Making Contact

In the last three years, Fantastic Negrito, an Oakland-based black roots revivalist has gone from busking at bus stops to winning a Grammy and touring internationally. This week, we learn about Fantastic Negrito’s journey, his creative process, and how he’s utilizing his artistic platform to advocate for social justice.

What if faith could fuel a movement that supports women and families in having real choices over their lives and their bodies? On this week’s Making Contact, we head to the crossroads of faith and reproductive justice.  We’ll hear from Dr. Willie Parker, Toni Bond Leonard, and Katie Zeh, who are making these visions a reality.  

I Am Not Your Negro is a journey into black history that connects the past of the Civil Rights movement to the present of #BlackLivesMatter. It is a film that questions black representation in Hollywood and beyond.

The Poetic Address to the Nation, brought together poets to speak powerfully against the current administration. Featuring Cam Awkward, Guillermo Gomez Peña, Michelle ‘Mush’ Lee, and many others.

On this encore edition of Making Contact, we present the final installment in a two-part series on the pressure to transform a region of iconic landscapes and environmental stewardship into a global center for shipping fossil fuels.

On this encore edition of Making Contact, we present the first in a two-part series on the pressure to transform a region of iconic landscapes and environmental stewardship into a global center for shipping fossil fuels.

“From almost every kind of responsibility and tie from engagement and from faith. So the artist--our task is to move ourselves and the rest of us in the opposite direction. Toward more engagement, towards stronger ethics, toward a social that's open and inclusive to all toward seeing each other in full, to challenge us to recognize the debts, and yes, the reparations that we owe to each other.” Jeff Chang offers ideas to reinforce the importance of art and artists in today’s sociopolitical climate.

Fannie Lou Hamer's 100th birthday is Oct 6. She's no longer alive, and may not be as widely known as others in the civil rights movement --- but her words have a relevant ring today.

Making Contact's Community Storytelling Fellows Vincent Medina and Isabella Zizi share deep and personal stories on Native American Organizing and Activism on Ohlone lands.

This week, we begin with the story of a woman who was in flight to the US when President Trump signed his first travel ban. We later hear how immigrant and refugee support groups are responding.