The Circle A Radio Collective produced was a weekly public affairs program covering local, national and international issues from 2000-2013. Members included Kaylene Chassie, Jodi Darby, Marlena Gangi, Shizuko Hashimoto, BreAna Loranger, Cecily Rodgers, Trillium Shannon, Honna Veerkamp and Erin Yanke.
Some excerpts from the Circle A Radio archive:

Days of Repentance      
One week ago today, the Israeli army launched an open-ended military campaign in northern Gaza known as Days of Repentance. It is the largest military operation in Gaza since 2002.  According to reports this morning, the death toll among Palestinians is approaching 90, many of them civilians. WIth no end in sight, casualties are expected to rise. Schools, homes and factories have been destroyed. 
Tonight on Circle A Radio we will talk about the current siege as well as daily life in occupied Palestine. Our guests will be Ashmid Koshawi, a journalist from Gaza City and Hisham Sarsour, a radio journalist in Hebron and a member of the International Palestinian Youth League.

Immigrant Rights   8/19/2008                                                                                                              Over 11% of US residents were born in another country. There are 11-12 million immigrants in the US without papers to legally reside here. They come from war torn countries and are refugees of economic wars waged by the architects of trade agreements such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA).

Undocumented immigrants work the most dangerous and undesirable jobs, with low pay, discrimination in the workplace, difficulty obtaining housing, healthcare and education. But over the past few weeks, millions of immigrants in the US have come out of the shadows to lead the fight for basic human rights here in the United States.

Tonight on Circle A Radio we will bring you commentary speeches from immigrant rights marches, some of the largest ever in the history of those cities. We have sound bites from Salem, Portland, Seattle, New York and Los Angeles. We’ll also provide some historical background as well as resources on how you can get involved in the struggle for immigrant rights.


Free Palestine 
Tonight on Circle A Radio we have updates on the current situation in Palestine, particularly along the Egyptian border. You’ll be hearing voices from Palestine including Dr. Samir Naserala Adwan, a student organizer and Irish television journalist Sandra Jordan.


The Role of Art in Liberation Movements 
Tonight on Circle A Radio we discuss the role of art in liberation movements. 
Our guests tonight are Portland artist Melinda Matson, members of Ricanstruction, a collective of visual artists and musicians from Harlem New York and Josh McPhee organizer of the Celebrate People’s History Project and the Just Seeds collective.

Wars Against Women, Women Against War 
Tonight on Circle A Radio, we bring you a panel discussion entitled Wars Against Women, Women Against War. It was recorded at the World Social Forum on January 8, 2004 in Mumbai, Oregon.


Justice for James Jahar Perez 
Just three days after James Jahar Perez was killed by Portland police, Circle A Radio went to the memorial site in north Portland. We spoke to others who were there to pay their respects.


El Salavador 
Although the war in El Salvador has been over for 12 years, a war waged by neoliberal interests, globalization and privatization of the country’s resources continues. Tonight on Circle A Radio, we’ll be hearing from Portland Wobblie Anne Eldred and community activist Andy Rimkowski, both who acted as election observers during the most recent El Salvadoran election.


Happy Birthday Malcolm X!
Samples of historic audio from the revolutionary leader and civil rights activist.


Breaking the Chains 
June 12th marked the fourth year of political prisoner Jeff “Free” Lures’ incarceration. He was sentenced to 22 years and three months for burning three SUVs at a car dealership in Eugene, Oregon.

An international day of solidarity and action for Free in over twenty cities nationwide. Circle A Radio went to Eugene for a solidarity benefit; speakers were Ramona Africa and Kevin Price of the MOVE organization in Philadelphia and Claude Marks Director of the Freedom Archives in San Francisco. Blackfire, a political/punk band from the Dine’h nation performed.

We spoke with Ramona Africa, Kevin Price and Claude Marks before the program
The conversation places Free’s case in the context of a long history of freedom fighters struggling against imperialism in all of its forms.



1934 Strike-Portland’s Radical Labor History 
Tonight on Circle A Radio we bring you an interview with Marvin Ricks,  the only surviving participant of the 1934 longshore strike in Portland, conducted by radical historian Kim Fern.



Propaganda 
The mainstream media has been hyping the summer of 2004 as the Summer of Terror, raising the temperature of fear across the country. Tonight on Circle A Radio we focus on the real terrorists working overtime, cutting the last of our native  forests, polluting the air with outdated coal power plants, deporting immigrants and imprisoning those who take action to resist and stand up for all of us.
We will be broadcasting voices of those who are engaged in resistance in the hope that it will inspire you to take action as well.


¡Chávez no se va! 
Tonight on Circle A Radio we will be hearing from Jason Wallach of the Cross Border Labor Organizing Committee and Luciani Lira who has worked with El Movimiento Sin Tierra,  the landless workers movement in Brazil. They spoke with us three days before the recall referendum in Venezuela. In this interview, we address that referendum as a symbol of the power of people’s movements in Latin America.



