The new corona virus sweeping through our communities is deadly and disruptive, but its infinitely more toxic in an environment of corruption.

It will take organizing and action to get the testing, care and prevention measures our communities need. The millions of us who have built up our protest muscles since 2016 will likely need to mobilize to demand public health measures that are basic standards of care worldwide.

Andrea Hildebran Smith interviews Sharon Fast from the University of Hong Kong about adjusting to social isolation policies and the cancellation of in-person schools, universities and workplaces for another 3-4 months due to the corona virus 19. How will people in the United States act to contain the COVID 19 outbreak as the epidemic surges through the American population over the coming weeks? Our discussion circles back to how corruption in health policy inform people’s reactions to health emergencies.

My latest episode launched this morning, with the incredible voice of Luna Safwan from Lebanon from Beirut, Lebanon. She’s in the midst of and reporting from the unprecedented mass protests there, where people are in the streets by the millions to demand a new government.
The spark was an arbitrary and outrageous tax on free What’s App calls, but protesters are now demanding the resignation of their entire cabinet. More than a quarter of the population is participating in strategic road blockages from one end of the country to the other.
Please check it out and share with friends. I’m also keeping the conversations going with my listeners on FlickChat, a social media app for podcasters. Look for us there as ResistanceMom!

The crisis of the Trump presidency escalates with the open embrace of foreign interference in our elections and the betrayal of US Kurdish allies in Syria. It’s time to look to leaders from movements that have successfully used mass protest to force corrupt leaders to leave office. Our guest today, Saadi Rosado, is a member of the Collectiva Feminista en Construcciòn, and helped organize the six weeks of sustained protests in Puerto Rico this summer that convinced their Governor, Ricardo Rosselló to resign.

Clicking and commenting on campaigns online takes up more of our time than any other type of political work we do. In this episode I’m looking at how social media has developed over the past 12 years as a tool for social justice work. We’re adapting to an online environment that’s now been weaponized by the right, but the most important thing we can do is increase our commitment to face to face political work.