Us Human Rights Network Podcast

In this month’s podcast, The US Human Rights Network’s Sacajawea Hall speaks with Andrea Carmen of the International Indian Treaty Council about the upcoming visit of the UN expert on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. We also speak with Gerald Lenoir, Executive Director of the Black Alliance for Just Immigration about their mission and the upcoming Black Immigration Network National Conference. Andrea Carmen, Yaqui Indian Nation, has been a staff member of the International Indian Treaty Council since 1983 and IITC’s Executive Director since 1992. Andrea has had many years of experience working with Indigenous communities from North, Central, South America and the Pacific. International Indian Treaty Council www.treatycouncil.org Gerald Lenoir has been a leader in progressive social movements for over 30 years. He is currently the Director of the Black Alliance for Just Immigration or BAJI. He is also a board member of the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights. Gerald is a co-founder of th

Malcolm Suber, with United New Orleans Front, speaks on the recent murders of Black youth in New Orleans, Louisiana in February and March of 2012 and what the United New Orleans Front is doing and demanding to secure justice and restitution for the families and community.

Connecting the Dots: the Occupy Movement and the Struggle for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights The Occupy Movement, which burst on the scene in September 2011, and quickly spread throughout the United States and the world, is an expression of the growing outrage that working people of all races and nationalities have against their growing immiseration by the austerity being imposed upon them by corporations and neo-liberal governments. At its heart, the Occupy Movement seeks to not only challenge inequality, but the entire capitalist system and its ability to equitably address fundamental human needs and aspirations. The Occupy Movement is also an assertion of rights, the fundamental human right to economic justice and security, to social freedom and liberation, and to access and express culture in its varied forms. This educational call will explore the connections between the Occupy Movement and its assertion of fundamental economic, social, and cultural rights, and make an argument for why the adop

For this month’s podcast we celebrate International women’s day by highlighting the work of two organizations, The Center for Women’s Global Leadership and SPARK, Reproductive Justice Now! The Network’s membership coordinator, Sacajawea Hall, speaks with the two women about current human rights issues facing women in the US and the work women are doing to address them. Radhika Balakrishnan, is the Executive Director of the Center for Women's Global Leadership, Radhika has a Ph.D. in Economics from Rutgers University and currently a Professor in Women's and Gender Studies there. Her work focuses on gender and development, gender and the global economy, human rights and economic and social rights. Her research and advocacy work has sought to change the lens through which macroeconomic policy is interpreted and critiqued by applying international human rights norms to assess macroeconomic policy. Paris Hatcher, a passionate, radical Black queer feminist activist dedicated to working for justice and liberation

This podcast highlights the work of two organizations as we speak with Tupac Enrique Acosta about TONATIERRA in Phoenix, Arizona and Chris Crass about the Catalyst Project in San Francisco, California. TONATIERRA is continuing the fight against racial profiling and the denial of the right to education for Chicano/Mexicano and Indigenous peoples in Arizona. Tupace Enrique speaks about some of the recent education and campaign initiatives of the organization to resist these human rights violations. For more information on TONATIERRA visit http://cdb-tonatierra.blogspot.com/. The Catalyst Project just released an anti-racist educational manual called "Catalyzing Liberation Toolkit: Anti-Racst Organizing to build the 99% Movement". Catalyst Project co-founder, Chris Crass, speakes about the toolkit and the potentiality of the Occupy or 99% movement. For more information on the Toolkit visit http://www.organizingupgrade.com/2012/02/anti-racist-organizing-to-build-the-99-movement/. Tupac Enrique Acosta is a J

Frontlines of Struggle is a podcast of the US Human Rights Network (USHRN) that highlights the activities and initiatives of member organizations engaged in campaigns to realize the full implementation of human rights in the United States. This interview highlights the work of the Million Worker March Movement and Occupy Oakland and features Clarence Thomas, the National Co-Chair of the Million Worker March Movement, Executive Board Member of ILWU Local 10, and an active participant in Occupy Oakland. Here, he speaks to us as a rank-and-file member of the Million Worker March Movement about the call for a general strike that Occupy Oakland put out on November 2, 2011 and the follow up that took place on December 12, 2011.

