Episodes
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Listen to a community panel discussion that took place in April 2024 at OBORO centre on the housing crisis in Montreal and the ways that the creative voice and arts is being worked into community organizing to address the crisis. The live panel was hosted and recorded by Stefan Christoff for community radio broadcast. The first broadcast is Wednesday, July 17 at 6pm eastern time live on CKUT 90.3 FM, streaming globally at http://ckut.ca
This event included the participation of the following people and organizations all of whom you hear on the broadcast. The accompanying photo is of Dru Oja Jay, one of the panelists participating in the event and broadcast recording. The photo is taken by Amru Salahuddien. These are the speakers:
Chris Brown, Comm-un https://comm-un.org
Hubert Gendron-Blais, Réverbérations d’une crise: une enquête sonore sur le logement https://www.reverberationscriselogement.org
Dru Oja Jay, SEIZE - Solidarity Economy Incubation https://www.solidarityeconomy.ca
Jonathan Lebire, Comm-un
Joseph Sannicandro, Réverbérations d’une crise: une enquête sonore sur le logement
Speranza Spir, OBORO https://www.oboro.net
Moh Abdalreza Zadeh, Comm-un
This panel took place with support from the Social Justice Centre. -
Listen to an interview about "The Sustainability Class: How to Take Back Our Future from Lifestyle Environmentalists" a book by Vijay Kolinjivadi and Aaron Vansintjan that will be out later this year. The book is described this way:
"An original argument that environmental sustainability has been co-opted by the urban elite, along with examples from around the world of ways we can save our planet.
With more urban residents interested in living sustainably, we have seen the emergence of a green-tech service economy premised around a kind of “lifestyle environmentalism.” Concerns over sustainability have been co-opted to sell a high-tech urban lifestyle, causing cities to become more unequal and unsustainable, cementing the elite’s status, and excluding the working class, racial minorities, and women.
Focusing on what they term the “sustainability class”—a woke and wealthy set of urbanites convinced that sustainability can be achieved through individual actions, green and “smart” development, and technological efficiency—authors Vijay Kolinjivadi and Aaron Vansintjan challenge many of the popular ideas about saving the planet. It is actually the approach of the sustainability class itself, the authors argue, that is unsustainable; improving eco-efficiency within a capitalist, growth-oriented system will neither save us nor lead to true sustainability."
Info:
https://thenewpress.com/books/sustainability-class
Thanks to the Social Justice Centre for supporting my work on this weekly program. The music is by Anarchist Mountains. Aaron and Vijay write on the accompanying photo:
"The cover photo was taken during a visit to a homeless encampment near LA's Chinatown, where an unhoused man had committed suicide the night before. He died while being restrained and handcuffed by police. Photo by Neal Rockwell. https://www.nealrockwellphoto.com"
Free City Radio is hosted and produced by Stefan @spirodon Christoff and airs on @radiockut 90.3FM at 11am on Wednesdays and @cjlo1690 AM in Tiohti:áke/Montréal on Wednesdays at 8:30am. On @ckuwradio 95.9FM in Winnipeg at 10:30pm on Tuesdays. On @cfrc 101.9FM in Kingston, Ontario at 11:30am on Wednesdays. Also it broadcasts on @cfuv 101.9 FM in Victoria, BC on Wednesdays at 9am and Saturdays at 7am, as well as Met Radio 1280 AM in Toronto at 5:30am on Fridays. Now Free City Radio will also be broadcasting on CKCU FM 93.1 in Ottawa on Tuesdays at 2pm, tune-in! -
Episodes manquant?
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ACROSS THE UNIVERSE FOR PALESTINE
Radio AlHara broadcast, July 13, 2024
Live 3-7pm (Palestine time) / 8h-12h eastern time
Accompanying graphic is by Valantina Gonzo.
This broadcast focuses on voices from spaces of solidarity organizing to support Palestine, from the People's Conference for Palestine that took place in May 2024 in Detroit, to the Al Soumoud Gaza solidarity encampment in Montréal. Also this broadcast features sounds from protests in different corners of the world from Italy, to Portugal and contributions of music by artists who support the Palestinian struggle for freedom.
