rabble radio

We'll start with our newest columnist. Thomas Ponniah is an affiliate of the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies at Harvard University. In his first audio column for rabble radio, he takes us on a journey from war into love. If you're a person who spends time online, you've almost certainly thought about the possibility of cyberattacks. But creating fear of cyber attacks may just serve another agenda. That's what Conn Halliman believes. He's a columnist with Foreign Policy in Focus. The rabble.ca podcast Redeye spoke to Halliman earlier this month. Here's what he had say: Many people in the non-profit world have been noticing a trend over the last 3 years. They say there are a number of ways that organizations are being punished for openly voicing criticisms of the Canadian government. Darren Shore is the communication co-ordinator for Voice-Voix, a coalition of Canadian organizations that want to stop the governent from attacking those who practice dissent in Canada. Shore sat down for an interview with rabble.ca's Journalists for Human Rights podcast. Here's what he had to say. As I told you at the beginning of our show, it's donation drive time again here at rabble.ca. Our volunteers have been hard at work finding new ways to tell you all about it. Here's one of them. Arts and education are a powerful combination. A new book, edited by Debra Barndt, shows how one inspires the other. Barndt is a popular educator and a professor at the University of Toronto. The book is called Viva! Community Arts and Popular Education in the Americas. Matthew Adams recently sat down with Barndt to talk about her book and the role community arts play in education.

2011 has been a very eventful year for activists, community organizers, and progressives. First we had the Arab Spring, Canada's NDP leader Jack Layton died after a long battle with cancer, then the Occupy movement grew into a global phenomenon. Japan faced an earthquake, tsunami, and a disabled and damaged nuclear plant. Abousfian Abdelrazik was finally taken off the United Nations list of terror suspects, the Canadian government came under fire again for the terrible conditions in First Nations communities, and the Canadian Boat To Gaza did its best to make its way to its destination. In this episode of rabble radio, we'll look back over the year. This year was also rabble.ca's 10th year as the go-to independent media website in Canada. We held a number of events throughout the year, and launched a new series by notable thinkers in Canada called Reinventing Democracy: Reclaiming the Commons. Olivia Nuamah is the current director of the Atkinson Roundation, which provided start-up money for rabble.ca. She was part of a panel discussion we held in Toronto to celebrate our decade online. When she took the mic, she gave rabble a challenge for the years ahead. Here's what she had to say. One of the big news stories during this year's federal election was the Orange Crush, which made the NDP the official opposition in Canada's Parliament for the first time in history. The jubilation over that advance was soon overshadowed by the death of party leader Jack Layton. rabble.ca was at the state funeral, and spoke with some of the mourners who attended. Here is some of what they had to say, remembering Jack Layton. The year began with uprisings in Egypt and across the Arab world. Nahla Abdo is an Arab-Canadian feminist. She was kind enough to share her thoughts on the uprising and women's role in it. Here's what she had to say. Jase Tanner is a filmmaker and activist with Code Pink on his way to Gaza via Egypt when the demonstrations began. We caught up with him there. While all that was happening in Tahrir square, here at home, conditions at remote First Nations were as normal. That is, not great. By this winter, leaders in Pikangikum and Attawapiskat had appealed publicly for help from the government. Joanne Dallaire is a respected elder and educator, and she has some ideas about how Canada could improve conditions on reserves They involve you and I. Here's what she had to say in an interview this fall. Japanese Canadians rallied to send help to the thousands upon thousands who were affected by the earthquake, tsunami, and accompanying nuclear emergency that engulfed the country in the spring of this year. As the crisis developed, rabble.ca's redeye podcast checked in with Gordon Edwards, head of the Canadian coalition for nuclear responsibility. Here's part of an interview with Edwards, after revelations that Japan had not issued warnings to schools affected by radiation from the plant led to protests from Japanese citizens. The Occupy movement started in the summer in NYC, and by summer it had spread to streets and parks across North America and Europe. The Occupiers took on a wide range of causes, but in general, protests focused on issues of income disparity and housing for the 99 per cent of people struggling in today's economy. Despite the fact that cities eventually tore down the occupy encampments, the movement is continuing. At McMaster University, Occupy has moved to the student centre. The progressive voices podcast featured the Occupy movement there in their last podcast. Here's a sample. We've featured a lot of music this year on the network. We started the show by playing a segment of a duet for Abousfian Abdelrazik. It was composed as part of a project to support his return to Canada and his removal from the UN list of terror suspects. Another musical development this year was that Raffi composed a number of songs to inspire and energize political activism in Canada. We're going to finish this year-end rabble radio with the song he composed for the Occupy movement. Here is "No wall too tall."

