0:08 – Fund Drive Special: Maya Angelou in Oakland
Maya Angelou was a poet, playwright, and filmmaker, best-known for her memoir, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. She was also an incredible performer. When the recording here was made, she’d just received a Grammy Award for the recording of the poem she read at the presidential inauguration of Bill Clinton. Her son, poet and writer Guy Johnson, told her he wanted to spend his 50th birthday reading poetry with her. So on September 8th, 1995, they took to the Calvin Simmons Theater in Oakland with poet Janice Mirikitani, and KPFA recorded it.
1:08 – CA Air Resources Board to vote on whether to ban agricultural burning, the cause of massive air pollution in the San Joaquin Valley
Catherine Garoupa White is executive director of the Central Valley Air Quality Coalition, a group of 70 organizations fighting for clean air for the San Joaquin Valley.
*We reached out to several growers advocacy groups for comment on the proposal and they declined or did not return requests before airtime.
Meeting: The CA Air Resources Board is meeting today, Thursday Feb 25 starting at 9am, and will vote on a proposal to end agricultural burning by 2024 (Agenda item 21-1-6). More info at ww2.arb.ca.gov
1:20 – KPFA News: The Biden administration last Thursday (February 18) introduced new guidelines for Immigration and Customs enforcement, or ICE to follow in the arrest and detention of immigrants and their deportation. KPFA’s Ariel Boone has more what kind of impact that will have.
1:34 – Oakland poet Ayodele Nzinga on her new book, and latest developments on the Kaiser Center remodel and fight for space for the arts
Ayodele Nzinga is a playwright, poet, educator and founder of the Lower Bottom Playaz; she also co-founded Oakland’s Black Arts Movement Business District Community Development Corporation. Her latest book is SorrowLand Oracle.