Aimee Allison’s voiceover scripted and recorded for Homeowner Rescue Alliance’s promotional video.
12June2008
11June2008
Aimee Allison, Craigslist Foundation Bootcamp Keynote Speech 2007 where she muses about “retooling” for the long haul and the importance of people who work for change.
11June2008
Aimee Allison’s revealing conversation with bestselling author William Poy Lee who wrote The Eighth Promise about his family secrets, his run-in with Jimi Hendrix, and teaching China a thing or two.
11June2008
Some of the best TV isn’t even on TV. My good friend, a professor from UC Riverside, just hipped me to the freshest YouTube channel I’ve seen. It’s called News In Color, and the commentary is just brilliant. Here’s just one episode in which Contributor Addison Crenshaw gives us his literary take on the significance of Obama’s recent rejection of his former pastor.. I recommend subscribing…
9June2008
One Brilliant Evening with BARBARA EHRENREICH
Hosted by Aimee Allison, Producer/Host of the KPFA Morning Show
Tuesday, July 15, 7:30 pm in Oakland
The bestselling author of Nickel and Dimed, Bait and Switch, and Global Woman, (and brilliant feminist member of Progressives for Obama) discusses her new book This Land Is Their Land—and clarifies the Obama phenomenon and the onrushing tide of change.
First Congregational Church of Oakland, 2501 Harrison St (at 27th St), Oakland (free parking, wheelchair access)
Benefit: KPFA Radio 94.1FM
Tickets: $10 at supportive bookstores & on line: www.kpfa.org, $13 door
Information: 510.848.6767×609
As evidenced by her bestsellers Nickel and Dimed and Bait and Switch, journalist and cultural historian Barbara Ehrenreich has consistently and effectively been an advocate for the poor and the middle class. In her latest book, THIS LAND IS THEIR LAND: Reports from a Divided Nation (Metropolitan) she masterfully articulates the hardships and hypocrisies facing the suffocating majority of the population. Through a compilation of essays and blog entries on a myriad of issues including health care, employment, stem cells, and finances, THIS LAND IS THEIR LAND provides readers with cutting and provocative social commentary on the Bush years. As Ehrenreich says, “The looting of America has gone on too long, and the average American is too maxed out, overworked and overspent to have anything left… We need a new deal, a new distribution of power and wealth, if we want to restore the beautiful idea that was ‘America.’ The author of the more than one-million-copy bestseller Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America and the New York Times bestseller Bait and Switch: The (Futile) Pursuit of the American Dream, Ehrenreich is a frequent contributor to Harper’s and The Nation. She has been a columnist at The New York Times and Time magazine. Her articles, reviews, essays, and humor pieces have appeared in a range of national publications, including The New York Times Magazine, The Washington Post, and newspapers throughout the world. “Incisive, definitive…Her scorn withers, her humor stings, and her radical light shines on.”—The Boston Globe
3June2008
I’ll be co-hosting a four-hour special with election returns and analysis from key bay area local and state races, and the latest about the Democratic Presidential primary. Will Clinton concede? Superdelegates are falling for Obama by the hour here.
In Oakland and the Bay Area, there are several races that pit progressive candidates against each other, like in Assembly District 14 and State Senate District 9. Think it might not matter? Well, these folks will be crafting the next budget with the looming deficit. More taxes, more potholes, closed schools? What will it be? We have field reporters throughout the bay - at the campaign headquarters of leading candidates and at San Francisco City Hall.
Tune in starting at 7pm pst at KPFA 94.1 or kpfa.org.
29May2008
The fight on Capitol Hill to expand GI benefits continues. Senator Webb has proposed legislation to bring veteran’s educational benefits to World War II levels - when the Servicemembers’ Readjustment Act helped hundreds of thousands get degrees and get on with their life. Nowadays, according to the veterans’ group IAVA, Iraq War vets don’t receive enough to cover a degree, even living expenses at the community college level. I spoke with three experts today. Here’s the audio of today’s show. It’s the first interview.