Breaking the Chains 
Tonight on Circle A Radio we speak with Pascua Yaqui Earth First activist Rod Coronado about his continued organizing against the killing and removal of mountain lions from Sabino Canyon in southern Arizona. 

We also speak with Lydia Barthalow from the Eugene, Oregon group Break the Chains and members of the Portland, Oregon group Books to Prisoners on the role of committed and sustained prison support in our struggle to build a better world.


Biking Hurts 
We will be listening to people who have been hit by automobiles while rigging their bikes. This project began out of a need to raise awareness about bikes, and as a response to  personal and secondhand experiences with accidents. The nine Portland and New Orleans bicycle riders that we’ll hear from have all been seriously injured within the past few years. Without citing dehumanizing statistics, we see this as a testament to the everyday risks that bike riders face.


Gary Webb and the Object Lesson
An award-winning investigative reporter, Gary Webb (1955–2004) is best known for his Dark Alliance series that linked a Northern California drug ring with the CIA and the United States’ burgeoning crack epidemic. When the story first appeared in 1996 on the website of the San Jose Mercury News, it became an unprecedented internet sensation, receiving up to 1.3 million hits daily. The report was the target of a famously vicious media backlash that ended his career as a mainstream journalist. 


Biscuit Logging Plan Protest 
Tonight on Circle A Radio we talk to protesters who have been using direct action to fight the US Forest Service.


Aaron Glantz  
Aaron Glantz began working at KPFA, Pacifica radio’s Berkeley station when he was 19. He covered the Middle East for Pacifica during the American invasion of Iraq and began reporting from Iraq when Saddan Hussein’s regime fell. He has been to Iraq three times and has just released a book, How America Lost Iraq, about his experiences. Circle A Radio interviewed Aaron about his experiences on the ground as a war reporter.


Government Spying 
Tonight we will be looking at the history of the eUS government’s domestic surveillance programs. The recent cases of the National Security Agency’s spying on American citizens have now gained widespread media coverage.

We’ll speak to Lauren Reagan from the Civil Liberties Defense Center in Eugene, OR about how Grand Juries work and their role in repression. We’ll also be speaking to Brian Glick, author of The War at Home: Covert Action Against US Activists and What We Can Do About It.


No Nukes
In the 1980s,  Reagan-era nuclear weapons buildup brought the anti-nuclear issue to the forefront of activist consciousness. Today, with wars waged in response to alleged weapons of mass destruction and the arrogant stance on non-proliferation by the Bush administration, nuclear weapons at home and abroad are once again becoming part of the popular dialog. Tonight on Circle A Radio, we will be talking to anti-nuclear activists past and present, while learning about the US government’s plan to resume large-scale nuclear weapons manufacturing.

Brian Wilson
March 19th marks the third anniversary of the beginning of the current US war in Iraq. There will be protests worldwide calling an end to US occupation around the world. But what does one do when the protest marches are over?

Tonight on Circle A Radio we will be talking with Vietnam vet and longtime anti-war activist Brian Wilson about his life. We will also hear from Free Speech Radio News reporter Aaron Glantz about the political climate in Iraq three years after the invasion.

Kristian Williams American Methods
On March 9th the US military announced the closing of Abu Ghraib within three months. While the closing of this prison, notorious for torture and human rights abuses by teh US and Sahham Hussein’s forces seems like good news, it is unlikely to alter conditions for its prisoners.  Camp Cropper, the high security detention facility near the Baghdad Airport where the prisoners will be transferred, also has a problematic history.

Tonight on Circle A Radio we will be talking with Portland writer and activist Kristian Williams. In this interview, Williams discusses his new book American Methods, Torture and the Logic of Domination, and talks about the lineage and contemporary applicaton of torture by the US government both here and abroad.


MOVE Bombing 21st Anniversary
On May 13th, 1985 Philadelphia police dropped a bomb onto a residential neighborhood. The target was MOVE, a radical organization that protested police brutality and government policies. Five adults and six children were killed. Despite two Grand Jury investigations and a commission finding that top officials were grossly negligent, no one from Philadelphia city government was held accountable.
Ramona Africa was the only adult survivor of the police bombing, and we spoke to her this past Sunday to mark the 21st anniversary of the attack on MOVE.


The Murder of James Chasse Jr.
Audio from the memorial for James Chasse Jr. who was murdered by Portland police

Homeless Services
Homelessness is an issue that Portland struggles with on a daily basis, and with the cold weather comes a deeper concern for those who live on the street. 


Systemic Police Violence
Tonight on Circle A Radio  we’ll talk with Rev. Dr. Leroy Haynes of the Albina Ministerial Alliance for Coalition for Justice and Candace Larson of Rose City Copwatch about police violence and accountability. We’ll also hear from Kristian Williams, author of Our Enemies in Blue.