Outline of contributions also live here, including links:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Pq7sUX_s6bGzhR3Zjse2VFGmyJQ835bQoZMqE9GOoNE
01. PJS - Meteor Shower
02. Al Soumoud encampment organizer 'Romera' in Montréal
03. Secret Pyramid - So So
04. Palestine solidarity chant in Lisbon recorded by Rabie Masri
05. Radio Ondarossa (Italy) - Piazza 25 Aprile
06. Radio Ondarossa (Italy) - Gaza Freestyle Fest (CSOA Lambretta)
07. Radio Ondarossa (Italy) - Fronte Gioventù Comunista
08. Radio Ondarossa (Italy) - Giovani Palestinesi Italia, Bologna
09. Radio Ondarossa (Italy) - S.I Cobas (union)
10. Recordings by Ema Gonçalves of protests in Lisbon, Portugal
11. Interview with Yaseen Shaikh, Students for Justice in Palestine, Kent State University, Ohio
12. Jamil Naser and Jim Wisehart of the Arizona Palestine Solidarity Alliance
13. Stefan Christoff - Sounding Worlds 1
14. Ambreen Khan, Healthcare Workers for Palestine
15. Taher Dahleh, New York City chapter of the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM)
16. Ziad Abi Saad, an organizer with Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR) Concordia in Montreal
17. Activist Huwaida Arraf
18. Anthony AlDurra, Palestinian-American dental student in Detroit
19. Massa Haj Ali, Students for Justice in Palestine, Chicago
20. Activist Adam Shapiro
21. Activists Maysa Hawash (Doctors Against Genocide) and Lena El-Malak (independent legal advisor)
22. Palestinian Feminist Collective organizer Tara Alami
23. NY activist Laila Rodenbeck
24. Karameh Hawash-Kuemmerle and Nidal Jboor of Doctors Against Genocide
25. Badawi (Raz Mesinai) - Infinite Pause (Shepherd version)
26. Secret Pyramid - A Vanishing Touch
27. Notnef Greco - Scooter Riding In Bombay
28. SAWT - BANK ATTACK
29. Emily (Jewish mother raising half Palestinian kid in US)
30. Stefan voice note on joining Montreal protest
31. Stefan Christoff and Razan AlSalah practicing music
32. Stefan Christoff and Sam Shalabi - Elephantine
33. Grimório de Abril - O Eremita e O Leão
34. Daniel Carter - A lunar look
35. Rainbow Eclipse, GAZA 1
36. UZU - Akhtanik / اوزو- أختنق
37. Ghost Producer - DoNormaal, Brahim Fribgane (Juma Mubarak Set)
38. Secret Pyramid - Quiet Sky
39. Secret Pyramid - A Descent -
On this edition of Free City Radio we hear from activist Stoyo Stevenski in Sofia, Bulgaria. Stoyo shares some reflections on social justice organizing today in the Bulgarian context. I felt that it is important to highlight a voice from the eastern edge of the EU in the context of all the conversations internationally happening around the future of the EU. Usually we hear voices from EU centres of power like Berlin or Paris, so in the context of this program I thought it is important to hear a voice from Bulgaria.
Thank you to Jana Tsoneva for helping to arrange this interview. Thanks to the Social Justice Centre for supporting my work on this weekly program. The music is by Anarchist Mountains. The image was taken of a mural at Fabrika Avtonomia space in Sofia.
