The Next World

Host Max Rameau talks with leaders of the Cooperation New Orleans Loan Fund: Tamah Yisrael, the Education and outreach coordinator, and Tamara Prosper, the Loan Steward. Together, they discuss unions, capitalism, and organizing for cooperative economics in the deep south. BIOS Tamara Prosper is the Loan Steward at Cooperation New Orleans. She is an avid reader and writer who grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia, came to New Orleans for a college education, graduated, got married, and decided to make New Orleans her home. Tamara has worked in non-profit fundraising and development, program management, education, long-term care as a Social Services Director, then as a Nursing Home Administrator. She’s worked as a Dementia Care Coach and a stay-at-home mom. Most recently, in an effort to address the root causes of illnesses and injuries that create a need for long term care services, her work included addressing the social determinants of health and managing primary care offices. She’s also an entrepreneur. With her husband, Tamara owns Sheaux Fresh Sustainable Foods, a 12 year old business dedicated to making fresh produce accessible to all members of our community. She also owns a tour and travel planning service called Legacy Tours, and in 2017 published a book called, “The Elders.” Tamah Yisrael is currently organizing a cooperative movement and is education and outreach coordinator of Cooperation New Orleans Loan Fund. She is also Chief Solutions Officer of TMH Financial Services LLC and a member of Resolve Financial Cooperative. She established her firm in October 2018 to provide business development, bookkeeping and management services to small businesses, nonprofits, and social impact enterprises in the Greater New Orleans Area. She currently provides Outsourced Executive Director Services to Builders of the Highway Foundation (BOTH Foundation) a national nonprofit. Under her leadership BOTH Foundation has merged the Temple of Brothers of Sisters of Goodwill and Neo Jazz School of Music under its umbrella and has developed educational community centers in New Orleans, Miami, and Orlando. She is also a partner of Yisrael Records Inc. an independent record label and producer of jazz and contemporary music who provides management of local artist such as the Yisrael Trio. Her community advocacy efforts are focused on cultural awareness, social justice, and access to healthy foods. In her role as President of the board of directors for the New Orleans Food Coop, she was able bridge the connection in all three of these sectors. Additionally, she has been recognized by the Metro Birmingham Branch of the NAACP in its Annual Salute to Outstanding African American for her contributions to culture and youth of the community. She is a graduate of the Foundation for Louisiana’s TOGETHER Initiative LEAD Community Training Program, UNO’s Community Development Finance program, Cooperation Works’ Art & Science of Cooperative Development. She continues to serve community on various committees and working groups to build a more equitable society. For more on the topics we discussed, see these links: Cooperation New Orleans website Local article on Cooperation New Orleans Cooperation New Orleans linktree Cooperation New Orleans Instagram page Support the show

Host Max Rameau talks with Judith Le Blanc of the Native Organizers Alliance. Together, they discuss organizing in Native nations, protecting sacred spaces, lessons from Standing Rock, and celebrating victories. Judith LeBlanc is a member of the Caddo Tribe who has an endless appetite for fry bread, an inter-tribal culinary delight! As the executive director of Native Organizers Alliance (NOA), she has learned many intertribal secrets to good fry bread. She leads a national Native training and organizing network which supports tribes, traditional societies, and grassroots community groups in urban and tribal communities. Judith is part of a growing circle of Indian Country leaders who understand the necessity for an organized, durable ecosystem of Native leaders and organizers who lead with traditional values. NOA leads learning circles, training, and strategic planning sessions to support Native leaders in organizing the grassroots movements for structural reforms, leading to Native sovereignty and racial equity for all. Judith has worked since 2016 with the Brave Heart Society, a traditional Dakota women’s society, and the Yankton Sioux Tribe on the Mni Wakan Wizipan. It is a project to re-establish the Yankton Sioux and other Oceti Sakowin tribes’ inherent rights to co-management the Missouri River bio-region. Judith is a board member of IllumiNative and chair of the board of NDN. She is a 2019 Roddenberry Fellow. To learn more about the topics we discussed: Native Organizers Alliance Wounded Knee Support the show

