Airgo

Climate Changemakers is a 5-part podcast series, showcasing and celebrating leaders in equity work and climate action across Illinois, presented in celebration of the 20th anniversary of nonprofit organization Elevate Energy. This month's Climate Changemaker is Patricia Abrams. Pat is the Executive Director of the Renaissance Collaborative, a social impact organization that has provided affordable housing, workforce development, employment, and educational services and solutions to over 1,000 individuals annually in Bronzeville and its adjacent communities for the past 27 years. She talks about how environmental sustainability became an important piece of her work, the transformation of the historic Wabash YMCA that houses the organization's office and housing, and how we can move forward in a more human direction. Learn more about the organization: www.trcwabash.org/about-us.html Learn about Elevate Energy and their 20th anniversary: www.elevateenergy.org/

What a good time for a 250th episode! Dame and Kiss are joined by organizer and educator Jennifer Pagán, who was attacked and arrested alongside Damon last week, to break down this moment, the beautiful transformation we're witnessing, how we got here, and what the fight looks like moving forward. Redistribute your wealth to the orgs and causes on the the Chicago Liberation Resource List: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1YwWvuScaYjqrKLdl_4AkvSKhQE0OCWHvJ-dRyZbQ_wE/edit?usp=sharing Donate to the #LetUsBreathe Collective on Cashapp: $letusbreathe or paypal: letusbreathe2015@gmail.com photo by Evonee Castillo: https://www.instagram.com/evcvstillo/ Music from this week's show: Feel - Kendrick Lamar

On this bonus episode of AirGo, we're excited to partner with the Rising Majority and the Movement for Black Lives to share the audio from Making Meaning of This Moment, an online conversation that took place this past Saturday 6/6/20. Let their wisdom direct your righteous anger to move the fight forward! Participants Angela Davis: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angela_Davis Jamila Woods: https://twitter.com/jamilawoods Timmy Châu of Dissenters: https://wearedissenters.org/ Ntanya Lee of Leftroots: https://leftroots.net/ Kayla Reed of Action STL: https://actionstl.org/ Karissa Lewis from the M4BL: https://m4bl.org/ Greisa Martinez of United We Dream: https://unitedwedream.org/ The Rising Majority: https://therisingmajority.com/ Recorded 6/6/20 Music from this episode: Beautiful Death - Ab-Soul Blk Girl Soldier - Jamila Woods

On 5/31/20, a series of Black organizers and protestors were assaulted and arrested by the Chicago Police Department at a protest on 53rd street in Hyde Park. As community members mobilized to get them out, we didn't know that our comrade Chris Thoughtpoet Brown was one of the people arrested, and didn't lift up his name in the calls to release our people. A day later, Chris went live on his IG, explained what happened, and shared his perspective on the moment. He's given us permission to use that audio for an episode of AirGo. Donate to Chris on Cashapp: $thoughtpoet Follow him on IG: https://www.instagram.com/thoughtpoet77/ Redistribute your generational wealth to one of these resources in Chicago: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vREqtRHDjCg-NoJdq2a8o0R-O0DJdQjcYS5bSHap7Z66mJ1rf1ugybHAygLkMj0tn8qTzBjAlyO3LLE/pubhtml

A Note from Damon: On 5/31/20, I was assaulted by the Chicago Police Department. I was slammed on my head on 53rd street, my face pressed to the pavement and officers pressed their knee on my neck similarly to what killed George Floyd. I’m banged and bruised up, but Jennifer and I are home and okay. I love my people and am grateful for all the support. Follow AirGo for more resources and opportunities to contribute to the fight: http://instagram.com/airgoradio Redistribute your generational wealth to one of these resources in Chicago: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1YwWvuScaYjqrKLdl_4AkvSKhQE0OCWHvJ-dRyZbQ_wE/edit?usp=sharing Recorded 6/1/20 in Chicago

From the isolation of our homes, AirGo is presenting a series called On the Line, which focuses on the COVID-19 pandemic and the people putting their bodies on the line to help us all survive and heal. Since early April, we've been hopping on the line with front line workers in different spheres to talk about what their work looks like right now, and what we can do to help as we isolate our physical bodies at home. This episode's guest is Tempestt Hazel. Tempestt is the Arts Portfolio Program Officer at the Field Foundation, and the founder of art curatorial platform 60 Inches from Center. She talks about the shifts that COVID is demanding from philanthropy, how the sector is responding, how she's slowing down to take care of her people, and much more. Plus, she makes Daniel cry at the end, so stick around for that. NOTE: Tempestt mentions a few great orgs here in Chicago that you might want to learn more about through their past AirGo episodes. Check them out: LaSaia Wade of the Brave Space Alliance - htt

Each month this year, we're going to revisit an episode from the 200+ episodes in the AirGo Archives and bring that conversation back to the forefront. This month, we're revisiting our convo with author, urban planner, and policy maker Daniel Kay Hertz from 2016. Since we recorded this episode in Daniel's old apartment, DKH has become the Policy Director for the Chicago Department of Housing(!). He's also still a cutie-pie. Follow DKH on Twitter: https://twitter.com/DanielKayHertz Rate and review AirGo on Apple Podcasts: geo.itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/air…016530091?mt=2