Before we start these notes, a reminder: rabble.ca is kicking off our fundraising drive this month and so I'd like to issue you a little challenge. We know that most of you listeners consume all kinds of media — mainstream and independent. What rabble.ca wants you to do this year is match your spending on mainstream media: newspapers, cable, whatever you get, and send that amount rabble.ca's way. You can do that at this link: rabble.ca/donate. You can make a one-time donation or buy a membership. It's your support that keeps rabble.ca running. That link again is rabble.ca/donate. Hope to see you there. We're going to start this program with some music. Abousfian Abdelrazik's struggle has been a long one. While he was on a visit from his home in Montreal to Sudan he was jailed by the Sudanese government, on the recommendation of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service. During his imprisonment he was interrogated and tortured, but he was never charged. In 2007, he was released from prison, and took refuge in the Canadian Embassy in Khartoum. He lived there for 14 months, while his attempts to return to Canada were blocked by officials. In 2009, grassroots pressure helped facilitate his return to Canada, and this week Abdelrazik was told that his name had been removed from the UN list of terror suspects, and that his life could return to normal. In support of Abdelrazik's struggle, Montreal artists have been raising funds and creating work to commemorate his experience as part of Montreal's history. Stefan Cristoff has been writing a series of piano works based on Abdelrazik's struggle, to start off this episode, we're going to play you one of those pieces. Here is is a live performance of a duet for Abdelrazik, performed by cellist Rebecca Foon and Stefan Christoff. That was Duet for Abdelrazik, performed by Rebecca Foon and Stefan Christoff. A CD of compositions is scheduled for release in 2012. For more information, you can go to: http://artthreat.net/2011/04/abdelrazik-foon-christoff/ I'd like you to cast your mind back a few months. Attawapiskat and the housing crisis affecting its residents is all over the news these days. While it is the most recent First Nation to capture the spotlight it is not the only First Nation where housing conditions, education and career prospects for residents are far below the standard Canada insists it wants to provide. Despair and suicide are common in communities where living conditions that include poor housing, no plumbing and inconsistent water supplies. I thought it would be appropriate, in this episode, to play an interview I conducted earlier this year with Joanne Dallaire. In August, after two months which saw five young people commit suicide in his community, Gordon Peter, the former chief of Pikangikum First Nation, wrote an open letter asking for assistance. It hit the media, but was soon lost under other suicide reports as two NHL players took their own lives. Joanne Dallaire agreed to talk to me after the Pikangikum story had fallen out of the news. She has worked with Ryerson University to help incorporate aboriginal teachings into curriculum there, conducts healing workshops for aboriginal and non-aboriginal organizations across Ontario, and sits as an adviser for several agencies. She devotes herself to teaching and healing. She is from Attawapiskat. Here's our conversation. This month the Occupy movement in Canada faced strong opposition from municipal governments in most cities. Vancouver, Ottawa, and Toronto suffered the most high-profile evictions. Raffi is known by many for his work as a children's entertainer. He is also a well-known social change advocate,writing songs in support of social movements worldwide. He took his inspiration for the song we're about to feature from the Occupy movement. Here is Raffi with No Wall Too Tall. For more coverage of the Occupy movement as it continues, go to rabble.ca/occupy. Cathi Bond is rabble.ca's trusty movie columnist. While the rabble.ca podcast Reel Women — where she and Judy battled it out over movie picks — is done, that doesn't mean that Cathi is off the movie beat. In this episode of rabble radio I thought I'd bring you her latest. The new podcast is called Watch Me. This episode, she's talking about Sarah's Key. Here's Cathi. If you want to subscribe for Cathi's DVD recommendations, you know where to go. rabble.ca/podcasts then click the link to Watch Me. That brings us to the end of this episode of rabble radio, thanks for listening. Just a quick reminder before we take off. Thanks to all the people who helped to put this episode together: Cathi Bond, Emily Hill, and Kim Wiltzen. Small crew this week! Our theme was composed for us by Bob Wiseman. If you have any comments or questions, please don't hesitate to email rabble radio. You can do that by emailing me. My address is as follows: Meagan@rabble.ca That's all from me. Talk to you next month. And I can't leave without giving you the donate address again: rabble.ca /donate.

In this episode, intrepid rabble reporters talk to the people who chose to #occupy. Michael Stewart heads to Vancouver, while Matthew Adams and Meagan Perry take on Toronto.

