rosenstein of the Communication Workers of America filled us in on Governor Chris Christie. “He's anti union, he opposes collective bargaining, he's for the rich, he cut taxes on rich people by $9000 each while cutting services to those who are most vulnerable.” Laura spoke with Hetty about Christie's attacks on collective bargaining, about the need for a broader, wider coalition to fight for working people, and more. "It makes good common sense that people of common interest would come together," said Estina Baker of the We Are One rallies this week. "It's sort of history repeating itself in a very positive way," she notes, pointing out that the civil rights movement and workers' rights movement have a long history together. Laura spoke with Estina and Joyce Simmons, both of the NAACP, in Newark, New Jersey, about the movement begun at the One Nation rally last year and continuing now across the country. While Laura and most of the GRITtv crew were in Newark, workers gathered around the country to support union workers and call for government policy that benefits the majority of working people. We visited New York's City Hall, and put together this segment with video from rallies around the country. "People don't realize that by not belonging to the union, the only right they have on the job is the right to die. People don't understand that the collective bargaining agreements and the right to organize protects them," said Ray Stever, President of the New Jersey Industrial Union Council. Speaking at the We Are One rally in Newark, New Jersey, Stever connected the dots between the old Congress of Industrial Organizations, the 29 mine workers at Massey Energy's Upper Big Branch mine, killed one year ago, and the current attacks on public workers in New Jersey and beyond. Distributed by Tubemogul.
Email this pageGRITtv: March 11, 2011
"We live in one world, not three. I'm very much against that we have three worlds. We have one world dominated by the same system," says Nawal El Saadawi, the pioneering Egyptian feminist thinker. In part two of her conversation with Laura, Dr. Saadawi elaborates on what real democracy would look like, in Egypt and around the world, on the connections between capitalism, patriarchy, and religious fundamentalism--and not just Islamic religious fundamentalism. A little over a year ago, Rose Mapendo visited us in our New York studio to tell us her story. Rose escaped from the Democratic Republic of Congo with nine of her ten children, and she became a humanitarian activist. Pushing the Elephant picks up ten years later, as Mapendo reunites with her daughter and is struggling to heal her family and homeland as an advocate for refugees. The documentary exposes the hidden effects of war on families, and the collective power of women. Dr. Peter Gomes died recently; the Harvard theologian advocated for the rights of gays and lesbians after coming out about his own sexuality in 1991. Just after that, he gave the sermon at Rev. Jacqui Lewis's commencement. She shares her memories with us. Distributed by Tubemogul.
GRITtv: May 10 2010
The big economic news this morning was that 16 countries that use the euro and the International Monetary Fund have agreed to create a nearly $1 trillion rescue fund to support the euro and keep the problems in Greece from spreading. Here in the U.S., the Dow might be climbing, but people are still struggling to find employment and recovery. Meanwhile, the people who created the crisis are trying to use the deficits they caused to force cuts in social spending--here and around the world. Dean Baker joins us via Skype from Washington, D.C. to discuss the situation in Europe, the U.S.'s involvement, Fannie Mae, and whether there's any hope for real change in the economy. Immigration reform is on everyone's mind after the recent passage of SB 1070 in Arizona recently, but one of the bills being considered in Congress has its own downside. The Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act--the DREAM Act--is a bipartisan bill offering a road to citizenship for undocumented minors who attend college or join the military. But our guests today found out that more and more what seems like an opportunity winds up pushing youth into military service--and not guaranteeing their reward on the other end. Kouross Esmaeli of Big Noise Films and Marco Amador of Producciones Cimarron and Center for Community Communications collaborated on a film, "Yo Soy El Army: America's New Military Caste," that explores the effects of the militarization of immigrant communities. Finally, Laura has some thoughts on the sale of Newsweek--and the state of the news media.
GRITtv: Apr. 5 2010
A new report shows that U.S. soldiers tampered with the scene of the deaths of three women, including digging bullets out of the bodies, to cover up their involvement. Are General McChrystal's new procedures for the war really minimizing civilian casualties as they are supposed to? Joining us to discuss this story and more in today's news is Rory O'Connor, author of Shock Jocks: Hate Speech and Talk Radio. He's also on the board of a new organization, Not In Our Town, designed to fight back against hate groups. Michael Wolff made his name writing long, literary feature stories for Vanity Fair, but he got started at the New York Times. Now, he says, newspapers' day is done. Aggregator sites like his own Newser.com are the future. Wolff joins Laura in studio to talk about the news, the tension between long stories and what people can actually use, and of course, Rupert Murdoch, the subject of his last book, The Man Who Owns the News. Finally, Laura looks at the strength of our infrastructure--and the shaky roots of our economy.
GRITtv: Morals, Motivation and Movements: What the Left Can Learn from Religion
One year ago, Americans were energized to elect Barack Obama president, casting more votes than had ever been cast in a U.S. election. Now it's election day again, and with Democratic candidates facing tough races in several states, we take a look at what the left can learn from religious organizations, who manage to keep people coming back week after week. Does religion have a place in social justice movements, and does the right have a lock on religious motivation to act? Joining us to debate the proper place of religion and spirituality on the Left are Michael De Dora, the Rev. Osagyefo Sekou, Kim Gandy and Rabbi Michael Feinberg.
