ACORN Radio

ACORN UK organiser Sam Kidel talks to Bristol leaders Wesley and Fadumo about organising residents of Barton House in Bristol in the UK.

ACORN UK organiser Jamie talks to Gina about getting organised in Preston.

ACORN UK organiser Anna Windsor talks to ACORN Leeds chair Jodi about the branch's win against the local council, and their new campaign to get justice for ACORN members fighting for better employment conditions at a local care company.

ACORN UK's Ben Leonard talks to the ACORN Hackney committee about everything they've managed to achieve in their first year of organising.

ACORN UK organiser Louisa Olympios talks to Paula and Alison from the ACORN Manchester committee about their recent victory against Manchester City Council!

Because of their hard-fought campaign, Manchester City Council were forced to stop using bailiffs to collect debt from 50,000 vulnerable households across the city.

Farzard Khan interviews Tanya Burkhardt, who is the local leader of PLACORN, and the national spokesperson for the fight against financialized housing.

A member of Live and Rent; Scotland's National Tenants Union.

Wade interviews Tahira Rehmatullah on cannabis, specifically on its legalization and tie to racial justice.

ACORN Canada Radio interviews the mother daughter duo of Stephanie Hanyes and Elaine Bruce-Haynes who have organized the Panorama Court ACORN Tenant Union at their building in Calgary’s Beltline.

Wade interviews Professor Jane Spinak, who has been teaching and practicing Family Court for over 40 years. Why do we need to abolish the Family Court? Your questions answered!

Wade talks to Todd Vachon, who is a professor of labour studies and employment relations at Rutgers University. This episode looks into labour and climate; not two peas in a pod!

Annie Craig from Living Rent speaking at an Enough is Enough rally!

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Dan Edwards, member of the Board of Directors of ACORN in Wales, chats with Kat Wright and gives us a broad overview of Wales' unique position, working-class history, and how ACORN came on the scene. This is the first Welsh episode of ACORN Radio!

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Wade reflects on a thorny dilemma faced by some of the upstart organizations we encountered on our training tour of the US Northeast--can organizations be run and maintained by volunteers alone?

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Newly elected Ottawa board member Amanda Teske on what made her step up!

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Wade chats with Ahmed White about his groundbreaking new look at the legal repression inflicted on the Industrial Workers of the World during the union's heyday. Read more about the book and order it here: https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520382404/under-the-iron-heel

"In 1917, the Industrial Workers of the World was rapidly gaining strength and members. Within a decade, this radical union was effectively destroyed, the victim of the most remarkable campaign of legal repression and vigilantism in American history. Under the Iron Heel is the first comprehensive account of this campaign.
Founded in 1905, the IWW offered to the millions of workers aggrieved by industrial capitalism the promise of a better world. But its growth, coinciding with World War I and the Russian Revolution and driven by uncompromising militancy, was seen by powerful capitalists and government officials as an existential threat that had to be eliminated. In Under the Iron Heel, Ahmed White documents the torrent of legal persecution and extralegal, sometimes lethal violence that shattered the IWW. In so doing, he reveals the remarkable courage of those who faced this campaign, lays bare the origins of the profoundly unequal and conflicted nation we know today, and uncovers disturbing truths about the law, political repression, and the limits of free speech and association in class society."

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Organiser Naomi sits down with former ACORN Brighton's chair Kate to discuss how ACORN Brighton grew from 0 to 800 members, the challenges and opportunities of organising in a city badly affected by the housing crisis, the necessity of empowering women leaders, and more.

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This is a speech by Living Rent (ACORN's Scotland affiliate) member Elle Glenny at an event in Liverpool. Here they are talking about how we fought and won the rent freeze and what needs to come next!

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Heartening signs and portents talking with labor organizers on our trip through the Northeast U.S., including from Workers United, the Committee of Interns and Residents (SEIU), and the Amalgamated Transit Union.

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Ottawa leader Bader Abu-Zahra gives an overview of the housing struggles he's been involved in, why he joined ACORN, and what keeps him going in the work.

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Labor Jawn, Philadelphia's only locally grown locally focused working class history podcast, interviewed Wade ahead of his swing through the Northeast. They had a wide-ranging conversation about the history of ACORN, Wade's experiences organizing workers in Philly, and what kind of strategy is needed for the labor movement now. Give Labor Jawn a follow here: https://www.instagram.com/laborjawn/?hl=en

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After years of pressure from ACORN and other renters' organizations, the UK government has published its proposed Renters' Reform Bill. Several weeks back, ACORN members and others from the the Renters' Reform Coalition visited their parliamentary representatives to urge them to get behind urgently needed changes, like eliminating "no-fault" evictions that allow landlords to evict tenants for no reason. While there, they secured a commitment from the Housing Minister to do just that, and the introduced bill follows through on the commitment ACORN won.

Nathaniel, ACORN Oxford's organizer, interviews ACORN members from around England and Wales to give a thorough overview of the nationwide policy changes ACORN is fighting for.

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Music by Eliza Edens, check out her new album! https://www.eliza-edens.com/

Wade reflects on the meeting with organizers and activists in Boston and Western Mass. "Listening carefully, it’s exciting to hear the interest and see the deep commitments that people are making to their work in social change.  At the same time, it often seems clearer what people are trying to change, than whether they have a clear vision of how to build the power to make the change."

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Amanda Teske talks about her work in a new chapter of Ottawa ACORN fighting what they call "renovictions" in Canada, where an owner pushes renters out with the justification that their property needs renovation.

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Tragic headlines and fears of alienation have made some Americans reticent to knock on their neighbors' doors. Do we have another choice?

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Misha and Khaseya talk about their campaign to get Darnall's streets ship-shape.

