For the first episode in celebration of Women’s History Month, Naptown People’s Radio features social worker and Indy Hope Packages coordinator Rissa Wilson.
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After co-hosts Dani Abudllah and Derek Ford provide a quick history of the socialist origins of Women’s History Month, Rissa and Dani provide an overview of Indy Hope Packages before getting into the finer details. They discuss how they took inspiration from the Black Panther Party’s community outreach program, the distinction between mutual aid and direct political-aid,” and their 10-Point Program and how it guides their work. Because Hope Packages was born after the successful defeat of a local anti-homeless ordinance in fall 2020, the two also provide updates on Indiana Senate Bill 285. The Bill, which became a law on March 5, criminalizes homelessness and gives the cops free reign to fine, arrest, and harass our homeless neighbors.
Indy Hope Packages and other organizations are fighting back. One way for young people to get involved is to intern at the Indianapolis Liberation Center this summer. Applications are open and will be considered on a rolling basis. Apply today!
“The Breakfast for Children program. We are running it in a socialistic manner. People came and took our program, saw it in a socialistic fashion not even knowing it was socialism. People are gonna take our program and tell us to go on to a higher level… Not theory and theory alone, but theory and practice. The two go together.” – Fred Hampton on the Black Panther Party’s community programming.
Show notes
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Featured image: Rissa Wilson speaking in front of a Hope Packages banner during a demonstration to cancel the rents. Credit: Naptown People’s Radio.