Solidarity Schools & More...
Happy Friday! It's Back-to-School, but not just any school. This week, among the stories I covered on Rising Up, was a great conversation about how ordinary people can get trained up on community defense and protecting your vote in what are called "Solidarity Schools." Keep scrolling to see that story and others...
🥰 This morning, my heart is full... I'm coming off a fantastic book reading and discussion in my hometown of Pasadena, California, where last night at Vroman's Bookstore, a packed house greeted me and my fellow panelists Pablo Alvarado, Josefina Lopez, and Adela de la Torre, all of whom are contributors to my new book Breaking ICE: Community Defense Against State Terror and MAGA Fascism. [Check out the gallery of photos from the event below].
For those of you who are free subscribers to my newsletter, I am SO excited to announce a special offer --available for the month of SEPTEMBER ONLY--to give you FREE MEMBERSHIP to Rising Up With Sonali if you purchase one or both of my books, Breaking ICE and Talking About Abolition.
For the entire month of September, every one of you who purchases a copy of Breaking ICE will get 3 months FREE membership to Rising Up With Sonali.
👉🏾 👉🏾 👉🏾 AND.... that's not all. If you ALSO BUY a copy of my previous book, Talking About Abolition: A Police-Free World is Possible, you'll get 6 months FREE membership to Rising Up With Sonali.
📘 1 BOOK = 3 months free membership
📘 📘 2 BOOKS = 6 months free membership!
Here are the stories I published this week on Rising Up With Sonali:
Why Are Nurses Protesting AI Surveillance Company, Palantir?
This week in how ordinary people are fighting AI's invasion of our lives... Unionized nurses across the United States held protests in late August against the AI company Palantir, a notorious firm that has enabled mass government surveillance and immigration-related policing. Cathy Kennedy, president of National Nurses United and its affiliate, California Nurses Association explained why nurses care about this issue.
CATHY KENNEDY: "[N]urses are out in front on this, along with our community allies, because we take care of patients. And now we're finding that Palantir is invading our hospitals, and so we're saying, "No." We want our hospital employers to, if they have any contracts with Palantir Technologies, to cancel them because Palantir has no place in hospitals. We are a place of healing, and really, Palantir has no place in our society."
Civil Rights Advocate Responds to Federal Lawsuit Claiming She Influenced School Kids:
I've interviewed Zahra Billoo many times over the years. You could say I've been "exposed" to her often. And each time, I've been impressed, inspired, and grateful that someone like Zahra is fighting for our rights. Recently, Zahra was named in a federal lawsuit by a group of Northern California parents who claimed their kids were "exposed" to her at a school field trip. Zahra explained why the lawsuit is so ludicrous and how it's intended to chill free speech--which is exactly why she's speaking out.
ZAHRA BILLOO: "[T]he parents and families that felt so strongly about their children's exposure to Islam and me, none of them were actually exposed. None of them went on this field trip... No one is speaking with firsthand knowledge of what happened that day. So that's who is suing."
Corporate media's goal is to leave you feeling overwhelmed and accept the status quo.
Solidarity Schools Aim to Protect Black Voters and Immigrants
An increasing number of people exist in the intersections of race and immigration status, and at best, are being deliberately excluded from exercising their democratic rights, or, worse, are terrorized, jailed, deported, or even killed. But, in spite of little to no corporate media coverage of it, people are fighting back, defending themselves, and training others to do so in what are being called "Solidarity Schools." This Labor Day, the May Day Strong Coalition has launched a new wave of such schools.
Aimée-Josiane Twagirumukiza (they/them) is Director of Training at Midwest Academy, a training institute for progressive organizers, and board co-chair of the National Black Worker Center. They spoke to me about how people can get trained up to protect themselves and their vote.
AIMÉE-JOSIANE TWAGIRUMUKIZA: "So I've had the privilege of helping to work with organizers from across the country to pull together a curriculum that folks are using to run trainings over the next two weeks connected to Labor Day. We are hoping to get hundreds of trainings, and get over 1,000 people trained up in skills around, like, how do you organize nonviolent direct action tactics in this moment to prepare your groups to respond to violence that might be coming and descending upon you, both physical threats that might be expected from vigilantes, but also how do you prepare yourselves to respond to the political violence of voter suppression and voter intimidation? "
BONUS EPISODE: Interfaith Communities Rising Up for Justice and Peace
This week on Rising Up for Justice, Stephen Rohde, a founder and current chair of Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace joins me. Stephen was involved in civil rights movements for almost 50 years and is the co-host of Law and Disorder Radio and Podcast. He is the author of American Words of Freedom and Freedom of Assembly. ICUJP celebrates its 25th anniversary on September 27.
STEPHEN ROHDE: "There have been other dark chapters in American history. We have had to confront slavery. We have had an abolition movement to end slavery. We've had the women's movement. We've had the labor movement. We've had the anti-war movement. We've had the LGBTQ movement. These are people's movements that have had to move institutions and the grinding slowness of our institutions to come to grips with these problems."
Check out my latest print story:
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Photos from my Book Reading and Panel Discussion for Breaking ICE at Vroman's Books in Pasadena, September 3
It was a packed house with about 100 people showing up for my book talk and signing last night. Panelists featured three of the contributors to the book: Pablo Alvarado, Josefina Lopez, and Adela de la Torre.
