Media Roundtable

On the next Your Call, it's our Friday Media Roundtable. Former BART officer Johannes Mehserle was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the shooting death of Oscar Grant. Large crowds gathered in downtown Oakland to protest the verdict and express anger at the inequalities of the criminal justice system. We'll discuss coverage of the verdict, the criminal justice system, race, and police brutality. We'll be joined by Hard Knock Radio's Davey D and New America Media's Earl Ofari Hutchinson. What did you make of the coverage? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests:
Hard Knock Radio's Davey D

New America Media's Earl Ofari Hutchinson

Click to Listen: Friday Media Roundtable

Media Roundtable

On the next Your Call, it's our Friday Media Roundtable. This week, we'll discuss coverage of Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan's confirmation hearings, the aftermath of G20 Summit and the trial of a former BART Police Officer accused of shooting an unarmed BART passenger, Oscar Grant. We'll be joined by Real News Network's Paul Jay, Slate's Dahlia Litwick and independent journalist Thandi Chimurenga. Join us live at 11 or send us an email at feedback@yourcallradio.org. Where did you see the best reporting this week? It's Your Call, with Sandip Roy and you.

Guests:
Dahlia Lithwick, Slate magazine Supreme Court editor

Paul Jay, creator and CEO of The Real News Network

Thandi Chimurenga, an independent journalist covering the trial of former Bart police officer Mehserle for a coalition of independent media including Oakland Local and New America Media

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Media Roundtable

On the next Your Call, it's our Friday Media Roundtable. This week, we'll continue discussing coverage of the expanding oil disaster. Who is writing about vulnerable communities? We'll also discuss coverage of financial reform legislation and the G20 summit in Canada, which is costing Canadian taxpayers more than one billion dollars. We'll be joined by the Washington Independent's Anne Lowery, ColorLines' Brentin Mock and Toronto Star's Olivia Ward. Join us live at 11 or send us an email at feedback@yourcallradio.org. Where did you see the best reporting this week? It's Your Call, with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests:
Olivia Ward, a foreign affairs writer for the Toronto Star

Brentin Mock, a New Orleans-based reporter who contributes regularly to TheRoot.com and ColorLines

Annie Lowery, an economic reporter with the Washington Independent


Click to Listen: Media Roundtable

How have slavery and racism influenced our penal system?

How have the legacies of slavery and racism influenced our current penal system? On the next Your Call, we'll have a conversation with two authors who've written about the history and modern day realities of the U.S. prison system. The U.S. imprisons more people than any other country in the world--roughly 2.4 million are behind bars on a given day. What do the soaring rates, non-rehabilitative methods, and racist, classist patterns of incarceration in this country say about American society? Join us live at 11 or send us an email at feedback@yourcallradio.org. Does mass incarceration put democracy at risk? It's Your Call, with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guest:
Robert Perkinson--author of Texas Tough: The Rise of America's Prison Empire
Michelle Alexander--author of The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness

Click to Listen: How have slavery and racism influenced our penal system?

What Do We See Now in South Africa?

On the next Your Call, we'll have a conversation about South Africa. Sixteen years ago, the end of apartheid and the establishment of democracy in South Africa inspired the world. So what should we make of the racial and economic tensions troubling South Africa now? How are the challenges of creating a post-colonialist democracy similar or different from those we've faced in the United States? If you were active in opposing apartheid, do you still feel a sense of responsibility to the South African people? It's Your Call, with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests:
Gerald LeMelle, executive director of Africa Action

Leslie Dikeni, research associate at University of Pretoria, urban sociologist and co-editor of the book, The Poverty of Ideas: South African Democracy and the Retreat of the Intellectual.

Asghar Adelzadeh, an economist with United Nations University working on economic development models for South Africa.

Click to Listen: What Do We See Now in South Africa?

Do you Know Cornel West?