From the isolation of our homes, AirGo is presenting a series called On the Line, which focuses on the COVID-19 pandemic and the people putting their bodies on the line to help us all survive and heal. Since early April, we've been hopping on the line with front line workers in different spheres to talk about what their work looks like right now, and what we can do to help as we isolate our physical bodies at home. This episode heads to the East Coast to chop it up with Zohran Kwame Mamdani. Zohran is currently running for a NY State Assembly seat representing Astoria, Queens. He's been endorsed by DSA, and a wide swath of other progressive and to the root coalitions. He's also one of Kiss' oldest friends. Zohran talks about how he's shifted his campaign into a mutual aid project, the lessons he learned as a foreclosure prevention counselor, the shortcomings of representative politics, and his high school vice presidential campaign. Support Zohran's campaign!: https://www.zohranforassembly.com/ Recorded 5/

Climate Changemakers is a 5-part podcast series, showcasing and celebrating leaders in equity work and climate action across Illinois, presented in celebration of the 20th anniversary of nonprofit organization Elevate Energy. This month's Climate Changemaker is Anton Seals, Jr. Anton is the Lead Steward of Grow Greater Englewood, a social enterprise focusing on building a equitable and resilient local food system that fosters protections of vacant land in divested communities and focuses on connecting those residents with community wealth building opportunities. In this wide-ranging conversation, Anton talks about the connections and unique challenges of reshaping Black Chicagoans' relationship to food, as well as how the structures and pathologies of power limit this transformative work. Learn more about Grow Greater Englewood: growgreater.org Learn about Elevate Energy and their 20th anniversary: www.elevateenergy.org/

From the isolation of our homes, AirGo is presenting a series called On the Line, which focuses on the COVID-19 pandemic and the people putting their bodies on the line to help us all survive and heal. Since early April, we've been hopping on the line with front line workers in different spheres to talk about what their work looks like right now, and what we can do to help as we isolate our physical bodies at home. This week's guest is Emmy Colon. Emmy is a certified death doula–don't worry, she explains what that means, just in case you've never heard of it before. She describes what her work entails, how the rituals and industries around death are impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, how grief as a collective process extends far beyond losing someone you love, and some thought processes that can help all of us understand how we may be grieving in this time. Learn more about her work: https://www.formidablecg.com/ Connect with Emmy: https://www.instagram.com/la_zurda_chi/?hl=en Recorded 5/19/20 in Chicago M

From the isolation of our homes, AirGo is presenting a series called On the Line, which focuses on the COVID-19 pandemic and the people putting their bodies on the line to help us all survive and heal. Over the next few weeks, we'll be hopping on the line with workers in the health care, educational, governmental, organizing, and prison abolition spheres to talk about what their work looks like right now, and what we can do to help as we isolate our physical bodies at home. This episode's guest is Zama, one of the founders and lead organizers of DCH1 Amazonians United. He and his comrades have been bringing together workers and fighting for better conditions in the Amazon Fulfillment Center on 28th and Western here in Chicago. He talks about how the work evolved, connecting with other Amazon worker groups around the world, and how they've been forced to push the fight forward during the COVID-19 pandemic. Follow DCH1 Amazonians United: https://www.facebook.com/DCH1United/ Recorded 5/13/20 in Chicago Music

From the isolation of our homes, AirGo is presenting a series called On the Line, which focuses on the COVID-19 pandemic and the people putting their bodies on the line to help us all survive and heal. Over the next few weeks, we'll be hopping on the line with workers in the health care, educational, governmental, organizing, and prison abolition spheres to talk about what their work looks like right now, and what we can do to help as we isolate our physical bodies at home. This episode's guest is Asiaha Butler, the cofounder of the Resident Association of Greater Englewood, aka RAGE. Asiaha talks about the pandemic-related shift in the communal development of the mind RAGE does, how she's built a food distribution system for the seniors in Englewood, and how she creates communal development while fighting against displacement. Big thanks to AirGo Alum Tonika Lewis Johnson for the connection! Support the work of RAGE Englewood: https://ragenglewood.org/ Recorded 5/9/20 in Chicago Music from this week's epi

From the isolation of our homes, AirGo is presenting a series called On the Line, which focuses on the COVID-19 pandemic and the people putting their bodies on the line to help us all survive and heal. Over the next few weeks, we'll be hopping on the line with workers in the health care, educational, governmental, organizing, and prison abolition spheres to talk about what their work looks like right now, and what we can do to help as we isolate our physical bodies at home. This episode's guest is Pura of the Little Village Solidarity Network/Red de Solidaridad de La Villita. Pura and her comrades have led the fight to raise awareness and demand the shutdown of a series of immigrant youth detention facilities run by influential Chicago nonprofit Heartland Alliance, in which COVID-19 has been running rampant. Pura details the information they've gathered about the carceral conditions inside, how the dozens of documented COVID-19 cases have changed life inside these baby jails, the direct action tactics and str

