WPFW

10/11/2025

10/10/2025

It's really kind of hard to imagine ⬇️

a more profound influence on American music than this sister right here.

Sister Rosetta Tharpe was a bonafide legend, and a key influence on the icons who followed in her exact footsteps.

But the real special thing about this story is how in a music world governed by gender and racial lines, she broke them all.

She was Black.

She was a woman.

She was q***r.

And she was loud about all of it.

Her tracks like “Strange Things Happening Every Day” were down right revolutionary music for thousands of people.

Though mainstream history often leaves her out of the rock and roll pantheon, artists like

Johnny Cash, Aretha Franklin, Little Richard, Chuck Berry, and Tina Turner all cited her influence.

Even today, you can almost clearly hear Tharpe’s DNA in every artist who bends genres while speaking truth through rhythm.

And we haven't even scratched the surface of the sister's iceberg.

That said, Tharpe’s passing in 1973 ignited a subtle rediscovery of creativity in genre-blending in Black music.

We hope institutions are slowly correcting the record around her all-too-important music.

Hope you keep Sister Rosetta's legacy in mind and heart as you celebrate this weekend.
Text WPFWFM to 801801 to keep the memory and legacy of jazz & justice alive.

10/08/2025

Listen to AfricaNow! October 8, 1:00PM (U.S. Eastern) on WPFW 89.3 FM in the Washington, DC Metropolitan area or at www.wpfwfm.org featuring--Militarism, Imperialism & The Scramble for Africa. Guests include Ashlyn Ajiambo, Communist Party Marxist - Kenya; Yolian Ogbu, Coordinator of Out of Africa Network, Black Alliance for Peace; Fargo Nissim Tbakhi, Performance Artist and author of the book Terror Counter; and Michael Kamel, Program Director, DC Palestinian Film and Arts Festival.  

Support AfricaNow! and your community station WPFW during our Fall Pledge Drive October 12 through the 25.  Donate online: visit https://pledge.wpfwfm.org/index.php and then on Step 1: Contribution scroll down to AfricaNow! to make your donation to the show. You can also text to donate by simply texting WPFWFM (not case sensitive) to 801801 and then follow the instructions. Or on our CashApp, which is $WPFWFM write it is for AfricaNow! and include your email address. Thank you.

10/07/2025

Wednesday, October 8, 11 am-12 pm, ET
on We the People; WPFW 89.3FM, wpfwfm.org
Live streamed and archived:

Banned Books: A Problem Still With Us
The majority of book censorship attempts now originate from organized movements. Pressure groups and government entities that include elected officials, board members, and administrators initiated 72% of demands to censor books in school and public libraries. Let's find out the response to this situation.

Guest: Sam Helmick (they/them) is the 2025-2026 American Library Association (ALA) President. Helmick served as a member on the ALA Executive Board and a past president of the Iowa Library Association. They previously served as former chair-elect on the Intellectual Freedom Round Table and chair of the Iowa Governor’s Commission of Libraries.

They have served on committees for the Network of the National Library of Medicine, the Stonewall Book Awards, the ALA Policy Monitoring Committee, Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), and the Reference and User Services Association (RUSA). Helmick is an author, consultant, and instructor for social media marketing and graphic design.
Please tune in & support WPFW, your jazz & justice radio station. You can now listen to the show's podcast on our website or various social media apps/platforms.

There are at least three ways you can donate to WPFW:

Give online in support of this show and the station please use the following link: https://www.wpfwfm.org and clicking the big red 'Donate' button be sure to indicate We the People in your selection.

You can also text to donate by simply texting WPFWFM (not case sensitive) to 801801 and then follow the instructions. Or, you can use Cash App with $WPFWFM, type in this show's title (We the People).

And please tell a friend about the show! Thanks.

WPFW 89.3FM - Pacifica Foundation radio - Washington, D.C., building a better world one broadcast at a time by serving the collective need and imagination of the community.

10/07/2025

Now here's the thing ...

Disproportionate force has characterized Israel's entire approach to their alleged pursuit of Hamas,

and their actual, unjust collective punishment of the 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza.

A year later, and the numbers were staggering:

tens of thousands of Palestinians killed, more displaced, even more missing, presumed buried under rubble.

