Tomatoes, corn, and peaches are the staples of New Jersey agriculture. But at Morris Gbolo’s farm in the state’s southern tip, crimson-hued amaranths and plump Liberian bitter ball are the prized crops.

An African Farm Grows In South Jersey, by Will Coley

September 3rd, 1967, also known as H-Day, is etched in the collective memory of Sweden. That morning, millions of Swedes switched from driving on the left to driving on the right. The changeover was an unprecedented undertaking, involving both national infrastructural overhauls, extensive educational campaigns and pop music.

215- H - Day

In this conversation with former Colorlines staffer Julianne Hing, racial justice and civil rights activist Linda Sarsour tells how her activism is informed by her family and Palestinian roots, and how her Muslim faith resonates in all areas of her life.


Linda Sarsour on how Islam feeds social justice

On 12/9/2016, Scot Nakagawa, Senior Partner at Change Lab, and Tarso Luis Ramos, Executive Director of Political Research Associates joined Mab Segrest of Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) NYC for a discussion about the rise of Donald Trump, the mainstreaming of the Right and white supremacy, and how white people can show up to disrupt racism in the context of a Trump presidency.

The Rise of Trump: Where do we go from here?

Koshin Paley Ellison is one of a small but growing number of chaplains in the United States who are Buddhists. In fact, Koshin is a Zen Buddhist monk. He works in hospice, and his goal is to take "the Zen thing" out into the world...and the change the very nature of caregiving itself. Produced by Will Coley and KalaLea. Music by LD Brown.

Koshin Paley Ellison, co-founder of the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care and editor of Awake at the Bedside: Contemplative Teachings on Palliative and End of Life Care

The Zen Thing

Kismet

#12. Visit - Kouraboure and Diana

Eddy Arias remembers the night he was pulled over by the Houston Texas police. It was first time he had ever interacted with law enforcement since he’d moved to the U.S. from Mexico as a child. He still remembers every moment. When Eddy realized he’d been racially profiled, he stood up for his Constitutional rights. But what happened next drew him into a much larger debate about police enforcing immigration laws. 

Houston is home to thousands of immigrant families. On paper, police don’t enforce immigration laws on the streets. There are policies against this. Yet several successive mayors have refused to call Houston a “sanctuary city” for immigrants. For many years, the Harris county jail in Houston has collaborated with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (or ICE). That means if someone is arrested, they can ultimately be transferred to ICE for deportation. This is called a “287g” agreement.

Eddy Arias learned firsthand about the way it works. And he decided to do something about it. Thanks in part to his activism, Houston now has a new sheriff.

Production team:
Producer: <a href="http://aquifermedia.com" target="_blank">Will Coley</a>
Producer: <a href="https://linkedin.com/in/hightechaztec" target="_blank">Bryan Parras</a>
Series Editor: <a href="http://kalalea.com" target="_blank">Kalalea</a>
Audio Engineer: <a href="http://annepope.com" target="_blank">Anne Pope</a>
Composer: <a href="http://ingkavet.org" target="_blank">Andrew Ingkavet</a>

Episode 1: Land of the Free, But Only for Some

According to one 2014 study, 75% of white Americans don’t have any non-white friends. Put another way, white people’s perception of African Americans and other people of color comes primarily from media representations rather than actual interactions. As such, how communities of color are portrayed in the media – from news and opinion pages to movie and TV screens – is tremendously important.

Two newly-published reports reveal how these perceptions are consistently distorted to over-emphasize Black and Latinx criminality, center white people in sympathetic portrayals as either victims or heroes, and overwhelmingly lump immigration coverage in with coverage of crime and violence.

In this episode, we discuss the bare statistics of how people of color, immigrants, and the poor are shown in media, why it matters, and the consequences of media makers from newsrooms to Hollywood perpetuating destructive stereotypes.

We're joined by some of the people behind these reports, Lucy Odigie-Turley of The Opportunity Agenda and Nicole Rodgers of Family Story.

***

The Guests

Lucy Odigie-Turley is the Opinion and Media Research Coordinator with The Opportunity Agenda. An experienced communication researcher with training in both qualitative and quantitative methodologies, Lucy conducts and organizes multi-methods research to assess dominant media narratives and public opinion about poverty, immigration, and criminal justice.

Nicole Rodgers is the founder and executive director of Family Story, a communications and research organization that elevates stories of diverse families. A strategist with broad expertise in communications, branding, and research in the public interest, Rodgers is also the founder and editor-in-chief of Role Reboot, an online magazine dedicated to storytelling and social critique from a new generation of Americans rethinking “traditional” family, breaking through stereotypes, and bucking expectations about gender roles.

***

The Reports

Redefining Sanctuary: Analysis of public attitudes and media coverage of sanctuary jurisdictions and related immigration policies 
Lucy Odigie-Turley | December 2017 | The Opportunity Agenda

> https://opportunityagenda.org/explore/resources-publications/redefining-sanctuary

A Dangerous Distortion of Our Families: Representations of Families, By Race, In News and Opinion Media
Dr. Travis L. Dixon | December 2017 | Color Of Change

> https://colorofchange.org/dangerousdistortion/

Episode 21: Quantifying Negative Media Portrayals of People of Color

Indefensible is a podcast series brought to you by the Immigrant Defense Project. Over five episodes, we'll bring you stories from people who are standing up and holding out; fighting to be with their families. They say they’re here to stay.

Production team:
Producer: <a href="http://aquifermedia.com" target="_blank">Will Coley</a>
Producer: <a href="https://silentbeautyfilm.com" target="_blank">Jasmin Lopez</a>
Producer: <a href="https://linkedin.com/in/hightechaztec" target="_blank">Bryan Parras</a>
Series Editor: <a href="http://kalalea.com" target="_blank">Kalalea</a>
Audio Engineer: <a href="http://annepope.com" target="_blank">Anne Pope</a>
Composer: <a href="http://ingkavet.org" target="_blank">Andrew Ingkavet</a>