Arisika Razak and Hemal Lalabhai join Cat to discuss Arundhati Roy and Alice Walker's dialogue from KQED's City Arts & Lectures. We air segments of their conversation, and Arisika, Hemal and Cat build on what these two luminaries share. And, Arundhati Roy reads from her latest novel “The Ministry of Utmost Happiness”! 

Arisika Razak, CNM, MPH, is a professor of Women’s Spirituality at the California Institute for Integral Studies in San Francisco and a teacher at the East Bay Meditation Center. For years, she sat in women’s council with Alice Walker. 

Hemal Lalabhai is a former African game ranger and environmental engineer turned writer who focuses on cross cultural identities and environmental issues. He is currently working on a novel about the Rhodesian Civil War and the role that Indian families played in gaining freedom from colonial power. He met Arundhati Roy at a book signing. It was epic. Listen for more!

Alice Walker & Arundhati Roy, Ep. 2

On this episode of We Rise, we explore the conditions in the United States that set the stage for perpetual war. No big deal.

Guest Jason S. Ridler Ramirez, Canadian-born left-wing military historian, professor, and writer, speaks about his experience in the field of military studies in Canada and the US, the history of the military industrial complex (MIC), and tangible strategies to truly challenge the MIC and US-made war. He also talks about that one time when he was a cemetery groundskeeper.

Throughout the show you will hear excerpts from documentary films that reveal the ways US citizens have been taught to accept war as status quo. All films can be found for free online.

- War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death http://main.snagfilms.com/films/title/war_made_easy_how_presidents_and_pundits_keep_spinning_us_to_death 
- Militainment: Militarism & Pop Culture https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=caH_RJZvnnY 
- On Orientalism https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVC8EYd_Z_g

Military Historian Jason Ridler Ramirez on #DroptheMIC, Ep. 3

Guest host Laura Echegaray discusses Puerto Rico - or Borinquen, the island’s original name - the aftermath of Hurricanes Irma and Maria, how we got where we are, and what’s next.

We will learn some historical facts about the relationship between the U.S. government and Puerto Rico.
We will go over the concept of disaster capitalism as defined by Naomi Klein in her 2007 book The Shock Doctrine.
We will speak with Defend Puerto Rico’s activist Khalil Jacobs Fantauzzi.
And we will learn about what’s happening at the University of Puerto Rico, and how organizations on the island are continue generating responses to the crisis.

For links featured in the conversation please visit https://kpfaapprent.wordpress.com/2017/11/17/full-circle-11-17-17-puerto-rico-and-disaster-capitalism/

Puerto Rico + Disaster Capitalism, Ep. 4

We Rise brings you stories, interviews, and music to nourish our imaginations in service of collective liberation. Guided by Toni Cade Bambara’s call to make the revolution irresistible, each show explores the practice of solidarity in today’s freedom movements. Brought to you by We Rise Cultural Production. Check out our other shows on SoundCloud - Feral Visions and Birth Bruja. https://www.weriseproduction.com/