Author: Sparki

Scott Parkin is a Senior Campaigner with Rainforest Action Network and organizes with Rising Tide North America. He has worked on a variety of campaigns around climate change, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, mountaintop removal, labor issues and anti-corporate globalization. Originally from Texas, he now lives in San Francisco.

Noam Chomsky on the 1960s and the New Left

Noam Chomsky has been cited as “America’s greatest intellectual” who “makes the powerful, as well as their liberal apologists, deeply uncomfortable.” His participation in the New Left, in both intellectual and activist circles, is part of our history.

Listen in: https://bit.ly/ChomskyGandR

Bob and Scott speak with Professor Chomsky about the history of the New Left, the anti-Vietnam movement, the Black Panthers, Feminism, the destruction of Vietnam, the Responsibility of Intellectuals and current issues including Black Lives Matter, Gaza, and woke politics on the Left. Continue reading “Noam Chomsky on the 1960s and the New Left”

BONUS VIDEO: Noam Chomsky “brags” about being debating McGeorge Bundy and getting thrown out of teach-in

As part of a larger interview about the New Left and 1960s, we have a clip here with Professor Noam Chomsky “bragging” about challenging McGeorge Bundy at a Teach-In on Vietnam at M.I.T. in 1965, and getting thrown out because he got the best of Bundy!

VIDEO: Noam Chomsky on 1960s radicalism

As part of a larger interview about the New Left and 1960s, we have a clip here with Professor Noam Chomsky talking about the Black Panthers and Fred Hampton, radical politics and campus solidarity, and the breakup of the New Left and groups like Weathermen.

Dr. Ussama Makdisi on Sheikh Jarra, Gaza and the Israeli Colonization of Palestine

Beginning on May 9th, the Israeli Defense Force attacked Palestinian populations in Gaza for 11 days leaving 250 dead (including 66 children), more than 1700 injured and over 6000 homeless. This most recent attack by the Israelis was in relation to Israeli settler provocations against Palestinians in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah.

We talk with Dr. Ussama Makdisi (@UssamaMakdisi) about the history of Israeli colonization and displacement of the Palestinian people. How the U.S. supports Israel with $3.8 billion a year in military aid while trying to appear as a “mediator” in Israeli-Palestinian relations. The Israeli propaganda machine targeting of critics and journalists of Israel in the U.S.

Listen: http://bit.ly/PalestineGandR Continue reading “Dr. Ussama Makdisi on Sheikh Jarra, Gaza and the Israeli Colonization of Palestine”

VIDEO: Randy Hayes on Rainforest Action Network’s campaign against Burger King

RAN co-founder Randy Hayes talks to us about organizing RAN’s campaign against fast food giant Burger King. In 1987, after years of protest, Burger King agreed to tear up $35 million in contracts that were destroying the rainforest for cattle grazing.

Scott reflects on how the first protests he went to in college were RAN’s campaigns targeting fast food giants over beef contracts in the rainforest. Continue reading “VIDEO: Randy Hayes on Rainforest Action Network’s campaign against Burger King”

The Movement to Save the Rainforest w/ Randy Hayes, founder of Rainforest Action Network

The 1980s saw a new consciousness of environmental awareness, particularly around the Earth’s rainforests. Scientists had discovered that, aside from their enormous biodiversity, rainforests also helped to keep carbon from being released into the atmosphere.

Corporations in the U.S. and Europe saw tropical rainforests as a means  for profit. For a long time, Indigenous communities had stood against  industrial development and deforestation. And by the 1980s, environmental groups in Europe and Australia had been actively fighting  deforestation on a grassroots level. But in the U.S. environmental  movements had failed to evoke widespread activism on the subject.

This episode is about the emergence of rainforest movements in the U.S. during the 1980s with one of the founders of Rainforest Action Network  (RAN)– Randy Hayes.

Listen in: https://bit.ly/RainforestGandR Continue reading “The Movement to Save the Rainforest w/ Randy Hayes, founder of Rainforest Action Network”

Bonus Video: Randy Hayes talks about the founding of Rainforest Action Network

In the 1980s, a movement emerged globally in solidarity with Indigenous communities to save the world’s remaining rainforests. We talk with co-founder of Rainforest Action Network (RAN) about it.

Described by the Wall Street Journal as “an environmental pit bull,” Randy Hayes is the co-founder of Rainforest Action Network, and is an author, filmmaker and environmentalist. Hayes is a veteran of many high-visibility corporate accountability campaigns and has advocated for the rights of Indigenous peoples throughout the world. He is currently the executive director of Foundation Earth and a consultant to the World Future Council, based in Washington, DC Continue reading “Bonus Video: Randy Hayes talks about the founding of Rainforest Action Network”

Bonus Video: Harbeer Sandhu on India’s social movements

In this very special bonus video, we talk with writer Harbeer Sandhu (@SuperbHerb) about his visit to the protest encampments surrounding New Dehli and the movements which have led the January general strike and protests.

Harbeer Sandhu is a writer, critic, educator, and organizer. He lives in Houston, TX with his dog, Rocket Singh.

Mass Uprisings in Colombia w/ Angela Castillo and Lorena Rodriguez of Colombia Conexion-SF Bay

In this episode, we talk with Angela Castillo and Lorena Rodriquez with Colombia Conexion- SF Bay (@colconxnsf) about the mass uprisings happening in cities across Colombia.

Listen in here: https://bit.ly/colombiaGandR

The U.S.-backed right-wing government of Ivan Duque Marquez has pushed a neo-liberal tax reform bill that has sparked mass protest across the country. The Duque government has responded with horrific police brutality resulting in at least 42 deaths as well as many more injured and disappeared by state forces. We dive deep into the history and politics of Colombia, its government’s and U.S. backed death squads war on left social movements and current crises around COVID-19 and austerity.  We also discuss the city of Cali and its role as one of the epicenters of street resistance. Continue reading “Mass Uprisings in Colombia w/ Angela Castillo and Lorena Rodriguez of Colombia Conexion-SF Bay”

India in Crisis! Covid-19 and Civil Society Uprisings w/ writer Harbeer Sandhu

In part one of this two-part episode, we talk with writer Harbeer Sandhu about the social, political and epidemiological crises happening in India.  Recently returned from a trip to India, Harbeer talks with us about the impact of COVID in India, the lockdowns in Punjab, the general strike in January and the politics and policies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP party,

Listen to part one: https://bit.ly/IndiaGandR

Listen to part two: https://bit.ly/IndiaPt2GandR Continue reading “India in Crisis! Covid-19 and Civil Society Uprisings w/ writer Harbeer Sandhu”