UpFront

Wisconsin protesters take to the streets after Kenosha police shoot Black man 7 times in front of his children; Plus, 15 years after Hurricane Katrina, two storms bear down on Gulf Coast

Hundreds protested the police shooting of Jacob Blake, an unarmed Black man, in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Photo by Kynala Phillips. 

On this show:

0:08 – Monday was the first day of the Republican National Convention. Adele Stan (@AddieStan), editor of Right Wing Watch — a project of People For the American Way — and a columnist for The American Prospect, joins us for a recap of the RNC’s kick-off and a look at the major figures in the Republican Party right now.

7:34 – We continue our coverage of the wildfires still burning in Northern California:

Brice Bennett, a spokesperson for Cal Fire, provides an update on the emergency response and firefighting efforts amid the pandemic.

Elizabeth Azzuz is a Yurok tribe member and secretary of the Yurok Cultural Fire Management Council, a community-based organization furthering fire use and cultural resource management. She explains how indigenous forestry and fire practices help keep fires safe and manageable. “Fire is dangerous if it’s left unchecked,” Elizabeth says.

Scott Stephens, a professor of fire science at UC Berkeley, discusses forest ecology after the burns. He explains what recovery might look like for forested areas burned by the fires.

1:08 – Protesters are taking to the streets in Kenosha, Wisconsin following the police shooting of Jacob Blake, an unarmed Black man who police shot in the back multiple times as he was entering his car, in front of his children. For a look at what’s happening on the ground in Kenosha, we’re joined by Dominique Pritchett, CEO and clinical director of Beloved Wellness Center and a member of the Coalition to Dismantle Racism. She participated in the recent protests in Kenosha.

1:34 – Hurricane Laura is moving toward the Texas and Louisiana coast and is expected to make landfall this week — exactly 15 years after Hurricane Katrina flooded New Orleans. As climate disasters increase in frequency and severity, we speak with disasterologist Samantha Montano (@SamLMontano), an assistant professor of emergency management at Massachusetts Maritime Academy, about emergency response infrastructure in the U.S. and what elected officials should be doing to prepare and response to crises.

1:50 – KPFA’s Karin Argoud (@KarinArgoud) reports from an evacuation shelter in Napa, two people recount running from the LNU Lightning Complex fire as it reached their homes in Spanish Flat.