On this episode, Mississippi organizers discuss their work to end state sanctioned violence in schools. We explore the statistics behind the fight to end corporal punishment in Mississippi and the other 18 states where it is still legal, and how Mississippi organizers have made progress in this crucial fight for change. This a fight for human rights, children's rights, dignity, and respect. Whether it's in schools, the workplace, or judicial systems, punishment is more readily and harshly given to people of color, especially on the bodies of Black boys and girls. From being used as a tool of domination and control on the plantation to a tool of correction in our schools, from whips to paddles to policies, we've taken the last lash! Featuring: Janice Harper, Mississippi Coalition to End Corporal Punishment Kameisha Smith, Nollie Jenkins Family Center Katie Coates, Cooperation Jackson Moderated by Tafari Melisizwe, Dignity in Schools Campaign Links: https://dignityinschools.org https://nolliejenkinsfamilycenter.org https://www.mscoalitiontoendcorporalpunishment.org https://cooperationjackson.org Support the show

On this episode, leaders from Black and immigrant community organizations discuss their work and draw out lessons and challenges for communities and local governments interested in working together to advance racial and economic justice. They discuss their fights for safe water infrastructure, stopping wage theft, combating police violence, and building restorative justice in schools. Featuring: Brooke Floyd, People’s Advocacy Institute Rosie Grant, Paterson Education Fund Shaw San Liu, Chinese Progressive Association-San Francisco Moderated by Ben Palmquist, Partners for Dignity & Rights BIOS: For over 20 years, Brooke Floyd has supported Mississippi children as a volunteer, AmeriCorps Tutor & Special Projects Coordinator, and as a public school & Head Start teacher. She previously served as the Director of Children’s Services at Stewpot Community Services. Brooke is currently the Coordinator for JXN People’s Assembly at People’s Advocacy Institute, engaging the community through education, providing access to information and resources, facilitating Assemblies, and bringing proposed solutions to elected officials. Brooke graduated from Tougaloo College and holds a M.S.Ed. from Jackson State University and an M.A.T. from Belhaven University. Rosie Grant is the Executive Director of the Paterson Education Fund (PEF), where she has given 28 years of educational leadership. Rosie has trained more than 500 students and adults to be workshop facilitators including Restorative Practices circle keepers, as well as worked to support relationship building, reduce suspensions, and promote student social and emotional well-being. She is skilled at convening cross-sector partnerships for education and leading difficult public dialog, particularly in the areas of multicultural communications and anti-racism. Shaw San Liu is the Executive Director at the Chinese Progressive Association. In her 14 years at CPA, Shaw San led the development of grassroots organizing and leadership development programs with the Tenant Worker Center, which includes services for low-wage Chinese immigrant workers and tenants living in San Francisco’s Chinatown. She also spearheaded campaign and alliance building to advance policy on labor and economic issues in the Bay Area. She co-founded the Progressive Worker Alliance, an alliance of low-wage worker centers in San Francisco and has extensive experience with labor and community organizing. Ben Palmquist works with Partners for Dignity & Rights, where he directs the New Social Contract program and supports organizing for health care as a human right. He has over 15 years of experience working with community organizations on health care, labor, housing and environmental rights across the U.S and in Indonesia and Ecuador. For more information on the topics of this episode, see: Co-Governance Report Peoples Advocacy Institute JXN People's Assembly Chinese Progressive Association - SF Paterson Education Fund Participatory Budgeting Project Democracy Beyond Elections Article: Building Bottom-Up Democracy Through Co-Governance Article: How to Build Multiracial Democracy at the Local Level Support the show

On this episode, we talk with Aisha Ahmed, an organizer with the Palestinian Youth Movement and the International League of People’s Struggle. Together, we look at the current resistance in Palestine, fighting against fascism, Black-Palestinian solidarity, and strategies for liberation. Aisha Ahmed is an organizer with the Palestinian Youth Movement and the International League of People’s Struggle. She is the vice general coordinator of the Bay Area chapter for PYM and sits on the national steering committee for the U.S. chapter of ILPS, and a student of Rama Kased at SFSU in the Ethnic Studies MA program. To learn more about the topics we discussed: The Palestinian Youth Movement Watch: Marc Lamont Hill, Noura Erakat and Aja Monet on Black-Palestinian Solidarity See more of the work of host Max Rameau at pacapower.org. Stay subscribed to The Next World for more news from the frontlines of movements for justice and liberation. Support the show

