Sojourner Truth Radio: January 15, 2019 - LA Teachers Strike, Yellow Vests, Progressive Dems

Sojourner Truth Radio

Today on Sojourner Truth: Following a spate of teachers strikes in conservative red states, the Red for Ed movement is growing across the United States. Teachers are now at the forefront of labor actions across the country. Now, a massive teachers strike is underway in Los Angeles. Roughly 30,000 teachers in the city are on strike, impacting 600,000 students. Their demands include wage increases, reduced classroom sizes and more nurses and support staff in schools to serve the students. Our guest is Steve Seal, a fifth grade teacher at Eshelman Avenue Elementary in Lomita. He also serves as the Harbor Area chair of UTLA (United Teachers of Los Angeles). And, you might not know it by watching mainstream media, which is obsessed with Donald Trump. But what some are calling a revolution is underway across France. It is called the Yellow Vests Movement. When it is covered in U.S. media, it is portrayed as a right-wing movement. While, indeed, right-wing forces are trying to infiltrate and divide the movement, nothing could be further from the truth. It is truly a grassroots movement. Who are the Yellow Vests? What do they want? What have women done in the movement? Was has happened since they began their protests? How have they impacted Macrons government? Is the movement growing? Our guest is Benoit Martin, who spoke with Yellow Vests activists on the ground in France. He is with Payday, a network of men working with the Global Women's Strike. Also, Alan Minsky, former Program Director at KPFK and now Executive Director of the Progressive Democrats of America (PDA), joins us in studio to discuss the partnership between PDA with Our Revolution. Our Revolution grew out of the Bernie Sanders campaign and is headed by President Nina Turner.