Rhythm Nation with Peter Marks Peter Marks

Reyna Lopez is the Executive director of PCUN, who’s mission is to empower farmworkers and working Latinx families in Oregon by building community, increasing Latinx representation in elections, and policy advocacy on both the national and state levels. On the show, we talk about the balance of power she’s seeing shift between farmworkers and their employers, then discuss a playlist of some of music that’s inspired her work.

This November, Oregon voters get to vote on the Right to Healthcare Amendment to the state constitution, which establishes a state obligation to ensure every Oregon resident has access to cost-effective, clinically appropriate, and affordable health care. Norman Sylvester is a long-time health care activist, a member of Health Care for All Oregon as well as a legendary boogie musician who was inducted into the Oregon Music Hall of Fame in 2011. On the show, we talk about the experiences as a musician trying to afford and access healthcare. Later in the show, Daniel Molkte and I talk about the measure’s specifics with State Representative Rob Nosse, who was a champion of the measure in the legislature, and is currently chairing the House Health Care Committee.

Two years ago, Oregon became the first state to decriminalize all drug possession with the passage of Measure 110. How is it going? On the show today we have Ron Williams with Health Justice Recovery, a statewide advocacy organization fully focused on implementing Measure 110. Ron is a community organizer who has resided in Portland, Oregon for nearly 40 years. On the show we get an update on Measure 110 and also hear about the role music played in Ron’s social justice work.

Andrew Yang is an entrepreneur, author, philanthropist, non-profit leader, and former 2020 presidential candidate. Yang’s New York Times bestselling book The War on Normal People helped introduce the idea of universal basic income into the political mainstream. He supports Oregon People’s Rebate, an initiative petition that would rebate about $750 to every Oregonian, every year and is paid for by raising taxes on corporations making over $25 million a year. On the show we talk about how Oregon People’s Rebate relates to universal basic income and discuss a playlist of Andrew’s favorite music, including Prince deep cuts.

On today's show, I share my own experience of some recent travels I had to South Africa and then playing a mix of South African house music, including some new records I picked up. The week I spent in South Africa exceeded my expectations in almost every respect. It’s more naturally beautiful than the photos make it out to be and I was moved by the history in ways I didn’t anticipate. However, what shocked me the most was “deep house” music being bigger in South Africa than I could have ever imagined. The more I learned about the history of the place, the better I felt I understood the phenomenon.

House music is bigger than ever in America, yet the story of its origins are widely unknown outside of the heads who follow the records. We have a member of our organization who saw it unfold first hand. Cee White was coming of age in Chicago in the late 1980s right as house music was taking shape and came on the program to talk about it. We’ll hear stories of going to the music’s namesake venue “The Warehouse”, listen to the records that moved the floors in the early days, and hear what has stuck with him to this day.