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The Role of Community Radio in the Trump Era


Around the world, a wave of nationalist, xenophobic populism has brought leaders to power whose policies are often at odds with the rights and protections that Indigenous communities continue to fight for. Indigenous community radio plays a crucial role in the creation of independent media and local reporting to support the efforts of communities to protect their rights. Cultural Survival's Indigenous Rights Radio program library is designed to help you create content on Indigenous rights that informs, empowers, and inspires.
 
The following selection of programs are intended to start conversations on the current issues Indigenous communities are facing in the context of upcoming administration changes and policy shifts. Our programs are always free to download, broadcast, and share with your audience.
 
  
Suzanne Benally is the Executive Director of Cultural Survival and a leader in Indigenous rights advocacy. She shares her thoughts on the challenges and opportunities Native American communities and Indigenous Peoples in the United States will face under the Trump administration. Interview by Shaldon Ferris (Khoisan), Indigenous Rights Radio producer based in South Africa, depicted to the right.  
 

Avexnim Cotji (Maya K'iche') interviewed members of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues during a preparatory meeting in Guatemala in April of 2016. Community-based media continues to provide a forum for addressing local concerns and create a record of community opinions, initiatives, languages, and lifeways.


 
 
Bordeaux highlights the importance of cultural knowledge as a tool for healing. 
In this interview, Bordeaux highlights the importance of cultural knowledge as a tool for healing the historical traumas committed against Indigenous Peoples in the United States. According to the Department of Justice, 84 percent of Native American and Alaskan Native women have experienced violence, 56 percent have experienced sexual violence, and over 90 percent have experienced violence at the hands of a non-tribal member.  Her powerful words from 2015 are especially relevant today. 

Further Resources...
- This Interview by KJZZ News with Vice Chairman Verlon Jose on how the Tohono O'odham Nation will resist the proposed US-Mexico Border Wall.
- This interview with Menase Ntutu (Maasai) about networks of empowerment among Indigenous People with disabilities.
- This map of Indigenous media being produced all over the world.  

 
Browse our full collection of radio programs in English and 34 other languages here