In October 2000, Circle A Radio, began as an anti-authoritarian, feminist radio collective, broadcasting from KBOO, Portland.  On this show we feature highlights from the past 8 years, including the voices of Pam Africa, Lorenzo Komboa, Utah Phillips .
We also talk to Percy Hampton and OB Hill about African American history in Portland, George Katagiri and Suzie Sakai about Japanese American internment at the Portland Expo Center during World War 2, and local author Judith Arcana about her work with Jane, the abortion counseling service in the early 1970’s.
We also covered the fight against Peabody coal at Black Mesa, the popular uprising in Bolivia, the opposition to the Sensenbrenner Bill – HR 4437, and we produced radio theatre called “The Kerry Apocalypse”.
 

For years, people used to migrate into the united states through the cities. Then in the early 1990’s trade policies began to effect patterns of immigration, . The US began building walls, and seal urban areas, and pushing immigration routes to isolated and more desolate areas, like the desert.

We talk with Kat Rodriguez, the coordinator for Derechos Humanos, Mike Wilson a humanitarian aid worker, and  member of the Tohono O’odham tribe, and we will share a testimonial from an immigrant who recently crossed the desert into Arizona. 

Websites:

http://www.derechoshumanosaz.net

http://www.nomoredeaths.org/

www.samaritanpatrol.org

www.humaneborders.org

Books:

The Devil’s Highway, by Luis Alberto Urrea

Dying To Live :A Story of U.S. Immigration in an Age of Global Apartheid, by  Joseph Nevins

Films:

Crossing Arizona

Contact the Tohono O’odham at:
P.O. Box 837

Sells, AZ 85634

    Bananas are a fruit native to the tropical region of Southeast Asia and Australia. Today, they are cultivated throughout the tropics. Bananas are among the most widely consumed foods in the world. , and
are grown in at least 107 countries.
    Transnational fruit companies  and supermarket chains  buy enormous quantities of bananas and competition has led to reduced margins in recent years which in turn has led to lower prices for growers. Banana farmers have historically received a low unit price for their produce and been subjected to poor working conditions.  Today, most banana workers continue to labor for low pay and are often exposed to toxic pesticides.  Child labor and violent repression against workers who
organize unions have also been documented .
    Tonight on Circle A Radio we'll look into the marketing of the banana…why do Westerners  think of the banana as a staple food item and not a luxury? We talk to  Peter Chapman, author of Bananas!: How the United Fruit Company Shaped the World  about  the mass-marketing of the banana, United Fruit's involvement in Guatemala, and their covert links to the US government, . We also talk to Michael Mc Millen, banana buyer  for Organically grown company in Clackamas, who
discusses banana farming and the journey of the golden fruit from the tropics to our shopping carts. Finally, we talk with Peter O'Driscoll, executive director of Action Aid  USA about human rights and the banana market today. Stay tuned.

Resources:

Human Rights/ Labor:

Action Aid- The Real Cost of Your Bananas-Photo Story

http://www.actionaid.org.uk/index.asp?page_id=100826 

US Labor Education in the Americas Project-  Banana Worker Justice Initiative

http://www.usleap.org/node/227 

International Labor Rights Forum

http://www.laborrights.org/end-violence-against-trade-unions 

Solidarity Center- AFL-CIO Global Worker Solidarity

http://www.solidaritycenter.org/ 

Human Rights Watch- Report on Ecuadoran Banana Plantations Human Rights Abuses

http://hrw.org/english/docs/2002/04/25/ecuado3876.htm 

Alliance For Global Justice:

http://www.clrlabor.org/afgj/index.html 

 Sustainable/ Fair Trade:

Banana Link 

http://www.bananalink.org.uk/

Transfair USA

http://www.transfairusa.org/

On June 12th, 2007, agents from the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement or ICE, raided the Del Monte processing plant in North Portland, detaining 167 people, separating families, and spreading fear and anxiety through out the community. Nearly one year after the raid, we’ll explore the current state of immigration policy in the US, and let you know how to get involved in the local struggle for civil rights.  We talk with Monami Maulik of Desis Rising Up and Moving in New York City, Arnoldo Garcia of the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, based in Oakland and local organizers Shizuko Hashimoto of the Portland Central Solidarity Committee, and Marco Mejia of the New Sanctuary Movement.