Coronavirus and Class War is a series of discussions and stories of workers on the frontline who are speaking out and stepping up where the state and federal government are failing, in this unprecedented health crisis. Airs every Thursday beginning April 23, 2020 at 7:30 pm et. on WBAI 99.5 fm and at 8pm on soundcloud and other streaming platforms.
Lupita and Mel host our regular radio show while Julian introduces an ongoing investigation on the reopening of New York City Courts. Julian and Yanny speak to legal workers about their resistance to reopening the court systems in the middle of a pandemic while laying out the important players behind the push to reopen.
Read MoreLupita and Mel host our regular radio show while Julian introduces an ongoing investigation on the reopening of New York City Courts. Julian and Yanny speak to legal workers about their resistance to reopening the court systems in the middle of a pandemic while laying out the important players behind the push to reopen.
Read MoreLea and Carlos take up the incident on Dyckman Street in Inwood, North Manhattan when a group of mostly Dominican men patrolled the neighborhood looking for scare away looters and chased out Black youth protesters while using racial slurs. The incident raised debates about anti-Blackness in the Latino community and solidarity. To go deeper into these topics, Lea spoke with Madel Hidalgo and Kleaver Cruz, two Dominican activists, about the incident, the roots of Dominican anti-Blackness, and its intersections with Queer identity.
Read MoreYanny and Mel speak with community activist, Tatiana Hill, and Khalil Sulker, a member of the Afro-Socialist Caucus of the DSA, about the lessons, challenges, and successes of the City Hall occupation and about the next steps in the fight to defund the NYPD. Occupy City Hall is entering its third week as it transitions into Abolition Park. In this transitional moment questions about the future of Abolition Park are being debated now that the budget negotiations are over.
Read MoreLupita and Danny speak with Ronnie Almonte, a member of the Movement of Rank and File Educators, a social justice caucus inside the United Federation of Teachers. Ronnie will talk to us what this current moment can mean for the long fight against racism in New York City's public education system.
Read MoreJulian and Carlos speak with Robert Cuffy, founder of the Socialist Workers Alliance of Guyana, a DC37 Union member and a member of the Afrosocialist and Socialist of Color Caucus of the DSA. Robert speaks with us about the role organized labor can play in the Black Lives Matter uprising across the U.S., the demand to expel Police Unions out of the labor movement, and how the Black freedom struggle can generate broader social movements in the US.
Read MoreCarlos and Mel speak with Josie, an organizer with Take Back the Bronx, an organization of Bronxites who are organizing for community control, to discuss the looting that unfolded in the Bronx and Queens, the tensions it created in the movement and try to answer who is really looting in the Bronx?
Read MoreLupita and Julian speak with Bianca Cunningham, participant of some of the initial protests in the nationwide uprising for Black Lives and a member of the AfroSocialist and Socialist of Color Caucus of the Democratic Socialist of America, about what New York City protests have looked like, why they feel different from the protests of 2014 and what she thinks of the way its all being handled by the police and the people in power.
Read MoreYanny and Danny speak with the Erin Neff, a housing attorney in New York City and organizer with the Housing Justice For All Coalition, about how rent strikes have helped win the housing laws we have today and argue for why they are necessary again in this unprecedented economic crisis under Covid19.
Read MoreLea speaks with the Jasmin Sanchez, longtime NYCHA tenant and organizer about how NYCHA is reacting to the pandemic, what long term disinvestment does to the public housing community and how NYCHA tenants are organizing to make sure they aren't forgotten.
Read MoreBrenda speaks with Alvaro Franco, tenant organizer for the NorthWest Bronx Community & Clergy Coalition, about mass non-compliance, fighting for emergency repairs and the creative ways tenants are responding to the Covid19 pandemic to support the most vulnerable in their buildings.
Read MoreJulian speaks with Manny Pardilla, the South Bronx Tenants Movement’s main tenant organizer, about the housing crisis before the Covid19 crisis and their ongoing rent strike to save the South Bronx from widespread neglect from landlords.
Read MoreLupita speaks with Isabelle Barter, a member of Medics and Makers, about her organization's efforts to fill the supply gap of Personal Protective Equipment with their 3D printers and why major corporations aren't putting their factories to mass produce PPE.
Read MoreWorking Class Heroes correspondent, Lea Ramirez, speaks with a grocery store worker at Trader Joe’s. They speak about his current work conditions, management’s response, and the call for hazard pay and unionization.
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