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Podcast

What the Jewish Left Learned From Occupy

Join Haymarket and Jewish Currents for a discussion about what the Jewish left learned from Occupy Wall Street. This fall, the tenth anniversary of Occupy Wall Street also marks a decade since what came to be known as “Occupy Judaism,” a loose series of ritual protests that emerged at Zuccotti Park and at other Occupy encampments around the country. The most visible of these took the form of a Kol Nidre, the evening service that marks the beginning of Yom Kippur, which fell on October 7th in 2011, a few weeks into Occupy Wall Street’s short history. As the holiday approached, a group of Jewish participants in the nascent movement, led by organizer Daniel Sieradski, began planning a service to be held in a plaza across the street from Zuccotti Park. The event that is remembered as Occupy Yom Kippur drew hundreds of people and attracted considerable press attention, registering a new current in American Jewish life. Occupy Yom Kippur, and the broader activities of Occupy Judaism, turned out to presage a much larger wave of left Jewish movement-building. Though most Jewish organizers at Occupy were not involved in Occupy Judaism, or in Jewish organizing more generally, many of the founders of organizations like IfNotNow first came together in Zuccotti Park; the movement’s energy also revitalized already-existing groups like Jews for Racial and Economic Justice (JFREJ). Ten years ago, identity-based organizing occurred only on Occupy’s fringes, and anti-racist and anti-imperialist organizing, including around the occupation of Palestine, was pushed outside the movement’s frame altogether. But in the years since, Occupy’s limitations have impelled a generation of organizers to try to rectify its omissions, galvanizing anti-racist organizing in the US and a new wave of Palestine solidarity activism. Following a Jewish Currents oral history on the same topic, this event will explore how the contemporary Jewish left was changed—perhaps, formed—by Occupy Wall Street ten years ago. Speakers: Daniel Sieradksi is a web developer and digital strategist as well as an advocacy journalist, digital organizer, and movement-builder. He has worked with a variety of organizations, including Repair the World, JTA News, JDub Records, the JCC in Manhattan, the Educational Alliance, Jewish Funds for Justice, and the New Israel Fund. Sieradski is the former publisher of the pioneering weblog Jewschool.com and the founder of Occupy Judaism. Tamara Shapiro (Tammy) is the Program Director for the NYC Network of Worker Cooperatives. Previously she was one of the lead coordinators of Occupy Sandy, a citizen-led relief effort, as well as Rockaway Wildfire and Worker Owned Rockaway Cooperatives, a worker-owned coop incubation project with residents hit by the hurricane. She also served as a lead strategist and facilitator of the InterOccupy network, created and implemented a networked hub structure for The People’s Climate March, and worked at The Murphy Institute for Labor Studies. Prior to these roles, she was the first Director of J Street U, and one of the founders of IfNotNow. Audrey Sasson is the Executive Director of Jews for Racial & Economic Justice, and the organization’s first Mizrahi leader to serve in the position. She has 25 years of broad movement experience as a social worker, organizer, coalition-builder, and campaign director, on issues ranging from immigrant worker struggles and tenant rights to sustainable economies and racial justice. Arielle Angel is the editor-in-chief of Jewish Currents. This event is sponsored by Haymarket Books and Jewish Currents. Watch the live event recording: https://youtu.be/le12N2Q06t0 Buy books from Haymarket: www.haymarketbooks.org Follow us on Soundcloud: soundcloud.com/haymarketbooks

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Mar 1, 2021

On the Road With Abolition with Mariame Kaba, Dean Spade, and more (6-12-20)

We are in a historic moment brought on by the consistent exertion of people power across the country and around the world. This has brought us to a place where our communities are poised to win significant victories against the violence of policing on a large scale. To guide us in this moment, we need to hold central that Abolition is both a vision and a political strategy. Part of this strategy is recognizing and actualizing that we cannot call for reforms that further entrench and legitimize policing in any form as a solution to social, economic or political problems. As prison industrial complex abolitionists, the reforms we call for in our demands must be aimed at diminishing the political power of policing. How can we assess which proposals to support or to oppose in our organizing? What are some abolitionist proposals? Join Dean Spade, Woods Ervin & Kamau Walton from Critical Resistance, K Agbebiyi from Survived and Punished NY and Mariame Kaba from Project NIA and Survived & Punished to discuss these questions and more. Join us for this conversation to deepen our shared analysis and to discuss how we use abolition as a politic, practice and framework to move us toward liberation and self-determination. Co-sponsored by Critical Resistance, Project NIA, Survived and Punished, Reclaim the Block, and Black Visions Collective. Watch the live event recording: https://youtu.be/GHdg4dqBMyk Buy books from Haymarket: www.haymarketbooks.org Follow us on Soundcloud: soundcloud.com/haymarketbooks
Mar 1, 2021

