Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP): Corporate Power Tool of the 1% 
with
Lori Wallach, Dir. Of Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch

Recently WikiLeaks released "the secret negotiated draft text for the entire TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership) Intellectual Property Rights Chapter. The TPP is the largest-ever economic treaty, encompassing nations representing 
more than 40 per cent of the world’s GDP."  WikiLeaks is sparking a public debate about the contents of this agreement that wasn't possible when the agreement was secret from public opinion. The TPP is much more than a 
trade and tariffs agreement, it will give transnational corporations greater control over our food policies, Internet access, medicines and health care, the environment, regulation of banks and labor standards. The TPP provides 
for trade tribunals permitting corporations to sue governments for the loss of “expected future profits,” if a country passes an environmental or a health law that will “cost the corporation money.”  Indeed corporations will have inordinate  power over virtually every aspect of our lives. Building Bridges entertains the discussion with Lori Wallach on the TPP that WikiLeaks intended.

https://archive.org/stream/BuildingBridgesTrans-pacificPartnershiptppCorporatePowerToolOfThe  
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https://archive.org/download/BuildingBridgesTrans-pacificPartnershiptppCorporatePowerToolOfThe/tppntl.mp3  
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Hey Governor Cuomo, We Need a Real Minimum Wage Now!
with
Assembly member Linda Rosenthal
Senator Jose Peralta
The Coalition for a Real Minimum-Wage Increase

The new minimum wage bill will not be indexed to inflation, instead Governor Cuomo’s wage bill raises the minimum wage to only $9 an hour in three years - too little, too late.  We need a real minimum wage increase that lifts people out of poverty and enables them to adequately support their families.  Governor Cuomo’s minimum wage law also excludes hundreds of thousands of tipped workers from receiving an increase and fails to allocate any resources for 
labor-law enforcement to investigate workers’ complaints of employers’ rampant violations of an failure to pay the minimum wage.  The Coalition for a Real Minimum Wage Increase is campaigning for a real minimum wage and to strengthen minimum wage law and its enforcement.

https://archive.org/stream/BuildingBridgesForARealNysMinimum-wageIncreaseNow     
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https://archive.org/download/BuildingBridgesForARealNysMinimum-wageIncreaseNow/minimumwageconfntl2.mp3  

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Court Halts NYC Stop-and-Frisk Ruling, Removes Judge 
with
Baher Azmy, Legal Director, Center for Constitutional Rights

On October 31, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit granted Mayor Bloomberg’s motion to stay the remedial decision in Floyd v. City of New York, a federal class action lawsuit filed against the NYPD and the City of New York that challenges the NYPD's practices of racial profiling and unconstitutional stop-and frisks. They also remanded the case to the District Court to assign a 
new judge. We’ll discuss what this decision means for the continuation of stop and frisk, the concerted, pernicious manifestation of racial stereotyping and criminalization of entire communities and whether judge Shira Scheindlin, who merely made public statements in which she answered critics of her ruling, 
was targeted for rebuke and removal from the case.

https://archive.org/stream/BuildingBridgesCourtHaltsNycStop-and-friskRulingInNyc
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 https://archive.org/download/BuildingBridgesCourtHaltsNycStop-and-friskRulingInNyc/stopandfriskrulingntl.mp3   
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A Woman Among Warlords: The Extraordinary Story of

an Afghan Woman Who Dared to Speak Out

with

Malalai Joya

Malalai Joya, is an extraordinary young woman who helped establish a free medical clinic and orphanage in her impoverished home province of Farah; and a constitutional assembly in Kabul, Afghanistan.  She became the youngest person elected to Afghanistan’s new Parliament, but in 2007 was suspended for her persistent criticism of the warlords, drug barons and their cronies.  She has survived four assassination attempts and now sleeps only

in safe houses, accompanied at all times by armed guards.  Malalai takes us inside her important and insufficiently understood country, explaining the desperate day-to-day situations its remarkable people face at every turn, and recounts some of the many acts of rebellion that are helping to change it. A controversial political figure in one of the most dangerous places on earth, Malalai Joya is a woman of tremendous grit and determination, a sheroe in the struggle for self-determination, for peace and justice.