On this episode, we talk with Rukia Lumumba from the People’s Assembly, Jackson, Mississippi. Together, we discuss the state of Mississippi’s attempts to disenfranchise Black political power, and the revolutionary organizing happening now in response. Rukia Lumumba was named a "New Activist" by Essence magazine and an "Emerging Leader" by the Congressional Black Caucus. She is the daughter of community justice icons, the late Mayor Chokwe Lumumba and Nubia Lumumba, and continues the Lumumba family's rich history of advancing issues and initiatives that elevate the legal economical, health and educational rights of individuals, families and communities. For more than 18 years, she has worked within and outside the system to foster justice for all, especially as it relates to criminal justice disparities for people of color. A graduate of Howard University School of Law, Rukia clerked for the Juvenile Rights Division of the Washington, DC, Public Defender Service where she represented children and collected data on human rights violations at the former Oak Hill Youth Detention Center, one of the nation’s worst juvenile facilities. She served on the board of directors of the National Conference of Black Lawyers, an association of lawyers, activists and legal workers who defend human rights and expose the criminal justice disparities for people of color. She served as national coordinator of the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, a membership-based organization dedicated to promoting human rights and self-determination. She co-founded Katrina on the Ground, an initiative that organized over 700 college students to participate in post-Katrina relief efforts in Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama. She launched the Community Aid and Development Day Camp, an education and cultural enrichment program for over 200 children ages 6-16 in Jackson, Mississippi. Rukia currently co-chairs the People’s Assembly process in Jackson, Mississippi which works to increase community access to city government and to institutionalize People’s Assemblies as community governing models that enable a deep democratic participation of people in their own governance. She was selected as one of the brightest and most promising women of color by New York University Wagner School of Public Service and she is a 2011 Youth for Justice Leadership Fellow for the National Juvenile Justice Network. You can read more about the topics we discussed at these links: JXN People's Assembly People's Advocacy Institute JXN Unidivided Rukia Lumumba on twitter Makani Themba in The Nation Article from Mississippi Free Press on Power Grab Petition from Jackson Undivided Color of Change Petition JXN Unidivided on youtube See more of the work of host Max Rameau at pacapower.org. Stay subscribed to The Next World for more news from the frontlines of movements for justice and liberation. Support the show

On this episode, hear from a recent panel discussion featuring Sofia Lopez, Tomás Rivera, James DeFilippis, & Kesi Foster. Together, they discuss strategies to wrest control of housing from the real estate industry. Sofia Lopez is Deputy Campaign Director of Housing for the Action Center on Race and the Economy. Tomás Rivera is Executive Director of the Chainbreakers Collective. Dr. James DeFilippis is Associate Professor, Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University. Kesi Foster, moderating this discussion, is Co-Executive Director of Partners for Dignity & Rights. For more information on the topics of this episode, see also: dignityandrights.org https://dignityandrights.org/resources/from-the-ground-up-community-centered-policies-to-scale-equitable-development/ https://dignityandrights.org/resources/creating-community-controlled-deeply-affordable-housing-a-resource-toolkit-for-community-activists-allied-community-based-housing-developers/ Support the show

On this episode we present a panel discussion featuring Jessica Gordon Nembhard, Raj Patel, Rafaela Rodriguez, & Kesi Foster. Together, they discuss how what we eat connects to labor rights, health, culture, and more. Jessica Gordon Nembhard is professor of Community Justice and Social Economic Development in the Department of Africana Studies at John Jay College, CUNY. Dr. Gordon Nembhard is a political economist specializing in community economics, Black Political Economy and popular economic literacy. Her research and publications explore problematics and alternative solutions in cooperative economic development and worker ownership, community economic development, wealth inequality and community-based asset building, and community-based approaches to justice. Her most recent book is Collective Courage: A History of African American Cooperative Economic Thought and Practice. Raj Patel ​​ is an award-winning author, film-maker and academic. He is a Research Professor in the Lyndon B Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas, Austin and is the co-author of Inflamed: Deep Medicine and the Anatomy of Injustice and author of Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System. His first film, co-directed with Zak Piper, is the award-winning documentary The Ants & The Grasshopper. He can be heard co-hosting the food politics podcast The Secret Ingredient with Mother Jones’ Tom Philpott, and KUT’s Rebecca McInroy. Rafaela Rodriguez is the Director of Partnerships at the Worker-driven Social Responsibility (WSR) Network. Prior to joining WSR Network staff, Rafaela worked for over seven years in various national and international settings as an advocate working alongside human-trafficking survivors, migrants, and undocumented communities. In 2016, she supported the implementation of the second national WSR-Program in the dairy industry in Vermont and New York. She helped develop the Milk with Dignity Standards Council, the third-party monitor responsible for implementation of the Milk with Dignity Program, bringing dignified living conditions to farmworkers. For more information on the topics of this episode, see also: wsr-network.org/ dignityandrights.org rajpatel.org/ Support the show