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Support the International by subscribing to ACORN Radio! Your $2.99 helps us cover costs and gets you subscriber only content from the archives and more: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/acornradio/subscribe

Rizi Yasin and Mike Black talk with organizer Jamie about they used strength in numbers to win more than £40k in repairs as member defense.

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ACORN Canada's Marcia Bryan on some of the biggest fights ACORN Peel is engaged in.

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Wade sits down with Professor John Womack and former ILWU Organizing Director Peter Olney to discuss their new book, Labor Power and Strategy.

"What would it take to topple Amazon? To change how health care works in America? To break up the media monopolies that have taken hold of our information and imaginations? How is it possible to organize those without hope working on the margins? In Labor Power and Strategy, legendary strategist, historian, and labor organizer John Womack speaks directly to a new generation, providing rational, radical, experience-based perspectives that help target and run smart, strategic, effective campaigns in the working class.

In this sleek, practical, pocket inspiration, Womack lays out a timely plan for identifying chokepoints and taking advantage of supply chain issues in order to seize and build labor power and solidarity. In interviews by Peter Olney of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, Womack’s lively, illuminating thoughts are built upon by ten labor organizers and educators, whose responses create a rich dialogue and open a space for joyful, achievable change. With inspiring stories of triumph, this back-pocket primer is an instant classic.

Contributors include: Gene Bruskin, Carey Dall, Dan DiMaggio, Katy Fox-Hodess, Bill Fletcher Jr., Jane McAlevey, Jack Metzgar, Joel Ochoa, Melissa Shetler, and Rand Wilson."

Get the book here: https://pmpress.org/index.php?l=product_detail&p=1298

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This is a special rebroadcast of Blueprints of Disruption's interview with Alejandra Ruiz Vargas. It's a great dialogue that covers how ACORN works and ACORN Canada's big campaigns against renovictions, for rent control, and others. Check out Blueprints of Disruption, a great show about Canadian politics that lifts up movement work, here: https://blueprints-of-disruption.captivate.fm/

From Blueprints' show notes: "An interview with Alejandra Ruiz Vargas, National Representative and East York Chapter Leader, for ACORN Canada. Alejandra is also a front line housing worker, longtime advocate and former political candidate.

She shares just how ACORN grows it membership and determines its priorities. Acorn is membership based, and almost entirely funded by those members. We explore the impact of their approach and the values that drive their work.

Alejandra shares some of the victories ACORN has experienced, recently and historically - and reminds us of the importance of celebrating gains we make."

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Wade reflects on his years visiting Delhi and Mumbai and notes a concerning new trend.

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It's a barnburner with ACORN Newcastle! Serious heart AND brains on display here: deep insights into research, direct action, campaign strategy, leadership development, tactics-- all hard won through struggles to reopen Newcastle's public toilets and force landlords to institute eviction moratoriums. These Geordies have tackled the cost of living crisis head on and have a lot to share from the experience. Enjoy Aidan's interview with Newcastle chair Andrew and secretary Cambeul, who joined the branch after having been a member of ACORN's Scotland affiliate Living Rent.  

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Transition music by Eliza Edens, check her out here: https://www.eliza-edens.com/

Wade touches down in India and reflects on the changes since he was last there. Modi's government has laid out the red carpet for the G20, not so much for everyone else. 

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Tucker Carlson-- do we have to keep hearing about him?? Unfortunately, yes. Most recently, he took a page from James O'Keefe's playbook and made a ridiculous distortion of the events of January 6th. 

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In Swindon, the local council threatened to cut back on resources and help for seniors in sheltered housing--including slashing the number of on-site staff, or wardens, for each residence. The wardens there are essential supports, friends, and lifelines to older folks. When ACORN got wind of the plans, they united with the residents of the sheltered housing and, like ACORN does, raised hell to keep the quality of life they deserve. 

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Check out Eliza Edens' tunes: https://www.eliza-edens.com/

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Subscribe to ACORN Radio! https://anchor.fm/acornradio/subscribe

Wade interviews playwright (and labor organizer) Gene Bruskin about his musical based on the Reconstruction and a meeting of the National Labor Union in 1870s. They also discuss the Smithfield union victory and the problems of organizing Amazon, as well as a coming musical about abolitionist John Brown.

Check out the musical here: https://www.themomentwasnow.com/

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National Organiser for ACORN the Union in England and Wales Dave Aldwinkle speaks with Alistair Driscoll. Alistair was recently elected to the position of membership officer for the Leeds branch. He gives insight to what the role is, how and why we engage our members, and his experience from standing for election to becoming a leader within ACORN Leeds.

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In England, a number of municipalities contract with bailiffs to do in your face debt collection on council taxes. It's a humiliating, often violent experience for the people on the receiving end of a bailiff's knock. ACORN members are campaigning in the North London borough of Haringey to put a stop to the practice of using them for council tax debts. 

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Check out Eliza Edens' tunes: https://www.eliza-edens.com/

Wade interviews Professor Silvia Rodriguez Vega of University of California at Santa Barbara about recent studies she conducted on the impact on children in immigrant families who live in constant fear about personal or family deportation and their immigrant status. Professor Vega summarizes the results of those studies in her recent book Drawing Deportation: Art and Resistance among Immigrant Children.

Check out the book here: http://www.silviarodriguezvega.com/book/

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KABF 88.3: https://kabf.org/

The picture is looking a bit grimmer in 2023 than it did in 2022. 

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In this episode we hear from ACORN Lockleaze members Adrian Andrew and Evelyne Ndikumwami. Lockleaze is a local group which is part of ACORN Bristol, the biggest branch of ACORN the Union in England and Wales. Adrian and Evelyne discuss why they joined, their campaign to reduce speeding and dangerous driving in the neighborhood, and their ambitions for ACORN in the future. 

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Check out Eliza's tunes: https://www.eliza-edens.com/