Native Occupation of Alcatraz
The Native American Occupation of Alcatraz Island began on November 20, 1969.      At about 2 a.m., nearly eighty Indigenous activists from more than twenty tribes pulled up to the island's eastern shore in three boats, and the island of Alcatraz was occupied until June 11, 1971. We talk with Robert Free Galvin and Lenny Foster, veterans of the Alcatraz movement, and also hear audio from  Indian Land Radio, and other recordings made during the occupation.


Eagle Creek Victory, Ten Years Later
The U.S. Forest Service canceled the Eagle Creek timber sale in April, 2002. We revisit the Eagle Creek Campaign and Victory which was a three year campaign to protect the Eagle Creek area from logging and environmental damage.










Michelle Alexander and the New Jim Crow
We take a look at mass incarceration and racism in America today through Michelle Alexander's book "The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness."

We begin with a speech given by Michelle Alexander in New York in February of 2010, and then will hear from various community members who participated in a Book Group at the Talking Drum Bookstore, located in Reflections coffee shop on NE Killingsworth. This group is going through the book in six weeks, chapter by chapter, to study how and why a majority of young Black men in major American cities are locked behind bars and how  the U.S. criminal justice system functions as a contemporary system of racial control, even as it formally adheres to the principle of color blindness.

25th Anniversary of the Death of Ben Linder
April 28th will be the 25th anniversary of the Death of Ben Linder. Ben was a Portland engineer working to bring electricity to rural areas of Nicaragua when he was murdered by US Backed contra forces. He was the first American killed by the contras, and his death ignited a storm of protest throughout the country. Tonight on Circle a Radio we listen to audio recorded in 1987 and 1989 celebrating the life of Ben Linder, and analyzing U.S. Central American policies in place at the time.
Audio recorded in 1987 is from The Conference in the Spirit of Ben Linder.took place, organized by 24 local groups, including the still functioning Portland Central America Solidarity Committee.

Audio recorded in 1989 was from the Remembering Ben event,

Somalia
Tonight on Circle A Radio we will explore the topic of Somalia and its place in the global war on terror. We will be speaking with Kayse Jama and Stephanie Stevens of the Center for Intercultural Organizing in Portland, Oregon. Jama, a native of Somalia,  founded the Center for Intercultural Organizing in response to the increased attacks against immigrants and refugees after September 11. We also interview R.T. Naylor, author of the book Satanic Purses; Money, Myth and Misinformation in the War on Terror. Mr. Naylor is a professor of economics at McGill University in Montreal, Canada.











International Day of  Solidarity with Leonard Peltier
Leonard Peltier of the Anishinabe and Lakota Nations, is a long time Native Activist and member of the American Indian Movement.  He has spent over 35 years as a political prisoner.  Tonight on Circle A Radio, we talk about the International Day in Solidarity with Leonard Peltier, coming up this Saturday, February 4th.  Our guests are Michael One Road, and Arthur Miller, both regional organizers for the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee.

Coltan and The Congo
Tonight we talk about conflict minerals,  the historic exploitation of Congo and the role that Western nations
and multi-national corporations continue to play in the exploitation  of the resources of Africa. We hear from many people, including Aaron Hall,  from the enough Project, Kambale Musavuli, spokesperson from Friends of the Congo, Chouchou Namegabe Nabintu and more.

African People's Socialist Party
This year marks the 40th anniversary of the African People's Socialist Party - USA.  The Party's National Plenary will be held from February 18th-21st in St. Petersburg Florida at the Uhuru House.

On this program, we talk to Nyabinga Dzimbahwe, of the African People's Socialist Party and Wendy Snyder of the African People's Solidarity Committee.  We also feature a speech by the Chairman of the African People's Socialist Party, Omali Yeshitela.
Thanks to the Unchained Mind on Blog Talk Radio, for audio clips from an interview with Nyabinga Dzimbahwe.  

Colombia - La Lucha Sigue
On October 12th, 2011, Congress passed the Colombia Free Trade Agreement.  The fight against the FTA, by trade unionists, small farmers, Indigenous communities, Afro-Colombians, and human rights activists was lost after 5 years, but the struggle continues.  On this program, we speak with Carlos Cruz, from Witness for Peace in Colombia.

10 Years that Shook San Francisco 1968-1978
Ten Years That Shook the City: San Francisco 1968-78 is A collection of first-person and historical essays spans the people’s history of San Francisco in the tumultuous decade from 1968, the year of the San Francisco State College strike, to 1978 and the twin traumas of the Jonestown massacre and the assassinations of Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk. This volume provides a broad look at the diverse ways those ten years shaped the world we live in today. From community gardening to environmental justice, gay rights and other identity-based social movements, anti-gentrification efforts, neighborhood arts programs and more, many of the initiatives whose origins are described here have taken root and spread far beyond San Francisco.

This book was published by City Lights Publishers in June of 2011, and tonight on Circle A Radio we have an interview with its editor, Chris Carlsson. Chris Carlson is also  one of the founders of the Critical Mass cycling movement. He is also a writer, blogger, and director of the multi-media history project Shaping San Francisco.

More information about the People's History of San Francisco is at foundsf.org or shapingsf.org. Thanks to Chris Carlsson , and all the authors who read from their essays.

