Naptown People’s Radio

Naptown People’s Radio
  • 5.0 (7)
  • Politics
  • Updated Weekly

Naptown People’s Radio covers pressing issues facing people in Indianapolis, spotlights stories that go untold by dominant media, and uplifts the voices of workers, organizers, artists, and all people changing our city on a daily basis. Hosted by Dani Abdullah and Derek Ford, at Naptown People’s Radio, we don’t just talk about the news; we make it happen.

  1. 6h ago

    No ICE Flights! How to End ICE's Human Trafficking Operation

    Liz Marvin, a local organizer with Indy Resistance Indivisible, joins the show this week to expose how ICE is using the Indy Airport to fly "ghost flights" filled with immigrant workers. No ICE Flights and others are exposing the barbaric reality, forcing us to take a stand: Will we let ICE use our airport as a base of their human trafficking operation? Naptown Breakdown Before the interview, co-hosts Dani Abdullah and Derek Ford touch on two major themes in the Naptown Breakdown. First, Derek reminds us that ICE thugs murdered seven people across the country within 7 days. They provide key historical context for understanding how we can reverse this situation... but without relying on the Democratic Party. While the recent attacks on immigrants are the direct result of the Trump administration’s war on working-class immigrant communities, it is and has been a bipartisan effort. In February 2023, there was no such entity as ICE. Soon, under the regimes of Bush, Obama, and Biden, ICE continually expanded and intensified their attacks. This is an empowering source of revolutionary optimism: What they can do, we can and will undo! Next, they turn to expose how we live under a dictatorship of capital by walking through the one-year "Moratorium" the City and County placed on data centers. This proposal came from the Metropolitan and Economic Development Committee and the City-County Council could vote on it at their first August meeting. Whatever the outcome, the fight is not over and regular, working-class people have shown their willingness to sacrifice and take the streets to keep these "AI" (and "spy) data centers out of Indy for good and to ensure they don't receive a single cent of our tax-payer dollars. No ICE Flights! This week's featured guest is Liz Marvin, a lead organizer in the struggle to end Indianapolis airport's collaboration with ICE (and, by extension, all airports and airlines). Liz and Dani discuss the different strategies and tactics ICE deploys, how the movement has responded, and actions everyone can take--no matter how experienced one is or how much time one has--to contribute to the fight. Circle City Shout Out: Craig Allen This week's Circle City Shout out goes to Craig Allen. Craig is a videographer from Indianapolis and has done music videos for Kaine, Young Blizzard, Chief Keef, and others. Dani drops these names to emphasize they chose Craig because he’s not a clout chaser; he is a generous and humble person whose work is quite remarkable. This work includes more than music videos, but commercials and even family functions. just in music videos, but commercials, and family functions. You can check out his work on check out his website to book him. When he is not trying to make a living he is with Vernon T. Bateman to help him fight for his exoneration and to keep him safe. He’s also a very humble and giving guy. If you needed help, he would probably hand you a check in a second. Craig is another example of how art can be freedom, it can be liberatory. Shining light on those who would otherwise go unseen. Remember that whatever your gift is you can use it to help your people. Shout out to Craig Allen. Events Sat. July 25, 2:00 - 5:00 pm: Craig Allen will also be at the Indy Liberation Center this Saturday from 2-5, shooting a music video for the last single Playbwoi Tha Great and Kwame Beans Shakur dropped before Playbwoi's tragic murder in early May. Everyone is invited to participate as we bring two brothers from different realms and areas together and make this happen. For the Center, it's an honor to host and help organize this event that will bring so many different sectors of our class together. Sat., July 25, 12:00 - 1:00 pm: Just before the video shoot, join Indy Hope Packages at Lugar Plaza from 12:00 - 1:00 pm as they hand out necessary supplies to our homeless neighbors while building solidarity and forging links and challenging the encroachment on our public space. Wed., July 29, 6:00 - 8:00 pm: Mark your calendars for our monthly Liberation Forum, "Disability and Socialism." We'll get into the social production of disability, the setbacks and gains in the struggle in the U.S., how we can rebuild a militant disability liberation movement, and what disability "looks," "sounds," or "feels" like under existing socialism and in a future socialist U.S. And as always, the Liberation Center hosts its weekly Circle City Sangha Mindfulness Meetups every Saturday from 9:30 - 11:00 am and Emancipatory Yoga Sessions every Sunday from 6:00 - 8:00 pm. There's always a reason to stop by, including checking out our growing Indy Liberation Store! See you at one of these events, at the Center, the Store, or during open hours soon! If you want to get involved in the PSL, email contact@pslindianapolis.org and if you're interested in volunteering for or renting the Center, email info@indyliberationcenter.org. Show Notes Indy Liberation Store Support Naptown People’s Radio Indianapolis Liberation Center Party for Socialism and Liberation - Indianapolis

