Breaking the Poverty Cycle in West Virginia

Inequality, money in politics and a host of other issues are driving people to tackle our problems at the grassroots level -- one community at a time. 

We recently interviewed Sabrina Shrader, a community organizer helping people take back their power in an economy that has left them behind. Sabrina's work with the Our Children, Our Future Campaign was featured in the West Virginia PBS documentary The First 1,000 Days.

She's also speaking out about the vicious cycle of poverty that leaves entire communities in places like McDowell County, West Virginia further and further behind. We first heard about Sabrina when she testified in the US Senate on the impact of poverty on health.

"I was born into a family that was afflicted by domestic violence, child abuse and mental illness," Shrader told the Senate Subcommittee on Primary Health and Aging. "Some say poverty is a death sentence. Frankly, I don't know how many times I have been given that death sentence." (Reported in the Charleston Gazette-Mail.)

We'll be following Sabrina's work throughout this election year because she is Waking The Sleeping Giant! Check out this short clip from our visit with Sabrina in her hometown in McDowell County, and speaking at a community forum in Charleston.

The Caucus Is Raucus In Colorado

Waking The Sleeping Giant Producer and former Mayor of Golden, Colorado, Jacob Smith, reports from his Super Tuesday caucus at the Golden High School Theatre that the venue is beyond full. Five hundred people are waiting in the cafeteria and hundreds more are lined up outside. From our crew at the Denver Metro area precinct in Commerce City: it's packed. If these two venues are any indicator, turn out in Colorado is heavy!  

Golden, CO High School Theatre is packed on Super Tuesday for the March 1, 2016 caucus.  

Commerce City voters doing democracy at the caucus.

Colorado’s Caucus on Super Tuesday

The Waking the Sleeping Giant crew is headed to Denver on Super Tuesday, March 1, 2016. This is our first chance to film in a state where the Latino vote could be very important, even "decisive," as Priscilla Alvarez of The Atlantic notes in a recent article on the Nevada caucuses' outcome. We will be hot on the trail of the revolution at pre-caucus events and a caucus location covering multiple precincts, talking to Latino voters and many others who turn out to vote in this early contest.  

Zephyr Teachout Interview

Zephyr Teachout, scholar and activist, sat down to talk with Producer Jacob Smith about populism, the progressive movement, and what lays before us in the 2016 election and beyond.  An activist who is concerned with big money in politics, she is the author of Corruption in America: From Benjamin Franklin's snuffbox to Citizens United. Teachout challenged Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the 2014 primary, running on a progressive campaign platform. 

Zephyr Teachout, speaking with the Waking the Sleeping Giant team, in 2015.  Teachout recently declared her 2016 candidacy for US Congress. 

Bob Herbert Interivew

During a road trip that took him to West Virgina, Jon Erickson stopped in New York to speak with Demos Senior Fellow Bob Herbert about the important steps we can all take to ensure the future of our democracy. Herbert had a lot to say, but one thing was very clear: Vote, at every level, in every election. Herbert is author of Losing Our Way: An Intimate Portrait Of A Troubled America.  

Bob Herbert speaks with Producer Jon Erickson on the emergence of a progressive revolution.

Interview with Lawrence Lessig

The Sleeping Giant team spent the afternoon with Lawrence Lessig, Professor of Law at the Harvard Law School and a "referendum" presidential candidate on the issue of campaign finance reform.  Co-founder of Rootstrikers and author of Republic, Lost, Prof. Lessig and Producer Jon Erickson had a wide-ranging conversation on the influence of money in politics and reflections on his 2016 presidential race.

Radio Interview with Sleeping Giant Producer Jacob Smith

Producer Jacob Smith was interviewed on Morning Magazine with Maeve Conran on KGNU Boulder (88.5 FM) today.  Jacob spoke about his inspiration for the Waking the Sleeping Giant, including growing income inequality and the emergence of a 21st century progressive movement:

"We were seeing minimum wage ballot initiatives pass in red states, Thomas Piketty’s book did really well on the New York Times list, we were watching local communities fight really large corporations like Chevron, and win, in local races, despite lots of corporate races in those races."

The full interview is available at http://www.kgnu.org/morningmag/12/14/2015.

350.org Founder Bill McKibben on Oil Politics

Heading into this week's climate policy negotiations in Paris, we're reminded of our Sleeping Giant interview with author, climate activist, and founder of 350.org, Bill McKibben. Recorded during the Sanders campaign kick-off on May 26th in Burlington, Vermont, here's a short clip (with bonus music track!) of our conversation.

Next System Co-Chair Gar Alperovitz on Wealth Inequality

In a wide-ranging interview for Waking the Sleeping Giant, scholar and political organizer Gar Alperovitz summarized the extraordinary wealth inequality we're witnessing in the U.S.

Long-time professor at the University of Maryland, Prof. Alperovitz is currently the co-chair with Gus Speth of The Next System Project, an exciting initiative "aimed at thinking boldly about what is required to deal with the systemic challenges the United States faces now and in coming decades." His latest book is "What Then Shall We Do: Straight Talk about the Next American Revolution," a treatise on the growing frustration among everyday Americans with our economic system.