People's Republic People's Republic

We are joined for this episode by Rachell Tucker, an elementary school teacher in San Antonio who has been fighting for safe schools and transparency in San Antonio. Rachell documented extensive lies by the school district around COVID, as well as a year-long campaign of retaliation against her, before the school district terminated her contract in May. We talk about what she faced, how the school district pushed through in-person learning against all guidelines, and what it will take for communities to win safe, transparent public schools.

Read more about her story and the struggle against unsafe schools here:

https://www.liberationnews.org/san-antonio-teacher-fighting-retaliation-after-speaking-out-against-unsafe-schools/

https://www.liberationnews.org/texas-schools-are-peddling-lies-to-normalize-covid-at-the-expense-of-communities/

This week, we cover the beginning of a statewide campaign against privatization and fossil fuels as activists from across the state bring the struggle to ERCOT's doorstep.

This week, we speak with Jovanni Reyes and Monisha Rios, veteran anti-war organizers, about the hybrid warfare the U.S. is waging against Venezuela, the democratic elections of 2020, and the precedents that Venezuela is setting in the face of U.S. imperialism.

We are once again joined by Ken Zarifis, president of Education Austin, to discuss the situation with Austin ISD attempting to send teachers back into unsafe classrooms.

For the show today, we are joined by Ken Hammond, professor of history at New Mexico State University. We discuss the latest news around China and outline what to expect from the incoming Biden administration, which has already announced its plans to continue Trump's aggression against China.

For our first episode in the New Year, we discuss the impending danger to the public as school districts force unsafe "reopenings" to schools. Despite the obvious scientific proof that schools and children are carriers of COVID, districts continue to distort figures and lie about the nature of its spread. We spend the entire hour talking with teachers to get the facts straight and discuss what teachers, students, and parents can do to protect their communities. We are joined for the full hour by Rachell Tucker and Zac Vecellio.