This week on Indy News we speak with:

—Sean Petty, a pediatric emergency room nurse at Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx. He is also an activist in the New York State Nurses Association, the union that represents 42,000 nurses in New York. In a March 18, 2020 interview with the Indypendent at the onset of the Covid pandemic in New York, Sean warned “I’m running out of words to describe how dangerous and scary all of this is.” With the Omicron variant sweeping across New York City and the country, he is alarmed once again.

— Amazon Labor Union President Chris Smalls and VP Derrick Palmer to update us on the struggle to unionize Amazon workers. On Dec. 22, for the second time in three months, Staten Island Amazon workers hand-delivered signed cards to a National Labor Relations Board office in Brooklyn, petitioning that the board authorize a union vote. The refiling comes after six weeks of furious organizing by the Amazon Labor Union after withdrawing their first petition. This time, the union is targeting only the largest facility on Staten Island, JFK8.

—Julia Thomas, author of “Rikers Island Transferees Now Held in Maximum Security Prison Where Drinking Water Tastes Like Sewage” from the recent Dec. issue of The Indypendent. Bedford hills, a maximum-security prison in Westchester is experiencing an influx of women and transgender and non-binary people — all held pre-trial — who are being transferred from Rikers Island. The controversial and inhumane transfers, which began in October, come after renewed calls to close Rikers and address the increasingly inhumane conditions on the penal colony.

The Indypendent News Hour on WBAI // 28 December 2021

Maqueta de Maio de Sal, enregistrada al juliol del 2013 a Senglar Studios.

MAIO DE SAL - Guia

Texas Governor Greg Abbott has been sending the asylum seekers to “sanctuary cities” Washington, DC, and NYC for months — without sufficient food, water and medical assistance, say those that are supporting the migrants as they arrive. Since Friday, two buses carrying asylum seekers have arrived from Texas, with a total of 68 passengers. 4,000 immigrants have come from Texas in the last few months.

We are joined by Adriana Phillips, founder of South Bronx Mutual Aid and a member of the NYC ICE watch network. She has been on-the-ground, greeting buses as they arrive from Texas.

Advocates Say that Migrants Arriving from Texas are not Coming to NYC Willingly

Lydia McMullen-Laird reads us her article about Veronika´s difficult situation getting her son Alexander out of jail and her experience having to ask for a bail bond.

To support this podcast and our publication, it´s as easy as visiting our Patreon page and becoming a monthly subscriber. bit.ly/2xsDpRQ

To read Lydia's full article go to http://bit.ly/2oRwtuJ

Photo by Elia Gran

Indy Audio

The Bail Bond Blues by Lydia McMullen-Laird

For this episode of Indystructible, I hung out with Eli Smith, a musician, ethnomusicologist and founder of the Brooklyn Folk Festival. Now in its tenth year, the festival features hundreds of bands from all over the world. There are workshops, open jam sessions and a banjo throwing competition. It’s taking place this year at St. Annes Church from April 6th to the 9th. If you are listening in the New York area, I highly recommend you come down and check it out. You’ll find more details at brooklynfolkfest.com

In this interview Eli and I sat down at his home near the Jalopy Theater in Red Hook, Brooklyn. We discussed the rich history of folk music in New York City, America and the world and the importance of carrying the tradition forward, especially in this day and age.

Indystructible

Dorking Out Over Folk Music with Eli Smith

Highlights from the last episode of The Earth Wants YOU!
Barbara Robin Lee tells us her favourite place on Earth and the interview with Tim DeChristopher interview

Tim DeChristopher Interview Highlights

Medicare For All Act Introduced In The House by Steven Wishnia

The first episode of The Indypundit - the podcast of The Indypendent, New York's progressive print newspaper, hosted by Dean Patterson and executive editor John Tarleton. In this EP we discuss the takeover of East River Park, New York car culture and its cycling discontents, and the overdue firing of Daniel Pantaleo.

Opening track is Louis Prima's Just a Gigolo, closing is Joan Baez Guantanamara

The Indypundit- Episode 1: Panic at East River Park

Indy Radio Interview 1: Rabbi Ellen Lippmann

A mix of Conscious Reggae hits mixed by Assassin Singh of the Artiste Team and hosted by Loud N Bashy

"Build Ting Let The Birds Dem Sing"

Build Ting

Build Ting (April 25th 2020)

John Tarleton interviews Melania Brown, the sister of Layleeen Polanco, a trans woman who died in Solitary Confinement, about the movement to end solitary at Rikers Island.

Melania Brown Interviewed on WBAI by John Tarleton

The Indypendent News Hour airs Tuesdays 5–6 p.m. on WBAI-99.5 FM. Check out our archives to listen to past interviews with movement organizers, authors, elected officials and others fighting for justice in New York City and beyond.

The Indypendent News Hour on WBAI // 28 December 2021

The Indypendent

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