Political Analysis of the Occupy Movement
In the past week, we’ve seen a nationwide campaign to evict protestors from the Occupy encampments, including the mass arrests in Zucotti Park at the heart of the Occupy Wall Street Movement.  Locally, Portlanders came out in force to support the Occupy movement on Saturday, November 12th,  with the announcement of a midnite eviction by Mayor Sam Adams.  Thousands rallied in the streets to show support and delay an eviction.

Tonight on Circle A Radio, we focus on political analysis and the economics that gave rise to this historic movement – the financial crisis caused by Wall Street and the financial institutions it represents.  We’ll hear from Canadian Economist Jim Stanford, labor activist Christina Towne, and professor, activist, and long time critic of capitalism, Noam Chomsky. We will also hear audio recorded on Saturday November 12th, into the hours of the 13th, recorded in Portland.

Commentary on the Movement for Economic and Social Justice in the UK
We talk with Zita Holburne from BARAC - Black Activists Rising Against Cuts - in the UK. You'll also hear from anti-fascist organizer Weymann Bennett and family members of people who have died in police custody in Britain, organizing for justice and police accountability.

California Prison Hunger Strike
We bring you an update on the historic California Prison Hunger Strike. We interview prison activist Sam Paige, and Betty, whose husband is currently in the Security Housing Unit of the Pelican Bay State Prison in Crescent City, California.

Elaine Brown speech at Reed College in Portland April 8, 2011
Tonight on Circle A Radio, we feature the former Chairman of the Black Panther Party, Elaine Brown.  Brown is author of the books “A Taste of Power” and “The Condemnation of Little B”.  She’s the co-founder of Mothers Advocating Juvenile Justice and The National Alliance for Radical Prison Reform.  She’s also on the Committee to free Chip Fitzgerald.   She regularly lectures at colleges and universities around the country on “New Age Racism in America”.  A longtime prisoner advocate, Elaine Brown was a close advisor to prisoners who took part in the historic prison strikes in Georgia this past December.  Here is her keynote speech from the opening night of The Counter Counter Insurgency Convergence, which took place at Reed College, April 8th thru the 10th, 2011.

bo brown of the George Jackson Brigade
On this episode, we feature excerpts of a 2-hour interview we did with Rita “Bo” Brown.
Bo Brown is most well known to us as a member of The George Jackson Brigade, a Seattle based revolutionary group. To learn more about the George Jackson Brigade in general, we recommend the recently published books by Daniel Burton-rose, Guerilla USA, and Creating a Movement with Teeth.

Rita "Bo" Brown, was originally from Klamath, Oregon, and moved to Seattle in the 60’s to find community she’d lacked in Klamath. She soon found lesbian bars, and political activists. She became radicalized while in prison for a “social crime”, and was reading the George Jackson book “Soledad Brother” when he was murdered in California, in 1971.

She was part of the George Jackson Brigade that robbed banks to help fund their work, and the work of anti-war and civil rights action groups, like the Black Panthers. Their activities placed them almost immediately on the FBI's Most Wanted list.  Brown was dubbed "The Gentleman Bank Robber" for creatively blending her butch cross-dressing style with polite gun-pointing prattle, and was praised by bank tellers for her congeniality while committing her outlaw activities. Brown successfully eluded capture for some time because authorities were searching for a well-dressed man, but was eventually caught and convicted of robbing a Portland bank. She served 8 years in federal prison.

After her release in 1987, Brown formed Out of Control: Lesbian Committee to Support Women Political Prisoners, which remains active today. Bo Brown also remains active, doing prison support work, and more. We did this interview when she was in Portland for the Raze the Walls mini conference sponsored by The Ad Hoc Committee to Connect the Dots. The goal of the conference was to nurture a greater understanding of the connections between policing, prisons and political prisoners.

Oscar Grant, Police Brutality and alternatives to the Police
On this program, you’ll hear from:
George Chiccariello-Maher, from Oakland and Erinn Carter, from Los Angeles. They are active in the struggle for justice for Oscar Grant.
Sara Libby from Rose City Copwatch and the Fire Frashour Campaign.
Andrew Barney from Youth for Alternatives to the Police.


Greek Anarchists and the Insurrection of Dec, 2008
On March 21th, Greek anarchists Ce Ce and Tasos from the VOID Network in Athens, along with Peter, an American who has been living in Barcelona, Spain for the last four years, spoke about the Greek uprising of December 2008 at the Blackrose Collective

Peter is also the author of How Nonviolence Protects the State.  Ce ce and Tasos are also two of the editors of the book  We Are an Image From the Future, which delves into the December insurrection and its aftermath through interviews with those who witnessed and participated in it, alongside the communiqués and texts that circulated through the networks of revolt.

Tonight on Circle A Radio we will listen to excerpts from their talk in Portland, as well as other audio  discussing the insurrection in Greece and its importance.