https://archive.org/stream/BuildingBridgesMalalaiJoya-AnAfghanWomanWhoDaredToSpeakOut  
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https://archive.org/download/BuildingBridgesMalalaiJoya- AnAfghanWomanWhoDaredToSpeakOut/joyantl.mp3
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Former Mexican Guest Workers Seek $500 Million In Stolen Pensions 
with
Alianza de Ex-Braceros del Norte, a campaign affiliated with the International Migrants Alliance, a coalition of grassroots migrant organizations

A caravan of ex-braceros from Mexico in what they’re calling the Historic March for a Historic Debt came to the United Nations to denounce the human rights abuses of Enrique Pena Nieto’s administration that continue to this day.  The 
Bracero Program, established by the US and Mexican governments in 1942, was the country’s first guest worker program. The delegation of ex-braceros are calling public attention to the fact that millions of these workers, many of whom have died or are living under poor conditions, have yet to receive the 10% taken from their paychecks in promised pensions.  They are also calling for just immigration reform 
in the US because as the first guest workers, the ex-braceros can testify how guest worker policies legalize slavery and abuse. Currently, the Obama administration is 
pushing for a guest worker program as part of its Comprehensive Immigration Reform agenda.

http://archive.org/stream/FormerMexicanGuestWorkersSeek500MillionInStolenPensions 
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http://archive.org/download/FormerMexicanGuestWorkersSeek500MillionInStolenPensions/bracerosntl.mp3
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The I Am Troy Davis Campaign To Abolish the Death Penalty
with
*  Kimberly Davis,  Troy's sister
*  Jen Marlowe, author I Am Troy Davis
*  Eve Ensler, playwright, activist
*  Yusef Salaam, Central Park 5 and death penalty abolitionist
*  Lawrence Hayes (death row exonoree)
*  Rebel Diaz, RAP cultural worker, activist

Two years ago, the state of Georgia ignored the facts, doubts and pleas of hundreds of thousands of people and killed Troy Davis.  Now on the anniversary of his execution we invite you to listen to Building Bridges and reflect on Troy Davis and his legacy to abolish the death penalty and dismantle our inhumane system of caging human beings – “it will inspire courage in the heart of those who are willing to use their efforts to save lives and increase the quality of life for all people.”  Maya Angelou

http://archive.org/stream/BuildingBridgesTheIAmTroyDavisCampaignToAbolishTheDeathPenalty 
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http://archive.org/download/BuildingBridgesTheIAmTroyDavisCampaignToAbolishTheDeathPenalty/troydavisanniversaryntl3.mp3  

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Iraqi Workers in the Turbulent Middle East
with
Hassan Juma’a Awad,  founding member of and President of the Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions   

Building Bridges brings you an exclusive interview with Har labor 
rights, and the place of Iraq in the broader turmoil of the Middle East.ssan Juma’a Awad who was an opponent of the Saddam Hussein regime, a human rights activist, and unionist who was imprisoned by the Ba’athist regime three times for “subversive” activity.  Now, under the current Malaki government, Hassan and 
many others continue to face threats of jail and heavy fines for "threatening the economic interests and stability of the state" for challenging the ill-treatment of oil workers and the give-away of Iraqi oil to private companies.  

Unions played a vital role in the Arab Spring rebellions in Tunisia and Egypt as do the Iraqi workers who are also challenging their government. Hassan Juma’a Awad is a leading force in the movement of Iraqi workers, part of a broad mobilization of civil society organizations struggling to establish a democratic, non-sectarian society in Iraq after the war, with internationally accepted labor rights.  The Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions faces many of the 
same issues we face in the U.S.: struggles against privatization, the right to organize unions without retribution and with legal protection; and for the active role of unions in securing the interests of working people.  Tune in to hear Hassan’s report on the lives of Iraqi workers today, their fight for labor rights, and the place of Iraq in the broader turmoil of the Middle East.

