lgbt
GRITtv: Rep. Tammy Baldwin: The Bigger Fight Starts in Wisconsin
"People are very concerned about what will happen next if their right-wing governors and legislatures are emboldened by something in Wisconsin," says Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin. She notes that while she was in Washington last week, colleagues told her that Wisconsin had to win its fight because if not, their state was next--and she got on the first plane she could to get home to her state and stand with the protesters.Rep. Baldwin joins Laura in Madison to discuss the larger national context for the fight over workers' rights in Wisconsin--and why it's connected to the larger fight over reproductive justice, health care, and rights for LGBT people.
GRITtv: James Baldwin: Still So Much To Teach Us
"The paradox of education is precisely this -- that as one begins to become conscious one begins to examine the society in which he is being educated." James Baldwin wrote that in 1963, but as we watch teachers and their students leading pro-labor protests in Wisconsin and around the country, it remains truer than ever. Baldwin died in 1987, but his novels and essays--and his activism--live on. This week at NYU, a conference examining Baldwin's work and influence in today's globalized world is meeting, and Laura sat down with two of the speakers, Hortense Spillers and Darryl Pinckney, to discuss why Baldwin's work still feels so vital, so important.
GRITtv: February 18, 2011
"The paradox of education is precisely this -- that as one begins to become conscious one begins to examine the society in which he is being educated." James Baldwin wrote that in 1963, but as we watch teachers and their students leading pro-labor protests in Wisconsin and around the country, it remains truer than ever. Baldwin died in 1987, but his novels and essays--and his activism--live on. This week at NYU, a conference examining Baldwin's work and influence in today's globalized world is meeting, and Laura sat down with two of the speakers, Hortense Spillers and Darryl Pinckney, to discuss why Baldwin's work still feels so vital, so important. In a time of global crisis we don't want to be messing with our food supply. So how has it that the very technology designed for big crops threaten the bees required by the ecosystem? Some are taking action: Queen of the Sun introduces a few of the lesser-known heroes of the 21st century--the beekeepers. Want to keep bees of your own? Spring is the best time to start! And good news for our New York City viewers: the city lifted its ban on beekeeping last year. Got a Got Doc? We'd love to hear from you. Pitch it to us on our Facebook page. Next up, to Queens, New York, to visit artist Alice Mizrachi. A graduate of the Parsons School of Design, Mizrachi's shown her work around the world, and yet her favorite canvas is New York's walls. Mizrachi's built a global network of women artists as co-director of the Younity Arts Collective, and now she's working with young people. This piece was produced by Rebecca McDonald, and special thanks to Noisemaker Media for the music. If you are in the New York area, please join Alice Mizrachi in a stencil making workshop in collaboration with Materials for the Arts on Thursday February 24, 2011 from 7-9pm. This event is free, and open to the public. More info here. Distributed by Tubemogul.
GRITtv: Cary Alan Johnson: David Kato's Fight for LGBT Uganda
"Violence is visited upon us when our lives are made to be valueless," says Cary Alan Johnson of the International Gay & Lesbian Human Rights Commission. The murder of David Kato in Uganda last week after a tabloid had splashed his name and picture under the headline “100 Pictures of Uganda’s Top Homos” and called for their murder. But homophobia in Uganda has US roots as well--evangelical leaders had promoted the country's notorious bill that advocated the death penalty for "aggravated homosexuality."Johnson joins Laura in studio to discuss the murder, the flow of US money--both official and through churches--to Uganda, and why it is our responsibility to speak up for the lives of LGBT people around the world.
GRITtv: Feb. 1, 2011
"Does Mubarak want to leave quietly or is it going to be a messy exit?" That's the only question left in Egypt, according to Haroon Moghul of the Maydan Institute. The protests continue, and Mubarak has announced that though he won't be running for reelection, he doesn't plan on stepping down.Haroon and Samer Shehata of Georgetown University join Laura to discuss the ongoing revolution in Egypt, the history behind it, the groups involved, and why US news outlets that are obsessed with the Muslim Brotherhood are missing the real story in their fearmongering."Violence is visited upon us when our lives are made to be valueless," says Cary Alan Johnson of the International Gay & Lesbian Human Rights Commission. The murder of David Kato in Uganda last week after a tabloid had splashed his name and picture under the headline “100 Pictures of Uganda’s Top Homos” and called for their murder. But homophobia in Uganda has US roots as well--evangelical leaders had promoted the country's notorious bill that advocated the death penalty for "aggravated homosexuality."Johnson joins Laura in studio to discuss the murder, the flow of US money--both official and through churches--to Uganda, and why it is our responsibility to speak up for the lives of LGBT people around the world.Finally, Egypt's struggle continues under near-total communication blackout--thanks in part to a US company. Laura has some thoughts.
GRITtv: Urvashi Vaid: We Need Progressive, Multi-Issue Movements
"The national movement has shrunk its vision," says Urvashi Vaid, organizer, activist, and Visiting Scholar with the City University of New York Graduate Center’s Department of Sociology. ; The LGBT movement has become too focused on appeasing, and remains centered around the needs and wishes of white middle-class men--at the expense of women and people of color, and poor people around the country.After the election, Urvashi gave the 2010 Kessler Lecture at the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies at CUNY and called for intersectional, grassroots movements that look beyond formal equality to true social justice. She joins Laura in studio to talk about just that--integrating racial and gender justice aspects into the larger progressive movement.
GRITtv: Avram Finkelstein: Silence = Death
"Institutionally, silence is about control. Personally, silence is about complicity," said Avram Finkelstein, one of the designers of the iconic Silence = Death poster in the age of AIDS. In this clip from our friends at Silence Opens Doors magazine, Finkelstein discusses the poster, the movement in the Reagan era, and why speaking out matters.
GRITtv: The F Word: Banning Art, Forgetting the Artists
This Wednesday was World AIDS day, but instead of honoring the lives lost to the disease, Republicans are attacking art that reflects on it. They're targeting a show at the National Portrait Gallery called "Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture." The gallery has pulled a video by David Wojnarowicz called "Fire In My Belly." John Boehner and the Catholic League complained that the video's use of Catholic imagery was an attack on their religion. Wojnarowicz died of AIDS-related complications in 1992, but I asked his old friend Philip Yenawine for some thoughts. Distributed by Tubemogul.
GRITtv: The F Word: Transgender Day of Remembrance
We spent some time this year talking about “It gets better.” The point of that campaign, of course, was to convince gay, lesbian, and transgender kids who might be experiencing bullying and threats, that life gets better and people will accept them. Distributed by Tubemogul.
GRITtv: The F Word: Changing Deadly Hate in the Military
President Obama's go-slow approach to ending "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" discrimination in the military has left repeal on life support in a lame-duck session of Congress. Well thanks for nothing, Mr. President. But it's not just him. How about our justice strategy? As we mark another Veterans -- or Armistice - Day, with LGBT vets shut up and shut out, it's time we called an Armistice on making nice to our military. Distributed by Tubemogul.