Lakota Nation: Two Years of Succession
December 21, 2009  marks the second anniversary of the announcement that  the Lakotah Nation was unilaterally withdrawing from treaties they signed with the federal government of the United States.
Garry Rowland from Wounded Knee was one of the delegates that made the trip to Washington DC. He said, at the time quote "Today is a historic day and our forefathers speak through us. Our Forefathers made the treaties in good faith with the sacred Canupa and with the knowledge of the Great Spirit. They never honored the treaties, that's the reason we are here today."
Tonight on Circle A Radio we learn more about the secession, and about what has happened in the two years since secession. We will hear from Canupa  Gluha Mani, and Russel Means.  Stay Tuned.

Homelessness in Portland
Air Cascadia and Flashpoints are off today. Instead we'll hear a special program from Circle A Radio on "Homelessness." Circle A producers visited several sites in Portland where homeless folks gather to talk to them about their experiences.

Max Rameau and the Take Back the Land Movement
Max Rameau  is the founder of the Miami-based organization Take Back the Land. In 2006, the organization seized control of a vacant lot and built a shantytown called Umoja Village. Take Back the Land then began a campaign of taking over bank-owned foreclosed homes and moving
homeless families into them.
Max Rameau just completed a North West tour from November 12 through the 17th. We recorded his speech at Portland State University on Friday November 13th.
Tonight on Circle A Radio we will listen to Max Rameau’s speech, and hear about the struggle for land and housing in Portland.

Appalshop Anniversary
Appalshop, a non-profit multi-disciplinary arts and education center, located in Whitesburg Kentucky, has just celebrated it’s 40th year of existence in the heart of Appalachia.
Appalshop is dedicated to the proposition that the world is immeasurably enriched when local cultures garner the resources, including new technologies, to tell their own stories and to listen to the unique stories of others.
Tonight on Circle A Radio, we talk to Art Menius , The Director of Appalshop. We will also listen to excerpts from their documentary film work, their record releases, the programs on their community radio station WMMT, and more.

Homelessness in Portland
As the number of people living on the streets continues to increase during this recession, many cities are passing ordinances restricting survival activities such as sleeping, sitting down, and asking for spare change. The National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty released a report in July called Homes Not Handcuffs.
The 190 page report says that city ordinances frequently serve as a tool for criminalizing homelessness.
The report also examines violations of the US Constitution and human rights law within these measures. Here in Portland, the Sit-Lie Ordinance has been declared unconstitutional twice. Still, it looks like Mayor Sam Adams is intent on finding a replacement for the defunct ordinance.
Tonight on Circle A Radio you'll hear mostly from people who are currently homeless in Portland.
We recorded this with the help of Heather Mosher and Wendy Kohn of Kwamba Productions, and Ibrahim Mubarek, one of the founders of Dignity Village. We visited several sites in Portland where homeless folks gather so we could talk to them first hand about their experiences.









San Francisco Eight Victory
Charges were recently dropped against 4 of the San Francisco 8, leaving only one defendant left.
We talk with Richard Brown of the SF8 and Miasha Quint from the Committee to defend the SF 8 about the recent developments, the success of the organizing, the COINTELPRO targeting of the Black Panther Party and more.

Coal Ash Disaster and Coal Sludge Activism
As a country, we tend to forget the dangers of current methods of processing coal. We focus on the myth of “clean coal” and don’t pay much attention to stories such as the December 22nd Coal Ash Disaster in Kingston, Tenn.,
The 65 foot tall pile of 1.6 billion gallons of coal ash created by years of burning coal for electricity broke the dam that separated it from the nearby Emory  river, spilling into the river and  burying 400 acres of land.
Tonight on Circle a Radio we talk with Matt Landon of United Mountain Defense about the aftermath of the disaster, and we talk to Patricia Feeney and Joe Stanley of the Sludge Saftey Project in West Virginia about their community and legislative fight against storage of the toxic byproducts .

Indigenous Resistance to US Coal Mining
Tonight we will be speaking to people who have been directly affected by coal extraction in their communities. We will hear from Dine’h activist Náábaahii Katenay Kéédíniihii from Big Mountain, Arizona- a land that is currently occupied by the Peabody Coal Company. We also spoke with the Garcia family, Indigenous Guajiro, residing in Zulia, on the border of Venezuela and Colombia.










Stop Joe Arpaio! Stop 287gs! Stop the ICE Raids!
On tonight's show we focus on the human and civil rights abuses against people of color, the misuse of 287g agreements, and the need for Comprehensive Immigration Reform.  We are talking with immigrant rights advocates in Maricopa County (AZ), where the worst examples of this abuse are happening at the hands of Sheriff Joe Arpaio.  We talk with Silvia Herrera of the Puente Movement, Jason Odhner, and Antonio Bustamante.  We also bring you short interviews from the National Convergence and Protest in Phoenix on February 27th & 28th, 2009.






