"Every other race of women in this country has access to emergency contraceptives as an over-the-counter, except for native women.” Fortunately, Native American activists are fighting to change that reality.

Native American Activists Fight for Plan B Access

Luis Salazar es un Jawá, un médico tradicional y cantor de Alto Chirripó. En este sample interpreta junto a sus hijas Rachel y Clarita un  "Canto Cabécar sobre una mujer que siembra el campo". “Yo canto de árboles, yo canto de la luna, yo canto del sol, yo canto de estrella, yo canto de la tierra, yo canto del agua, de los colores, de las enfermedades…” Luis es además ultramatonista y ha participado en importantes competencias.

"Canto Cabécar sobre una mujer que siembra el campo" por Luis Salazar, Alto Chirripó.

February 11th is officially The Day We Fight Back against mass surveillance and in solidarity with the national day of protest Making Contact’s George Lavender spoke to Earth Island Journal’s Adam Federman about government surveillance of environmental organizations and the privatization of the surveillance industry post 9-11.
Listen to the special feature and look out for our full show on Surveillance coming up soon.

We're Being Watched: Big Business is Spying on Activists

Reappropriation of urban spaces often happens on the grassroots level, where residents don’t wait for permission to reinvent places. Think of the massive Occupy movement and its use of public spaces to hold consensus-based meetings, or flash mobs that erupt in stores and lobbies, sometimes as an act of protest, others as an expression of art. Across the country, there are examples of ground-up approaches to reclaiming urban space. Laura Herberg takes us to one of these places, where residents of a southwest Detroit neighborhood came together for The Alley Project.

Detroit’s The Alley Project

By Chris Hoff (soundcloud.com/c-hoff) and Audrey Dilling

MIGHTY ZEPHYROS: It gets very deep

And the winner is.....

living in LA, aint always sunshine
they come to here to find dreams
sometimes they take mine
It's easy  'cause
it seems I only waste time
in the city that raised me
if I've learned anything
it's that nothing is free
I mean nothing is free
Sometimes I despise this place, 
but Los Angeles   
is something to see
actually 
it's more something to be   
It's mentality is now pumping through me
Her Angel wings
with dirty chains
around here
The seasons dont change
its more than just strange
how people complain
that nothing is real
that nothing can heal
in a city that still
accepts you 
for real
LA tells you to dream
it tempts you with lights
it sells you the cream 
rubs it on you at night
It is everything you wanted, alright
and still everything we hate about life
were just chasing a string
blind cats in a fight
looking for the same thing
and its tortue sometimes
all the work and the waiting
with the hope
the result
is more than amazing
Kind of like...
 the sun when it's fading      
we celebrate while the drum circle is playing
and contemplate as our bodies are shaking
to the rhythms enslaving 
our limbs
no time for behaving
These are rituals...
shit, this is spiritual
the pursuit of happiness
is what my city gives to you
It all points west
and no less than a miracle
los angeles
we  dont care
we dont care
we dont care if you care 
..its cool
were the hairs that stick out 
its true
 we really love that you hate it too
because very few
of us will ever "make it"
boy, this place 
can even make failure  great
it takes more than patience 
you really have to go 
out and fucking break shit
with no complaints
just take it
forget about do's and don'ts
is and ain'ts
no place for rules
certainly
no time for saints
Look around, sometimes its friends
that will take your place
and its sort of basic
this mystic matrix 
of love and hate
luck and fate
man..it's all the same shit
in the end
we will trade in
 all that's sacred 
just to have our name
among the
special patrons 
A city that is young and sexy naked
but scary wasted
so theres no better place to catch a taste
besides the weather's great
man the weather IS great
(mostly sunny days)
you really cant relate
to this crazy maze
such an amazing race
come visit
but youll need more than a couple of days
before you get it
Los angeles is the end
(dont you get it)
its armegeddeon
To those millions sitting
In their cars with their arms 
reaching up to the stars
still trying to fit in
 this poem is for them
hope they understand
why all the bitterness 
Out here Iv'e survived
I may lack some drive
but I am indegnous
with nothing to hide
never deprived
sucked on this city's breast
all of my life
All of the truth
all of the lies
LA 
oh LA


An Ode to El Aye - Free Download

Loop Left Me

TEAM RED STICK: Second Saturday

She had a mechanical heart valve that ticked like a clock. Tick, tick...tick, tick. The ticking of her heart was a reminder that our time was limited. My grandmother, who I called mom, passed away when I was eleven years old. At that age, I saw her departure from my world as an injustice. I silently pleaded with her not to leave, but soon after I heard the cries down the hall. I could have gone there, but I stayed still, afraid, until someone came for me in the morning. 

She used to heal wounded birds, and spoil her hamster Charlie. She’d let her parakeets fly free in the den and prepare baths for them. I looked forward to my bowl of lovingly peeled, chopped, and chilled fruit every day. Today I do the same for my nephew - carefully slicing nectarines and placing them in a bowl next to him as he paints. He smiles, then I smile. 

This is an audio excerpt from a long-term project that will tell the story of my childhood experiences. Thanks to my grandmother’s love of audio documentation, I can be there again, and I can hear the happiness in my own voice before several traumatic events took place. 

Many thanks to my muse and life-long collaborator in Florianopolis, Brazil for encouraging me to listen. You breathe passion into my life and projects, Rita Piffer.

Maria Bonita

Un rezo con amor profundo, que los que cruzan y caminan lejos de su tierra para sobrevivir sean escuchados por el gran Espiritu.

Rezo

Jasmin Mara López is a journalist, documentary filmmaker, and audio producer based in New Orleans, Louisiana. Born in the U.S. with familial roots in México, her childhood was affected by issues experienced on both sides of the U.S.- México border. This instilled in her a strong passion for immigrant rights, youth empowerment, and social change.

In 2007, Jasmin founded Project Luz, a non-profit initiative that empowers youth to share stories within their communities utilizing audio and photojournalism techniques. She has worked for USC Annenberg’s Civic Engagement and Journalism Initiative where she coordinated a program that trained immigrant youth in journalistic ethics and practice, and she was a recipient of the 2015 Society of Professional Journalists’ Excellence in Journalism Award for her documentary Deadly Divide: Migrant Death on the Border. 

Jasmin is currently working on Silent Beauty, a film about her family’s history with child sexual abuse and their culture of silence. She is also developing an installation with the voices of dozens of survivors to accompany the film. Jasmin participated in the 2017 New Orleans Film Society Emerging Voices Mentorship Program, 2018 UnionDocs Summer Documentary Lab, and was awarded the 2017 Third Coast Radio Residency at Ragdale, 2018 Southern Documentary Fund Production Grant, 2019 Chicken & Egg Pictures Accelerator Lab, 2019 Jacqui Jones Memorial Scholarship by Black Public Media, and the 2019 Artist Residency and Fellowship at Ragdale.

Maria Bonita

Jasmin Mara

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