Free City Radio is hosted and produced by Stefan @spirodon Christoff and airs on @radiockut 90.3FM at 11am on Wednesdays and @cjlo1690 AM in Tiohti:áke/Montréal on Wednesdays at 8:30am. On @ckuwradio 95.9FM in Winnipeg at 10:30pm on Tuesdays. On @cfrc 101.9FM in Kingston, Ontario at 11:30am on Wednesdays. Also it broadcasts on @cfuv 101.9 FM in Victoria, BC on Wednesdays at 9am and Saturdays at 7am, as well as Met Radio 1280 AM in Toronto at 5:30am on Fridays. Now Free City Radio will also be broadcasting on CKCU FM 93.1 in Ottawa on Tuesdays at 2pm, tune-in! -
Reverberations d’une crise / Sounding the housing crisis
Métro Laurier, public speak out
Suoni per il Popolo festival
10 June 2023
Broadcast @n10-as Thursday May 5, 1pm, on @cjlo1690am May 2, 9am, on CKUT 90.3 FM @radiockut Friday, June 28, 5pm on Radio Renoviction and on the May 8 edition of S.A.N.E, 8-9pm on CKUW 95.9 FM Winnipeg. Photo by Ivan de Jacquelin. Sound system support at event by Danji @anabasine
https://suoniperilpopolo.org/fr/horaire/reverberations-dune-crise-une-enquete-sonore-sur-le-logement-a-montreal
A mix of a creative speak out organized by contributors to the project Réverbérations d'une crise: une enquête sonore sur le logement à Montréal (https://www.reverberationscriselogement.org). This event took place during Suoni per il Popolo festival. This soundscape draws from audio recorded at the action registered by sound artist Joseph Sannicandro @thenewobjective, edits by Joseph, with music editing by Stefan @spirodon Christoff and synth by Jordan Christoff. Joseph writes:
"This audio work documents a community speak out against the housing crisis in Montreal, held at the public plaza in front of Metro Laurier on 10 June 2023 under the auspices of the Suoni per il Popolo arts and music festival. Selections from each of the many contributions are edited into a melange of speeches and screams and music and urban noise. Reflections on gentrification, sovereignty, and the complexities of living on indigenous land. The recording taken directly from the mixing board is augmented with binaural recordings made while walking around the event. Thus headphone listening might present a unique perspective. I sometimes layered contributions, in order to share more from some contributors. For instance, allowing Jason Blackbird to accompany his voice with his own trumpet playing, or layering multiple vignettes of Stella’s powerful words. As editor and co-producer of the Reverberations d’une crise podcast, an eight episode series weaving together contributions from a collective of Montreal tenant sound artists, I reworked contributions from all the participants into a collective collage. The episode ends with a composition by collective member Jordan Torres Bussière, performed on site at the end of the event, as well as the final section of my collage, played back on portable speakers in various configurations at Metro Laurier later that night. - Joseph Sannicandro"
In this piece you hear these voices:
A sound work by Stefan Christoff featuring community activist François Saillant
Hubert Gendron-Blais (sound artist)
https://www.hubert-gendron-blais.org/
Deanna Radford (poet)
https://poetryinvoice.ca/read/poets/deanna-radford
Paula Dykstra (poet)
+ Philippe Battikha @philippebattikha (musician)
https://www.philippebattikha.com
Alejandro Saravia (poet)
Jason Blackbird Selman (poet / musician)
https://poetryinvoice.ca/read/poets/jason-selman
Members of Syndicat des locataires autonomes de Montréal (SLAM)
https://linktr.ee/slam.matu
Moh Abdo, Comm-Un https://comm-un.org
Sandra Wesley, Director of STELLA Montreal
https://chezstella.org
Theo Lyons
+ Jordan Arsenault
https://thedutymyth.blogspot.com
Gaurav Sharma
Organizer at the Immigrant Workers Centre
https://iwc-cti.ca
Bengı Akbulut
Academic and activist
https://explore.concordia.ca/index.php/bengi-akbulut
Stella Adjokê (artist)
https://stellaadjoke.com
Juhi Sohani
Community advocate
zLadyBug (poet)
Liz and Jay
Members of Wolf Pack Street Patrol
https://www.aptnnews.ca/national-news/wolf-pack-hits-montreal-streets-protect-vulnerable-indigenous-women
Pierre Parent
Indigenous street outreach worker and formerly incarcerated person
Jordan Torres Bussière @jordantorresbussiere (sound artist)
https://soundcloud.com/jordantorresbussiere
Joseph Sannicandro / Reverberations d’une Crise collective - sound collage guerrilla installation
(reworking sounds from Réverbérations d'une crise: une enquête sonore sur le logement à Montréal collective) -
On the July 2024 edition of the Art in Action interview series we hear from Rafael Stan Molina in Brazil who works on a independent record label called Municipal K7. This project releases underground and experimental music from Brazil. In this conversation Rafael speaks about the complexities of running an experimental music label in Brazil in an egalitarian way as contemporary art spaces are often only open to upper class social networks. Also Rafael speaks about the political and social impacts of the landscape of electoral politics in Brazil over the past decades and how the extreme right wing government of Bolsonaro impacted the cultural scene and efforts people are undertaking to recover.