Dlycia Pagan, Puerto Rican Activist 02/17/2009 
Dlycia Pagan, Puerto Rican Activist, Filmmaker, and Artist talks about her life as an Activist/Organizer, the nearly 20 years she spent in prison on charges of seditious conspiracy, her presidential pardon, and her advice to the younger generation.

The Dicentra Collective   02/03/2009 

The Dicentra Collective is based in Portland, OR. They are 7 individuals who are collectively committed to create radical communities of care, networks of support, and movements based on relationship building. Tonight on Circle A Radio we talk with the members of Dicentra Collective about their beginnings, their workshops, and their ideas for radical caregiving. We also include readings from a zine they produced on chronic pain, as well as other media they've created.

David Bacon 01/20/2009
David Bacon is a writer and photojournalist on issues of labor, immigration and international trade. He will soon be coming to Portland to discuss these issues, and here on Circle A Radio, we hear from him about his life, his beginnings as a journalist and artist, and about immigration and popular struggles all over the world.
Friday, January 30th 

Hawaiian Sovereignty
Queen Liliuokalani was the last reigning monarch of the Hawaiian islands. She was deposed by opposition forces who called themselves the Committee of Safety,  with the help of the U.S. Marines. On January 17, 1893, Queen lileo kulani  yielded her authority: Now to avoid any collision of armed forces, and perhaps the loss of life, I do this under protest and impelled by said force yield my authority until such time as the Government of the United States shall, upon facts being presented to it, undo the action of its representatives and reinstate me in the authority which I claim as the Constitutional Sovereign of the Hawaiian Islands.
Tonight, we discuss Hawaiian Sovereignty with Portland Author Elinor Langer, and Dr. Kekuni Blazedell, convenor of the Pro-Hawaiian Sovereignty Working Group.
 



Studs Terkel    11/18/2008 
  Studs Terkel, one of our radio heroes, died October 31, 2008 at his home in Chicago.         He was 96. We spend this hour with personal tributes, but mostly with Studs own work, ranging from interviews he did for WFMT, and for his many oral history books, as well as interviews where he was the subject. 

Teaching Rebellion- Grassroots Mobilization in Oaxaca, Mexico
Tonite on Circle A Radio we’ll be featuring an interview with Melissa Mundt and Gustavo Vilchis, recorded on Oct. 28th.  They joined us at the KBOO studios during their West Coast tour for “Teaching Rebellion”, a book that features first hand stories, and photography from the popular uprising in Oaxaca, Mexico.  You’ll hear a few excerpts from the book, as well as more information on the militarization of Mexico, the US role, and what you can do.
Many of the voices on tonight’s show were recorded in Spanish, with side by side translation. 

Sex Work and Harm Reduction  11/04/2008 

We talk with the Portland Women's Crisis Line & the Sex Workers Outreach Coalition
Prostitution-free zones designated by the City Council under Chapter 14B.30. The zones were areas in  which police had probable cause to believe a person committed prostitution  as defined in Section 14B.30.030 of city code. Offenders could be banned from the zone for a  twelve to 18 month period.
In 2007, Mayor Tom Potter allowed Portland's Prostitution Free Zone ordinances to sunset after determining that the law was ineffective.
In recent months, neighbors of the Montavilla neighborhood have begun organizing to mark the one year anniversary since the city dropped the Prostitution Free Zone.  The groups claim that crime has risen since the zone was dropped, and are attempting to push for its reinstatement.
Tonight on Circle A Radio, we will be speaking with Crystal Tenty of the Portland Women’s Crisis Line as well as Lily and Fosto from SWOC, the Sex Workers Outreach Coalition. SWOC’s  goal is to provide harm reduction based direct services to individuals who are working in the sex industry and to empower them to make choices in their lives.
We will also speak with Rachel West of the US Prostitute’s Collective and who was a member of the San Francisco Task Force on Prostitution.



Anarchists in America
We spoke to nine self identified anarchists from around the United States to learn more about Anarchist thought and to take inspiration from our fellow anti-authoritarians.

Migrants in the Desert     08/19/2008
For years, people used to migrate into the united states through the cities.
Then in the early 1990s trade policies began to affect patterns of immigration, . The US began building walls, and sealing urban areas, pushing immigration routes to isolated and more desolate areas, like the desert.
Tonight on Circle A Radio, we’ll talk to Kat Rodriguez, the coordinator for Derechos Humanos, Mike Wilson a humanitarian aid worker, and members of the Tohono O’odham tribe, and we will share a testimonial from an immigrant who recently crossed the desert into Arizona.

The Freedom Archives 07/15/2008 
We took at field trip to the Freedom Archives in San Francisco. The Freedom Archives contains 8000 hours of audio and video recordings documenting social justice movements locally, nationally, and internationally from the 1960s to the present. The Archives features speeches of movement leaders and community activists, protests and demonstrations, cultural currents of rebellion and resistance.

