In this week's Stir It Up, Joshua Shurley speaks with Aaron Foster, the program coordinator for Advance Peace, a community-based organization that aims to reduce urban gun violence by engaging the young people at the center of firearm hostilities and providing them with transformational opportunities to avoid conflict.  
Advance Peace works with both public and community-based stakeholders to establish responsive community-driven strategies that achieve high-impact outcomes for those caught in the cycle of urban gun violence.
Despite acknowledging the fact that this intervention works, Fresno City leaders have continued to oppose these efforts on ideological grounds, and continue to marginalize, defund, and delegitimize Advance Peace at every turn.

Stir It Up - July 12 2022

In this episode, Joshua talks with Community Alliance journalist Paulina Cruz, who is also a student-activist at Fresno State University. They discuss her individual background and role in the progressive movement, the underrepresented perspective of "Generation Z," the importance of a multi-generational approach to movement-building, and how younger people are poised to confront a myriad of structural failings they have inherited. We overlook Gen Z at our peril!

Stir It Up - February 8, 2023

In this episode of Stir It Up, host Josh Shurley talks with Gary Butterfield from the San Diego Chapter of Veterans For Peace and the Steering Committee of the National Veterans For Peace Climate Crisis & Militarism Project. They discuss the looming existential threat posed by the intersection of militarism and the climate emergency, and what can be done about it.

Stir It Up - Aug 9, 2023

As we wrap up 2023 and enter the third month of the brutal Israeli military onslaught against Palestinians, Josh is joined this week by longtime activist and faith leader, Hajj Reza Nekumanesh. They discuss how events in the Middle East connect with us here at home, from recent flag raising ceremonies and responses by local leaders to the language and tactics used to suppress the voices of marginalized communities among us.

Stir It Up - Dec 13, 2023

This week, Josh Shurley talks with indigenous community organizer Roman Raintree about the upcoming primary elections and Fresno County's Measure B, involving efforts by the county board of supervisors to retain offensive names, as well as issues facing local American Indian folks. Fresno County contains the largest number of indigenous groups still lacking federal acknowledgement.

Stir It Up - Feb 14, 2024

This week, Josh Shurley speaks with Sukaina Hussain, longtime Fresno organizer and currently the deputy executive director of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) for the Sacramento/Central Valley region. They discuss the topic of migrant justice, the challenges faced by migrants as well as the root causes of migration that compel migrants and refugees to cross borders into an uncertain future. Sukaina dispels some of the common myths about migration and elaborates on how the Central Valley community is responding to its unique migrant and refugee population.

Stir It Up - March 13, 2024

This week, Josh speaks with housing advocate and activist Shar Thompson, Central Valley Regional Coordinator with Tenants Together. They discuss the work of Tenants Together, a statewide coalition of tenant organizations building the capacity of local tenant groups, connecting organizations in a statewide movement, and collectively advocating for statewide policy change. Shar elaborates on what work is being done to address the root causes of housing insecurity across California, and why this is so important.

Stir It Up - April 10, 2024

This week, Josh Shurley talks with Zeiad Abbas Shamrouch, in advance of his May 11 appearance in Fresno. Zeiad is the executive director of the Middle East Children's Alliance (MECA), a nonprofit organization that works to protect the rights and improve the lives of children in the Middle East through aid, empowerment and education. They discuss the work of MECA in the region and in Gaza in particular, and the myriad challenges faced by Palestinian children during the ongoing genocide since Oct 7, 2023.

Stir It Up - May 8, 2024

This week, host Josh Shurley talks with Jesse Nevel of the Uhuru Three, and the current Chair of the Uhuru Solidarity Movement, which is an anti-colonial organization working under the leadership of the African People’s Socialist Party that seeks reparations, African liberation, self-determination and national liberation. They discuss the ongoing persecution and prosecution of a trio of movement leaders known as the “Uhuru Three” by the federal government on a set of bogus charges, as well as the larger implications of this case on free speech and mass movement organizing in US society.

Stir It Up - June 12, 2024

In this episode, Josh talks with public interest Bob McCloskey about the recent spike in hate crimes in the Central Valley, and how this fits in with larger national and global trends. There are direct through-lines between local government's complicity in hate crimes and national government complicity in genocide. From Palestinians to the LGBTQ community, none of us are free until we are all free. The lesson, as Bob reminds us, is to continue to "think globally, act locally."

Stir It Up - July 10, 2024

In our August episode, Josh sits down with Aline Reed, longtime social justice activist and board president of the Fresno Freedom School. They delve into Aline’s personal journey and the motivations behind her advocacy work. The conversation highlights the Fresno Freedom School's mission to equip Valley youth with practical skills. Aline also explores how community organizing ties into the broader movement against systemic injustice both nationally and globally.

Stir It Up - Aug 14, 2024

This week, Josh Shurley talks with guest Will Hopkins for a special 9/11 episode. WIll Hopkins is the former executive director of New Hampshire Peace Action, a former combat infantryman and Iraq War veteran, and an organizer with Veterans For Peace Chapter 62. The two will discuss the legacy of  9/11 and what lessons could be applied to better understand the escalatory nature of current foreign policy dynamics, and the role of grassroots activism in countering the power of rampant militarism.

Stir It Up - Sep 11, 2024

In advance of Indigenous People's Day (formerly known as Columbus Day), Josh speaks with Wahinkpe Topa ("Four Arrows"), aka Don Trent Jacobs, professor and writer known for his work in cognitive anthropology about the importance of indigenous worldview. Four Arrows expands on the concept and his current Indigenous Worldview Project, along with its applications for education, sustainability, wellness and counter-hegemonic justice.

Stir It Up - Oct 9, 2024

This week (while the COP29 global climate talks are underway in Azerbaijan), Josh Shurley talks with Janet Weil of the Climate Crisis and Militarism Project (CCMP), a national project of Veterans For Peace.  The two discuss the often poorly understood linkages between global greenhouse gas emissions (which are fueling the climate disaster) and rampant US militarism. American aircraft, ships, and equipment consume massive amounts of fossil fuels in addition to the toxins released when ordinance is exploded and soil and water contaminated as a result of US-funded wars around the globe. The public must be mobilized to push the Pentagon to report and reduce its enormous greenhouse gas emissions, and to push Congress to redirect tax dollars to respond to the existential threat of climate change. The future of our children and grandchildren depend on it. 

Stir It Up - Nov 13, 2024

In this final episode of the Center for Nonviolence's radio program for 2024, Josh Shurley sits down with Zeina Rose, a Jordanian-Palestinian American who is a Director of Special Education for local preschools in the valley and a writer. They discuss the ongoing genocide in Occupied Palestine and the parallels to what occurs here in the Central Valley to marginalized communities, as well as the outlook for the coming year considering the incoming Trump administration amidst a wave of support for Palestinian justice worldwide and locally. 


Stir It Up - Dec 11, 2024

Welcome to Stir It Up, a weekly program brought to you by a collective of local activist organizations in Fresno. Join us each Wednesday at 3:00 pm Pacific on 88.1FM or streaming at kfcf.org as we educate, agitate, and pontificate! 

The second Wednesday edition of Stir It Up is brought to you by the Fresno Center for Nonviolence. Stir It Up is hosted by Dr. Joshua Shurley, political science professor, activist, and organizer with Veterans For Peace, as well as a proud board member of the Fresno Center for Nonviolence. On behalf of the Center, thank you for listening. ☮ 

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