http://archive.org/download/BuildingBridgesIraqiWorkersInTheTurbulentMiddleEast/iraqoilntl.mp3 

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http://archive.org/stream/BuildingBridgesIraqiWorkersInTheTurbulentMiddleEast 

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Riding with Robin Hood to Take from Wall Street

and Distribute to Main Street!
with
The Robin Hood Tax campaigners who take to the streets

Think about it, in this the wealthiest country in the world the newest USDA data shows more than 48.9 million Americans lived in households struggling against hunger in 2012. But, despite this the House Republican Leadership’s Nutrition-Only Farm Bill just cut $40 billion dollars from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the newest term for food stamps. They also voted to defund President Obama's health care law, setting up another fiscal showdown just before the October 1st  federal budget 

deadline. These draconian cuts are a renewed attack on all safety-net and poverty-alleviation programs. They say “where’s the beef, there’s no money”. 

But we say we’re sitting on a virtual pot of gold that could fund hunger, healthcare, and education.  So we’ll head to the streets of NY where Robin Hood and his followers say it's time to tax Wall Street to feed Main Street with a Robin Hood Tax.

http://archive.org/stream/BuildingBridgesTheRobinHoodTaxCampaignersTakeToTheStreets

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http://archive.org/download/BuildingBridgesTheRobinHoodTaxCampaignersTakeToTheStreets/robinhoodntl2.mp3 

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Four Arrested in NY Walmart Action in OurWalmart Nationwide Protests
with
The workers during the protest! 

Walmart workers visited the office of Board of Directors’ member Chris Williams to deliver a petition signed by over 200,000 people demanding Walmart commit to provide full-time work with a minimum salary of $25,000, reinstate workers who were fired for striking and agree to stop all retaliation against workers calling for better jobs. Four  were arrested when Williams failed to meet with them concerning their demands.Nationwide, one hundred Walmart workers and community members were arrested in 11 cities 

OurWalmart, is a union-backed members group, that has filed more than 100 unfair labor practice charges against Walmart with the National Labor Relations Board, including 20 illegal terminations and 80 disciplinary actions.

http://archive.org/stream/BuildingBridgesArrestsInNyWalmartUnionAction  
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http://archive.org/download/BuildingBridgesArrestsInNyWalmartUnionAction/ourwalmart2013ntl.mp3  
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Fast Food Forward Strike Again in NYC and Nationwide

Fast-food workers in New York City and around the country struck and rallied for higher wages and union protection.  They want a raise with those fries.  New York’s fast-food employees joined thousands of colleagues from across the country in a strike aimed at boosting their salaries to $15 an hour — more than double the current minimum rate- and the right to form a union, without retaliation or unfair labor practices.  It’s time for corporations to pay up.  

Low-wage workers from around the country engaged in the largest walkout ever to hit the $200 billion fast food industry. “I’m not going to stay quiet,” said Shaniqua Davis, 20, a Bronx resident and McDonald’s worker. “I’m going to continue to fight. ... I’ve got a daughter to take care of. I struggle to make ends meet.”  Paying the bills is tough for employees who typically earn the minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. Aside from New York, what was a nationwide walkout included 60 other cities, targeting chains like McDonald’s, Taco Bell and Wendy’s.

http://archive.org/stream /BuildingBridgesFastFoodForwardStrikesAgainInNycAndNationwide 
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http://archive.org/download/BuildingBridgesFastFoodForwardStrikesAgainInNycAndNationwide/fastfood2013ntl.mp3 

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                             Realizing the Dream!
Across the March of Time 1963 - 2013, for Jobs & Justice  
              Marching on Washington 

Spurred on by the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the shooting death of unarmed African-American teen Trayvon Martin, and the recent Supreme Court decision that ripped the heart out of the Voting Rights Act, legislation written in the blood of a people, both of which again exposed the wide racial divides in the nation, people boarded buses and headed to D.C. on the fiftieth anniversary of the 63’ March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.  They came again for voting rights, for educational opportunities, for employment 
and workers rights, and against the system of incarceration, police violence and laws the permit the murder of their children – all still unsettled issues. 