On the next Your Call, we'll play an interview Rose Aguilar recently did with Princeton Professor Cornel West. After several books about race and democracy, Dr. West shares his personal story in a new memoir called Brother West: Living and Loving Out Loud. He writes about how education transformed him from a "gangster with raw rage" into a civil rights activist. Dr. West will talk about moving to an all white neighborhood in Sacramento, California in 1967, meeting Ronald Reagan for the first time, and the continuing struggle for social justice. That's on the next Your Call with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guest:
Dr. Cornel West, professor of Religion and African American Studies at Princeton University

Click to Listen: Do you Know Cornel West?

How Do We Use Black History Month to Bridge Racial Divides?

On the next Your Call, we'll look at the history of Black History Month, what it has to teach and how it can continue to be relevant today. Half a century away from the Civil Rights Movement and with a black president in office, how do we as a society relate to race? Do we talk about it too much? Not enough? Do institutions like Black History Month help spark important investigations and conversations about race?

Join us live at 11 a.m. or send your questions and comments to feedback@yourcallradio.org. How does looking into history create honest dialogue about race in today's world? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar, and you.

Guests:
Dr. Daryl Michael Scott, professor of history at Howard University and Vice President of Programs at the Association for the Study of African-American Life and History (ASALH).

Tammy Johnson, director of strategic partnerships at the Applied Research Center in Oakland--which publishes Color Lines; Tammy is also a community organizer, trainer and writer versed in race and public policy.

Kevin Epps, community activist and award-winning filmmaker from the Bay Area; producer of the 2002 documentary Straight Outta Hunter's Point and, more recently, The Black Rock.

Click to Listen: How Do We Use Black History Month to Bridge Racial Divides?

How did Angel Island Change America?

One hundred years after the opening of the U.S. Immigration Station at Angel Island, we look at the history of its opening and the people who came through its gates. How does the story of immigrants in the U.S. look different through the stories of Angel Island than those of Ellis Island? What happened at Angel Island and how did it shape California, and the country? It's Your Call with Sandip Roy and you.

Guests:
Eddie Wong, executive director of the Angel island Immigration Station Foundation
Judy Young, professor of American Studies at UC Santa Cruz and author of Island: Poetry and history of Chinese immigrants on Angel Island
Casey Lee, who has lived on Angel Island for the past nine years working as an interpreter

Click to Listen: How did Angel Island Change America?

Do you Know Cornel West?

On the next Your Call, we'll play an interview Rose Aguilar recently did with Princeton Professor Cornel West. After several books about race and democracy, Dr. West shares his personal story in a new memoir called Brother West. He writes about how education transformed him from a "gangster with raw rage" into a civil rights activist. Dr. West will talk about moving to an all white neighborhood in Sacramento, California in 1967, meeting Ronald Reagan for the first time, and the continuing struggle for social justice. That's on the next Your Call with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests:
Cornell West, author of Brother West: Living and Loving Out Loud, A Memoir

Click to Listen: Do you Know Cornel West?

Your Call 083109 Hurricane Katrina Four Years Later--What's Changed?

What has changed since Hurricane Katrina devastated parts of Louisiana and Mississippi four years ago? On the next Your Call, we'll speak with two women whose lives have been forever altered by the tragedy. Katrina was the largest hurricane of its strength to reach the United States in recorded history. More than 1800 people were killed and 700,000 displaced. Who's returned since the hurricane? And how are people surviving both the aftermath of the storm and the economic crisis? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar.

Guests:
Colette Pichon Battle, president of the board of Moving Forward and program director of the Gulf Coast Fellowship for Community Transformation

Sharon Hanshaw, executive director of Coastal Women for Change

Click to Listen: Hurricane Katrina Four Years Later--What's Changed?

Your Call 021909 What are the Weather Underground's founders saying today?

Forty years after they announced their intentions to overthrow the U.S. government by any means necessary, what is the message of the founders of the Weather Underground today? On the next Your Call, we'll speak with Bill Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn, co-founders of the Weather Underground and authors of Race Course Against White Supremacy. Why are they placing white supremacy at the center of their analysis of American politics? You can join us by calling in or emailing us at feedback@yourcallradio.org. What has changed since the heyday of activism 40 years ago? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests:
William Ayers & Bernadine Dohrn in San Francisco
Former leaders of the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and the Weather Underground. Bill is now Distinguished Professor of Education and Senior University Scholar at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Bernadine is an associate professor at Northwestern University School of Law and the Director of Northwestern's Children and Family Justice Center.

