sparkplug podcast

Five educated, progressive voters break apart each of the proposed bonds on the November 2006 ballot. Features 3 Sacramento voters: Dan Scott, Lucinda Winward, and Charles Delgado, 1 Davis voter: Vanessa Cajina, and the Yes on 1C campaign spokesperson, Sam Delson. Why do we have bonds? What does it mean for financing for the state? How should you vote on November 7? Hosted by Danielle Fodor.

Roots Ortiz and Kimba Kabaka, sit down and talk about their business, Roots 'n' Kulchah, a mobile food truck, which sells delicious vegan Carribean food. Recently, the food truck has been the target of a proposed ordinance which would make mobile food businesses like Roots 'n' Kulchah illegal within the county of Sacramento.

Listen in to find out how small, mobile businesses like Roots 'n' Kulchah benefit their communities, and answers to questions like: Why is Rastafarian food vegetarian?  How can 'fast food' can be organic and nutritious? Why do ordinances against mobile food vending disproportanately target people of color?

Plus 15 minutes of news from around the globe about repression of mobile vendors around the world, and globalization... Hosted by Danielle Fodor, on 30 June 2006.

LaTisha Lawson and Lisa Chang, grassroots from Oak Park, discuss neighborhood organizing with co-host Cadelba Lomeli-Loibl.  Along with Sharon Hunter, LaTisha and Lisa are producing a local TV show, "What's Really Cooking", funded by the First 5 grants. The TV show will bring together mothers and grandparents in the neighborhood to share their stories, food, and culture. 

How can women in a small community effect policy? How can women empower each other to create change through friendship and families?  How are class, patriarchy, and sexism related to a cooking show? A hopeful conversation about grassroots connections in Oak Park.  Recorded 23 June 2006.

Interview with Martha Garcia, a Native Latina activist and the lead organizer for Americans for Freedom in West Sacramento. We talked about the history of the gang injunction in West Sacramento, how this civil injunction effects youth, families and culture, and the grassroots movement against the gang injunction. How do anti-gang measure tie into Homeland Security, the Patriot Act, and big money?? Listen to find out more.... Interviewed by co-host Danielle Fodor on 2 June 2006.

Malaquias Montoya, the renouned Chicano artist, speaks about his most recent show of paintings and posters, "Premediatated: Meditations on Capitol Punishment", which is showing at the Nelson Gallery after its tour though 8 American cities. The show visually ties together lynchings, police brutality, and executions, while asking how we have been able to ignore the inhumanity of state-sponsored executions. An inspiring artist, activist, and teacher, Malaquias Montoya talks about his teaching philosophy, his creative process, and what has kept him going as a political artist for nearly 40 years. Recorded by Danielle Fodor on 19 May 2006.

Interview with Reverend Ashiya Odeye, chair of the Jail Reform Coalition and executive committee member for the Sacramento NAACP.  The Jail Reform Coalition has been instrumental in exposing the brutal abuse of inmates at the Sacramento County Jail, and advocates for reform across the criminal justice system.

What is the state of our local jails? How has the Sacramento County Jail earned the nickname "the local Abu Ghraib"?  How would a citizen's oversight work? Reverend Odeye addresses these questions and gives a community organizer's viewpoint on the recently released videotapes of inmate abuse at the Sacramento County Jail, local incidents of police brutality, and the upcoming Sheriff's race.

Recorded live 5 May 2006 by Danielle Fodor.

Tim Gutierrez, local organizer for UAW 2865, the TA union, discusses workers rights at the University of California with union member and co-host Danielle Fodor on 21 April 2006.

Learn how union organizing for teacher's assistants within the University of California have resulted in better working conditions, as well as answers to the following questions: Why did the UC Davis TA union extend its contact without renegotiation this year? How is the union addressing organizing challenges at UC Davis? What recourse to TAs have to address employment issues? What responsibilities does the TA union have to uniting with other movements?

Website information on the union at www.uaw2865.org, or get involved by emailing davis@uaw2865.org.

Efrain Gutierrez, a Sacramento organizer and executive director of Chicano Consortium, speaks about his recent trip to Mexico City working on bi-national solutions for the immigration challenge. How is immigration seen here in Sacramento and in Mexico City? What is the significance of the immigration protests? Listen to Efrain Gutierrez discuss the concerted actions of community-based organizations with the National Alliance for Human Rights, fighting for legislative change in Mexico City and Washington D.C. Hosted by Cadelba Lomeli-Loibl on 31 March 2006.

Interview with Josh Savala, a history student and Chicano writer for Third World Forum, a radical student paper that's highlighted the struggles of third-world peoples since the 1970s. I asked him about the history of Third World Forum, AS PAPERS, and the recent, tragic destruction of their 30 year archive. Josh just started working with USAS, United Students Against Sweatshops, and fills us in on the nationwide fight to get sweatshop products off college campuses. Recorded 27 January 2006 by Danielle Fodor.

Interview with Sacramento-based photographer, poster-maker, and teacher Francisco Dominguez. Francisco Dominguez is a Chicano activist, who's documentary photography highlights the struggles of farmworkers, the US-Mexico border. and political protest. We talked about his experiences working on the US-Mexico border, the Minutemen, and HR 4437. Hosted by Danielle Fodor. Recorded 11 January 2006.
Francisco currently has a show in San Francisco at L's Cafe, 2871 24th Street, of photographs of the Immigrant Rights Movement. It's open May 23 - June 25, 2006. Check it out!