Catherine Morris, Veterans Counselor at Sierra College - a community college in Sacramento. Sierra College is one of the few community colleges with special programs for returning veterans. In my interview with her, she comments that vets say they’re more afraid of the college class than Iraq. Something about the isolation and lack of support makes that so. She’s holding an upcoming Road Home event on September 19th at American River College. This event is an orientation to help veterans be successful. Catherine, a 15-year veteran herself, is doing the hard work of helping veterans find their way back - commendable, difficult work when you consider how many vets struggle with PTSD and repeated deployments. She’s at (916) 789-2879 if you need more information or want to start a similar program at your school.
I also interviewed Tom Tarantino with Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA). Tom is from the North Bay, an Iraq Veteran, and is working hard to pass the legislation to give GI’s their due. Tom spoke of the bi-partisan support the bill is receiving and of the ridiculousness of McCain opposing a measure that’s only giving vets what is promised.
Paul Sullivan, with Veterans for Common Sense brought the sharpest criticism about Bush and McCain. He has been an tireless advocate for vets’ rights and benefits, including the recent legal effort to force the Veterans Administration to provide timely and adequate healthcare for veterans. We covered the lawsuit and the archives are at www.warcomeshome.org.
I will continue to cover these issues. Just today at the gym, the CNN newschannel scrolled a few words about the highest suicide numbers among vets - but I don’t think this fact is registering with most Americans. The desolation and desparation and pain comes home to our communities. We must continue to tell the truth about the reality of vets’ experiences and their treatment at home.
28May2008
I live in the state senate district where WIlma Chan and Loni Hancock are battling it out for the Democratic nomination on June 3rd. I received a total of 7 mailers and have seen commercials on the cable stations I watch in the evening. The Indian Gambling tribes are funding attacks on Hancock and the California Nurses Association are attacking Chan. Well, Monday at 8am pacific on KPFA we find out what this is all about. I’ll be joined by both candidates. If you have specific questions or issues, feel free to suggest them here and I’ll do my best to ask them next Monday.
27May2008
I’m so honored to receive a Project Censored Award along with Aaron Glantz for our coverage of Winter Soldier 2008. We’ll be in the annual publication and may have some local speaking events in the Fall. Here’s part of the letter they sent:
Your hosting of the live broadcast “Winter Soldier 2008: Eyewitness Accounts of the Occupations” on War Comes Home, by KPFA, March 14-16, 2008, has been selected as a finalist for the Project Censored “Most Censored” News Stories of 2007-08 Awards. Hundreds of news stories were nominated this year and your story has been ranked in the top twenty-five most important under-covered of the year.We would like to include an update on your story as part of Chapter 1. This is intended to give readers additional information and suggest possible ways to become proactive on the issues presented in your story.On behalf of the Project Censored staff, faculty and students, we thank you for your courage and professionalism in investigative reporting. Congratulations and welcome to the Year 2008 Project Censored program.
27May2008
This morning, I interviewed all three candidates this morning for the State Senate District 3 race incumbant State Senator Carole Migden, Assemblymember Mark Leno and former Assemblymember Joe Nation. The race is a hot one for many reasons. First, District 3 runs from San Francisco where the bulk of voters are, north to Marin County and Sonoma County. It’s long been a Democratic Party sure thing, which makes the June 3rd primary the most important. But this race pits candidates who share some of the same policy position against each other. There are differences though. In this interview, Migden points out that Leno voted for expanding state prison spending, Nation points out loss of education funding under Migden and Leno clearly stands for the single payer solution to the healthcare crisis. There are indications that this race could lead to an upset, if you believe the latest polls. I asked some tough questions toward the end of this interview, too - Migden and the election violations, Leno and splitting the LGBT vote and Nation exploiting the split base to take the seat. What are your thoughts?
An activist’s guide to combating military recruitment.