On this episode, we talk with Njera Keith and Kristina Brown, the co-founders and Ministers of Cohesion of 400+1, a Black cooperative federation based in Texas. Together, we discuss reproductive justice, creating and holding Black space, revolutionary organizing, vanguardism, and gender politics in social movements. Njera Keith is a Diaspora oriented Black organizer whose focus is the development of movement philosophy and infrastructure that supports cohesion and unity in revolutionary struggle. She is the Founder and Executive Coordinator of Black Sovereign Nation, a pro-Black, autonomy-focused, and community-centered organization based in Austin, Texas. She is also the co-founder of 400+1, the world’s first Black cooperative federation, a liberatory blueprint, and a framework for dramatic economic and political shifts in global Black life. Kristina Brown is a social epidemiologist by training with a specialty in the identification and assessment of disparities (race and gender). Principally oriented in Black revolutionary struggle, Kristina is fascinated by the utility of spirit, culture and communications to define and cultivate a revolutionary agenda. Invested in applying her skills and empowering her community, she is the co-founder and executive director of Counter Balance: ATX. Counter Balance: ATX is a grassroots non-profit organization purposed to improving the quality of life of women of the global majority and impoverished women, by reimagining Black women's relationship to themselves and the world that impacts them. Most recently, Kristina co-founded 400+1; the world's first Black cooperative federation and Counter Balance's parent organization, to build economic and political power across the Diaspora. It is her hope that this framework will be the vehicle for mass movement and result in propelling Black folx to a world unimaginable, beyond survival. Kristina is currently exploring how sensory-based experiences can improve the health of the Diasporic consciousness. This includes information about what we are naming as healing habits that result in a holistic resistance to the impacts of racialized oppression. You can read more about the topics we discussed at these links: 400+1's Spring Manifesto 400+1's 2021 Liberated Zone /Occupation 400+1's Reproductive Revolution Manifesto 400+1 About Us 400+1 Linktree Njera Keith Linktree Njera Keith article in the Nation 400+1 Orisha Land See more of the work of host Max Rameau at pacapower.org. Stay subscribed to The Next World for more news from the frontlines of movements for justice and liberation. You can read more about the issues we explore on our podcast and much more at dignityandrights.org, the website of Partners for Dignity & Rights, as well as dignityinschools.org. Please subscribe and spread the word. You can find our archives here, or on nearly all podcast platforms. Support the show

Seventeen years after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, join us in exploring the legacy of Katrina and education justice. In conversation with host Max Rameau is Ruth Idakula, Program Director of Dignity in Schools Campaign. Ruth discusses the principles of restorative justice, New Orleans schools after Hurricane Katrina, how to sustain yourself in this work, and her own path from a childhood in Nigeria to organizing in New Orleans. For nearly two decades, Ruth S. Idakula has dedicated her life energy to organizing, education and advocacy for social, racial, and economic justice and equity. Born and raised in Nigeria, Ruth has been a resident of New Orleans for over 23 years. As a proud mother of three sons, she was called into public education organizing, advocacy and policy development by the blatantly racist takeover and privatization of public schools in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Ruth’s leadership is grounded in sustaining spiritual practices and she serves as a faith leader, religious educator, and facilitator for collective liberation in New Orleans and beyond. She is building a beautiful garden sanctuary in her backyard – and invites everyone to figure out what sustains you, what gives you life – and be not afraid to go do that! See more of the work of host Max Rameau at pacapower.org. Stay subscribed to The Next World for more news from the frontlines of movements for justice and liberation. You can read more about the issues we explore on our podcast and much more at dignityandrights.org, the website of Partners for Dignity & Rights, as well as dignityinschools.org. Please subscribe and spread the word. You can find our archives here, or on nearly all podcast platforms. Support the show