    No ICE Flights! How to End ICE's Human Trafficking Operation

  2. Jul 9

    New Fiscal Year, New Reactionary Laws, New Battles Ahead

    Activist Lindsey Holtgrave pulled up to this week's show to tell us about several recently-enacted laws attacking the people of Indiana and our most basic democratic rights—and how we can fight back. Before speaking with Lindsey, co-hosts Dani Abdullah and Derek Ford discuss the consequences of the U.S.' illegal war on the Islamic Republic of Iran. While bombing strikes kill thousands overseas, the supply disruption caused by the imperialist U.S. adventure is incurring devastating costs here in Indiana. Dani and Derek discuss a recent report featured in Mirror Indy in which Indiana farmers Alan and Seth Bays describe how rising fuel costs have made fertilizer more expensive, therefore making their harvests nearly unprofitable. They also detail how the “Memorandum of Understanding," a fundamental agreement for preconditions of peace between the two countries, is a complete loss for stated U.S. objectives.  They next turn to a recent city hearing about the upcoming data center in Irvington, which is yet another case demonstrating the real political nature of this city and country. Despite unanimous community opposition, the politicians are still moving forward. While the City-County Council meeting will consider a "moratorium" passed by the Metropolitan and Economic Development Committee at its next meeting, the moratorium already lacks teeth and contains a "grandfather clause." Finally, Derek details a new expose by Shaka A. Shakur on prison repression, retaliation, and super-exploitation in the digital age. As the Department of Corrections in various states turn to "tablets," entering into contracts with one of a few monopolies, they not only increase fees but allow for intensified and expanded surveillance of the incarcerated and their family, friends, and community on the outside. The primary segment focuses on several new Indiana laws with local, national, and international implications. On July 1, Indiana passed a law preventing people from "dangerous countries" (i.e., Russia and China) from buying property. Further, SEA 256 mandates universities conduct "foreign influence and research security reviews" from Russian, Chinese, and other students enrolling in engineering, microbiology, and a few other programs. Dani and Lindsey make it clear that this racist attempt to enforce a new "Red Scare" era of censorship is nothing but a desperate measure by U.S. imperialism to divide our international class. SEA 1, meanwhile, will prevent immigrants from accessing services like Medicaid and SNAP unless they subject themselves to even more intrusive measures by the state. Despite leadership throwing up their hands and refusing to take action, the people are taking action. Lindsey refers to the two general strikes in Minneapolis in response to the targeting of migrant communities and the murder of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, both of which indicate we can fight ICE terror. The last piece of anti-worker legislation they broach is SEA 285, which prohibits people from utilizing public spaces for shelter or sleep. Although the law's author admittedly has no idea how local police will enforce it, cops are required to force homeless people to move 300 feet within 48 hours, after which point they can be arrested for up to 60 days or face a $500 fine. In spite of a new wave of reactionary state legislation, Dani and Lindsey remind us of the material reasons for revolutionary optimism. Not only have the people of Indianapolis defeated prior anti-homeless ordinances and prevented their enforcement, but increasing numbers of people are willing to take to the streets against the current right-wing assault. Lindsey recalls an anti-ICE demonstration outside of the NBA Finals in 2025 that drew thousands to the streets with an energy that she tries to remember and carry with her daily. She reminds listeners to bring their struggles to the Indianapolis Liberation Center, where we foster revolutionary optimism through united struggle. Show Notes: Indy Liberation Store Support Naptown People’s Radio Indianapolis Liberation Center Party for Socialism and Liberation - Indianapolis

    New Fiscal Year, New Reactionary Laws, New Battles Ahead

  3. Jul 1

    Unity in Purpose, Diversity in Practice: The First Six Months In Our New Liberated Territory

