What does Independence Day mean to you? The holiday can be a time to gather with family, friends and community. But it can also be an opportunity to reassess the direction of the country, the past struggles that secured rights and freedom, the challenges to power that rose up in the face of adversity, and the inequalities that still exist.
Join [1]Free Speech Radio News [1] as we explore these issues through the lens of our country’s newest social justice movement: Occupy.
“We need to come together and be together and work on a vision of what we want to see happen in the next year, the next five years, the next ten years.” --Julia Alford-Fowler, Philadelphia
FSRN takes you to Philadelphia, site of #NatGat, the first Occupy National Gathering, where activists are meeting through July 5th to create a "blueprint for a democratic future." We look at police and institutional crackdowns on freedom of assembly and freedom of the press. And we talk to activists about the best ways to address issues of racism and inequality both within the Occupy movement and outside of it.
“We know that many immigrants and many communities of color in general are seeing that Occupy Wall Street has generated an opportunity to really speak about the issues that are impacting us the most -- racial inequality, economic inequality -- particularly through the lens of race and class.” --Sasha Neha Ahuja, New York
FSRN reporters also speak with indigenous people about (de)Occupy and Decolonize, and building bridges with other social justice movements. And we’ll take you to the scene of the longest-known encampment in the country, Honolulu, Hawai’i and find out why activists have been able to stay there for so long.
"The law specifically says that no one with power shall abuse the common people, that everyone has the right to lay even in the road without fearing for their safety." --Laulani Teale, Ko'olaupoko, O'ahu
Tune in to FSRN on your local radio station [2] on July 4th to hear this special or download it from our website [1]. If you like what you hear, please consider a donation [3] to keep Free Speech Radio News on the airwaves.