Civil Rights and Wrongs

Civil Rights and Wrongs for January 11, 2022

Our guest this Tuesday is Emily Timm, Executive Director of Workers Defense Project.  This year it celebrates 20 years as a community organization of low-wage, immigrant workers in the Texas construction industry.  Members fight for their right to be paid a living wage and to be protected in their work.  WDP was featured in Vogue magazine for humanitarian efforts in the community during last February’s disastrous winter storm.  We also have Jim Harrington, retired founder of the Texas Civil Rights Project.  And Michelle Manning-Scott, Associate Producer, joins us as well.

Later in the show, Austin Sanders, Staff Writer at the Austin Chronicle, shares two stories regarding charges of police misconduct.  In a civil suit resulting from the 2017 wrongful death of Landon Nobles, a Travis County jury awarded the family a stunning $67 million in damages.  And in a more recent incident, an unhoused woman is suing APD officers who beat her during an arrest for a Class B misdemeanor.  We also hear about the candidates running for the City Council District 4 seat vacated by Greg Casar.

Civil Rights and Wrongs for January 4, 2022

This Tuesday Michelle Manning-Scott, Associate Producer, speaks with three guests who advocate for the rights of adoptees and work for changes within the US adoption industry.  Shawna Hodgson is an activist in the adoption, foster care and assisted reproduction communities in Texas.  She is herself an adoptee and currently sits on the boards of the American Adoption Congress and Adoptees United, and is a spokesperson for the Texas Adoptee Rights Coalition.  Gregory Luce is an adoptee rights attorney based in Minnesota, with expertise in adoption law and citizenship. He is likewise an adoptee and is the founder and president of Adoptees United.  Gabrielle Glaser is a journalist who examines issues surrounding mental health, medicine, and culture.  Last year she authored American Baby: A Mother, A Child and the Shadow History of Adoption, an NPR Best Book and Staff Pick.

Austin Sanders, Staff Writer at the Austin Chronicle, will be back next week.

Civil Rights and Wrongs for December 28, 2021

Continuing the tradition, Tuesday we present the “Best of 2021.”  We’ll hear excerpts from five of our favorite episodes from the year past:

• Jeffrey Littlejohn, Professor of History at Sam Houston State.  Jeff heads up the Lynching in Texas project, and was our guest on February 23^rd.  He and his students collaborate with local officials and nationally with the Equal Justice Initiative to ensure that Texas history is not whitewashed.
• Beth Schwartzapfel, Staff Writer at the Marshall Project.  We learned about “qualified immunity,” a legal doctrine that makes it very difficult to sue police officers for misconduct.  Excerpts are from the July 6^th show, which was motivated by an article that Beth co-authored in the Austin American-Statesman.
• Stephen Vladeck, Faculty in the UT Law School.  Steve joined us for our annual Supreme Court wrap-up on July 13^th.  We heard about changes in the make-up of the Court with an eye toward future cases.  
• Alison Alter, District 10 Representative to the Austin City Council, and Neil Blumofe, Senior Rabbi at Congregation Agudas Achim.  On November 30^th they discussed the civic impact and community response to arson at Congregation Beth Israel, along with defacement and expressions of hatred that had taken place in Northwest Austin. 
• Benjamin Johnson, Professor of History at Loyola University of Chicago, and John Morán Gonzalez, Professor of American and English Literature at the University of Texas at Austin.  They are co-founders of Refusing to Forget, an award-winning educational nonprofit that works to increase public awareness of an often-forgotten period in the history of the United States.  Ben and John were with us just two weeks ago, on December 14^th. 

As usual, you’ll also hear Jim Harrington, retired founder of the Texas Civil Rights Project, and Michelle Manning-Scott, Associate Producer of the show.  Austin Sanders, Staff Writer at the Austin Chronicle, will be back next week.

Civil Rights and Wrongs for December 21, 2021

This week we’re dispensing with our usual format.  In what has become a holiday tradition for us, we’ll be playing a few of our favorite tunes, most with a social justice theme.  And we’ll also share some year-end thoughts from Jim Harrington, Michelle Manning-Scott and Austin Sanders.

Due to copyright restrictions, we had to trim out the music.  However, below are links to each of the selections:

• Vince Guaraldi, Linus & Lucy (3:04)
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6zypc_LhnM
  
  
• Mavis Staples, Eyes on the Prize (4:08)
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cVJmwSStL4
  
  
• La Santa Cecilia, Ice El Hielo (4:29)
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lNJviuYUEQ
  
  
• Eliza Gilkyson, Runaway Train (4:20)
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jtL6rPrNw8
• Edgar Meyer, Work in Progress (3:01)
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeWrkyHupp8 (begins at 36:16)
  
  
• Anais Mitchell, Why We Build the Wall (4:13)
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAgiK07Py9M
  
  
• Queen, Is This the World We Created (2:19)
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVKTcWp_W9k
  
  
• Sam Cooke, A Change Is Gonna Come (3:10)
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEBlaMOmKV4
  
  
• Greg Lake, I Believe in Father Christmas (3:19)
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfY4b1NszpY

Civil Rights and Wrongs for December 14, 2021

Our guests this Tuesday are Benjamin Johnson, Professor of History at Loyola University of Chicago; and John Morán Gonzalez, Professor of American and English Literature at the University of Texas at Austin.  Both are founders of Refusing to Forget, an award-winning educational nonprofit that works to increase public awareness of an often-forgotten period in the history of the United States.  Refusing to Forget seeks to raise the profile of a struggle for justice and civil rights that continues to influence social relationships today.  We’re also joined by Jim Harrington, retired founder of the Texas Civil Rights Project, and Michelle Manning-Scott, associate producer of this show.  If you’re not familiar with the shocking and tragic events along the US-Mexico border in the early 20^th century, be sure to tune in.