    This week we're excited to bring you a special episode that 1) analyzes the 250 years of oppression and resistance as we prepare for the "Independence Day"celebrations and 2) discusses how we are and can strategize based on that legacy of resistance. Today we are also celebrating the the halfway point in our first year at our new home: a visible storefront in downtown Indianapolis. With a nod to Douglass and his famous speech, we ask "What is the Fourth of July to New Afrikan/Black people, undocumented workers and immigrants, to the millions of incarcerated workers, to queer, trans, and sexual/gender minorities, and all exploited and oppressed people globally? Co-hosts Dani Abdullah and Derek Ford engage in a discussion about reforms, reformism, and revolution. While we fight tooth and nail for all reforms that make people’s lives more livable, tolerable, and even enjoyable, reformism is when we view achieving those reforms as the means and ends of the struggle. For each reform won, the oppressors launch a virulent attack to roll it back and, whenever possible eliminate it. Ultimately, this comes down to the question of the nature of the capitalist state. The state, a very recent phenomenon in human history, emerges along with class society. So perhaps the fundamental line between revolutionaries and reformists is that the former recognize that the world we want is possible only if we smash the existing state and build up a new entity that works in the interests of and is governed by the formerly oppressed, exploited, marginalized, and dispossessed. Reforms have a key role to play in building revolutionary struggles, for they can not only make organizing easier but they most importantly demonstrate to the people that we do have the power to change society. They also have an important and timely dialogue about “burnout” and its real roots. The Indianapolis Liberation Center organized or hosted almost 230 events over the last six months, but none of our volunteers got burned out. We got tired, frustrated, and felt all the emotions humans do, but we didn’t burn out. Burnout comes from forgetting our political horizon or because that horizon is too narrow. Burnout happens when we don’t operate collectively, leaning on each other for support and caring for each other as we build community. Finally, burnout results from not keeping the very real sacrifices we make in historical perspective. To illustrate this, Derek relays part of Hosea Hudson’s autobiography. A Black worker in the deep south, it would take his multinational unit hours to enter the same building for a two-hour meeting. In addition to the regular agenda at those meetings, however, they would read the Party’s newspaper for the Black Belt and dream about how they would deal with certain issues after taking power. How would white small farmers be represented? How would and distribution take place and at what pace? Fortunately, the groups at the Liberation Center and their members and volunteers make the voluntary decision to make the struggle part of the fabric of their being; not just something they do when they want to or “have time.” None of us “have time “for the struggle; we make time for it. That means that you can, too! Show Notes: Indiana Black Librarians Network Indy Liberation Store Education and the Production of Space: Political Pedagogy, Geography, and Urban Revolutions Fighting for Real Independence: Collective Discussion of "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?" Support Naptown People’s Radio Indianapolis Liberation Center Party for Socialism and Liberation - Indianapolis

    Unity in Purpose, Diversity in Practice: The First Six Months In Our New Liberated Territory

  4. Jun 25

    Dispatches from Behind the Wire

    Comrade Shaka A. Shakur joins the show for an extended segment of Dispatches from Behind the Wire, providing an in depth description of his case, current situation, and future prospects. Shaka has served 25 years of a 60-year plus sentence for an incident in which no one was deprived of life and the “injured” party said he would not oppose any sentence modification or early release. The Shaka Shakur Freedom Campaign is working to bring Shaka home before his 60th birthday in August. Co-hosts Dani Abdullah and Derek Ford talk to Shaka about how we can utilize our platforms and start build coalitions to illuminate not only his situation, but those of all Political Prisoners and Prisoners of War, to bring them home. Before talking with Shaka, Derek and Dani hit two related points in the Naptown Breakdown. The first is the blatant corruption that continues to permeate Indianapolis’ government from the Hogsett administration. They also explain and contextualize the June 22 Library Board of Trustees meeting where, after a long round of public comments opposing the nearly 30% increase in anointed CEO Greg Hill’s salary, the Board immediately voted 5-1 against the public. Finally, this week’s Circle City Shout Out goes to the Hovey St. Church of Christ. While Denell Howard, the Church’s Pastor, has been a featured guest in a prior episode, we want to shout out the entire congregation for consistently standing up for justice regardless of whether or not it directly impacts them. We play a clip from this past weekend’s Father’s Day service that featured Vernon T. Bateman who was wrongfully incarcerated in 1998—at the age of 18—and released in 2023 on intense parole stipulations that prevent him from seeing his own grandson. Meanwhile, Vernon continues to be an exemplary father and community member. Show Notes: Shaka Shakur Freedom Campaign Hovey Street Church of Christ Coalition to Free Vernon T. Bateman IndyPL Board dismisses public, gives CEO 60k raise Support Naptown People’s Radio Indy Liberation Store Indianapolis Liberation Center Party for Socialism and Liberation - Indianapolis

