Episode 247 - On the Line with Tempestt Hazel

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 - airgoradio.com/airgo/2017/5/18/e…de-90-lasaia-wade

Page May of Assata's Daughters - airgoradio.com/airgo/2016/9/14/e…-page-may-returns

Hoda Katebi of Blue Tin Production - https://airgoradio.com/airgo/2019/2/7/episode-174-hoda-katebi

Sadia Nawab of IMAN (Inner-City Muslim Action Network) - airgoradio.com/airgo/2017/7/20/e…de-99-sadia-nawab

Anton Seals Jr. of Grow Greater Englewood - airgoradio.com/airgo/2020/5/21/episode-245

Episode 246 - On the Line with Zohran Kwame Mamdani

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!: www.zohranforassembly.com/

Episode 245 - Climate Changemakers with Anton Seals, Jr.

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

Episode 244 - On the Line with death doula Emmy Colon

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: www.formidablecg.com/
Connect with Emmy: www.instagram.com/la_zurda_chi/

Episode 243 - On the Line with Zama of DCH1 Amazonians United

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 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: www.facebook.com/DCH1United/

Episode 242 - On the Line with Asiaha Butler of RAGE Englewood

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: ragenglewood.org/

Episode 241 - On the Line with Pura of the Little Village Solidarity Network

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 strategies that LVSN takes, and how we can contribute to this urgent fight.

Learn more and support LVSN: https://www.facebook.com/LaVillitaSolidaridad/

Episode 240 - We Need to Talk About the Whites

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.

Episode 239 - On the Line with Antonio Gutierrez

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 demanding a rent freeze in Chicago now!: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/rent-freeze-in-chicago-now

Get information about how you and your neighbors can exercise your rights as tenants: autonomoustenantsunion.org/covid19

Episode 238 - #BYPSpotlight: On the Line with Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor

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: www.newyorker.com/news/our-columni…the-black-plague

Episode 237 - On the Line with Zain Bullie

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: www.kuumbalynx.com/
Learn about Uplift Community HS here: uplifths.cps.edu/

Episode 236 - Climate Changemakers with Juliana Pino

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/watch/?v=2861913267258859

Learn about Elevate Energy and their 20th anniversary: www.elevateenergy.org/

Check out LVEJO:
www.lvejo.org

Episode 235 - On the Line with Alice Kim & Timmy Châu

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: www.freethepeoplecoalition.org/
Learn more about PNAP, including their Mutual Aid effort for people behind bars: p-nap.org/

Episode 234 - Invisible Institute x SSW Radio: On the Line in Cook County Jail

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 features a series of conversations recorded with people currently detained at Cook County Jail, who describe the conditions they're experiencing. The interviews are conducted by the Invisible Institute's Maira Khwaja and produced by South Side Weekly Radio's Erisa Apantaku. The piece first ran on SSW Radio–thanks to both of them for allowing us to share their work!

Join the Bond Fund's Call-in Campaign: https://chicagobond.org/call-in/

Collage by J Michael Eugenio/South Side Weekly.

Episode 233 - On the Line with Ald. Rossana Rodriguez

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 Alderwoman Rossana Rodriguez of Chicago's 33rd Ward. Rossana talks about how her office is supporting mutual aid work without coopting it, what City Council looks like right now (not much), and what hard lines the mayor and governor need to be taking to keep people safe.

Read the Right to Recovery legislation demands: actionnetwork.org/campaigns/right-to-recovery

Learn about everything that the 33rd Ward office is doing: 33rdward.org/covid-19-resources/

Episode 232 - On the Line with Dennis Kosuth

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 Dennis Kosuth. Dennis is a nurse in Chicago Public Schools, at Provident Hospital in Washington Park, and now inside of Cook County Jail. He gets on the line to talk about last week's shutdown of the ER at Provident Hospital, what he observed and experienced taking care of the people being held in Cook County Jail, what this moment means for CPS students, and how he stays struggling for a world less rooted in greed and profit.

Sign the Petition to keep the Provident ER open: https://www.change.org/p/elected-officials-don-t-reduce-care-on-the-south-side-of-chicago-during-a-pandemic-reopen-provident-s-er/w

Episode 231 - On the Line with Sharlyn Grace

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 Sharlyn Grace, who is a cofounder and the Executive Director of the Chicago Community Bond Fund. She talks about the front lines work CCBF is doing to protect and free the 4500+ people currently held in Cook County Jail, where the COVID infection rate is 40 times that of the rest of Chicago, and shares how y'all can contribute to their current call-in campaign.

Participate in the call-in here: chicagobond.org/call-in/

Episode 230 - On the Line with Dame and Kiss

The guys are doing okay. Recorded remotely from their respective houses, Dame and Kiss begin a new series of episodes called On the Line, which will focus on the COVID-19 pandemic and the people putting their bodies on the line to help us all address and heal from the pandemic. Over the next few weeks, we'll be hopping on the line with these workers in the health care, educational, governmental, organizing, 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 first episode, Damon and Kiss check in about how their quarantines have been and answer some listener questions.

Episode 229 - Qurissy

Back before the world turned upside down, Dame and Kiss kicked it in LA with the wonderful Qurissy, a Chicago native and member of the community here who recently moved to Los Angeles. Qurissy is a portrait photographer, designer, art director, and visual creator whose photography has shone a lens on so many members of the arts world in the city that we showcase and celebrate. She's the Art Director at Gumbo Media, a multimedia company that curates content, experiences, and services to expand the narrative of Black life. We talk about her transition to LA, cohabitating with her boo (who's an AirGo alum), developing one's eye, and much more. Plus, some damn good jokes from the guys and a little constructive feedback time, since Qurissy is a regular listener of the show. Get in the pre-pandemic time machine!

Follow Qurissy: instagram.com/qurissy

Episode 228 - Climate Changemakers with Suzy Schlosberg

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 Suzy Schlosberg, the Co-Director of the Chicago Youth Alliance for Climate Action. A senior at Whitney Young High School, Suzy is also on the steering committee for the Ready for 100 Chicago Collective and is a student intern at the Sierra Club office.

Learn about Elevate Energy and their 20th anniversary: www.elevateenergy.org/

Check out the Chicago Youth Alliance for Climate Action: www.cyaca.org/