The accompanying graphic is the logo of Municipal K7, listen to and learn more about the project here: https://municipalk7.bandcamp.com
Stefan produces this monthly artist interview series, Art in Action, that broadcasts monthly on Radio AlHara in regular programming on the first Friday of each month at 4:30pm in Bethlehem, Palestine and 9:30am eastern time. This series also airs on the third Friday of each month at 11am on CKUT in Montreal (ckut.ca) and on the second Thursday of each month on CJLO 1690 AM at 8am also in Montreal. -
On this edition we hear from both Sooraya Peerally and Frédéric Vachon of Ex aequo who speak about their specific work to mobilize for housing justice in Quebec, specifically for more social housing, but that is focused on recognizing the intersecting struggles of people who live with disabilities in Quebec. Learn more about Ex aequo here: https://exaequo.net
This interview series takes place in collaboration with SEIZE and takes place as part of an effort to asses and speak to the realities, challenges and critical importance of networking across housing justice struggles in Canada. Learn more about SEIZE and the work on this issue here: www.solidarityeconomy.ca
Music on this edition is by Anarchist Mountains. Get more information about Ex aequo here: https://exaequo.net The accompanying drawing is by Dahlia.
Free City Radio is hosted and produced by Stefan @spirodon Christoff and airs on @radiockut 90.3FM at 11am on Wednesdays and @cjlo1690 AM in Tiohti:áke/Montréal on Wednesdays at 8:30am. On @ckuwradio 95.9FM in Winnipeg at 10:30pm on Tuesdays. On @cfrc 101.9FM in Kingston, Ontario at 11:30am on Wednesdays. Also it broadcasts on @cfuv 101.9 FM in Victoria, BC on Wednesdays at 9am and Saturdays at 7am, as well as Met Radio 1280 AM in Toronto at 5:30am on Fridays. Now Free City Radio will also be broadcasting on CKCU FM 93.1 in Ottawa on Tuesdays at 2pm, tune-in! -
On this edition of Cultural Workers for Palestine we hear from graphic artist Kevin Caplicki who is a member of the Justseeds artists' cooperative and speaks about the relationship between collective social struggle and artistic representations of movements for justice. Kevin speaks about his work specifically to support Palestine and create graphics as part of the Palestine solidarity movement. Find Kevin's work here:
https://justseeds.org/artist/kevincaplicki
Music on this edition is excerpts from these tracks as selected by Toni Dimitrov in Macedonia.
Biloba Green - "#228B22"
Fayerabend - "Liquid Fear" (Diagnosis of Our Time)
This interview series hosted by Stefan Christoff airs on the first Monday of each month on Radio AlHara at 5:30pm, Palestine time, 10:30am eastern time. Also this series will start to air on a network of community radio stations. To listen in on Radio AlHara visit : radioalahra.net -
On this edition of the Art in Action interview series we hear from South African hip-hop artist, community educator and activist Emile YX? who speaks on the role that hip-hop culture played in empowering Black youth in South Africa during the time of Apartheid. Emile YX? is one of the founders of the legendary ensemble Black Noise.
This interview was recorded in 2024 for broadcast on Radio AlHara. Stefan produces a regular artist interview series, Art in Action, that broadcasts on Radio AlHara in regular programming, there is a monthly spot on the first Friday of each month at 4:30pm in Bethlehem, Palestine and 9:30am eastern time, while this interview with Emile YX? is a special feature. -
In this interview we hear from Bob Rose a long term community organizer who has worked in the low income Parkdale area of Toronto for many years. Bob speaks about the urgent need for housing justice across the board and speaks to the challenges that frontline community organizers who are supporting low income tenants face without there being larger structural policy change. Bob has worked with many organizations and has been staff at Parkdale Activity-Recreation Centre (PARC) for many years.
This interview series takes place in collaboration with SEIZE and takes place as part of an effort to asses and speak to the realities, challenges and critical importance of networking across housing justice struggles in Canada. Learn more about SEIZE and the work on this issue here: www.solidarityeconomy.ca
Music on this edition is by Anarchist Mountains. Artwork Martha Rosler, Housing Is a Human Right, Time Square Spectacolor animation detail, 1989. Thank you to the Social Justice Centre at Concordia University for their support toward this radio program.