As the pandemic's stay-at-home orders have come under fire from conservatives and industrialists, a whole buncha whites have been descending on state capitol buildings, weapons in hand, to demand that these necessary communal rules be lifted. While waiting for a late guest, Dame and Kiss dove into a deep, loose, and pretty damn thorough exploration of what the hell is going on with white people, why, and what might help address this centuries-long crisis of consciousness. Recorded 4/20/20 in Chicago Music from this week's show: No Vaseline - Ice Cube photo courtesy of Rosie Fitz. Find her yts highlight at http://instagram.com/sensitiveplanttt

From the isolation of our homes, AirGo is presenting a series called On the Line, which focuses on the COVID-19 pandemic and the people putting their bodies on the line to help us all survive and heal. Over the next few weeks, we'll be hopping on the line with workers in the health care, educational, governmental, organizing, and prison abolition spheres to talk about what their work looks like right now, and what we can do to help as we isolate our physical bodies at home. This episode's guest is Antonio Gutierrez, an architect, organizer with Organized Communities Against Deportations, and a co-founder of the Autonomous Tenants Union. They delve into how ATU supports tenants as they fight against the violences of eviction and displacement, how this current crisis has both created enormous strife and brought many new renters into the conversation, the connections between the violence of eviction and that of deportation, and what a culture of de-commodified housing could look like. Sign ATU's petition demand

Each month this year, we're going to revisit an episode from the 200+ episodes in the AirGo Archives and bring that conversation back to the forefront. This month, we're revisiting our conversation with KAINA, a vocalist, songwriter, and community staple here in Chicago, from back in 2017. Since then, she has put out a dynamite full-length album called Next to the Sun and has toured with the likes of Sleater Kinney, of all people. She was slated to play this year's Pitchfork before the pandemic descended, and has been continuing to make great songs, work hard, and love her city. Listen to Next to the Sun: http://smarturl.it/NextToTheSun Recorded 4/27/2017 at WHPK 88.5FM in Chicago Music from this week's episode: The Circuit - Juju Exchange Honey - KAINA Petals - KAINA Perspective - KAINA

Black Youth Project has joined forces with AirGo for a year-long #BYPSpotlight series, featuring our favorite Black academics and activists. This month’s #BYPSpotlight episode is with New Yorker columnist, professor, and organizer Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, who hops on the line with us in the midst of this shelter-in-place period. We discuss the relationship between her writing and her organizing work in Chicago, understanding the ways that racism is at the core of COVID-19's destruction, the implications of pegging human needs to profit motives, and much more. Read Keeanga's excellent piece The Black Plague in the most recent New Yorker: https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/the-black-plague Recorded 4/24/20 remotely Music from this week's show: Park - Isaiah Rashad

From the isolation of our homes, AirGo is presenting a series called On the Line, which focuses on the COVID-19 pandemic and the people putting their bodies on the line to help us all survive and heal. Over the next few weeks, we'll be hopping on the line with workers in the health care, educational, governmental, organizing, and prison abolition spheres to talk about what their work looks like right now, and what we can do to help as we isolate our physical bodies at home. This episode's guest is Zain Bullie, a high school teacher and mentor at Uplift High School, a social justice CPS school in Uptown. Bullie breaks down what the transition to online learning has been like, how he and his fellow teachers have adapted to be there for both their students and their students' families, some of the humanizing potential of this crisis, and more. Check out Kuumba Lynx: https://www.kuumbalynx.com/ Learn about Uplift Community HS here: https://uplifths.cps.edu/ NOTE: AirGo has created the COVID Stimulus Redistribut

Climate Changemakers is a 5-part podcast series, showcasing and celebrating leaders in equity work and climate action across Illinois, presented by Elevate Energy. This episode's guest is Juliana Pino, the policy director at the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization (LVEJO) in Chicago. At LVEJO, Juliana analyzes, researches, and advocates for environmental justice, climate justice, and economic justice in local, state, and federal environmental policy. Recorded back in Early March, Juliana discusses the challenges that COVID exacerbates in Little Village and other environmentally unjust communities. NOTE: This was recorded before the recent demolition of the HILCO smokestack in Little Village. Juliana discusses the site of the demolition, but the devastating demolition had not yet happened. To learn more about the demolition and it's effects, check out this recent episode of the Hoodoisie, featuring Juliana: https://www.facebook.com/thehoodoisie/videos/1122529154767343/ Learn about Elevate Energ

From the isolation of our homes, AirGo is presenting a series called On the Line, which focuses on the COVID-19 pandemic and the people putting their bodies on the line to help us all survive and heal. Over the next few weeks, we'll be hopping on the line with workers in the health care, educational, governmental, organizing, and prison abolition spheres to talk about what their work looks like right now, and what we can do to help as we isolate our physical bodies at home. On this episode, the guys talk with Alice Kim and Timmy Châu of the Prison Neighborhood Arts Project. They share info on what's happening inside Stateville Prison, where they both teach, connect dots between this crisis moment and the prison industrial complex's decades-long destruction of parole and other types of prison release programs, and explore the particular dangers and opportunities of this moment in relation to organizing and militarism. Help get people out of Illinois prisons: https://www.freethepeoplecoalition.org/ Learn more