Speak Up! Speak Out!

Skagit Human Rights Festival

To podcast our shows drag the icon at the right into your podcast receiver.

Countering Common Myths about our Latino Immigrants - March 2, 2011

As introduction to the Skagit Human Rights Festival's night focusing on immigration, SUSO's jim talks with three members of Community Action's Latino/a Advisory Committee (LAC) and some LaVenture Middle School students and their advisor. The topic for the Thursday, March 17th event at 7 pm in the Phillip Tarro Theatre on the Skagit Valley College campus is "Countering Common Myths about our Latino Immigrants." LAC members, Rev. Josefina Beecher who has an Episcopal Hispanic ministry in the valley, Bethany Dearborn who works with Tierra Nueva's Family Support Center, and Diana Morelli of EDASC (Economic Development Assoc. of Skagit County) introduce the topic by mentioning some common myths that will be addressed and telling stories to refute them. jim also talks with LaVenture Middle School migrant students, Marta, Angelina, and Ana who were present with their migrant graduation specialist, Janice Blackmore.

Skagit Human Rights Festival - http://www.skagithrf.wordpress.com
Skagit County Community Action Agency - http://www.skagitcap.org/

Audio MP3
Audio MP3 (higher quality, longer download)

Transition Towns - February 23, 2011

Two Skagit Valley women - Sarai Stevens and Janet McKinney - join Ginny Wolff in a discussion of the "Transition Movement". This is a world wide effort whose purpose is to create interdependence among neighbors, and build resilient communities that can adapt to the challenges of the future. Chuckanut Transition and Transition Fidalgo and Friends, are two such groups active in the valley who will participate in the opening event of this year's Skagit Human Rights Festival at 7 pm on March 10 at the Phillip Tarro Theatre at Skagit Valley College.

Visit their websites: http://chuckanuttransition.wordpress.com and http://transitionfidalgo.org/
Visit the website for the Skagit Human Rights Festival: http://www.skagithrf.wordpress.com

Audio MP3
Audio MP3 (higher quality, longer download)

Health Care as a Human Right - Is Capitalism Killing Us? - March 17, 2010

What makes a society healthy? Is it access to quality health care? According to Dr. Stephen Bezruchka, emergency room physician and professor in Population Health Studies at the University of Washington, healthcare does not make us healthy. The results of much research show that what determines the health of a society is related to the degree of equality in that society. Our growing disparity between the rich and poor, and lack of public policies to to assure well being to pregnant mothers and young children is the reason we are falling behind other developed countries.

For more information see http://depts.washington.edu/eqhlth/

We will carry Dr. Bezruchka's March 26 presentation to this year's Skagit Human Rights Festival on this site in a few weeks.

Audio MP3
Audio MP3 (higher quality, longer download)

The Massacre at Srebrenica - March 3, 2010

Lifelong human rights' activist and writer, Peter Lippman has spent many years researching human rights issues in eastern Europe, as well as Israel/Palestine and Latin America. He has been traveling to Bosnia and other parts of the former Yugoslavia since 1981, lived in northern Serbia for a year, and speaks fluent "Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian." The Advocacy Project - a Wash. DC based NGO - sent Peter to Bosnia, Kosovo, Guatemala, and Ecuador to research and report on grassroots human rights campaigns. In the last few years he has been working on a book about post-war Bosnia.

Peter Lippman will be speaking at the Phillip Tarro Theatre at Skagit Valley College on April 2, 2010 at 7 pm. In conjunction with this presentation is a display of remarkable quilts - actually more like carpets - woven by a collective of Bosnian women, commemorating the thousands of slain Muslim men and boys who were massacred in Srebrenica in 1995 during the Bosnian War. The quilts will be on display at the Lincoln Theater during the month of March, and at Phillip Tarro Theater for 3 Festival events on March 12 &17 and on April 2, 2010.

More info and pictures of woven quilts at http://www.advocacynet.org.

Audio MP3
Audio MP3 (higher quality, longer download)

Housing as a Human Right - February 24, 2010

Housing as a Human Right night at the Skagit Human Rights Festival SUSO speaks with event and workshop coordinator Monica Chaplin, about what's in store for the first night of the Skagit HRF, including the movie *First Earth: Ecological Architecture *and a panel of Skagit housing and natural building experts. We learn about a hands-on workshop introduction to the simple joys of cob building, and hear excerpts from Monica's interview with Jack Stephens, from the Natural Building Network.