Free City Radio is hosted and produced by Stefan @spirodon Christoff and airs on @radiockut 90.3FM at 11am on Wednesdays and @cjlo1690 AM in Tiohti:áke/Montréal on Wednesdays at 8:30am. On @ckuwradio 95.9FM in Winnipeg at 10:30pm on Tuesdays. On @cfrc 101.9FM in Kingston, Ontario at 11:30am on Wednesdays. Also it broadcasts on @cfuv 101.9 FM in Victoria, BC on Wednesdays at 9am and Saturdays at 7am, as well as Met Radio 1280 AM in Toronto at 5:30am on Fridays. Now Free City Radio will also be broadcasting on CKCU FM 93.1 in Ottawa on Tuesdays at 2pm, tune-in! -
Stefan's monthly mix for Radio AlHara, for June 2024, "All forever" mix. Below is the track listing, track name and then artist(s) name(s).
Stefan took the photo in August 2021 in Thessaloniki, Greece.
01. Janek Krukowski @krukowski - Latent - I (via @oklarec)
02. Stefan Christoff - In Burgas
03. Jessica Zambri - Foresting (via @crashsymbols)
04. Bauer + Katharina Schmidt - Cenote (via @moonvillain)
05. Matteo Uggeri @greysparkle - ...for Myself in Difficult Times
06. Man Rei @man_rei - Gate
07. Paradise of Yesterday - Sophistication
08. Paradise of Yesterday - Remembrance
09. Wojtek Kiwer @wojtek-kiwer - PARTICLES
10. Grimório de Abril - Ophidic Haze (via Municipal K7 in Brazil)
11. Grimório de Abril - A Distância Entre Duas Constelações
12. Hydenburg - Kind Disregards (@christiancarriere and Pascal Delaquis)
13. Totenbaum Träger - Fleur de néon VII -
A mix that I worked on for Radio AlHara to celebrate the release of my solo electric guitar album "Declarations," out on Cuchabata Records, info here:
https://cuchabatarecords.bandcamp.com/album/cuch-217-declarations-2024
Artwork is by Vasilios Billy Mavreas.
Here is a track listing for the mix, with artist name(s) and then track name.
01. Stefan Christoff - Declarations
02. Stefan Christoff - Morning shift
03. Stefan Christoff - Amazing action
04. Stefan Christoff - Guitar in Griffintown
05. Stefan Christoff - Stratospheric
06. Bosho - Relay
07. Piero Umiliani - Officina stellare
08. Norman Nawrocki and Stefan Christoff - Explorations on Van Horne
09. Seta Kien - Fusible (from Sounds for your Anterior Insula 2)
10. John Clarke - Clip from Free City Radio interview for "From Crisis to Consensus: A Report on Canada’s Housing Movement" project.
11. Lazzaro & LY Foulidis - Gathering # 1 (from Sounds for your Anterior Insula 2)
12. The Ex - Soon All Cities
13. Stefan Christoff and Joseph Sannicandro - Excerpt of live performance at transmutations i at Ateliers Belleville in Montreal. -
On this edition of Free City Radio we hear from Catherine Lussier the coordinator of Front d'action populaire en réaménagement urbain (FRAPRU) who speaks about the urgency of both collective grassroots action on housing but also on the needs to have the advancement of the mobilization of public funds to massively construct social housing units in Quebec and beyond.
The artwork is by Seth Tobocman.
This interview series takes place in collaboration with SEIZE and takes place as part of an effort to asses and speak to the realities, challenges and critical importance of networking across housing justice struggles in Canada. Learn more about SEIZE and the work on this issue here: www.solidarityeconomy.ca
Music on this edition is by Anarchist Mountains. Get more information about FRAPRU here: https://www.frapru.qc.ca/le-frapru Thank you to the Social Justice Centre at Concordia University for their support toward this radio program.
Free City Radio is hosted and produced by Stefan @spirodon Christoff and airs on @radiockut 90.3FM at 11am on Wednesdays and @cjlo1690 AM in Tiohti:áke/Montréal on Wednesdays at 8:30am. On @ckuwradio 95.9FM in Winnipeg at 10:30pm on Tuesdays. On @cfrc 101.9FM in Kingston, Ontario at 11:30am on Wednesdays. Also it broadcasts on @cfuv 101.9 FM in Victoria, BC on Wednesdays at 9am and Saturdays at 7am, as well as Met Radio 1280 AM in Toronto at 5:30am on Fridays. Now Free City Radio will also be broadcasting on CKCU FM 93.1 in Ottawa on Tuesdays at 2pm, tune-in! -
A conversation with activist scholar Fayrouz Yousfi, based in Belgium, who speaks on the mobilization to support Palestine within universities across Belgium. Fayrouz offers a window into a context where there has been an important mobilization for Palestine in western Europe. Fayrouz speaks about the student encampment actions, the push in Belgium to divest from Israeli university collaborations and how these campus based organizing efforts are tied to the larger Palestine solidarity movement in the country.
