Making Contact

In a special 2 part program by Making Contact we explore new safe at-home abortion options and the growing movement for "self-managed abortions.”

A handful of companies are making millions off of ankle monitors strapped to undocumented immigrants in ICE custody.  The makers pitch the monitors as an alternative to being jailed, but are they simply another form of bondage? 

On this edition of Making Contact, we speak with author Paul Kivel about his book, Uprooting Racism: How White People Can Work for Racial Justice. This book offers a framework for understanding institutional racism. It provides practical suggestions, tools, examples, and advice on how white people can intervene in interpersonal and organizational situations to work as allies for racial justice.

There were thousands of organizers, activists and local social justice leaders around the world who died in 2018. As we do every December, we bring you some of the voices and stories of our Fallen Heroes.

Thousands of Guatemalans are recovering from the eruption of a volcano called Fuego - Spanish for "fire" - which took place in the summer of 2018. In this report, our correspondent Maria Martin looks back at the disaster - which some people are calling the worst natural disaster to ever strike Guatemala.

America’s unwillingness to assess the ugly truth about systemic inequality has created a perpetual sinkhole of denial. A reality that existed long before Trump’s presidency. It’s AMERICA’s Legacy. On this edition, we hear from Dr. Michael Eric Dyson, professor of Sociology at Georgetown University. Dr. Dyson recently penned, “What Truth Sounds Like: RFK, James Baldwin, and Our Unfinished Conversation About Race in America.” Today’s conversation with Professor Dyson explores race and truth in the age of Trump.

70 Million reporter, Ruxandra Guidi, chronicles how activists and reformers are succeeding in cutting the jail population, diverting drug arrests, and increasing accountability for local police in Harris County, Texas.

I Am Because I Am, explores the expansion of gender identity and presumed roles in our society. A look beyond the socially constructed ideas of what is male, female, masculine or feminine. Especially considering Trump’s administration attempts to redefine gender to be solely based on a person’s genitalia at birth. Thus potentially threatening Transgender, Intersex and Non-Binary Identity.

On this episode, we look at the 2017 Tubbs Fire in California, and how it impacted the undocumented community. In the face of ICE raids, labor violations, a housing crisis, and wildfires, the broader community is standing in solidarity with those who are forced into the shadows. California’s drought has led to an unprecedented number of wildfires that burn hotter, faster, and ever more acreage. Governor Jerry Brown says, “Since civilization emerged 10,000 years ago, we haven’t had this kind of heat condition, and it’s going to continue getting worse.” What does the growing threat of climate-fueled disasters mean for the most vulnerable among us?

Indigenous Women made their voices heard during California Governor Jerry Brown’s Global Climate Action Summit. They rejected Brown’s support for market driven schemes and shared their vision for climate solutions at protests and at a special Women’s Assembly, organized by the Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network.