Listen: Trump Zeros in on Head Start and More
Even George W. Bush reauthorized Head Start—the Trump administration wants to destroy it.
By Bob Hennelly
The Trump/Musk junta is doubling down on its assaults on Main Street and MLK Boulevard with plans to ZERO out Head Start, an educational lifeline for 800,000. Since President Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty, a succession of Republican and Democratic Party administrations have supported the program that helped 30 million children at the most pivotal time in their educational development.
On this episode of “We Decide: America at the Crossroads with Jenna Flanagan,” Jenna speaks with Averi Pakulis, the vice president for early childhood and public policy with First Focus on Children, a non-profit advocacy group. She is joined by Queen Jonafe Tervalon with Step Up Louisiana, a grassroots organization that builds power to win education and economic justice for all.
For the second time this month, hundreds of thousands turned out at hundreds of locations nationwide to protest the Trump regime's assault on democracy, the rule of law, unions, Social Security, the IRS and the independence of higher education. We have dispatches from our Pacifica Radio Network affiliates WEFR, Fairmount, West Virginia; WSLR Radio, Spokane, Washington; Hudson Mohawk Magazine, Troy, New York; KMUD, Wilmington, North Carolina.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration has run into considerable resistance from the federal courts including the Supreme Court that moved over the weekend to block the Trump administration's use of the 18th century Aliens Enemy Act to deport people without due process.
Jenna also interviews New York City Council Member Alexa Aviles, the chair of the City Council's Immigration Committee. Aviles explains her city's role as a so-called "sanctuary city" which has, like so many other communities, benefited from a steady influx of immigrants from around the world. According to Aviles, Mayor Adams decision to let ICE into the city's Rikers Island Prison complex puts legal residents and citizens at risk of deportation. She cites the detaining of Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil and the deporting of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, to El Salvador, neither of whom were charged or convicted of a crime.
Washington-based investigative reporters Dave Levinthal and Laura Jedeed, based in New York City also join us for this week’s reporter’s roundtable. Dave and Laura discuss Pope Francis's social justice outlook and his battling of "global indifference" in an era when authoritarianism has gotten a foothold.
Listen to the entire show below: