Calls from Home

Every year for the last 12 years Thousand Kites has produced CALLS FROM HOME, the voices of prisoner families, former prisoners, poets, musicians, and everyday citizens to the airwaves. The broadcast consists of holiday greetings from family members to their loved ones behind bars and the over 2.4 million people incarcerated in the United States.



Get involved with a national campaign to address the cost of prison phone calls and find out about special tools you cn use with Calls from Home.

Voices from Occupy Oakland & City Council's Hearing to Accept the Encampment

Listen to "Voices from Occupy Oakland & City Council's Hearing to Accept the Encampment" [30:11 mins]

Voices from the Oakland City Council hearing for Councilmember Nancy Nadel's proposed resolution regarding activities of Occupy Oakland at Frank Ogawa/Oscar Grant Plaza and other areas of the city including, without limitation, demonstrations, assembly, overnight stays, encampment and city protocols and policies and possible action including proposed resolution.
Begins with an audio version of the great energy and atmosphere and voices from Occupy Oakland's October 15 march and rally.
Slideshows:
Occupy SF, Oakland, Alameda, CA
Occupy Oakland (up to Oct 29)

Voices from Occupy San Francisco

Listen to "Voices from Occupy San Francisco"

The voices, innovations, and goings-on at Occupy San Francisco on Market Street near Embarcadeo BART.

Confronting the Two-Headed Dragon of Nuclear Weapons and Nuclear Power

Listen to show
Note: Two file formats: 128 and 24 kbps, mono

August is the national “Nuclear Free Future Month,” and this year is the 66th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In the San Francisco Bay a broad coalition of groups organized two events known as From Hiroshima to Fukushima to Livermore: Confronting the Two-Headed Dragon of Nuclear Weapons and Nuclear Power. These were held at the Lawrence Livermore Nuclear Weapons Laboratory, one of the two principle U.S. facilities engaged in nuclear weapons research and development.

Dr. Arjun Makhijani, President of the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research, is the principal author of the first study ever done on energy conservation potential in the U.S. economy. He is co-author Carbon-Free and Nuclear-Free: A Roadmap for U.S. Energy Policy, the first analysis of a transition to a U.S. economy based completely on renewable energy, without any use of fossil fuels or nuclear power. This book can be downloaded for free from Institute for Energy and Environmental Research: www.ieer.org.

MT Silvia and her film "Atomic Mom"

Listen to MT Silvia and her film "Atomic Mom"

MT Silvia's mother, Pauline Silvia, was a US Navy biologist conducting research on the effects of radiation on mice and dogs from 1952 to 1956. Other branches of the military conducted their own research too; even as they entertained Las Vegas tourists they exposed military personnel and those down-wind of the Nevada blast zones to radiation.
Back then MT Silvia was a peace- and anti-nuclear activist. Today she is producer and director of the award-winning documentary, Atomic Mom (http://atomicmom.org/) exploring the past with her mother who had never before talked about her work. Atomic Mom includes interviews with Hibakasha and doctors, engineers, and others and shares footage of bombed-destroyed Hiroshima, atom-bomb pop culture and "novelty music", and other crazy propaganda of the time.
This wide-ranging interview with MT Silvia highlights the sobering reality that still threatens our world.

Listen to Other Raising Sand Radio shows on nuclear weapons and energy:
Obama, Stop Building Nuclear Weapons
Read the article: Calls to End the False Security of Nuclear Weapons
Read the article: Rationalizing the Bombing of Hiroshima
Western States Legal Foundation's Jackie Carbasso and Nuclear Free Future
US Senate Aide - and Others - Contend, “The Bombing of Hiroshima was Right”
Western States Legal Foundation's Andrew Lichtermann on US/India Agreement
63rd Anniversary of Hiroshima & Nagasaki Bombing

NOTE: Show comes in two versions, 128 and 24 kbps, mono.

War Tax Resistance and Resisters

Listen to "War Tax Resistance and Resisters"

An unknown number of Americans protest war through overtly or covertly confronting the system of taxation.
We talk with two women resisters who protest war in this way and have done so for many years. Each has a different method -- they also discuss the many methods others use to resist war taxes -- and each has had run-ins with the IRS and with different outcomes.

