Facing Reality 4 Social Justice

The Asian Labour Review has done excellent work discussing the situation of working people in Asia - from the ground up. Their podcast series - Continent of Resistance (https://rss.com/podcasts/continentofresistance/) - gives us the sounds of organizing and struggle. Now they move to work with people to develop a program of training and learning to build a network of communicators who can build on this beginning.This episode of Facing Reality 4 Social Justice talks to Kevin Lin, Managing Editor of Asian Labour Review, on why and how the Review is taking this step to develop a school for people to more deeply understand the conditions of working people in Asia and how to communicate this story.The interview with Kevin will be followed by a short poem from a member of the Myanmar Rohingya community now living in Bangladesh as a refugee.

This episode of Facing Reality 4 Social Justice is a wide-ranging interview with Kyaw Kyaw, a guitarist and lyricist and member of the Myanmar Punk Rock group, Rebel Riot. Their music is part of the culture of resistance to the country's military government as we'll hear with three selections from their newly released album - to...Dear Comrade. You can find their music at https://bandcamp.com. Rebel Riot is also part of an international punk rock network using music as a beacon of anti-establishment thought - most often in a progressive direction.

I’ll be talking to Peter Werbe about his book – Summer on Fire – a Detroit Novel. This novel details how a group of people around the alternative newspaper – Fifth Estate – reacted to the reality of an urban uprising happening around them.Summer in Detroit was hot in 1967. And people were anxious. War was raging in Vietnam and the body count was growing – and opposition to the war was growing right along with the count.  John Kennedy has been assassinated in 1963 and Malcolm X had also been killed two years after that. Dr. King and SNCC had been leading some very vocal civil rights actions but have only had some important but often only symbolic victories. For most people – especially for African-Americans – life went on as usual. The status quo held. We’d like to thank you for joining us in Facing Reality 4 Social Justice as we look at a fictional account of what happened in Detroit during the summer of 1967.

Interview with Hector Rivera based on article he wrote for Tempest Magazine (tempestmag.org). How much is the change from Obrador to Sheinbaum also a change from the AMLO program - if at all? What are the headwinds the new government will face? What are the implications for the people of Mexico and their organizations? The interview will be followed by a song dedicated to a hero of the 1910-20 Mexican Revolution, Pancho Villa, and sung by Amparo Ochoa.

Thanks for joining us today in Facing Reality 4 Social Justice as we look at an important piece of our continuous struggle for a decent life and we talk to Jonathon Thompson about an article he recently wrote for High Country News about the fight to protect public land – land set aside for the use of us the people – from land grabbers using an innovative technique – State’s Rights and the national crisis of affordable housing.

France is in political turmoil. That's a good thing because it opens possibilities that didn't exist before. The New Popular Front Party (NPF) - a coalition of leftwing parties - is now the largest political force in France. But what does that mean?We have a conversation today with John Mullen, a Marxist and long term resident of France, who is also active in the NPF. He gives us an excellent description of the dynamics of mobilization that came together to not only defeat the neo-fascist party of France but also received more votes than the Center party that now runs the country. This is s story that needs to be followed.

Carl Sandburg's poems are as relevant today as when they were written. Here are four poems from his 1916 series Chicago Stories which show his insight to the class and social distinctions he saw. He was a democratic socialist in his early days and that comes through in many of his works.This episode of Facing Reality 4 Social Justice is using four of his poems - Anna Imroth, Fences, All Day Long and Masses - to show his understanding of how working people suffer under forces that might seem overwhelming. The poems will be accompanied with commentary and music.

In 1936 the Spanish army decided on a coup to get rid of the leftwing government just elected. They were successful but only after a 3 year civil war that decimated the country. Unions and leftwing parties organized an armed resistance to the army and their fight became a battle cry against fascism. Their efforts were often not only against the military coup - but for social and economic change as well.This episode of Facing Reality 4 Social Justice will feature five soldier poets who were part of that revolutionary movement. Manuel Altolaguirie, John Cornford, Jose Herrera Petere, Julio Guillen and Miguel Hernandez joined the battle for justice with their voices and with their bodies. Two of them - Cornford and Hernandez - died because of their efforts.Their voices - their poems - are an important part of the culture of resistance that still has resonance today.