You’ll listen to and contrast the demands and sounds from the 63’ March with those of today.  You’ll hear the most heartfelt messages and evocative presentations that remind us of the original 63’ message - that the struggle for freedom and economic rights must coalesce for meaningful change. Be inspired, be renewed and recommit to agitate for Jobs, and Freedom after listening to interviews with civil rights icons, the sheroes and heroes who recount their sacrifices of then and prescriptions for today.  Be moved and excited by the fierce oratory from then and now.  

http://archive.org/stream/RealizingTheDream-MarchOnWashingtonForJobsAndJustice  
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http://archive.org/download/RealizingTheDream-MarchOnWashingtonForJobsAndJustice/Bb2013Marchntl.mp3 

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Analyzing The Landmark Decision
Holding Stop & Frisk Unconstitutional
with 
Samuel Walker, criminal justice expert, witness in the historic trial

Judge Scheindlin's decision confirms what the communities subject to being stopped and frisked  already knew, the NYPD's Stop & Frisk program violates the constitutional rights of Black and Latino New Yorkers every day.  Samuel Walker, takes us through Judge Scheindlin's voluminous decision to discuss what a monitor can do, what they’ve done in other states, and Judge Judge Scheindlin's  other recommendations included in her decision and still others that institutionalize the attack on racial profiling.  We’ll also discuss AG Eric Holder’s comments on minimum sentencing and criminal justice reform.
********************
Calls for Fed Gov to Investigate NYPD Killing of Ramarley Graham
with
Constance Malcolm, mother of Ramarley Graham

In the wake of a grand jury’s failure to indict killer cop Richard Haste, Constance Malcolm, the slain youth’s mother said,  “[I] am more than outraged, Richard Haste broke into our home and killed my son in cold blood.  The criminal justice system has failed us, just as it failed the family of Trayvon Martin.  We demand an immediate federal investigation into my son’s death.  We will continue to fight without rest until we win justice.”

http://archive.org/stream/BuildingBridgesLandmarkStopFriskDecisionNypdKillingOfRamarley

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http://archive.org/download/BuildingBridgesLandmarkStopFriskDecisionNypdKillingOfRamarley/stopandfriskntl.mp3

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Detroit: Pensions, Racism and Bankruptcy 
with
. Ross Eisenbrey, VP, Economic Policy Institute
. Richard (RJ) Eskow,  Senior Fellow, Campaign for America's Future
. Al Garrett,  President AFSCME Council 25

Detroit's economic woes can be tracked to capital flight, governmental policies and the results of institutional racism, not the wages and benefits its public workers received. But, ignoring these bedrock realities Michigan's Governor Snyder has appointed an Emergency Financial Manager for the cash strapped Detroit, Kevyn Orr ,  who has rushed into bankruptcy - seeking to balance the books on the workers's backs.  His bankruptcy filing will result in pilfering workers’ pension funds, while fundamentally ignoring the causes of the City's fiscal crisis.  Bankruptcy will seriously wound pensioners, despite the fact that the unfunded portion of the pension funds are minuscule and the plan's nconstitutional under Michigan’s Constitution.  Orr's undue attention to public workers pensions is part of a nationwide trend targeting the retirement security of working Americans -- especially pensions, Social Security, and Medicare.

http://archive.org/stream/BuildingBridgesDetroitPensionsRacismAndBankruptcy  
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http://archive.org/download/BuildingBridgesDetroitPensionsRacismAndBankruptcy/detroitbankntl.mp3 
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Fifty Years Later, Commemorating and Learning from One of the Great Moments in History - The 1963 March on Washington for Jobs, Freedom and Civil Rights  
with 
Professor William P. Jones, author of The March on Washington: Jobs, Freedom and Forgotten History of Civil Rights 