This month marked the 10-year anniversary of the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York City. The event, and the wars that followed have affected lives around the world. In this episode of rabble radio, an interview about how the effects of 9/11 have been felt by Muslim women. As part of Aboriginal awareness week, Clifton Nicholas speaks about the portrayal of aboriginal peoples in the media. A rebroadcast of the eulogy for Jack Layton delivered by Stephen Lewis. Layton's death gave many the impetus to become more involved in their communities, and at rabble.ca we've activated a new online tool to make connecting to your community a little easier. It's called the activist toolkit. And that's where we're starting the show today.

On August 22, 2011, Jack Layton tragically died of cancer. His friends, family, and compatriots remember his courage. In his final words released in a letter penned two days before his death, he reminded us all of the values he held dear. He wrote, "My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we'll change the world." Making the Links' Don Kossick did this interview with Jack Layton many years ago when he first took over the leadership of the NDP. The interview demonstrates Jack's clarity of purpose, vision, and hope in fighting for a better Canada. Thanks to: Making the Links Radio can also be heard on on CFCR community radio at 90.5 FM in Saskatoon, on the Sasktel Max provincial cable network at channel 520, and streaming on the internet. Making the Links broadcasts on CFCR at 6 pm on Wednesdays and 7 pm on Fridays.

Today is the day of Jack Layton's state funeral at Roy Thompson Hall in Toronto. The ceremony follows days of heartfelt outpourings. In this podcast, memories of Jack Layton from those who knew him: young people who volunteered with him, and long-time activists and leaders. Hear some of their stories in this podcast.

The complete audio from Jack Layton's funeral. Eulogies by Mike and Sarah Layton, Stephen Lewis and Karl Belanger.

There are very few humans who don't enjoy music. For most people, it offers relaxation, inspiration, enjoyment and in times of trouble, solace. Leah Abramson is an activist and documentary maker who works with women in prison, fostering their musical expression. In the documentary we're about to play for you, she takes us behind the prison walls to hear some of the music created by the women there. The Human books project aims to increase understanding between people. It's held at local libraries, where people volunteer to act as books. When you're a book, library-goers can sign you out for 30 minutes. In that time, you tell them about your life, and they can ask any question they want. rabble.ca's Noreen Mae Ritsema volunteered to head down to the Winnipeg library and talk to some of the people participating in the human books project. Here is one of her conversations. Today: Being a disability activist. You know, it seems that no matter where you go, independent bookstores are struggling. The forces working against them also seem familiar — mega bookstores, online buying, yadda yadda… but in Montreal, a local bookshop has survived the more familiar challenges, and is instead, its looking at a shut-down because it is being overtaken by a sports bar owned by a local developer. rabble.ca's Adam Bemma headed down to the shop to discuss the encroachment of new real estate, zoning laws, and urban planning on neighborhoods in general, and Terry Westcott's bookshop in particular. Here's their interview.

Murray Dobbin joined us on rabble radio a few times before the election got started. After the Conservative win and the orange crush happened, I called him up one more time for a talk about how Canada's future is shaping up, and what progressive people need to do in this new Conservative majority Canada. Here's our conversation. Did I mention that this year marks rabble.ca's 10th anniversary? It is! Last month rabble.ca held a celebration to mark the day, April 18, 2001 when rabble got its start. The event featured cake, music and a panel discussion moderated by Judy Rebick. Speakers were rabble.ca features editor Cathryn Atkinson, rabble co-founder and director of the Mozilla Foundation Mark Surman, rabble.ca writer and aboriginal activist Ben Powless. It also featured Olivia Nuamah, the Director of the Atkinson Foundation, which provided startup funds for rabble.ca. During the conversation, panelists mused allowed about the direction rabble.ca should take in the future. Nuamah laid out a challenge for rabble.ca. Here's what she had to say. The Human books project aims to increase understanding between people. It's held at local libraries, where people volunteer to be books. When you're a book, library goers can sign you out for 30 minutes. In that 30 minutes you can tell them about your life, and they can ask any question they want. rabble radio was quite intrigued by this project, so Noreen Mae Ritsema volunteered to head down to the Winnipeg library and talk to some human books. Here she is, speaking with Cherrilyn Ellie. Here's their conversation. You know the rabble.ca music podcast The Ruckus? It usually focuses on indie music… but the latest episode gets all opera on us. Here are some very cool cylinder recordings of opera. Test this out! Jaggi Singh's trial was held at the end of April. Singh was tried at Toronto's Old City Hall for statements he had made to the media about taking down the G20 "security fence." Singh pleaded guilty to urging people to take down the $5-million G20 summit fence last June. Carmelle Wolfson spoke to Singh just after his trial. Here's part of what he had to say.