It’s been more than half a year since harvey and is anyone testing the water near Houston? Some reporters just did, and what they’re finding is alarming, we’ll explore. Also, much is being made of why officials aren’t calling the Austin bomber a terrorist. We’ll hear an explanation. And after a church shooting that stunned the world, Texas offers grant money for recovery. How will the millions help Sutherland Springs. Also, the often overlooked coastal safe rooms that may have saved hundreds of Texans lives, plus the week in politics with the Texas Tribune and much more today on the Texas Standard:
protest
Texas Standard: January 29, 2018
A vote to censure a prominent Texas lawmaker on his way out of office. What the move says about the state of the state’s GOP. Also, the disaster relief bill that would send tens of billions of dollars to Harvey devastated parts of Texas is still on hold in Washington. Why some of the state’s farmers may be contributing to the delay. And it’s been exactly 100 years since an event in Texas history that you probably don’t remember reading about in school. Why we should remember the Porvenir massacre. Plus, how re-thinking our message about the flu could do more to keep people healthy. All that and a whole lot more today on the Texas Standard:
V&B – Jazz & The Art of Responding
Rabbi and Jazz Historian Neil Blumofe joins a live jazz sextet and KUT’s Rebecca McInroy for a night of great conversation and live music. Through the music of Miles Davis, Abbey Lincoln, Charles Mingus, and others we’ll explore what the tradition of call and response in jazz can teach us about presence, resistance, and the human condition. Featuring Brannen Temple (drums), Nick Clark (Bass), Chris McQueen (guitar), Michael Malone (saxophone), Andre Hayward (trombone) and David Young (trumpet).
Texas Standard: September 26, 2017
Travis County’s Sheriff does a 180 after a ruling on Senate Bill 4. All ICE Detainers will be honored, but it’s not so simple. The status quo ante, the way things were before SB4. Is that what the court wants Texas to return to? We’ll try to sort out an opinion that’s left considerable confusion over the short term implementation of Texas’ so-called sanctuary cities bill. Also, remember the Texas Miracle? A piece in the New York times asks the question, Texas, you still feelin miraculous? And harvey sparks global interest in the concept of sponge cities. Like the suburbs, only extra absorbent. All that and a whole lot more on the national news show of Texas, the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: September 13, 2017
Those Texas political maps ruled as drafted with discriminatory intent? The supreme court says they’re staying for now, we’ll have the latest. Plus, something weird happening in Waco? A certain disorder in the court as the first trials get underway in the so-called twin peaks biker shootout story, we’ll explore. And in El Paso the demolition of historic buildings despite a court order. We’ll hear about why, and the protests over the changing character of a downtown. And if the business is fighting deadly pathogens, in Texas business is very good. We’ll hear why. Those stories and so much more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: August 15, 2017
Did someone just blink? What a North Korean announcement may or may not tell us about how to deal with a dictator. Also, submarined in the fury over Charlottesville, two major protests in South Texas: the biggest yet against the border wall. But a reporter who was there says it wasn’t just about a wall, we’ll hear more. Plus the Texas Central rail teams up with two big companies to get on with building the bullet train. So is it full speed ahead? We’ll check the brakes. And in what some are calling a post-factual world, can we talk? How to have a meaningful political conversation when you’re not on the same page. Those stories and a whole lot more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: January 18, 2017
The price of disagreement in Texas: it comes to 5 point 3 billion dollars. But what does the chasm between the house and senate add up to? We’ll explore. Also with the nation getting set for an inauguration, hundreds of thousands of women prepare to go marching on Washington. But to what effect? We’ll explore the power of a mode of protest. And Venezuela scraps old paper for new. Hardly a solution to hyperinflation, but might it cause more problems than it solves? Also a teen pregnancy video contest, not another MTV reality show, but an exercise to address a real world challenge facing Texas. Those stories and lots more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: January 5, 2016
He once called him a buffoon with the fear mongering arguments of a child. Now, a top Hispanic leader is joining the Trump team. Our conversation today. Also massive protests and reports of looting in cities all across Mexico as parts of the country come to a virtual standstill. We’ll hear what’s behind it. And a closer to home a tightening job market. How some Texas companies are trying to win over the best and brightest with coffee bars, free college courses and other perks. Plus how much does it really cost to educate Texas kids? The state rethinks the numbers. And the promise of 2017, from high tech to tacos. All that and then some today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: September 20, 2016
First there was the arrest. Then the jailhouse death. Global outrage over the incident. Now comes the Sandra Bland Act. What it could mean, today on the Texas Standard.
As the nation focuses its attention on threats from abroad, law enforcement launches a multipronged crackdown on a made in Texas terror group with entirely different goals. And one of the leaders talks to NPR’s John Burnett. We’ll hear the backstory.
Also, the controversy over fracking moves offshore as environmentalists spar with industry over what’s happening in the Gulf of Mexico.
And Texas athletes taking a knee for Kapernick: how the NFL player’s protest is spreading among highschoolers.
Kenny Braswell (Ep. 37, 2016)
In Black America producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. speaks with Kenny Braswell, Executive Director of Fathers Incorporated and author of Daddy, There’s A Noise Outside. Mr. Braswell is also Director of The National Responsible Fatherhood Clearinghouse.
Kenny Braswell (Ep. 14, 2016)
Producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. speaks with Kenny Braswell, executive director of Fathers Incorporated and author of Daddy, There’s A Noise Outside.
Oliver Lake (9.13.15)
Oliver Lake is an American jazz saxophonist, composer, and poet who co-founded The World Saxophone Quartet in 1977. In this edition of Liner Notes, Rabbi and jazz historian Neil Blumofe talks about the way in which Lake’s music offered a portal for us to understand the civil rights movement and social justice through art. When listening to Oliver Lake and The World Saxophone Quartet we’re are able to understand how to create profound statements without words.
V&B: Max Roach and The Art of Emancipation
“Progressive art,” said Salvador Dali. “Can assist people to learn not only about the objective forces at work in the society in which they live, but also about the intensely social character of their interior lives. Ultimately, it can propel people toward emancipation.”
I’m not sure Max Roach would agree with that, but he definitely was part of a collective conversation which challenged the power of art, the concept of freedom, and the sanctity of tradition.
Listen back as we discuss Max Roach and The Art of Emancipation, on this edition of Views and Brews, with KUT’s Rebecca McInroy in conversation with Rabbi and Jazz historian Neil Blumofe.
Some of Texas’s jazz musicians are featured on this show including: Shelley Carroll on tenor sax; Ephraim Owens on trumpet; Brannen Temple on Drums; Roscoe Beck on Bass; and Red Young on Piano.
Strange Fruit (4.19.15)
“Strange Fruit” is a song, made famous by Billie Holiday, who would often sing it to close her shows when she would perform, discouraging applause from the audience when she sang it. Holiday had a difficult time recording the song, but upon the urging of her friends at Commodore Records, she recorded it for the first time on April 20th, 1939. She was harassed by the FBI and other authorities for singing it, but refused to stop.
Originally written as a poem in 1937 by Abel Meeropol, to protest against American racism and the lynching of African Americans in the south just after the turn of the century, it remains a stark reminder of America’s scars of slavery, bigotry, discrimination, and hatred.
Holiday’s legacy is directly connected to “Strange Fruit”, and Nina Simone said of the song, that it was about the ugliest song she had ever heard, and would later marvel. “Ugly in the sense that it is violent and tears at the guts of what white people have done to my people in this country.”
In this edition of Liner Notes, Rabbi and jazz historian Neil Blumofe, talks about what the lamentation of “Strange Fruit” can teach us today, about injustice, humanity, protest, and peace.