Friday's What's Going On is where the movements meet the mic! Where we lift up the fight for justice, where we continue to build the beloved community, and find the power that comes when we refuse to be divided, distracted, or defeated no matter what the circumstance.
This isn’t just news. This is solidarity on the airwaves.
And solidarity only works when we stay informed and connected. That’s why on today's show we spoke with Norman Siegel, civil rights and civil liberties lawyer, who joins us to discuss the way 35 states and DC are tactically integrating ICE with state, county and local police and what that means for protesters, journalists, immigrants and the rest of us.
"Congress shall make no law... abridging the freedom of speech, or the press," says the US Constitution.
Just this week ICE agents at 26 Federal Plaza in lower Manhattan roughed up a photojournalist so badly he had to be hospitalized. A few days earlier in Chicago, ICE fired a chemical weapon at a CBS TV reporter that hit her. We have all seen videos where ICE agents smash the windows of cars with individuals inside them they suspect are here in this country illegally. We have multiple reports of people dying in ICE custody for lack of medical attention. Last month, a 38-year-old father and cook from Mexico was shot and killed by an ICE agent in his car.
Is it now just open season on immigrants, or people that might LOOK like immigrants? And what about journalists who have to cover these incidents?
We were lucky to have Norman Siegel on with us to sort it all out.
Norman is one of the nation's foremost legal experts on the First Amendment, press freedom and civil liberties law. He served as the executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union from 1985 until 2000.
Do undocumented people have any civil rights under our Constitution? What about green card holders? A recent federal ruling by Judge William Young, a Reagan-appointed judge, blasted the U.S. State Department’s push to deport Mahmoud Khalil, a green card holder, for his statements about the genocide in Gaza.
Our conversation explores what happens when an ICE agent shoots and kills someone and why masked law enforcement officers are such a bad idea. Norman explains what reporters should know about covering breaking news when ICE is in the mix.
"America has to wake up and be informed," Siegel told Juliana.
In the B Block, we spoke with John Fugelsang, comedian, broadcaster and author. He discussed his new book Separation of Church and Hate, in which he delivers what’s a biblically correct takedown of far-right Christian hatred. Using humor and a Sunday school teacher's grasp of scripture, he shows how extremists weaponize faith for power, and how we can push back with compassion and clarity.
The son of a former Catholic nun and Franciscan brother, who crossed paths in Brooklyn, Fugelsang told Juliana he was "raised abnormally Catholic." John described how his progressive worldview was informed by his firsthand grasp of the Bible.
"I was raised to believe that Christianity was about the things Jesus taught and commanded; servant leadership, humility, looking out for those less fortunate than you, uplifting the marginalized, opposing the death penalty," Fugelsang said. "In Matthew 25—the Judgment of Nations—Jesus pretty much says his criteria for heaven or hell, for individuals or nations, is taking care of the poor, taking care of the sick, welcoming the stranger, being kind to those in prison—and WBAI listeners know Jesus taught workers should get the wages they are owed."
Fugelsang continued: "Jesus condemned exploitation of labor and justified fair pay for all labor and rebuked greed. One of my dad's heroes was Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker."
