intifada=shaking off - oppression/silence
Voices of struggle, Voices for change
KPFK/Pacifica 90.7 fm, Los Angeles
May of 2009 marked the end of a 25-year Civil War in the South Asian country of Sri Lankan. News headlines displayed the dramatic defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) by government military forces. The death of the LTTE leader, Prabhakaran, marked the end of the decades-long insurgency of a seperatist military organization against a repressive government.
In this week’s program, Radio Intifada will provide context and analysis of the origins of the Sri Lankan Civil War and the events that led up to the final defeat of the LTTE in the Spring of 2009. We will examine the implications of the war's end and discuss the needs to set a new path forward for the Sri Lankan nation state. In addition, we will have a special guest who will read an excerpt of her debut novel about the impact of war on a Tamil family.
With special guests:
Cenan Pirani, activist with the Sri Lanka Democracy Forum and a graduate student of history at UCLA. He writes regularly on South Asian issues.
V.V. Ganeshananthan (who goes by Sugi), Zell Visiting Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Michigan, is a New York-based fiction writer whose debut novel, Love Marriage, was recently published. She has reported for the Atlantic Monthly, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and American Prospect.
Ahilan Kadirgamar. Ahilan is a spokesperson of the Sri Lanka Democracy Forum and contributing editor of Himal South Asian magazine.
Host and Producer Sejal Patel along with Sherna Gluck, SWANA (South and West Asia and North Africa) Collective
SWANA ACTIVIST/CULTURAL CALENDAR
Wednesday, August 19, 2009 - 5 PM - Waterside Apothecary in Marina Del Rey (4722 Admirality Way)
"Stolen Beauty" Protest of AHAVA whose "beaty" projects are made in an illegal West Bank settlement
Check out other CODEPINK actions in Tel Aviv, Los Angeles, New York, Las Vegas, France, and DC to expose the dirty secrets of AHAVA beauty products. You don't have to don a bikini to take part in our boycott. Educate yourself about AHAVA's illegal practices at www.stolenbeauty.org.
Friday, August 21st, Saturday August 22nd, 7pm - David Rovics SINGS FOR GAZA
Benefit for Free Gaza Movement whose whose ship 'the Spirit of Humanity' was recently abducted by the Israeli navy, and the passengers and crew of human rights activists jailed.
in Venice, Friday, August 21, at 7pm, with Omar Offendum
Concord Hall at the Venice United Methodist Church, 2210 Lincoln Blvd., Venice (corner of Lincoln and Victoria)
in Glendale, Saturday August 22, 7pm, with Maria Armoudian
Sidebar Café, 1114 N. Pacific Ave., Glendale (North of Glenoaks, off Ventura Fwy.)
DAVID ROVICS singer-songwriter and peace activist, offers a view of the struggle for a better, more egalitarian world from inside it. His songs of protest in the folk/acoustic tradition are known to peace activists in the U.S., Canada, and throughout Europe. His CDs will be for sale at the events.
OMAR OFFENDUM has been decribed as dynamic, engaging and articulate, using rapid rhyme-dropping rhythm to continue the tradition of musical protest in hip-hop. He started his musical career as one-half of The N.O.M.A.D.S, co-produced the critically acclaimed 'FREE-THE-P' Mixtape.
MARIA ARMOUDIAN, part radio host, part scholar-in-training, and singer/songwriter, expresses her idealism in experimental/new wave/gothic. The antihesis to pop acts, Maria's music is sophisticated, artful, intense, with rich melodies and harmonies and stories that will move you.
Recommended donation $20 (No one turned away for lack of funds)
www.freegaza.org ; www.wib-la.net For more information call 323-993-3322; 818-636-2844
