This week, we are coming to you live from Chicago during the Democratic National Convention. My guests will include critical party insiders, street protesters, and some of those who were there in ‘68 and are still out there in 2024. Check our FB page for any changes in each day’s schedule.
A couple of miles away from our studio here in the Bridgeport neighborhood of Chicago, tens of thousands of demonstrators will have gathered in Union Park and around the United Center determined to have their voices heard on issues of poverty, healthcare, abortion rights, the environment and most urgently, on opposition to the genocidal US-supported war on Gaza and the West Bank by Israel’s IDF.
Chicago’s mayor, Brandon Johnson, who's been under great pressure to prevent a repeat of the 1968 Convention’s battle in the streets, has reversed himself and is allowing protesters their permits, their required speaker system. and 9 porta-potties in the park.
All this, plus the continued slaughter of Palestinian men, women, and children and the failure of ceasefire talks puts the issue of of Gaza squarely in front of the convention and candidates Harris and Walz. With the polls shifting in their favor but the race still close, they will be faced with the problem of either moving away from the administration’s unconditional support for Israel or risk losing their critical base of young, black, and Islamic voters, especially in key battleground states and handing the election to Trump, similar to the way Hillary Clinton did in 2016.
Here’s the schedule for the next four days of programming.
DAY 1 (August 19) — My guests will be former IL Congresswoman Marie Newman, filmmaker and Black community activist, Floyd Webb, and longtime Chicago community organizer, Katy Hogan.
DAY 2 — My guests will be four veterans of the ‘68 Convention street battles, Bill Ayers, Peter Kuttner, Michael James, and Susan Klonsky.
DAY 3 — My guests will be Jewish Voice For Peace protest leaders, Beth Miller and Arielle Rebekah.
DAY 4 — My guests will be (First half hour) Dr. Dilara Sayeed, President of the Muslim Civic Coalition, and (Second half hour) Pushkar Sharma, founder and Executive Director of SACRED (the South Asian American Coalition to Renew Democracy).
Tune in daily from 2-3 p.m. CDT at WLPN 105.5 FM in Chicago and stream live everywhere at lumpenradio.com.
Good luck to all those that can be part of this important time. THANK YOU>
Thanks Mike. I’ll be listening from Los Angeles. Diane Hirsch’s garcia. My mom says hi.