Join us in exploring art and abolition, with host Max Rameau and artist, professor, writer, and prison abolitionist Bryonn Bain. Bryonn talks with Max about his new book Rebel Speak: A Justice Movement Mixtape, and the multimedia production of his play Lyrics from Lockdown, playing at the Apollo Theatre on August 29th. They also discuss the Prison Industrial Complex, organizing through the arts, the importance of mental health, and influences; including Albert Woodfox, Lani Gunier, and Kellis Parker. Artists mentioned include Maya Jupiter, Liberation Family (artist Chen Lo) & Suckerpunch (Mic Crenshaw). Bryonn Bain is Brooklyn’s own prison activist, actor, hip hop theater innovator and spoken word poetry champion. Described by Cornel West as an artist who “...speaks his truth with a power we desperately need to hear,” his theater, film and television work are critically acclaimed – from his award winning BET talk show “My Two Cents,” and Emmy nomination for “BaaadDDD Sonia,” to this year’s Emmy award for “LA Stories.” Playing over 40 characters in his one-man theater production, Lyrics From Lockdown is executive produced by Harry Belafonte (“BlacKkKlansman”), and tells the story of Bain’s wrongful imprisonment through hip hop theater, spoken word poetry, blues, calypso, comedy and letters exchanged with fellow poet and friend, Nanon Williams – who was wrongfully sentenced to Death Row at just 17 years old. Wrongfully imprisoned in his second year at Harvard Law, Bryonn sued the NYPD, and told his story for 20 million viewers on "60 Minutes" in an interview with Mike Wallace. After writing The Village Voice cover story “Walking While Black: The Bill of Rights for Black America,” his work received the largest response in the history of the nation's most widely read progressive newspaper. Bain produced the Lyrics on Lockdown Tour, which reached 25 states, and spawned higher education courses using the performing arts to build literacy in prisons nationwide. For the decade that followed, Bain taught courses using the arts on Rikers Island penal colony. After teaching hip hop, spoken word and theater at Harvard, Bain founded the prison education program at NYU to offer higher education and college degrees to men incarcerated in upstate New York. Bryonn founded and directs the Prison Education Program at UCLA, where he has developed and taught arts-based courses and programs in LA prisons including the California Institute for Women, Barry J. Nidorf Juvenile Hall, Camp Joseph Scott and Central Juvenile Hall. You can read more about the issues we explore on our podcast and much more at dignityandrights.org, the website of Partners for Dignity & Rights. See more of the work of host Max Rameau at pacapower.org. Subscribe to The Next World for more news from the frontlines of movements for justice and liberation. Support the show

On this episode, we discuss the intersection where food justice meets Black liberation. Joining host Max Rameau are Mama Savi Horne and Baba Fred Carter, two organizers who are also on the board of the National Black Food & Justice Alliance. Baba Fred Carter works with Black Oaks Center for Sustainable Renewable Living, a 40 acre off-grid eco campus in Illinois that is engaged in a campaign against NICOR to stop the development of a pipeline and push for a Renewable Pembroke. Baba Fred is chair of the National Black Food & Justice Alliance. Mama Savi Horne works with Land Loss Prevention Project, a law firm and advocacy organization for farmers and land stewards, which has provided assistance and resources to those at threat of losing their land, as well as engaged in the advocacy and support around debt relief for Black farmers. Mama Savi is co-chair of the National Black Food & Justice Alliance. Baba Fred Carter talks about how the murder of his cousin Emmet Till affected his family, the power of your plate, Monsanto, and being inspired by a new generation of activists. Mama Savi Horne discusses what choices mean when it comes to food, the struggle against Black land loss, the right to food, and food access. See more of the work of host Max Rameau at pacapower.org. Stay subscribed to The Next World for more news from the frontlines of movements for justice and liberation. You can read more about the issues we explore on our podcast and much more at dignityandrights.org, the website of Partners for Dignity & Rights. Please subscribe, spread the word, and support the show. Support the show