USHRN 2011 National Human Rights Conference

Report Back on the First National Dialogue with the Black Left Unity Network (BLUN) and USHRN November 3, 2011 The need for a national call was rooted in the following assumption: With the emergence of the Occupy Wall Street movement with developing organizational expressions in various cities across the country, members of BLUN have taken the position that it is important to develop a process for addressing the questions that have quickly surfaced related to the political character of this movement and the role and participation of Black, Latino and Native forces. BLUN along with the Labor working group of the US Human Rights Network, hosted a first national dialogue call on Thursday, October 20, at 3pm EST. The call was organized around a series of questions addressed through a conceptual frame and a series of local reports. Framing perspectives were offered by Saladin Muhammad (BLUN) and Christine Williams, Local 100 TWU) highlighting the anti-capitalist and movement building potential of OWS. The role

This podcast examines the 10th Commemoration of the World Conference Against Racism held in Durban, South Africa and the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action. It features two members of the Durban + 10 Coalition convened by the US Human Rights Network and the World Against Racism Network. These members are Efia Nwangaza with the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement Center for Self-Determination in Greenville, South Carolina and Saladin Muhammad with Black Workers for Justice in Rocky Mountain, North Carolina. Together, they explore the current relevancy of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action in the struggle for social justice here in the United States.

A Call for a National Dialogue on Black Left Participation in the OWS Movement By The Black Left Unity Network and USHRN Labor Working Group Over the last two years, the Black left unity network (BLUN) has engaged in a process that focused on reaching out to Black worker activists in the labor movement, and other core social movements that organize and mobilize the Black working class. We have looked for opportunities such as building support for the Hurricane Katrina survivors and organizing and promoting a Reconstruction movement as a strategic flank of the U.S. anti-imperialist and anti-capitalist struggle, using Survivor Assemblies as popular democratic forums; promoting a Thank You Cuba campaign to challenge attempts to isolate Cuba and socialism as a racist regime; and participating in the Human Rights movement to help ground it in mass bases of resistance to help shape and influence its demands and anti-imperialist political character. While there is much more needed in developing the BLUN as a

Frontlines of Struggle is a podcast of the US Human Rights Network (USHRN) that highlights the activities and initiatives of member organizations engaged in campaigns to realize the full implementation of human rights in the United States. This interview highlights the work of Community United for Change and features Malcolm Suber. Malcolm Suber is a long-time organizer who has lived in New Orleans for the past 32 years. He is currently project director for the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) in New Orleans. He has been a leading organizer against police terror and police murders carried out by the NOPD against mainly Black victims. He was also one of the founders and leaders of the Peoples' hurricane Relief Fund (PHRF) which attempted to organize survivors and their allies for a just and equitable right to return to New Orleans. He is a co-founder and leader of Community United for Change (CUC) which is a coalition of activists and community people who came together in 2010 to fight against

Frontlines of Struggle is a podcast of the US Human Rights Network (USHRN) that highlights the activities and initiatives of member organizations engaged in campaigns to realize the full implementation of human rights in the United States. This interview highlights the work of the Chicago Anti-Eviction Campaign and features JR Flemming and Toussaint Losier. On Friday July 29 five members of the Chicago Anti-Eviction Campaign (CAEC) were arrested while successfully trying to prevent Luz Smedbron and her sons from being evicted. The single mother had owned her home for over 10 years until injury at work left her on disability. As it is their mission, “to elevate housing to a human right” the CAEC is demanding a moratorium on all economically-based evictions. The group is promising to continue to stand with the people of Chicago, including Ms. Smedbron and her family, until the sheriff heeds their call.

This podcast examines the human rights implications of the recent federal debates about U.S. government debt and the debt ceiling. James Heintz Associate Director and Associate Research Professor at the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst and Radhika Balakrishnan, Executive Director of the Center for Women's Global Leadership and professor of Women's and Gender Studies at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey provide analysis and context to the media's coverage of the debates and discuss recommendations on how the human rights community can organize and respond.