Two file formats available: 24 kbps and 128 kpbs mono

Read the accompanying article.

8th Anniversary of Invasion of Iraq

Listen to "8th Anniversary of Invasion of Iraq"
Mike Ferner of Veterans for Peace and Zach Choate of Iraq Veterans Against War on the 8th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq.

Read accompanying article, "The Math of War and Waste"

Jailed for Breaking the Lunch Counter Taboo: 50 Year Anniversary

Listen to "Jailed for Breaking the Lunch Counter Taboo: 50 Year Anniversary"

Read the accompanying article, "That Moment People say “No!”

Fifty years ago this month, six people began a 30-day jail sentence for sitting down at the Patterson drugstore lunch counter in Lynchberg, Virginia.
On December 14, 1960, four white and two African American college students— entered the segregated drugstore hoping to convince the owner to let them have coffee together.
The result—the city’s first sit-in—landed the college students in jail, and ignited a firestorm of controversy throughout the city. It also brought the civil rights movement to a head.
We talk with Mary Edith Bentley Abu Saba, one of the Patterson Six.

Two file formats
24 kpbs and 128 kpbs - mono

You're invited!
People all over the world watched as Tunisian, then Egypt tossed out autocrats. Now the people of Algeria, Yemen, Bahrain, Iran, Gaza are calling for change too.
What is your view of events unfolding in the Middle East?
Telephone us at 510-545-8865 and leave a phone message of up to three (3) minutes sharing your views. Our producers will air a collage of your voices on a RSR show in early March.
That number again, 510-545-8865
Add your first name, where you live, and your phone number as we might want to contact you to expand on your views.
Call 510-545-8865 - or visit our website raisingsandradio.org to learn more. You can also contact me at susan@raisingsandradio.org.

Low Power Community Radio on the Brink of Expansion

Listen to "Low Power Community Radio on the Brink of Expansion"

At the beginning of 2011, President Obama signed into law the Local Community Radio Act that allows for the biggest expansion of community radio stations in U.S. history.
The Local Community Radio Act allows low-power, neighborhood-based stations to broadcast in urban areas for the first time.
It also marks both the first major legislative success for the growing movement for a more democratic media system in the U.S. and power shifting to grassroots groups and media advocates. Moreover, it invites policymakers to join forces to overcome corporate opposition to media diversity.
We talk with Vanessa Graber, community radio director at the Prometheus Radio Project, about Low Power Radio and we'll learn more about the Local Community Radio Act.

Two file formats in mono:
128 kbps
24 kpbs

War Veteran Jason Moon Finds Music is his Lifesaver

Listen to "War Veteran Jason Moon Finds Music is his Lifesaver"

Read the accompanying article, "A Veteran in America: Trying to Find the Way Home"

For the last seven years, since his tour of duty in Iraq, Jason Moon has been fighting for his life. At times he felt he might lose that last battle. Then he returned to writing and playing music...and, now, his life is stabilizing. As he talks about his first CD album, "Trying to Find My Way Home", he shares the story of his on-going journey back to health and how he works with other veterans to reclaim their lives.

Two file formats:
128 kbps
24 kbps

Seventh Native American Generation Youth Connect with Palestinian Youth

Listen to "Seventh Native American Generation Youth Connect with Palestinian Youth"

Read the article: Making Things Right for People, pub'd on Commondreams.

Seventh Native American Generation - SNAG - is based in Oakland CA and it uses skits, films, field trips, tours, music, art and culture to engage learning about shared indigenous and tribal journeys and struggles. SNAG's mission provides Native youth the opportunity to achieve balance and harmony, address historical and modern grievances, and explore and develop leadership and community skills through arts and cultural expression. Through a holistic approach that combines spirituality, tradition and multi-media skills, SNAG shapes the next generation of Native leaders.

Co-founder Ras K'dee talks about Native American youth reaching out to youth in Palestine and their commonalities.
Delegate and Haskell University senior Jodi Voice explains how the trip made her a stronger and more resilient organizer in indigenous communities.

Note: choose from two file formats:
128 kbps, mono (for broadcast quality; let us know if, and where, you air this show: susan@raisingsandradio.org)
24 kbps, mono (for local listening)

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