    Dispatches from Behind the Wire

  5. Jun 18

    "Cutting the Umbilical Cord:" Kwame Beans Shakur on Practicing Theory

    This week's episode features New Afrikan Political Prisoner Kwame Beans Shakur discussing not only the need to test theory through practice but providing concrete examples of how to do so successfully. "Revolution is based on land," as Malcolm X said, but that's not enough: cutting the umbilical cord with U.S. imperialism requires the knowledge of cultivating the land and, more generally, utilizing our capacities collectively for a common purpose. For the Naptown Breakdown, hosts Dani Abdullah and Derek Ford each bring two recent, ongoing instances of the local ruling-class' negligence and disregard for the people of Indianapolis. They examine the Indy Public Library's Board's upcoming vote to increase CEO Greg Hill's salary by almost 25%, up from $205,000 to $265,000. If Hill, who never applied or interviewed for the job, gets the raise, it will amount to more than the median salary of librarians. Next they turn to the recent audit of the Office of Public Health and Safety, which found $45 million of taxpayer money is "missing." New Afrikan Political Prisoner Kwame Beans Shakur, who is also the National Director of the Prison Lives Matter Movement and, along with Shaka A. Shakur, Co-Founder of the New Afrikan Liberation Collective, joins Derek for a politically incisive and timely discussion about the state of the New Afrikan/Black liberation movement and the struggle to free Political Prisoners, the Republic of New Afrika, and all oppressed and exploited people. Serving a 110-year sentence for a crime he didn't commit, Beans is currently captive at Miami "Correctional" Facility. Even years of solitary confinement couldn't stop his organizing or his development as a musician. Learn about his unconscious and then conscious politicization, the concrete projects he's facilitated that put theory to the test, his upcoming single release party and video shoot at the Indy Liberation Center next month, and more! Most importantly, see the show notes to join the struggle to free Beans, Political Prisoners, Prisoners of War, and all of our people behind enemy lines! Show Notes: Kwame Shakur Defense Campaign (IG, FB) Kwame Beans Shakur Music (Apple, Spotify) "Contradictions on Organizing in Post-Neo-Colonial north amerikkka" Spirit of Mandela Support Naptown People’s Radio Indy Liberation Store Indianapolis Liberation Center Party for Socialism and Liberation - Indianapolis Events: Thurs, 6/18: Reading with Comrades: Teaching to Transgress Fri, 6/19: "Radical Roots:" Anti-ICE Juneteenth Open Mic Sat, 6/20: Circle City Sangha Mindfulness Meetup Sat, 6/20: Trans Pride "Brick" Party Sun, 6/21: Emancipatory Motions: Yoga for Liberation Mon, 6/22: Pack the Library Board: Raises for Workers, Not the CEO!