Celebrating Juneteenth with Charlene Carruthers, Marc Lamont Hill, & Critical Resistance(6-13-20)

Join Critical Resistance for their annual fundraiser: this year a conversation with Charlene Carruthers & Marc Lamont Hill in honor of Juneteenth! Two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued ordering states in the confederacy to release their slaves, Black people in Texas achieved their liberation from chattel bondage. On June 19,1865, General Order Number 3 was read from the Ashton Villa balcony in Galveston, Texas, that demanded that slaveholders free their slaves. That day, Juneteenth, has become an annual occasion for celebration, reflection, and education about the meaning of freedom and the on-going, universal struggle for liberation from domination. These questions about the true meaning of freedom are more relevant than ever to the work of abolitionists and those working to eliminate the prison industrial complex (PIC) and its attendant harms. To explore the legacy of Juneteenth and ongoing struggles for Black (and international) liberation, CR is happy to host a conversation between two prominent Black thought leaders and firebrands, Charlene Carruthers (BYP100 cofounder) and Marc Lamont Hill (BET news host). For more information on Critical Resistance: https://criticalresistance.org Watch the live event recording: https://youtu.be/UazJ0_7o1vA Buy books from Haymarket: www.haymarketbooks.org Follow us on Soundcloud: soundcloud.com/haymarketbooks
Mar 1, 2021

This is an Uprising! with Boots Riley and Noname (6-15-20)

Join us for a conversation on art, politics and revolution with Boots Riley and Noname. ————————————————— The global uprising against racism and police violence has brought millions of people around the world into the streets to make Black Lives Matter, and has catapulted radical demands for police and prison abolition into the center of public consciousness. It’s also brought new urgency to discussions of reform and revolution, challenging the power of capitalism, imperialism, and colonialism in the 21st century, and the role of artists can as participants in political struggles. Join us for a wide-ranging conversation on art, politics, and revolution with Noname and Boots Riley, hosted by Khury Petersen-Smith. Noname is a rapper from Chicago. She’s the founder of Noname’s Book Club. Boots Riley is a rapper and filmmaker from Oakland. Join Noname's Book Club here: https://www.nonamebooks.com/ Get a copy of Boots Riley's Book here: https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/489-boots-riley Watch the live event recording: https://youtu.be/_i12zRBXObI Buy books from Haymarket: www.haymarketbooks.org Follow us on Soundcloud: soundcloud.com/haymarketbooks
Mar 1, 2021

Covid 19, Bolsonaro, and Resistance in Brazil (6-16-20)

Join us for a special video conference with front line leaders in the fight for social justice in Brazil. ———————————————————— 30,000 Brazilians have died from Covid-19 according to official figures, soon to be second highest number in the world behind the United States. The real number is twice that and more than 1,000 are dying each day. Brazil’s far-right president Jair Bolsonaro flouts social distancing, has fired two health ministers, and is toying with a coup all as unemployment skyrockets. Meanwhile, a coalition of more than 500 left-wing political parties, unions, and social movements are pushing for impeachment and, after two months of lockdown, street protests against Bolsonaro’s neo-fascist movement are on the rise at least partially inspired by the uprising in Minneapolis and in towns and cities across the United States. ———————————————————— Presenters: Preta Ferreira is a coordinator of the Homeless Movement of Downtown São Paulo (MSTC) and was one of the main organizers of the campaign to free Workers Party leader Lula from prison. Sonia Guajajara is the executive coordinator of the Association of the Indigenous Peoples of Brazil and was the Party for Socialism and Freedom’s vice-presidential candidate in 2018. Moderated by Sabrina Fernandes from the editorial board of Jacobin Brasil. ———————————————————— Sponsored by Haymarket Books, Jacobin Brasil, Left Movement for Socialism, Insurgência, Resistência, Ruptura, Punto Rojo, Spectre, New Politics, No Borders News, and Rampant. Watch the live event recording: https://youtu.be/YhaAYAQ0KU4 Buy books from Haymarket: www.haymarketbooks.org Follow us on Soundcloud: soundcloud.com/haymarketbooks
Mar 1, 2021

#SayHerName Charleena Lyles: Police Murder and the Uprising for Black Lives (6-16-20)

