Kqeds Forum

Rev. William Barber believes that the country “will not be the same after this pandemic and after this season of mass non-violent protest. We cannot be the same.” And Barber — who revived and co-chairs the Poor People’s Campaign, one of Martin Luther King Jr.’s last projects — is working to ensure transformative change is made in the U.S through a “Moral Agenda” that advances pro-labor, anti-poverty and anti-racist policies. Rev. Barber joins Forum to talk about the protests against police violence, his campaign to fight poverty and his new book “We Are Called to Be a Movement.”

In their new book, “Surviving Autocracy,” journalist Masha Gessen suggests that President Trump was “the first major party nominee who ran not for president but for autocrat.” It’s this political mindset that Gessen warns can become lethal as Trump is responding to crises like the coronavirus pandemic and nationwide protests against racism and police brutality. Gessen joins the program to discuss their book, how they think Trump has transformed the presidency and the role of “moral aspiration” in moving forward.

Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist George Will left the Republican Party in 2016 to protest the nomination of Donald Trump as the GOP’s presidential candidate. In a recent column, Will goes a step further, calling for the defeat of President Trump and the Republican Senate majority in November. The long-time conservative thought leader joins us to talk about the presidential election and why he’s denouncing Trump now more than ever.

 Demonstrators marched across the Golden Gate Bridge on Saturday, filling the whole length of the span and closing it to cars. The was just one of the many actions across the Bay Area over the weekend held to protest police violence. We talk with KQED's Queena Kim about the weekend's demonstrations and other recent news.   We'll also check in with Derrick Sanderlin, who trains San Jose police on how to avoid bias --  and who was seriously injured by a rubber bullet at a recent protest.

During this time of civil unrest in America, many people are calling for dismantling racism. Much of the conversation frames the conflict as between a black minority and a white majority. The current uprising is sparking conversations about how other groups of color can show solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. Part of that work, experts say, involves confronting division and anti blackness much more broadly. In this hour, we explore what cross-racial solidarity means in America.

As protests continue across the country, many companies and public figures have released statements on social media to speak out against racism and police brutality and express solidarity with protestors -- to a mixed response. Some of those statements don’t necessarily align with corporate policies or previous behavior. Critics are labeling these acts “performative allyship” and calling on companies to take action by donating to anti-racism causes instead. We’ll look at the idea of “solidarity” on social media and in our consumer culture.

Bakari Sellers says the most important day of his life happened before he was even born; February 8 1968 when highway patrolmen opened fire on students protesting segregation in South Carolina, killing 3 and wounding 28, including Seller's father. Sellers, who became the youngest person to be elected to the South Carolina legislature, writes about how the trauma of the incident permeated his childhood in  his memoir, "My Vanishing Country."  Now a lawyer and CNN political analyst, Sellers joins us to talk about the effects of systemic racism and what the killing of George Floyd by police, more than a half a century after his father's shooting, tells us about the state of America.

Journalists covering nationwide protests against the police killing of George Floyd  have been shot with rubber bullets, tear gassed, assaulted and arrested by police. Advocates for journalists say there has been an unprecedented amount of violence against reporters and photographers this week, which they say is threatening the rights of a free press. Forum discusses attacks on the news media and whether President Trump’s frequent criticisms have helped erode trust in the media and endanger reporters.

Cities around California have set curfews in the wake of protests over the killing of George Floyd. Officials in favor of a curfew argue that it helps maintain public safety.  But civil rights groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, have criticized these measures for lacking clarity and scope as well as violating first amendment rights. San Francisco--which had been operating under an 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew-- changed tack on Wednesday, with Mayor London Breed tweeting that the city will lift the curfew and “continue to facilitate any and all peaceful demonstrations.” In this hour, we talk about how effective, practical, and constitutional curfews really are.