    "Cutting the Umbilical Cord:" Kwame Beans Shakur on Practicing Theory

  6. Jun 10

    Why and How to Assert Our 4th Amendment Rights with Abby Morgan

    Abby Morgan, an organizer with Action Neighbors—a subgroup of the Indy Action Coalition— joins the show, which released its first episode one-year ago today, to discuss their new 4th Amendment Campaign to fight against ICE terror. This week's Naptown Breakdown starts with the rise of China and the U.S. war against Iran and quickly moves to Indiana, as co-hosts Dani Abdullah and Derek Ford discuss how over 800 workers at the BP refinery in Whiting, Indiana have been locked out since March 19 after contract negotiations between USW Local 7-1 and BP broke down. Before it was BP, or British Petroleum, it was the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (or Anglo-Persian Oil Company), and without unionized workers they're losing millions of barrels of oil. Meanwhile, Indiana's race for data centers no one wants incurred losses far exceeding the $1 million AES President Brandi Davis-Handy told us they would a few months ago. Reporting by WTHR reveals we're losing out on at least $655 million in tax revenue. Is it a coincidence that the AES President is a member of Joe Hogsett's Indianapolis Economic Development Inc., which has reportedly been lobbying City-County Counselors to support tax breaks for data centers? We're currently on pace to lose around $1 billion in tax revenue to data centers per year. Next, they turn to the latest developments in the firestorm that is Indiana State Prison, where dozens of inmates have been burned to death or severely injured in recent years. Gov. Mike Braun ordered the new head of the Indiana Department of "Corrections" he appointed this year, Lloyd Arnold, to take action. Unfortunately, all of the impending steps, including shutting off the electricity in some cell blocks, will only further confine our people behind bars. And remember, we were told the $1.2 billion prison under construction in Westfield would replace the existing prison and ISP. Until, that is, they said they would keep ISP operational for years to come. For our main segment, Dani sits down with Abby Morgan, an organizer with Action Neighbors, a subgroup of the Indy Action Coalition. They discuss Action Neighbors' 4th Amendment campaign, which aims to defend our communities from ICE terror by informing businesses about their constitutional rights against warantless and unreasonable search and seizure. Show Notes: Action Neighbors Support Naptown People’s Radio Contact us about potential stories and interviews Shop the Indy Liberation Store Indianapolis Liberation Center Party for Socialism and Liberation - Indianapolis Events: Woodburning Workshop with Nasreen Khan Circle City Sangha Mindfulness Meetup Visit the Indy Liberation Center and Store at Indy Pride Emancipatory Motions: Sunday Yoga

    Why and How to Assert Our 4th Amendment Rights with Abby Morgan

  7. Jun 4

    Eyewitness Delaney Hall: Revolutionary Rehearsals

    Rania Hatab of the Lower Hudson Valley DSA and Rockland Coalition to End the New Jim Crow and Jasmine Moody of the Liberation Center tell us first-hand about the battle to dismantle Delaney Hall. Both Hatab and Moody were about an hour away finishing a screening and panel of the new documentary, "Across Enemy Lines: Shaka A. Shakur," when Hatab got word the main organizer inside Delaney Hall was potentially being moved. Working with those who had been on the ground since the illegal detention facility opened, both everyday supporters and organizations, the group hightailed it to defend those on the outside and amplify the demands of those on the inside. Those demands are: Meeting with Gov. Mikie Sherrill Release of the young, elderly, pregnant, and medically vulnerable Allow doctors to examine everyone in unit 2A/2B Freedom and an end to practices designed to coerce detainees from "voluntarily" signing self-deportation papers. The mainstream media is focusing on the "violence" outside, perpetuated by the cops and the state, and we need to amplify the demands of those fighting the real violence on the inside. You can read the letters to which Rania Hatab refers here.

    Eyewitness Delaney Hall: Revolutionary Rehearsals

  8. May 29

    The Hampton Institute and Independent Media with Devon Bowers

    This week, Founding Member of the Hampton Institute and Host of A Different Lens podcast, Devon Bowers, joins the show to discuss the origins, trajectory, and needs of independent left political organizations and media outlets. The Hampton Institute is a proletarian (working-class) think tank founded by Colin Jenkins in 2013 to counter right-wing so-called "think" tanks. Their writers, contributors, and editors come from Korea, Japan, Palestine, Syria, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, South Africa, UK, Spain, Germany, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Brazil, and Iceland, among other places. The name is an homage to revolutionary martyr Fred Hampton, but its primary objective is influenced by Italian Marxist Antonio Gramsci and his notion of the "organic intellectual," everyday working and poor people with a wealth of knowledge not recognized by the institutions that grant pedigrees. For over a decade, the Institute has provided a platform for organic intellectuals to theorize, debate, discuss, and promote the issues that matter to our class through articles, books, and podcasts. Show Notes: The Hampton Institute A Different Lens Podcast From the Academy to the Streets: Notes from a Working-Class Think Tank (book) The 2017 Hampton Reader: Notes from a Working-Class Think Tank (book) Support Naptown People’s Radio Support the Indianapolis Liberation Center Shop the Indy Liberation Store Indianapolis Liberation Center

    The Hampton Institute and Independent Media with Devon Bowers
See All (60)

Trailer

5
out of 5
7 Ratings

About

Naptown People’s Radio covers pressing issues facing people in Indianapolis, spotlights stories that go untold by dominant media, and uplifts the voices of workers, organizers, artists, and all people changing our city on a daily basis. Hosted by Dani Abdullah and Derek Ford, at Naptown People’s Radio, we don’t just talk about the news; we make it happen.

Information

  • Creator
    Naptown People’s Radio
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    60
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2026 All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    Naptown People’s Radio