Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality

Defender Interview with Ousmane Simaga, Mayor of Segou, Republic of Mali By Phil Wilayto Translation by Ana Edwards RICHMOND, VA; Aug. 1, 2012  – Ousmane Simaga is the mayor of Segou, the second largest city in the Republic of Mali, West Africa. The city of 135,000 is located in southern Mali near a bend of the Niger River, just as Richmond, with its 204,000 people, sits on a bend of the James. Segou and Richmond have an official Sister City relationship. It's not the only connection. As pointed out by local Richmond columnist Michael Paul Williams, the majority of Africans brought to Virginia to be sold into slavery came from the nine West African countries that once were part of the great Malian Empire. Mayor Simaga was in Richmond from July 24 to Aug. 1 to try and raise funds to help deal with a humanitarian crisis now facing his city. Since March, 7,238 people, nearly 4,000 of them children, have arrived in Segou, displaced by the civil war raging hundreds of miles to the n...

City cooling shelters are opened when the temperature and/or heat index reaches or exceeds 95 degrees .  For more information regarding cooling services, residents can contact the Department of Social Services Fuel Assistance Office at (804) 646-7046. Elderly residents with heat related issues can contact the Adult Protective Service Unit at (804) 646-0501. In the event of a heat related emergency, please call 9-1-1. All residents should take measures to stay hydrated and avoid prolonged exposure to the heat during the day. Public announcements (tv, radio and newspaper) are published when cooling shelters are to be opened. Always double-check!   City cooling shelters are opened when the temperature and/or heat index reaches or exceeds 95 degrees. Typically city cooling shelters will open from Noon to 5 p.m.during the week and are located at: Southside Community Services Center, 4100 Hull Street Road Department of Social Services, 900 East Marshall Street E...

DefendersLIVE, weekly on WRIR 97.3 FM, Monday at Noon, live streamed at WRIR.org.

Back in the seat of the Live Room Studio B, your host will chat about the week's issues. On her mind today: the myriad of terms born every 20 years or so to justify displacement of poor people from their homes, even a reach back to when that meant displacement of our primal homes (our lives). If we don't assert the collective right to self-determination of our oppressed bodies (aka human rights) what have we?

Today on DefendersLIVE Part 2 of 2-part interview with Lois Leveen, author of "The Secrets of Mary Bowser"- Continuing the conversation about Mary Bowser's work with Elizabeth Van Lew as a Civil War Union spy in the White House of the Confederacy. Why would an educated, free Black woman in Philadelphia risk all to return to the city of her birth, and her enslavement, to do this work? How is a culture of secret-keeping a key to survival while enslaved as well as in espionage... Why symbolic truth is as important for the oppressed as it is for the oppressor... Tune in at 12 noon - live streamed at WRIR.org or on your radio at 97.3 FM (LP). You can hear past shows at DefendersLIVEradio.blogspot.com (2011-2012) and Radio4all.net (2011 and earlier) Comments or questions? Email defenderslivehost@gmail.com

Emergency Court Watch: All Out for Ashley Williams, Tues. June 19 at 3pm Attention Defenders & Friends!! The Coalition for Justice has just learned that Judge Richard Taylor has scheduled the sentencing hearing for Ashley Williams. for tomorrow, June 19, 2012, at 3pm, at the John Marshall Courts Building, 400 N. 9th Street. We do not know the room number, but it will be posted in the lobby. It is critical that everyone who can attend this hearing. We must speak out against this miscarriage of justice! Supporters include the Coalition for Justice, VA NAACP, Defenders, and Alliance for Progressive Values. For background on the case, visit DefendersFJE.org

Today on DefendersLIVE: part 1 of 2 part interview with Lois Leveen, author of "The Secrets of Mary Bowser"- A conversation about this historical novel based on the limited historical record available about her work with Elizabeth Van Lew as a Civil War Union spy in the White House of the Confederacy providing information to the Union Army from the desk of Jefferson Davis... Why would an educated free Black woman in Philadelphia risk all to return to the city of her birth, and her enslavement, to do this work? Tune in at 12 noon - live streamed at WRIR.org or on your radio at 97.3 FM (LP). More on DefendersLIVE at defendersliveradio.blogspot.com