We’ll probe deeply into the significance of the massive 1963 march and the movement it inspired with civil rights and labor historian William P. Jones .  While in a resounding cadence, King lifted the crowd when he told of his dream that all Americans would join together to realize the founding ideal of equality, the very power of  King speech has also narrowed our understanding of the march organized by A. Philip Randolph Pres. of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. Prof. Jones reminds us that this was a movement of sustained grassroots organizing, linked locally to women’s groups, unions, civil rights and faith-based organizations across the country – it was a movement of the grassroots.  Prof. Jones restores the march to its full significance and with his fresh, compelling history delivers a new vision of this emblematic event and the broader movement it propelled and what it instructs for building a movement now for Jobs Freedom and Civil rights as we get ready to return once again  to March on Washington on August 24th to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the first March to demand the implementation of its still unrealized goals of Jobs and Freedom.
  http://archive.org/stream/BuildingBridgesThe1963MarchOnWashingtonForJobsAndFreedom  
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http://archive.org/download/BuildingBridgesThe1963MarchOnWashingtonForJobsAndFreedom/MarchJonesntl2.mp3  

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Restaurant Labor Leader Responds to Paula Deen Controversy: 
For Restaurant Workers Discrimination Is As American As Apple Pie
with
Saru Jayaraman, Co-Founder and Co-Director, Restaurant 
Opportunities Centers United, Director of the Food Labor Research Center at U.C. Berkeley, author Behind the Kitchen Door

Lisa Jackson who sued Paula Deen, said that her “lawsuit has never been about the "N-word,”  its purpose was “to address Deen’s patterns of disrespect and degradation of people that she deems to be inferior.”  The former manager at Deen’s restaurant Uncle Bubba's Seafood and Oyster House, sued Deen and her brother Bubba Hiers saying that the work environment was rife with discrimination, and she could no longer tolerate Deen’s abuse of power as an owner, nor Mr. Hier’s despicable behavior routinely.  Unfortunately, the revelations about  Deen's treatment of workers of color is neither new or unique in the restaurant industry. More than a third of all workers of color, who were surveyed reported that they experienced discriminatory treatment on the basis of race, including verbal abuse, being passed over  a promotion, racial epithets, and more. This treatment has real impact for the lives of workers and their families - because they have been discriminated against, workers of color are segregated into the industry's lowest-paying positions and segments (e.g. fast food rather than fine dining). Saru Jayaraman takes us Behind The Kitchen Door to expose the extensive discrimination and hardships of restaurant workers. 

http://archive.org/stream/BuildingBridgesRestaurantWorkersDiscriminationIsAsAmericanAsApplePie   play stream 

http://archive.org/download/BuildingBridgesRestaurantWorkersDiscriminationIsAsAmericanAsApplePie/sarurocntl.mp3   download

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Thousands Continue to Rally for “Justice for Trayvon”  

As legal experts continue to deconstruct the “not  guilty” verdict in the George Zimmerman trial — the man accused of murdering Trayvon Martin — an ugly truth rears its head again: racial disparities are alive and well in our criminal justice system. “In truth, when African-American boys and men are killed by non- blacks, more often than not, justice will not be served.  Trayvon Martin is the latest name on a long list of African-American men and boys whose non-black killers escaped justice in America's courts — a list that runs from Emmett Till to Amadou Diallo to Oscar Grant to Sean Bell. Meanwhile, "Justice for Trayvon" rallies and vigils continue to be held throughout the country.  

Building Bridges brings you highlights of the New York City rally, where the Rev. Al Sharpton demanded that the Justice Department pursue a federal civil rights case against Zimmerman and called for a rollback of stand-your-ground self-defense laws.  Martin's mother, Sybrina Fulton, also spoke to the New York crowd. "Today it was my son. Tomorrow it might be yours," she said. 

http://archive.org/stream/BuildingBridgesjusticeForTrayvon-ThousandsContinueToRally

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http://archive.org/download/BuildingBridgesjusticeForTrayvon-ThousandsContinueToRally/TrayvonRallyntl2.mp3