Bananas 07/01/2008 

Bananas are a fruit native to the tropical region of Southeast Asia
and Australia. Today, they are cultivated throughout the tropics. Bananas are
among the most widely consumed foods in the world, and are grown in at least
107 countries.
Transnational fruit companies  and
supermarket chains  buy enormous
quantities of bananas and competition has led to reduced margins in recent
years which in turn has led to lower prices for growers. Banana farmers have
historically received a low unit price for their produce and been subjected to
poor working conditions.  Today, most
banana workers continue to labor for low pay and are often exposed to toxic
pesticides.  Child labor and violent
repression against workers who organize unions have also been documented .
Tonight on Circle A Radio we’ll look into the marketing of the banana… why
do Westerners  think of the banana as a
staple food item and not a luxury? We talk to Peter Chapman, author of Bananas!: How the United Fruit Company Shaped
the World  about  the mass-marketing of the banana, United
Fruit's involvement in Guatemala, and their covert links to the US government,
. We also talk to Michael Mc Millen, banana buyer  for Organically
grown company in Clackamas, who discusses banana farming and the journey of the
golden fruit from the tropics to our shopping carts. Finally, we talk with
Peter O’Driscoll, executive director of Action Aid  USA about human rights and the banana market today.

ICE Raids and Community Resistance 06/03/2008

On June 12th, 2007, as workers at the Del Monte
processing plant in North Portland, neared the end of their work shift, agents
from the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement
or ICE, raided the plant, detaining 167 people, separating families, and
spreading fear and anxiety throughout the community.
Tonite on Circle A Radio, nearly one year after the raid,
we’ll explore the current state of immigration policy in the US, and let you
know how to get involved in the local struggle for civil rights.  We talk with Monami Maulik of Desis Rising
Up and Moving in New York City, Arnoldo Garcia of the National Network for
Immigrant and Refugee Rights, based in Oakland.  We also bring you local organizers Shizuko Hashimoto of the
Portland Central Solidarity Committee, and Marco Mejia of the New Sanctuary
Movement.
 




Winter Soldier   05/20/2008 

We bring you audio from the original Detroit Winter
Soldier, with Vietnam Veterans Against the War, and excerpts from Winter
Soldier 2008 which took place March 14th thru the 16th in Silver Spring
Maryland, organized by Iraq Vets Against The War. We also talk with Seth Manzel
from the Seattle Chapter of Iraq Veterans Against the War, about the upcoming
NW Winter Soldier, to take place May 31st at Seattle Town Hall. 

Olympic Resistance 05/06/2008

 The Summer 2008 Olympics will take place in Beijing, China.  As protests continue to bring attention to the human rights abuses in this year’s summer Olympics host, Circle A Radio explores human rights abuses of Olympics past with Author and Retired Professor Helen Jefferson Lenskyj.  We will also speak with Kanahus Paltki of the Native Youth Movement about the campaign against the 2010 Winter Olympics.   

Hip Hop and Activism 04/01/2008
We speak with Gabriel Yaiva, Navajo and Hopi hip hop artist, owner of the independent label Fourth World Entertainment, www.4went.com, empowering people through community work, such as The Peace and Balance Project, www.peaceandbalance.com.



Cambodia Tribunals 03/18/2008
 Tonight on Circle A Radio, we’ll be talking to Bhavia Wagner, Executive Director of Friends of Cambodia, Activist Lawyer and Asian Reporter Columnist Polo, and we’ll also hear audio from the documentary Cambodian Culture: Death Of A Sideshow: Reclaiming The Shattered Past - produced by Barbara Bernstein in 1987.April 17th, 1975 the Khmer Rouge marched into Phenom Phen and turned the clock back to year zero. The Khmer Rouge was one of the most lethal regimes of the 20th century. It was responsible for the deaths of millions of Cambodians Following their leader Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge imposed an extreme form of social engineering on Cambodian society—a radical form of agrarian communism where the whole population had to work in collective farms or forced labor projects.. One of their mottos, was: "To keep you is no benefit. To destroy you is no loss." The Khmer Rouge was overthrown on  January 7, 1979 by Vietnamese forces . The end of the Khmer Rouge period was followed by a civil war, which ended in 1998. In 1997 the government requested United Nations assistance in establishing a trial to prosecute the senior leaders of the Khmer Rouge. In 2001 the Cambodian National Assembly passed a law to create a court to try serious crimes committed during the Khmer Rouge regime. This court is called the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia for the Prosecution of Crimes Committed during the Period of Democratic Kampuchea.  It is a Cambodian court with international participation that will apply international standards. But, for regular citizens of Cambodia these proceedings are beyond their means, financially and emotionally.  After over 30 years of war and genocide the citizens of Cambodia are focused on their survival, not engaging in judicial proceedings.  

Africa House 03/05/2008

The Africa House Refugee Center is a multilingual community-based center that works with immigrants from 32 of the 54 African Countries. We speak with Africa House Coordinator Jimmy Dogo , Daniel Amine, Mediation specialist of Africa House, and Ali Ibrahim, Africa House Community educator.   We also take a tour of the Africa House Facility.