They co-authored a book, Race Course Against White Supremacy, and Bill just re-released his memoir, Fugitive Days: Memoirs of an Anti- War Activist.

Click to Listen: What are the Weather Underground's founders saying today?

Your Call 011909 How has the struggle for racial and social justice changed?

How has the struggle for racial and social justice changed over time? On the next Your Call, we'll discuss Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s ideas of racial equality and social justice. This year, Martin Luther King Day coincides with the inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama, the nation's first black head of state. Many people see Obama's presidency as a realization of King's dream. What do different generations still have to learn from one another about race in America? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar.

Guests:
Robert Smith, SF State political science professor

Mike Turner, Poet, Youth Speaks

Click to Listen: How has the struggle for racial and social justice changed?

Your Call 100108 Governing through Crime

What would a progressive response to crime look like? On the next Your Call, we'll speak with Jonathan Simon, associate dean at Berkeley's School of Law and author of Governing through Crime: How the War on Crime Transformed American Democracy and Created a Culture of Fear. After the New Deal coalition fell apart in the 60s, Simon argues that civil rights and economic equality advances were reversed by a national obsession with personal safety. How is that playing out today? It's Your Call with Sandip Roy.

Guest: Jonathan Simon, associate dean at Berkeley's School of Law and author of Governing through Crime: How the War on Crime Transformed American Democracy and Created a Culture of Fear

Click to Listen: Governing through Crime

Your Call 092908 Barriers to Democracy in America

How open is the American political system? On the next Your Call, we'll have a conversation with Harper's publisher John MacArthur. He is out with a new book entitled You Can't Be President: The Outrageous Barriers to Democracy in America. With Barack Obama and Sarah Palin on the big party tickets, are we closer than ever to a nation where anyone can aspire to be president? How democratic is our presidential politics? It's Your Call, with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests: John MacArthur, Harper's publisher, and author of You Can't Be President: The Outrageous Barriers to Democracy in America

Click to Listen: Barriers to Democracy in America

Your Call 042908 The Death of Dr. King

Forty years after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., how relevant is his message today? On the next Your Call, we'll speak with Michael Eric Dyson, author of April 4, 1968: Martin Luther King Jr.'s Death and How it Changed America. Dyson tells personal stories about King, specifically how he thought about and prepared for his assassination. He said he went to bed many nights scared to death. How have King's words impacted the political conversation we're having today? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar.

Guest:
Michael Eric Dyson in San Francisco
University Professor of Sociology at Georgetown University and author of sixteen books including April 4, 1968: Martin Luther King Jr.'s Death and How It Changed America

Michael Eric Dyson Events:

• Tuesday night in Lafayette


• Wednesday afternoon in San Francisco


• Wednesday night in Oakland

Click to Listen: The Death of Dr. King

Your Call 120607 Blacks, race and class: Are attitudes of blacks towards blacks changing?

Is class difference dividing African Americans? On the next Your Call we discuss a controversial new poll from Pew and NPR that suggests class trumps race in determining social values. Critics say the poll really measures a decades long effort by conservatives to say racism is dead in America. As more African Americans enter the middle class, is the meaning of blackness changing for the worse or is diversity a sign of the health of black identity in America? It's Your Call with Sandip Roy and you.

Guests:
Scott Keeter, Director of Survey Research for the Pew Research Center

Earl Ofari Hutchinson, author and commentator on contemporary American political culture. He is the author of the recently released Latino Challenge to Black America: Towards a Conversation Between African Americans and Hispanics 

Sherrilyn Ifill, Professor at the University of Maryland School of Law and a commentator on the group blog, BlackProf.com. 

Click to Listen: Blacks, race and class: Are attitudes of blacks towards blacks changing?