REWIND FROM THE ARCHIVES: Lynne Martine Patton, a Trump aid and federal housing official responsible for the New York City region, said she'd move out of Trump Plaza and into public housing to bring attention to "inhuman conditions." In this 2018 commentary from Laura Flanders, she proposes an alternative to Patton's stunt and Trump's pro-privatization agenda.

Fast forward to today, check out this week's podcast on the Trump Administration and HUD:

Title: "Cuts, Shutdowns & Civil Rights Attacks: Federal Workers Fight Back" [episode cut & full uncut conversation]

About 750,000 people are on unpaid leave as the U.S. government shutdown continues — but some of the most caring parts of the government's work have been shut down for months. Civil rights attorneys Palmer Heenan and Paul Osadebe recently signed a shocking complaint letter describing chaos within the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which is responsible for protecting fair housing.

“No one is asking for a leg up or an extra hand or whatever the case might be. We're just asking to get rid of discrimination. And so I hope the future will tell the story of people doing just that, coming together, going to Congress and saying, ‘These are our rights. You passed them into law decades ago. Fight for the rights that we have now.’” - Palmer Heenan

“The thing that will actually get us through this is solidarity, recognizing what potential power we have as federal workers . . . [The administration wants] to create fear, which leads to silence, which lets things be dismantled without anyone standing up and fighting and saying, ‘This is illegal, this is wrong and this is harming people.’ It's up to federal workers, the ones in the building, to actually do that.” - Paul Osadebe

Guests:

• Palmer Heenan: Attorney, HUD Whistleblower; Member, AFGE 476

• Paul Osadebe: Attorney, HUD Whistleblower; Steward, AFGE 476

Watch the special report on YouTube; PBS World Channel Sundays 11:30am ET, and on over 300 public stations across the country (check your listings, or search here via zipcode). Listen: Episode airing on community radio (check here to see if your station is airing the show) & available as a podcast.

Support Laura Flanders and Friends by becoming a member at https://www.patreon.com/c/lauraflandersandfriends

Music Credit: original sound design by Jeannie Hopper

Laura Flanders and Friends Crew: Laura Flanders-Executive Producer, Writer; Sabrina Artel-Supervising Producer; Jeremiah Cothren-Senior Producer; Veronica Delgado-Video Editor, Janet Hernandez-Communications Director; Jeannie Hopper-Audio Director, Podcast & Radio Producer, Audio Editor, Sound Design, Narrator; Sarah Miller-Development Director, Nat Needham-Editor, Graphic Design emeritus; David Neuman-Senior Video Editor, and Rory O’Conner-Senior Consulting Producer.

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ACCESSIBILITY - The broadcast edition of this episode is available with closed captioned by clicking here for our YouTube Channel

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