This interview was recorded and produced by Stefan Christoff for broadcast on Radio AlHara in Palestine and is airing on Tuesday, June 11 at 9am eastern time, 4pm Bethlehem time, streaming at http://radioalhara.net
The accompanying music is by Badawi, with a short excerpt of a piece "Cette lumière qui surgit des décombres" by Joël Lavoie from this album:
https://aosmosis.bandcamp.com/album/artists-against-apartheid-montr-al-session
The accompanying graphic is from Justseeds artists' cooperative http://justseeds.org -
On this edition of Free City Radio we share the first in a series of 4 interviews that speak to housing justice struggles today in Canada. This first interview is with long time anti poverty organizer John Clarke who is based in Toronto and currently deeply involved in the 230 Fightback campaign which is organizing to block the conversion of a downtown east Toronto building into a massive condominium tower, you can learn more about this campaign here: https://230fightback.com/
This interview series takes place in collaboration with SEIZE and takes place as part of an effort to asses and speak to the realities, challenges and critical importance of networking across housing justice struggles in Canada. Learn more about SEIZE and the work on this issue here: https://www.solidarityeconomy.ca/
Music on this edition is by Anarchist Mountains. The image is from a screenshot of a video promoting the 230 Fightback campaign. Thank you to the Social Justice Centre at Concordia University for their support toward this radio program.
Free City Radio is hosted and produced by Stefan @spirodon Christoff and airs on @radiockut 90.3FM at 11am on Wednesdays and @cjlo1690 AM in Tiohti:áke/Montréal on Wednesdays at 8:30am. On @ckuwradio 95.9FM in Winnipeg at 10:30pm on Tuesdays. On @cfrc 101.9FM in Kingston, Ontario at 11:30am on Wednesdays. Also it broadcasts on @cfuv 101.9 FM in Victoria, BC on Wednesdays at 9am and Saturdays at 7am, as well as Met Radio 1280 AM in Toronto at 5:30am on Fridays. Now Free City Radio will also be broadcasting on CKCU FM 93.1 in Ottawa on Tuesdays at 2pm, tune-in! -
On this edition of the Art in Action interview series Mexico City based artist Daniel Aguilar Ruvalcaba's speaks about contributions to a collective exhibition at Biqini Wax ESP during art week in Mexico, 2024. Daniel's work explores ideas and expressions through frenetic drawings and sketches that are shaped by understandings of the world and humanity as an experience of multitudes not a world shaped by a universal framework of conception. Biqini Wax ESP is a collectively run art space in Navate district in Mexico City that has long explored the creative intersections of art and activism within the space in both militant and playful modes.
This interview explores, in conversation, Daniel's work as relating to the realities of the survival of pre colonial cultural narratives and artistic landscapes that continue to shape Mexico. The cultural multiplicity that exists in Mexico that can been understood as standing as an existing challenge to the sustaining dominant frameworks of universalism that continue to define the major narrative arcs of mainstream artistic practice in western Europe and North America. Daniel specifically speaks about Mexican cultural modes that challenge the notion of death as shaped by dark forces, while articulating reflections about alternative cultural vantage points of looking to death as a pathway to listen to the voices and heritages of the past, of ancestors, a cultural framework within which death can be best understood a bridge that connect you to eternities.
The accompanying artwork is by Daniel, photos taken by Stefan.
Music on this program is "Passage" by Anarchist Mountains.