On this episode, part two of a two part interview, Mamyrah Prosper discusses the aftermath of the assassination of Haitian president Jovenel Moïse, as well as grassroots responses. This interview was recorded just days before the recent earthquake added to the turmoil in Haiti. Mamyrah Prosper is International Coordinator for Community Movement Builders, and Assistant Professor of Global and International Studies at UC Irvine. She immigrated to the U.S. from Haiti at age 15, leaving her parents behind, and moved in with her sister’s family in New Jersey. Following a family tradition of activism for social justice – her father was a human and labor rights activist – she champions causes including women’s rights, affordable housing and land rights. Her doctoral dissertation focuses on the Haitian Platform for Advocacy for an Alternative Development, a central social movement for social justice in Haiti. Outside of the classroom, Mamyrah has volunteered at Take Back the Land, the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, and the Correctional Association of New York. During her time at FIU, she helped organize two conferences on Afro-Latino social movements and feminist reimaginings of the nation that involved academics, students, activists and performing artists. She also served as a teaching assistant and lecturer. Mamyrah has authored and co-authored dozens of peer-reviewed book chapters, peer-reviewed journal articles, book reviews and encyclopedia entries. See more of the work of host Max Rameau at pacapower.org. Stay subscribed to The Next World for more news from the frontlines of movements for justice and liberation. You can read more about the issues we explore on our podcast and much more at dignityandrights.org, the website of Partners for Dignity & Rights. Support the show

On this episode, part one of a two part interview, Mamyrah Prosper discusses her personal history as the daughter of a political prisoner in Haiti through her movement activism and work as a scholar, as well as recent Haitian political history, from the Duvaliers through Jovenel Moïse. Stay tuned for part two, as we discuss the assassination of Moïse and the aftermath, as well as grassroots responses. Mamyrah Prosper is International Coordinator for Community Movement Builders, and Assistant Professor of Global and International Studies at UC Irvine. She immigrated to the U.S. from Haiti at age 15, leaving her parents behind, and moved in with her sister’s family in New Jersey. Following a family tradition of activism for social justice – her father was a human and labor rights activist – she champions causes including women’s rights, affordable housing and land rights. Her doctoral dissertation focuses on the Haitian Platform for Advocacy for an Alternative Development, a central social movement for social justice in Haiti. Outside of the classroom, Mamyrah has volunteered at Take Back the Land, the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, and the Correctional Association of New York. During her time at FIU, she helped organize two conferences on Afro-Latino social movements and feminist reimaginings of the nation that involved academics, students, activists and performing artists. She also served as a teaching assistant and lecturer. Mamyrah has authored and co-authored dozens of peer-reviewed book chapters, peer-reviewed journal articles, book reviews and encyclopedia entries. See more of the work of host Max Rameau at pacapower.org. Stay subscribed to The Next World for more news from the frontlines of movements for justice and liberation. You can read more about the issues we explore on our podcast and much more at dignityandrights.org, the website of Partners for Dignity & Rights. Please subscribe, spread the word, and support the show. Support the show

Cole WIlliams of the Greater New Orleans Citizen's Relief Team talks with host Max Rameau about liberating homes owned by the city of New Orleans, renovating them, and moving in unhoused people. Described as having ​“the heart of Bob Marley, soul of Sam Cooke and grit of Etta James”,​ New Orleans-based Cole Williams and The Cole Williams Band (CWB) has rooted their sound in the tradition of ​Gil Scott-Heron​, creating songs that reflect the everyday experiences and hopes of Black people all around the world. Their new album, ​“Give Power to the People''​ are anthems of the Movement for Black Lives and certainly for people struggling to make sense out of this dangerous and hopeful moment. Over the course of her career, Cole has provided vocals and percussion for Joey Bada$$, Chiddy Bang, Beats By The Pound, Aloe Blacc, Little Jackie, Diane Birch, Somi, Lisa Lisa and the Cult Jam, Kaissa, Dana Fuchs, Pimps Of Joytime, Holy Warriors (Harold Brown, Bill Summers, Bruce “Sunpie” Barnes), and commercial/tv recordings for CoverGirl, JCPenney, Suave, Smash, and Khloe and Kourtney Take Miami. CWBs’ live performance highlights include The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, Joshua Tree Music Festival, French Quarter Festival, Blue Note NYC and opened for India Arie, Emily King, Ozomatli, The Wild Magnolias, Corey Henry and Treme Funktet, and Lauryn Hill. Following frequent street demonstrations at New Orleans’ City Hall, Williams and T​he Greater New Orleans Citizens Relief Team​ organized and succeeded in getting the City to provide emergency housing in empty hotels in August 2020, and now they are renovating City-owned blighted houses with the presently unhoused people that will live in them. “We are calling all creatives to action. Now is the time for musicians, artists, dancers, rappers, poets, actors and actresses to unite and design a culture where we share our gifts, skills, talents and resources with the least of ours, specifically in the unhoused community, to create a world where wealth is shared equally, and white supremacy cannot survive” The bedrock of The Cole Williams Band’s new album and community organizing follows the course civil rights veteran, Ella Baker, taught that created a successful and historic freedom movement. ​“Give Power To The People”,​ articulates the core of their organizing: go to the poorest people, create a shared plan for advancement, raise the spirits and awareness of our people, gain broad support and make it happen. “We believe the practice of humanity is the blueprint for freedom and equality”. See more of the work of host Max Rameau at pacapower.org. Stay subscribed to The Next World for more news from the frontlines of movements for justice and liberation. You can read more about the issues we explore on our podcast and much more at dignityandrights.org, the website of Partners for Dignity & Rights. Please subscribe, spread the word, and support the show. Support the show

