On the Frontlines
On the Frontlines is a weekly community program features stories of social justice, climate justice, and economic justice. On the Frontlines is hosted by Jill Mangaliman and Edgar Franks and supported by Front and Centered.
Jill Mangaliman is a community organizer and writer born and raised in Seattle. They serve on the national secretariat of BAYAN USA, an alliance of anti-imperialist Filipino grassroots organizations, and serve as chairperson of GABRIELA Seattle. Jill is also a founding board member of Front and Centered and Bush Garden karaoke host.
Edgar Franks is the Policy Director of Familias Unidas por la Justicia, an independent farmworker union with over 500 members across Washington State. The son of farmworkers, Edgar grew up in the fields of Mount Vernon and spends most of his time in Skagit Valley, organizing and reading comic books.
Front and Centered is a statewide coalition of over seventy community organizations that represent and are staffed by frontline communities in Washington State. Front and Centered resists climate justice with a grassroots approach and under the framework of a Just Transition.
On the Frontlines
Crash #COP27: Time for the Autopsy
Now that Edgar is back in Washington, what's next for movement leaders who went to COP27, such as those in the It Takes Roots coalition? How do international agreements at the COP affect what national, regional, and local governments do in the name of responding to climate change?
Jill and Edgar discuss the concept of "loss and damage," one of the provisions of the negotiated agreement released at the end of the COP. They also discuss the location of COP28 in 2023—Dubai—and how these locations seem intentionally chosen to limit civil society and the environmental justice movement's abilities to participate in the COP, influence proceedings, and build connections with local communities.
Ultimately, Jill and Edgar agree that there is a strong need for a People's COP, or Counter-COP, for frontline communities, and that the real power rests in the hands of those who are resisting capitalism and creating change.
Recorded on November 22, 2022. Crash #COP27 is a special season of On the Frontlines.
Music:
Maximalism by Punch Deck | https://soundcloud.com/punch-deck
Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en_US
Find On the Frontlines at frontandcentered.org/podcast