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Prison Inmates Hunger Strike for Their Lives
with
Delores Canales, member of California Families to Abolish Solitary Confinement (Cfasc),  Advisory Board of CURB (Californians United for a Responsible Budget) and LWSGI (Lives Worth Saving Gang Intervention), mother of a Pelican Bay SHU prisoner
and 
Carol Strickman, attorney, Legal Services for Prisoners With Children, member of the Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity Coalition, member of the team mediating between the prison hunger strikers and rison authorities, and part of the litigation team in Ashker v. Brown, a case challenging solitary confinement in California prisons

Nearly 29,000 inmates in California state prisons have efused meals during a protest of prison conditions and rules. The protest extended to two-thirds of the 33 prisons across the state and all 4 private out-of-state facilities where California sends inmates.  Thousands of prisoners also refused to attend their work assignments and state officials are bracing for a long-term strike.  The protest is centered on the state’s aggressive solitary confinement practices, but has attracted support from many prisoners with their own demands for changes in prison conditions.

http://archive.org/stream/BuildingBridgesCaPrisonInmatesHungerStrikeForTheirLives
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http://archive.org/download/BuildingBridgesCaPrisonInmatesHungerStrikeForTheirLives/PrisonHungerStrikeNtl.mp3

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"Street Action" is the Kernel of Revolution”
Egypt’s Second Revolution
with
Atef Said, Egyptian human rights lawyer and scholar, author of two books about torture in Egypt, currently working on his dissertation about the Egyptian revolution
and
Sherief Gaber, Mosireen Independent Media Collective in Cairo

What is the Egyptian revolution if not "street action", the ability to express yourself and be heard said Bassem Youssef a popular Egyptian satirist on his popular show “Al Bernameg,” of the growth of the grass-roots Tamarrod movement.  Just as with the 2011 revolution, this "second revolution" began with youth activists, and now has spread like wildfire through the population.  The Egyptian revolution is far from over and we’ll go on the ground live to Egypt to ferret out the forces that comprise the Tamarrod movement, 
examine the civil stratification in the wake of deposed present Morsi failure in leading Egypt on a democratic path, parse out the role historically and currently of the Egyptian military and determine the promise of a revolution that is far from over.

http://archive.org/stream/BuildingBridgesEgyptsSecondRevolution

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http://archive.org/download/BuildingBridgesEgyptsSecondRevolution/egyptrevntl2.mp3

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How The Supreme Court Gave Go Ahead For Re-segregating and How We Can Fix It?
with
Damon Hewitt, Dir., Education Practice Group, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (“LDF”)
and
Ryan Haygood, Director of the, Political Participation Group, LDF


The Supreme Court gutted a key voter protection, stepped up scrutiny of race in college entry and made it more difficult to sue for workplace discrimination.  For African-Americans, the politics and public policy that make for a more humane & equitable society remains elusive. Despite the hardship and struggles that African-Americans face, there are many who oppose the correction of the disparities still rooted deeply in American life and the  promise of equality.  We’ll examine what happened, what’s likely as a result of these collection of decisions, and how we fix it!

http://archive.org/stream/BuildingBridgesSupremeCourtGivesGoAheadForRe-segregating

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http://archive.org/download/BuildingBridgesSupremeCourtGivesGoAheadForRe-segregating/naacpsuprementl.mp3

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One On One 

With 

Ras J. Baraka, Candidate for Mayor, Newark N.J.

Newark's South Ward Councilman and principal at Central High School, long-time activist and son of poet/activists Amina & Imamu Amiri Baraka wants to become Newark, New Jersey's 39th mayor. Baraka explained "I would have been comfortable staying in the City Council a lot can be accomplished there, but Mayor [Corey] Booker is making a run for the Senate; and our city is at a crossroads. The plan is for me to run for mayor." With 50 % of Newark residents living below the poverty line, and with an unemployment rate of 29% we'll find out how candidate Baraka believes he can "transfer the city's resources to benefit" everyday working people.

http://archive.org/stream/BuildingBridgesNewarkMayoralCandidateRasJ.Baraka

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http://archive.org/download/BuildingBridgesNewarkMayoralCandidateRasJ.Baraka/rasbarakantl.mp3

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