As the current right wing Trump regime unfolds we see daily attacks on all of our hard won social structures; from Public Education, to healthcare, to our immigrant rights, to freedom of the press, to building pipelines. The onslaught can be overwhelming, and the prospect of building and sustaining a meaningful resistance may appear dim. Pessimism can be particularly pervasive we never get to see other people like ourselves attempting to get organized. These efforts don’t appear on our social media feeds or in the mass media. Filters, either imposed by others or by ourselves, often skew our assessment of the potential for social change. This month we look at one aspect of invisible America – the organized resistance of poor Americans fighting for their survival.

News, culture and entertainment featuring interviews and profiles with artists, muralists and community leaders. Hosted and produced by Rebel Diaz.

A new documentary film series that shines a light on leading voices at the frontlines of emerging social movements in the United States.

“America Will Be” goes beyond the headlines to explore today’s most urgent battles and to meet the people who are putting their bodies, and sometimes their lives, on the line to secure a better future for their children. From the Native American resistance in Standing Rock to the struggles for clean and affordable water in Detroit and Flint; from the fight to end racist legislation in North Carolina to the successful nationwide strike of fast food workers fighting to raise the minimum wage to $15, “America Will Be” documents a profound moment in American history, a moment unlike any other since the Civil Rights Movement.

Charon Hribar is the Director of Cultural Strategies and Poor People’s Campaign Revivals Coordinator for the Kairos Center for Religions, Rights, and Social Justice. Over the past 15 years, Charon has been committed to the work of political education, leadership development, and has taken up a particular interest in developing the use of arts in culture for movement building with community and religious leaders across the country. Charon holds a Ph.D. in Religion and Society from Drew University. Her recent academic and movement building research explore the use of Poverty Truth Commissions to confront the structural violence of poverty in the United States and around the world. She currently serves as a lead advisor to the New Poor People’s Campaign’s Truth Commission on the Right to Not Be Poor. Charon is also a consultant with Beyond the Choir, a strategy and training collective working with social justice organizations to craft resonant messaging and plan strategic campaigns.

Dara Kell is an award-winning South African filmmaker and media organizer. She directed and produced “Dear Mandela,” a film about three courageous young South African slum dwellers who lead a social movement to stop mass evictions across the country. “Dear Mandela” is the centerpiece of a global community engagement project that educates slum residents about their housing rights and inspires young people to become leaders. Dara was commissioned by Terre des Hommes to create a series of films about children’s perspectives of the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games. Filmed in Brazil’s army-occupied favelas, the documentaries are part of a campaign to make mega sporting events more safe and fair for children. For more than a decade, Dara has worked closely with foundations like the Ford Foundation and non-profits like PEN America and the Kairos Center for Religions, Rights and Social Justice at Union Theological Seminary to design educational materials and produce multimedia content for a wide range of their programs.Dara runs Brooklyn-based production company Brava Media. Her work has been supported by the Sundance Institute, the New York State Council on the Arts, the Bertha Foundation and the Ford Foundation.

Claudia de la Cruz, from the South Bronx is a long time organizer and educator. For the past 8 years, she has done organizing work through culture and media as a member of The Rebel Diaz Arts Collective.  She is co-host of TeleSur’s English innovative web TV series Ñ Don’t Stop  with the Hip Hop duo, Rebel Diaz. The goal is to “produce knowledge and cultural based content that is narrated by us…”  Claudia will discuss their cultural work as it relates to movement building.

Eli Wright served as a combat medic in the US Army from 2002-2008 and deployed to Ramadi, Iraq from 2003-2004. Since 2007, he has been traveling whenever and wherever possible with Warrior Writers and Combat Paper to work with fellow vets in pursuit of creative pathways for addressing war trauma. He is currently serving as instructor and co-coordinator of the Combat Paper Project at the Printmaking Center of New Jersey. Eli is a long time member of Iraq Veterans Against the War.