Join Katrina Johnson, Michael Bennett, Nikkita Oliver and Jesse Hagopian to talk about justice for Charleena Lyles and Black Lives Matter. Katrina Johnson, Charleena Lyles' cousin, will join Michael Bennett, Nikkita Oliver and Jesse Hagopian to talk about the struggle for justice for Charleena and the new uprising for Black Lives. The mass uprising in the wake of the police murder of George Floyd around the world has created bold new possibilities for the Black Lives Matter Movement. Bold incentives are being taken around the country to defund, disarm, and dismantle policing. As the African American Policy institute raised by launching #SayHerName, much of the focus of police violence has been given to the killing of Black men, and Black women and transgendered people have not received the same attention. The recent murder of Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old African-American emergency medical technician, who was fatally shot by Louisville Metro Police Department by police is one case that deserves more attention. Another is Charleena Lyles. On June 18, 2017, two Seattle police officers entered the apartment of Charleena Lyles. The police had been called by Charleena because she feared someone was breaking into her home. Within minuets of entering the apartment, the officers shot her down in a hail of seven bullets, with at least three of them in the back. The officers alleged they had to use lethal force because Charleena had a paring knife. One of the officers was supposed to have a taser, but had not properly charged it, so he did not bring it with him–a violation of department policy. Charleena was pregnant and was killed in front of three of her four kids, who had to be carried over her body to leave the apartment. Join a conversation about next steps in winning justice for Charleena and her family and how her story connects to the new movement for Black Lives in the streets today. Katrina Johnson works for the Public Defenders Association as a Project Manager diverting people out of the criminal legal system into community based resources—instead of jail and prosecution. Katrina became a social justice activist/advocate and spokesperson for her family in June of 2017, after her first cousin Charleena Lyles was killed in her home in North Seattle after police officers responded to the location to investigate a theft Charleena had reported. Katrina works with other families who have lost loved ones to the use of lethal force in Washington State and around the county. Michael Bennett is a three-time Pro Bowler, Pro Bowl MVP, Super Bowl Champion, and two-time NFC Champion. He has gained international recognition for his public support for the Black Lives Matter Movement, women’s rights, and other social justice causes. In 2017, he was named one of the 100 Most Influential African Americans by The Root, was the Seattle Seahawks nominee for the NFL’s Walter Payton Man of the Year award, and was honored along with his brother Martellus with a BET Shine a Light award for exceptional service. He is the author of Things That Make White People Uncomfortable. Nikkita Oliver is a Seattle-based creative, community organizer, abolitionist, educator, and attorney. Nikkita is the co-executive director of Creative Justice, an arts-based alternative to incarceration and a healing engaged youth-led community-based program. Jesse Hagopian is an award-winning educator and a leading voice on issues of educational equity and social justice unionism. He is an editor for Rethinking Schools magazine and is the co-editor of Teaching for Black Lives, and editor of More Than a Score: The New Uprising Against High-Stakes Testing. Watch the live event recording: https://youtu.be/vAM_XkdCXJY Buy books from Haymarket: www.haymarketbooks.org Follow us on Soundcloud: soundcloud.com/haymarketbooks
Mar 1, 2021

Appalachia and the Health of the Nation with Ash-Lee Woodard Henderson and more(6-17-20)

Join Barbara Ellen Smith, Lesley-Marie Buer, and Ash-Lee Woodard Henderson as they discus single health issues such as black lung, overdose deaths, HIV and hepatitis C, COVID-19, in Appalachia and what they reveal about the cracks in America's health and health care systems in general. ———————————————————— Most responses to these single issues have done little to change the overall systems, but there are initiatives and groups that offer glimpses of what change could look like. They will explore topics such as mutual aid, researcher/clinician/community member coalitions, harm reduction, street medics and how they can be applied in Appalachia and beyond. Lesly-Marie Buer is an activist and public health practitioner at Positively Living/Choice Health Network in Knoxville, Tennessee. Her work on substance use and harm reduction has appeared insuch publications as Boston Review, the Journal of Appalachian Studies, and North American Dialogue. Ash-Lee Woodard Henderson is a 33 year old, Affrilachian (Black Appalachian), working class woman, born and raised in Southeast Tennessee. She is the Co-Executive Director of the Highlander Research & Education Center in New Market, TN. She has served as president of the Black Affairs Association at East Tennessee State University and the Rho Upsilon Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. She is a long-time activist working around issues of mountaintop removal mining, and environmental racism in central and southern Appalachia, and has served on the National Council of the Student Environmental Action Coalition. She is an active participant in the Movement for Black Lives and is on the governance council of the Southern Movement Assembly. Barbara Ellen Smith has participated in and written about movements for social justice in Appalachia and the U.S. South for more than forty years. She is professor emerita at Virginia Tech ———————————————————— To order a copy of Rx Appalachia: https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/1496-rx-appalachia To pre-order a copy of Digging Our Own Graves: https://bookshop.org/a/1039/9781642592757 For more info on the Highlander Research & Education Center: https://www.highlandercenter.org/ Watch the live event recording: https://youtu.be/Gi2rOa2Wvo0 Buy books from Haymarket: www.haymarketbooks.org Follow us on Soundcloud: soundcloud.com/haymarketbooks