M. Adams, Co-Executive Director of Freedom, Inc, talks with host Max Rameau about Black-Asian solidarity, lessons from multiracial organizing in a mostly white Midwest city, and their recent victory in removing police from schools in Madison, Wisconsin. M. Adams is a community organizer and co-executive director of Freedom Inc. Born and raised in Milwaukee, Adams has been in Madison since 2003. Adams’s dad has been incarcerated most of her life and she comes from a community that has been the extreme targets of police violence. In March 2016, Adams’s mother transitioned after fighting cancer and many forms of violence. Adams is also a parent and sees her family as a primary motivator for her work. As a queer Black person, Adams has developed and advocated for a strong intersectional approach in numerous important venues. Adams is a leading figure in the Take Back the Land Movement, she presented before the United Nations for the Convention on Eliminating Racial Discrimination, she is a co-author of Forward from Ferguson and a paper on Black community control over the police, and she contributed to intersectionality theory in Why Killing Unarmed Black folks is a Queer issue. Freedom, Inc. (FI) is a Black and Southeast Asian non-profit organization that works with low- to no-income communities of color in Madison, Wisconsin. Their mission is to achieve social justice through coupling direct services with leadership development and community organizing that will bring about social, political, cultural, and economic change resulting in the end of violence against women, gender-non-conforming and transgender folks, and children within communities of color. FI works to challenge the root causes of violence, poverty, racism and discrimination. Their belief is that people who are most affected by these issues must have voice, power, resources and choice, in order for true social change to happen. See more of the work of host Max Rameau at pacapower.org. Stay subscribed to The Next World for more news from the frontlines of movements for justice and liberation. You can read more about the issues we explore on our podcast and much more at dignityandrights.org, the website of Partners for Dignity & Rights. Please subscribe, spread the word, and support the show. Support the show

Philadelphia Housing Action used direct action to force the city of Philadelphia to relinquish over 60 vacant homes for a community land trust for housing for the homeless. Sterling Johnson and Jenn Bennetch, two organizers with Philadelphia Housing Action, join host Max Rameau to discuss their victories and setbacks in their work to take over vacant housing in Philadelphia, and explore lessons for the movement for housing. See more of the work of host Max Rameau at pacapower.org. Stay subscribed to The Next World for more news from the frontlines of movements for justice and liberation. Thank you to Jesse Strauss for Audio Mixing and Editing. You can read more about the issues we explore on our podcast and much more at dignityandrights.org, the website of Partners for Dignity & Rights. Please subscribe, spread the word, and support the show. Support the show

This episode, adapted from a recent webinar hosted by Partners for Dignity & Rights, is an important conversation on community solutions to the interconnected crises we are facing in this political moment. Liz Sullivan-Yuknis of Partners for Dignity & Rights facilitated a conversation with frontline organizations, including: Scot Nakagawa, ChangeLab Adriana Foster, United Workers Letha Muhammad, Education Justice Alliance & Dignity In Schools Campaign Crystal Hayling, The Libra Foundation and poet Sunni Patterson. See more of the work of host Max Rameau at pacapower.org and Sha'Condria "iCon" Sibley at icontheartist.com. Thank you to Jesse Strauss for Audio Mixing and Editing. Stay subscribed to The Next World for more news from the frontlines of movements for justice and liberation. You can read more about the issues we explore on our podcast and much more at dignityandrights.org, the website of Partners for Dignity & Rights. Please subscribe, spread the word, and support the show. Support the show