We continue an examination of the US so-called war on terrorism by looking at the case of Ehsanul Sadequee, an American born Muslim charged with conspiracy to provide material support for terrorism. In the first half of the podcast, Sharmin and Sonali Sadequee report on the status of their brother Shifa’s solitary confinement in federal prison and the ongoing case. At 9 am, Wednesday, May 20 there will be a hearing to determine if Evan Kohlman (a "terrorism" consultant) will be able allowed to testify as an "expert" in the trial. The trial is set for this August. For more information visit www.freeshifa.com On May 12th the United Nations General Assembly elected the US to serve on the UN’s Human Rights Council. In the second half, Jamil Dakwar, the Director of the ACLU's Human Rights Program, discusses the U.S.’s election to the UN Human Rights Council, domestic Human Right’s issues, and the impact of this election on domestic human rights advocacy.

The United Nation’s Durban Review Conference took place last week from April 20th to the 24th in Geneva, Switzerland. It was a follow up to the 2001 World Conference Against Racism in Durban South Africa. The goal of the conference was to evaluate the progress countries have made in implementing the 2001 Durban Declaration and Program of Action which addresses racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and other related intolerance. Many Anti-Racism and Human Rights organizations from around the world, including the U.S., took part in the gathering. In this episode we bring you the voices of civil society who participated in the Review Conference.

As we transition from March to April, this episode focuses on two topics related to internationally observed days in March; International Women’s Day and The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. Women’s Rights often rely on a conventional definition of gender. As women’s herstory months draws to an end this week, Pauline Park joins us to discuss gender binaries and expanding the discussion of women’s rights and human rights to include Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered people. Pauline is a transgendered woman of Asian birth who has had extensive involvement with the LGBT community in New York and nationally. She is the co-founded of the New York Association for Gender Rights Advocacy, (NYAGRA) which is the first statewide transgender advocacy organization in New York. She has written widely on LGBT issues and has conducted transgender sensitivity training sessions for a wide range of social service providers and community-based organization. March 21st is annually observed a

This episode is dedicated to all the past, present, and future women warriors. In the United States, March is Women’s Herstory month. March 8, International Women’s Day, is a global day of recognition and celebration. Hundreds of events occur on March 8 and throughout March to mark the economic, political and social achievements of women. In this episode we celebrate International Women’s Day and take a look at the continued Human Rights struggle for women with a statement from the US Human Rights Network. In addition, Marleine Bastien, Haitian Women of Miami’s Executive Director, describes the current crisis facing over 30,000 thousand Haitians and its impact on Haitian women and children.

December 18th Marks International Migrants Day. The United States has yet to ratify the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of all Migrant Workers and their Families. In this podcast you will hear from Sonji Hart from the Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana from footage from the USHRN's first bi-annual human rights conference. Sonji makes the link between the prisoner's rights struggle and the migrants struggle as it relates to the Gulf Coast and how civil rights must be expanded to human rights as citizenship does not necessarily ensure protection, especially for people of color and the incarcerated. You will also hear footage from the United States social forum which took place in Atlanta, Georgia. Executive director of the Latin American & Caribbean Community Center talks about the human rights implication of migrants/immigrants in the U.S.

Bernadine Dohrn talks about the United State's role as a pervader of violence aroudn the world in this audio clip from the USHRN's first bi-annual conference in 2005 at the inception of the war in Iraq. Four years later, thousands more dead, her message still rings true and relevant. Dohrn examines five new frameworks with which to utilize the human rights framework: conceptual, linguistic, organizing, participatory and legal. The US is 4.8% of the world's people and has 60% of the world's wealth. The Special Rapporteur did visit Chicago in 2008, visit this page for follow up information on the report by Chicago organizations http://www.ushrnetwork.org/special_rep Following Bernadine Dorne, you will hear from Andrea Smith, indigenous activist with Incite: Women of COlor Against Violence http://www.incite-national.org/ A plenary speaker and member organization, Andrea talks briefly about the historical legacies of colonization on the indigenous community and makes the link between the five conceptual tools me

Human Rights scholar Catherine Powell talks about the importance of the new administration to make a commitment to addressing human rights abuses at home. The document "Human Rights at Home: A Domestic Policy Blueprint for the New Administration," a document to be submitted to the administration, is the result of a collaboration of many activists and scholars dedicated to holding the US accountable. In this episode you will also hear select audio from the USHRN National Human Rights Conference that took place in April 2008. Ejem Deekay, Director of the human rights program at Urban Justice Center in New York City, talks about how applying the framework has impacted their city as well as its potential.