International human rights groups, UN experts, and even the International Court of Justice have raised the alarm over Israel’s actions as possible war crimes and even genocide.

And three years later, the devastation is even more haunting and unimaginable.

Meanwhile, the entire saga has been broadcast-- straight to our feeds--the entire time.

Without question, the lives lost in Israel on this day are worth mourning.

They too experienced shattered families and the fear that swept across communities in the wake of the Hamas attack.

And for exactly the same reasons--the sanctity of all human life--the overwhelming scale of Palestinian suffering that the Israeli state has inflicted in the name of retaliation must be unequivocally condemned and ceased.

Jazz, as an art form born of Black struggle, has always carried the weight of dual truths:

the moan of sorrow and the cry of freedom.

It's the recognition of the pain alongside the insistence on justice.

In the grand scheme of things, October 7 is a watershed moment, not because of the initial attack,

but for the unrelenting destruction that followed,

and it's on this calendar in honor of our tradition in jazz and justice

to recognize that mourning and critique are twin responsibilities.
We're uplifting the people of Gaza today with a day of Special Programming dedicated to the aftermath of October 7.

Please join us on the air at 89.3 FM in the DMV area, or at wpfwfm.org.

And text WPFWFM to 801801 to keep Jazz & Justice alive.

10/07/2025

TODAY, Tuesday, October 7 - No More Genocide In My Name Program - a Special Equal Rights & Justice Production - Airing at 5PM on 89.3FM & streaming at wpfwfm.org.

10/07/2025

ON NOW - Tuesday, October 7, 5am until midnight, WPFW presents What Breaks the Heart, joining millions around the world in marking 2 years of genocide in Gaza.

Through interviews, stories, music and poetry, the day’s programming will reflect the cultural and political concept of Palestinian Sumud, highlighting the enduring presence, resistance, and connection of the Palestinian people to their land.

Schedule of Today's Programming

5A: Katea Stitt- To Gaza with Love
8A: Democracy Now!
9A: Voices with Vision - From the Rubble to Resistance: The Radical African Perspective on Palestine (pre-recorded)
10A: Crossroads - Justice Denied: Palestinian Prisoners and the Israeli Prison Industrial Complex (live)
11A: Shay Wa NaNa - One Day Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This (live)
12P: DJ Abby: Music for Gaza (pre-recorded)
1P: Middle East Eye’s The Big Picture - Exposing the Global Economy of Genocide (pre-recorded)
2P: Capitalism, Race and Democracy - Where are the Palestinian movement and the ongoing Gaza Genocide, two years after Al-Aqsa Flood? (pre-recorded)
3P: Palestinian Youth Movement DMV - Gaza Resists, Gaza Remains (pre-recorded)
4P: Palestinian Youth Movement National - Maersk Campaign and Witness to Hellfire (pre-recorded)
5P: Equal Rights and Justice - No More Genocide In My Name (pre-recorded)
6P: Full Spectrum - Unpacking Trumps Treacherous Deal (live)
7P: Code Pink - Humanity not Bombs - The Global Sumud Flotillas (live)
8P: Jordan Strudwick - Bars vs. Bombs: Hip-Hop and Palestinian Resistance
10P: Ziah (DJ ZeeLion) - Songs of Resistance

That’s What Breaks the Heart: Commemorating 2 years of Genocide in Gaza, Tuesday, October 7, 5am until midnight on WPFW, building a more compassionate world one broadcast at a time!

10/06/2025

Building Bridges radio WPFW 89.3 FM DC, Streaming @ wpfwfm.org, Mon. Oct. 6, 2025 * 7 PM: No To War On Venezuela

10/05/2025

On Tuesday, October 7, 5am until midnight, WPFW  presents What Breaks the Heart, joining millions around the world in marking 2 years of genocide in Gaza. 

Through interviews, stories, music and poetry, the day’s programming will reflect the cultural and political concept of Palestinian Sumud, highlighting the enduring presence, resistance, and connection of the Palestinian people to their land.

That’s What Breaks the Heart: Commemorating 2 years of Genocide in Gaza, Tuesday, October 7, 5am until midnight on WPFW, building a more compassionate world one broadcast at a time!

10/02/2025

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