ROOTWORK with Thandisizwe Chimurenga Thursdays at 7AM PT Listen: on KPFK, 90.7 FM in Los Angeles, 98.7 FM in Santa Barbara, and worldwide @ KPFK.org “Radical” as in getting “down to the roots.” The “Black Radical Tradition”, as in anti-colonial and anti-exploitation. “Radical” getting the hands dirty, digging at the root and fighting for liberation.
June 15, 2023
Sikivu Hutchinson is an American feminist, novelist, playwright and director. She is the founding director of the Women' Leadership Project, "a Black feminist mentoring, civic engagement and service learning advocacy program designed to educate and train young middle and high school age women in South Los Angeles to take ownership of their school-communities. "
June 8, 2023
Tafarai Bayne is the Chief Strategist of CicLAVia, a non-profit organization "that catalyzes vibrant public spaces, active transportation and good health through car-free street events. CicLAvia engages with people to positively transform our relationship with our communities and with each other."
May 25, 2023
Santi Elijah Holley is a journalist and author of "An Amerikan Family: The Shakurs and the Nation They Created," released on May 23, 2023 by Mariner Books, a division of Random House.
July 13, 2023
Saira Rao is the co-founder of Here4TheKids and Race2Dinner, two organizations dedicated to ending gun violence AND white supremacy in the United States. A second-generation Indian-American, she is a lawyer-by-training, a former congressional candidate, a published novelist and an entrepreneur.
June 29, 2023
LA is "a coalition of advocates, community organizations and neighbors calling for a ballot measure to divest from incarceration and policing and invest in the health and economic wellness of marginalized people in their communities."
June 15, 2023
Matt Nelson is the Executive Director of Presente.org, whose mission is "to advance Latinx power and create winning campaigns that amplify Latinx voices; expand the political imagination and traditional boundaries; and foster inspiration for freedom, equity, and justice. It is the largest national Latinx online organization advancing social justice with technology, media, and culture."
June 22, 2023
Mandla Kayise, a long-time community activist and organizer, is a Commissioner for the City of Los Angeles' Reparations Advisory Committee.
June 1, 2023
Malcolm Harris is a caregiver for both his mother and grandmother. He is also the California Campaign Manager for Caring Across California, "a national organization of family caregivers, care workers, disabled people, and aging adults working to transform the way we care in this country so that care is accessible, affordable and equitable— and our systems of care enable everyone to live and age with dignity."
July 20, 2023
Maddy Clifford is an organizer with the Debt Collective, founders of the first Debtor's Union in the United States.
June 15, 2023
Cultural critic, author and activist Jeff Chang, speaking on the current Affirmative Action case and Asian Americans just before the Supreme Court's decision to strike it down from Harvard and the University of North Carolina .
May 18, 2023
Gina Clayton Johnson: Founder and Executive Director of the Essie Justice Group, speaking on the Black Mama's Bail Out.
May 25, 2023
Florence Avognon is a California Teacher of the Year and currently works as an educator with the Los Angeles County Office of Education, the unit responsible for education youth who have either been removed from the school district or come into contact with the criminal justice system.
July 20, 2023
Dr. Stephany Powell is the senior advisor on law enforcement and policy for the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE), and a former Los Angeles Police Department sergeant.
Dañia Davy: is the Director of Land Retention and Advocacy for the Federation of Southern Cooperatives, a 55-year Southern-based cooperative dedicated to fighting Black land loss, speaking on "Heirs Property."
June 1, 2023
Cerise Castle: Journalist with KnockLA and author of "A Tradition of Violence," a 15-part series on the gangs operation WITHIN the Los Angeles Sheriff's Departments
June 1, 2023
Boo Atchj,: Campaign Organizer with the Los Angeles Black Worker Center, on the realities of Black Workers in Los Angeles
June 8, 2023
Askari Abdul Muntaqim: Founder, Gangsta-Gangsta Radio
July 27, 2023
Amir Whitaker: Co-founder, Afro Mujer Fest, held in Leimert Park (South Los Angeles) on July 30, 2023
July 27, 2023
Amber-Rose Howard is the Executive Director of CURB (Californians United for a Responsible Budget)
August 3, 2023
Journalist and activist Jacqueline Luqman is the MidAtlantic Coordinator for the Black Alliance for Peace, "a people-centered human rights project against war, repression and imperialism." She is also the co-host of By Any Means Necessary Radio and the host of Luqman Nation on the Black Power Media YouTube channel.
August 3, 2023
Nana Gyamfi is the host of "Conversations on The Way" on KPFK and Executive Director of BAJI, the Black Alliance for a Just Immigration.
BAJI is a "human rights organization working at the intersection of racial justice and immigration justice, BAJI educates and engages African American and black immigrant communities to organize and advocate for racial, social and economic justice ."
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