On this special bonus episode of The Next World, we feature highlights from a recent conversation with organizations of essential workers and impacted communities. Cathy Albisa of Partners for Dignity & Rights facilitated a conversation on how we can not just save lives, but also expand human rights and make us all safer in the future. Speakers on this episode include: Poet and organizer Cynthia Dewi Oka. Tim Bell, Executive Director, Chicago Workers' Collaborative. Magaly Licolli, Cofounder of Venceremos. Merle Payne, Co-Director of Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en Lucha (CTUL). Scott Nova, Executive Director, Worker Rights Consortium. Marita Canedo, Program Coordinator, Migrant Justice - Justicia Migrante Todd Cherkis, Co-Founder, United Workers Nijmie Zakkiyyah Dzurinko, co-founder and co-coordinator Put People First! PA, co-chair PA Poor People’s Campaign and national steering committee member. Letha Muhammad, Director, Education Justice Alliance and Coordinating Committee Member, Dignity In Schools Campaign. Regan Pritzker, Board President, The Libra Foundation. And (in the Q&A) Marley Monacello, Staff, Coalition of Immokalee Workers. See more of the work of host Max Rameau at pacapower.org. Thank you to Jesse Strauss for Audio Mixing and Editing. Stay subscribed to The Next World for more news from the frontlines of movements for justice and liberation. You can read more about the issues we explore on our podcast and much more at dignityandrights.org, the website of Partners for Dignity & Rights. Please subscribe, spread the word, and support the show. Support the show

On this episode of The Next World, we focus on the organization Moms 4 Housing. Our guests are two members of the organization, Carroll Fife, Director of the Oakland chapter of Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment and current candidate for Oakland's District 3 City Council seat, and housing activist Dominique Walker, who participated in the first Moms 4 Housing housing takeover. Carroll and Dominique joined host Max Rameau to discuss what brought them to the act of civil disobedience of moving families into empty housing in Oakland, how they are handling the current pandemic, and what is next in the movement for housing. The episode also features an introduction and closing poem from Sha'Condria 'iCon' Sibley. Dominique Walker is a member of Moms 4 Housing who participated in the Oakland takeover and lived at the house with her family. Carroll Fife is an on-the-ground organizer, educator, mother and 20-year resident of Oakland. She has served as co-founder and co-chair of the Oakland Alliance, Oakland Justice Coalition, and the Community Ready Corps where she works to create racial justice and increase access to quality jobs, housing, and education for those who need them most. Carroll is the founder of Black Women in Elected Leadership PAC and an elected member of the Oakland NAACP’s Executive Committee. In 2014, she served as the Campaign Coordinator for a mayoral race that became the City's political compass and in 2016 she ran Oakland’s first African American, all-female slate. She currently serves as Director of the Oakland/San Francisco Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE) and is a candidate for Oakland's District 3 City Council seat. Sha’Condria "iCon" Sibley stands for those whose names are often overlooked and whose voices are even more so silenced in today’s society. A New Orleans based award-winning poet, writer, author, visual artist, multidisciplinary performing artist, teaching artist, event curator & coordinator, little girl (turned grown woman) with a big name, iCon has had much of her work featured on outlets such as Upworthy, Huffington Post, For Harriet, Fusion, Marie Claire, Teen Vogue, BET, and BBC World Radio. She uses her work/ words largely to speak on issues affecting Blk women as they relate to self-acceptance/ Love, (re)defining beauty, race relations, experiences growing up in the deep South, identity, and healing. See more at https://icontheartist.com, and look out for her new book, My Name is Pronounced Holy, this summer! See more of the work of host Max Rameau at pacapower.org. Stay subscribed to The Next World for more news from the frontlines of movements for justice and liberation. Thank you to Jesse Strauss for Audio Mixing and Editing. You can read more about the issues we explore on our podcast and much more at dignityandrights.org, the website of Partners for Dignity & Rights. Please subscribe, spread the word, and support the show. Support the show