Links:
http://nbnetwork.org/
http://www.ppplanet.org

Audio MP3
Audio MP3 (higher quality, longer download)

MLK and Racial Justice Report Card in Washington state - January 20, 2010

On the MLK holiday in 2010, the first Washington state racial justice report card (RJRC) was released at the People's Summit in the state capital, Olympia. This is a report on the 2009 Washington state legislators and how their voting impacted the lives of people of color in Washington state. Join jim for an interview with Maru Mora Villalpando of Washington CAN (Community Action Network) and Kendra Anderson of OneAmerica about the recent March for Justice in Everett.

RJRC - Report can be downloaded at http://www.nwfco.org - click on publications (by date), then click on 2010 (release date) then click on report to download.
More info at http://www.washingtoncan.org

Audio MP3
Audio MP3 (higher quality, longer download)

6th Annual Skagit Human Rights Festival - Food and Farming - March 11, 2009
The third event of the Sixth Annual Skagit Human Rights Festival, on March 19, addresses Food and Farming locally. Melissa Young, one of the filmmakers of "Good Food" to be shown at the event; Anne Schwartz, long time organic farmer and activist from Rockport who appears in the film; and Jodie Buller, outreach coordinator for the Skagit Valley Food Coop and event organizer, are interviewed in this show. Visit http://www.goodfoodthemovie.org and http://www.blueheron-farm.com.

Audio MP3
Audio MP3 (higher quality, longer download)

6th Annual Skagit Human Rights Festival - Water - March 04, 2009
Water: who owns it? who gets access? at what price? We take clean drinking water as a given; but much of the world struggles to find access. This program is a discussion of the issues raised by the movie: FLOW - For Love Of Water

Audio MP3
Audio MP3 (higher quality, longer download)

6th Annual Skagit Human Rights Festival - February 02, 2009
Renewable Energy, Thursday, March 5, 2009, 7 PM at the Lincoln Theatre. Ron Nichols, of the Festival planning committee with a passion for the issue, provides a glimpse of the movie Kilowatt Ours. Panel member Gary Smith of Highland Energy talks about the higher than average usage of energy in Washington state, the history of wind energy in the US, and how the new administration could support the development of renewable energy. SUSO closes with an excerpt of an interview with Jim Page demonstrating his storytelling abilities and biting commentary. The HRF runs Thursdays through March 19th, then closes with a Jim Page concert on Saturday, March 21 at 7 PM. Reception for musicians at 5:30 PM with local wine, beer, pizza and tamales available. Sharon Abreu and Michael Hurwicz open for Jim Page.
Details about the festival at http://www.lincolntheatre.org
Film - http://www.kilowattours.com
Jim Page - http://www.jimpage.net
Sharon Abreu - http://www.sharmuse.com/sharmuse/

Audio MP3
Audio MP3 (higher quality, longer download)

6th Annual Skagit Human Rights Festival - Revitalizing Community - February 18, 2009
Discussion with 5 panel members about Revitalizing Community. Jodie Buller of the Skagit Valley Food Co-op coordinated the discussion for the festival's first night. Kimberly Neagle of the Mount Vernon Main Street project, Russ Weiser (a green architect), and Callie Martin and Ryan Walters of Skagit County's new Climate Action and Sustainability Taskforce (CAST) give insights as to what is happening or could happen in our community. Jodie first gives an overview of the entire HRF for this year - running Thursdays from Feb. 26th to March 19th, then closing with a Jim Page concert on March 21. Details about the festival at http://www.lincolntheatre.org.
http://www.skagitcounty.net/sustainability
http://www.greendrinks.org
http://www.mainstreet.org

Audio MP3
Audio MP3 (higher quality, longer download)

Fifth Annual Human Rights Festival - March 05, 2008
Planning committee talks about what, why, where and when the 2008 Skagit Human Rights Festival takes place. The festival takes place March 11-15 at the Lincoln Theatre, in down town Mount Vernon, WA. Human Rights Festival

Audio MP3
Audio MP3 (higher quality, longer download)

Poverty, One Woman's Story - February 27, 2008
Dr. Donna Beegle grew up in abject poverty. Remarkably she was able to move out of that world, and now uses her personal experience, education, skills, and passion to improve the lives of people living in poverty. In this interview she tells her own story, speaks about what helped her, and talks about the paradigm shift in the way we think about people in poverty - from judgment to understanding - that is needed to be able to make a difference in their lives. Communication Across Barriers

Audio MP3
Audio MP3 (higher quality, longer download)

To podcast our shows drag the icon at the right into your podcast receiver.