Stefan produces this monthly artist interview series, Art in Action, that broadcasts monthly on Radio AlHara in regular programming on the first Friday of each month at 4:30pm in Bethlehem, Palestine and 9:30am eastern time. This series also airs on the third Friday of each month at 11am on CKUT in Montreal (ckut.ca) and on the second Thursday of each month on CJLO 1690 AM at 8am also in Montreal. -
This is the second edition of Voices from Beirut which I have produced for Radio AlHara in Palestine. On this edition we hear from Omar Abi Azar, the co-artistic director and theatre creator at Zoukak Theatre company in Beirut, Lebanon. Omar speaks critically about the decision to keep the theatre company open in Lebanon during this time of war, which includes of course Israeli airstrikes in south Lebanon and throughout the country which has resulted in many killings and the widespread destruction of major agricultural lands and nature reservations in the south of the country. Info on Zoukak Theatre here: https://zoukak.org
Also we hear from Lena Merhej, one of the founders of the Samandal comic art project in Lebanon that has long created space for the expression of social movement voices through drawing, comics and the arts in Lebanon. Lena speaks about giving drawing workshops this past year, including to a student in Gaza who was killed within the context of the ongoing Israeli state genocidal military action in Gaza, Palestine. Information on the Samandal comics project here https://samandal-comics.org
Finally we got directly to Palestine and hear from Ahmad Jaradat who works with the Alternative Information Center (AIC) in the occupied West Bank of Palestine. Ahmad speaks about the realities that face Palestinian political prisoners today and over the last generations. Information about Ahmad's work at AIC here: https://www.aicpalestine.org
Finally we hear a radio documentary that I co-produced in 2005 with Sawsan Kalache about the realities facing Palestinian refugees living in the refugee camps in Lebanon, particularly in the community of Burj Shemali Camp in southern Lebanon. Although this documentary was produced almost twenty years ago it speaks to some critical issues that remain, namely the lived realities of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon who are living in camps waiting for their Right to Return to historic Palestine to be enforced. It should also be noted that many services within a community like Burj Shemali Camp, including health and education, are administered by UNRAW. Info about this specific camp is here: https://www.unrwa.org/where-we-work/lebanon/burj-shemali-camp
The music on this edition is by the artist Badawi and PJS. I took the accompanying photo was taken in the borderlands between Lebanon and Palestine in 2005. -
On this edition of the program we hear from Chicago based filmmaker and community activist Merawi Gerima who speaks on the intersections of art and activism around #BlackLivesMatter and the movement for freedom in Palestine. Also Merawi speaks about alliance work with The National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression.
Follow Merawi's work here: https://www.instagram.com/gerima_gang and find information about The National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression here: https://naarpr.org
Song at the end of the interview is Simo Cell - Orange Fluo from the ENOUGH! compilation, learn more here https://dreaminglive.bandcamp.com/album/enough
This interview series hosted by Stefan Christoff airs on the first Monday of each month on Radio AlHara at 5:30pm, Palestine time, 10:30am eastern time. Also this series will start to air on a network of community radio stations. To listen in on Radio AlHara visit : radioalahra.net -
On this edition of Free City Radio we feature a conversation with researcher and writer Laura Carlsen who shares some important reflections on the state of social movements in Mexico today. This conversation gets into exploring the dynamics of tension between transformative social activism and the current government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador who is set to leave office this month, June 2024. Learn more about Carlsen's work with MIRA project that lifts up Feminist analysis on Mexico and social movements in the Americas, they are at https://www.americas.org/we-are
Music on this edition is by Anarchist Mountains. The image is by Antonio Gritón.
Free City Radio is hosted and produced by Stefan @spirodon Christoff and airs on @radiockut 90.3FM at 11am on Wednesdays and @cjlo1690 AM in Tiohti:áke/Montréal on Wednesdays at 8:30am. On @ckuwradio 95.9FM in Winnipeg at 10:30pm on Tuesdays. On @cfrc 101.9FM in Kingston, Ontario at 11:30am on Wednesdays. Also it broadcasts on @cfuv 101.9 FM in Victoria, BC on Wednesdays at 9am and Saturdays at 7am, as well as Met Radio 1280 AM in Toronto at 5:30am on Fridays. Now Free City Radio will also be broadcasting on CKCU FM 93.1 in Ottawa on Tuesdays at 2pm, tune-in! -
Listen to an interview with Brussels based researcher and activist Omar Jabary Salamanca. In this interview Omar speaks about the ways that Brussels has become an important hub for Palestinian solidarity organizing in Western Europe. Beyond only speaking about the organizing over the last months this interview situates strands of popular organizing history in the city within different diaspora communities representing, both culturally and politically, territories in the global south that are shaped by struggles against colonization.
This interview is broadcasting on Radio AlHara on Tuesday, May 28 at 7am eastern time, 2pm Palestine time, streaming at https://www.radioalhara.net
Stefan took the accompanying photo at a Palestine solidarity rally in Brussels in fall 2023. - Montre plus