Portland Response to the Jena Six
 The Jena Six refers to a group of six black teenagers who were charged with the beating of a white teenager at Jena High School in Jena, Louisiana on December 4, 2006 , although it is believed that the incident began on September first, 2006 when 3 nooses were found hanging from a tree at Jena High School . We use interviews from Democracy Now to describe the incident, and talk to Kevin Fuller, Founder and Executive Director of the Bridge Builders, and Alpha Tessema, junior, Jesuit High School, a member of the Prospective Gents, who sponsored a Jena Six Fundraiser and Vigil on September 20th in Portland.  

The Ruckus Collective


Legacy of Torture
Tongith on Circle A Radio, we speak with Claude Marks of the Freedom Archives. Their most recent film Legacy of Torture- the War Aganist the Black Liberation Movement, focuses on the current governmental pressure and oppression against veterans of the Black Pantner Parther and the Black Liberation Movement.

The Portland Black Panther Party for Self Defense
Tonight on Circle A Radio we will be speaking with Oscar Johnson, Percy Hampton, Gary Clay and Kent Ford, all members of the Portland chapter of the Black Panther Party for Self Defense.

Andrea Quijada
Tonight on Circle A Radio we talk with Andrea Quijada of  the New Mexico Media Literacy Project. She delivers dynamic multimedia presentations and training for  youth and adults across the country. In January of 2006, she collaborated with Third World Majority and the Prometheus Radio Project to bring a media justice delegation to the World Social Forum in Caracas, Venezuela. She also took part in the World Summit on Information and Society in Tunisia in 2005. This interview was recorded on February 3rd of this year.

Immigration in Forks, Washington
Tonight on Circle A Radio we speak with community members from Forks, Washington as well as others who are organizing around immigrant rights there after a raid of their community by ICE.

Loretta Ross and Sisters in Action for Power
Tonight we will be speaking with Loretta Ross, whose 25 year history in the women's movement, both in ending violence against women and promoting reproductive rights, has earned her the respect of many. She is a founder of SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Health Collective, the Founder and Executive Director of the National Center of Human Rights Education and is on the Board of Sisterlove, a women’s HIV/AIDS organization. She is currently on the planning committee of the first ever US Social Forum. She spoke with us about the evolution of her work and the importance of building a movement in the United States based on the voices and experiences of those most affected by injustice. She spoke to us from Atlanta. 
We will also be speaking with Tirany Faisson and Chirece Oligballa of Sisters in Action for Power, a girl-driven community organization that works with low-income women and girls of color. Sisters in Action for Power  plans to represent Portland at the US Social Forum.


Iran Today
Tonight on Circle A Radio we will learn about Iran from the Oregon President of Physicians for Social Responsibility, Dr. Catherine Thomason. Thomason traveled to Iran in March of 2007 in a delegation with Fellowship of Reconciliation. 
We also talked to Serab from the website Tehran Avenue. Tehran Avenue started in 2001 by a community of young writers who focus on issues that official or established media seldom do.

Lenny Bruce
Tonight on Circle A Radio, we will hear excerpts from interviews, personal recordings and comedy routines from the revolutionary stand-up comedian.

Comedy
Tonight on Circle A Radio we talk to Hari  Kondabolu and Ahamefule J. Oluo,  stand up comics who address race, class and privilege in their comedy from a social justice framework. They were in Portland for Stand Up for Social Justice, a stand-up comedy benefit sponsored by the Center for Intercultural Organizing.

US Social Forum Recap
Tonight on Circle A Radio we discuss the recent US social forum which took place this June 27th-July 1st in Atlanta, Georgia. We’ll speak with local activists Amy Dudley, Shizuko Hashimoto and Chris Borte, as well as hear audio recorded at the forum.

Grassroots Media Camp
On August 24-26, grassroots media makers, organizers and community members converged to share skills  at the Portland Grassroots Media Camp. Tonight on Circle A Radio, you’ll hear from media camp organizers, instructors and participants. You’ll also hear a sampling of audio produced during media camp workshop events and find out how you can get involved in grassroots media in Portland.



Grace Paley 
The acclaimed activist, poet and short story writer Grace Paley died on August 2, 2007 at the age of 84 after a battle with breast cancer. A lifetime political activist, she formed the Greenwich Village Peace Center in 1961, traveled to a peace mission to Hanoi, Vietnam in 1969, and was one of the White House Eleven who was arrested in 1978 for unfolding an anti-nuclear banner on the White House lawn. She was active with the American Friends Service Committee  and the War Resisters League. Grace Paley was poet laureate for both New York and Vermont.
December 11th would have been Grace Paley’s 85nd birthday.
Tonight on Circle A Radio, we talk with Judith Arcana who is Grace Paley’s biographer. We will also hear archival audio of Grace Paley reading her writing and talking about her life. 


PFLAG
Tonight on Circle A Radio we bring you a special episode about the Portland chapter of PFLAG- Parents, Friends and Famileis of Lesbians and Gays. In this program, longtime gay activists share their stories and current PFLAG members talk about how the organization has grown over the years.