Later in the show, Austin Sanders, Staff Writer for the Austin Chronicle, discusses his recent article covering contract negotiations between the City of Austin and the Austin EMS Association, which is the union representing medics and other front line workers who respond to 911 calls.

Civil Rights and Wrongs for December 7, 2021

Our guests this week write for the Texas Observer.  Sophie Novack is an editor and reporter who often covers public health.  Michael Barajas is a staff writer who covers civil rights issues, especially incarceration, and has been a frequent guest on this show.  Sophie and Mike recently concluded a months-long inquiry, which prompted the article, “Locked Up and Left to Die.”  The Observer reviewed more than 400 cases of jail deaths investigated by the Texas Rangers.  They note that, “state police regularly document jail conditions that can lead to preventable deaths, such as jail staff ignoring people with deteriorating health, taking hours to respond to emergencies, violently restraining detainees in the middle of mental health crises, denying treatment for chronic conditions like diabetes or heart disease, providing Tylenol for liver failure, and mocking people who are moaning in pain.”  Michelle Manning-Scott, Associate Producer, joins us as well.

Austin Sanders is out this week.  We hope to have him back next week.

Civil Rights and Wrongs for November 30, 2021

This week we hear about the recent spate of hate incidents that occurred in Austin a few weeks ago.  Our first guest is Alison Alter, Member of Austin City Council representing District 10.  Alison discusses the civic impact and community response to the arson at Congregation Beth Israel, along with the defacement and expressions of hatred that took place in Northwest Austin.  In addition, Alison briefs us on other Council activities.  Michelle Manning-Scott joins us as well.

Next, we hear from Rabbi Neil Blumofe, Senior Rabbi at Congregation Agudas Achim.  He reflects on the historic and spiritual significance of hateful pronouncements and anti-Semitic activity.  Neil just returned from Brunswick, Georgia where he and others offered support to the family of Ahmaud Arbery. Jim Harrington, retired founder of the Texas Civil Rights Project, adds his own perspective on the matter of hatred in the context of the struggle for civil rights.

Later, Austin Sanders, Staff Writer for the Austin Chronicle, reports on the latest efforts to update the city’s Land Development Code.  Instead of a comprehensive approach, which has proved to be unwieldy and susceptible to lawsuits, Council appears to be favoring a piecemeal approach. 

Civil Rights and Wrongs for November 23, 2021

This Tuesday we’ll hear from Sarah Wheat, the Chief External Affairs Officer for Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas.  Planned Parenthood creates healthier communities by providing comprehensive reproductive and related healthcare services, delivering science-based education programs, and serving as a strong advocate for reproductive justice in Texas.  We consider how Texas SB8 could upend law enforcement as we know it, replacing it with state-sponsored bounty hunting.  Michelle Manning-Scott, Associate Producer of this program, also joins us.

Later, Austin Sanders, Staff Writer for the Austin Chronicle, discusses his recent article dealing with efforts by the Travis County District Attorney to curb gun violence.  We also learn about the potential creation of a City Marshal Office for Austin.  (Council consideration of the latter has been tabled until early 2022.)

Civil RIghts and Wrongs for November 16, 2021

Our guests this Tuesday are Christina Puentes and Luis Gonzalez, the Chair and Vice-Chair, respectively, of the Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission for the City of Austin.  The commission recently concluded its work, so we’ll hear how it all turned out.  They also provide their perspectives on the process, and even offer some words of wisdom for their successors.  Michelle Manning-Scott, Associate Producer of this program, also joins us.

And we again hear from Austin Sanders, Staff Writer for the Austin Chronicle, who notes changes in political leadership on the horizon, especially in Council District 4.  He also reports on the City Auditor’s assessment of how well the City of Austin responded to Winter Storm Uri last February. (Spoiler: not very well.)  And we learn about a Travis County Grand Jury decision to clear officers involved in a fatal shooting on Sixth Street in 2018.

Civil Rights and Wrongs for November 9, 2021

This Tuesday Michelle Manning-Scott speaks with Pauly Denetclaw, a citizen of the Navajo Nation and the Indigenous Affairs Reporter at the Texas Observer. The previous Editor of the magazine (himself a member of the Kiowa Tribe) created the Indigenous Affairs desk in the fall of 2020 in an effort to address the historical dearth of reporting devoted to indigenous communities in mainstream media outlets in Texas. Joining the impressive list of journalists from the Observer who have been our guests, Ms. Denetclaw shares her thoughts on some of the stories she has covered to date.

Later, Bob speaks with Austin Sanders, Staff Writer for the Austin Chronicle, who comments on the striking defeat of Proposition A – more than 2-to-1 against.  Austin also reports on reform efforts at the Sex Crimes Unit of APD, where failures and scandals are matters of public record.