Synchronicity at SXSW
If there is one word I can use to describe my experience so far down at South by Southwest, it would be synchronicity. On at least two occasions, I’ve mentioned people I wanted to see only to see them no more than 12 hours later, and I met a Rhode Islander working at a car [...]
Racial Profiling, Vehicle Checkpoints Bills Heard Today
Last week here on RI Future, I shared a short podcast about Racial Profiling in RI from the perspective of youth and community organizers working with Providence Youth Student Movement. Here is an extended series of excerpts from my conversation on Sonic Watermelons with Sangress Xiong and Yonara Alvarado, and Franny Choi. Xiong, Alvarado, and Choi [...]
Advocating to End Racial Profiling in RI
PROVIDENCE, RI – On Wednesday, March 7 at 4:30 PM, community members and advocates are expected to show up en masse to share their views on racial profiling in RI at a hearing at the State House before the House Committee on Judiciary. But folks have been speaking out on the topic for years, including [...]
Payday Reform and Policy Change: A Recent Conversation on Sonic Watermelons on BSR
PROVIDENCE, RI – Are Rhode Islanders paying fees for loans that are higher than what residents in other states are paying? The answer in some cases is yes – 260% versus 36%. Learn more about the type of loans that charge these rates, the impact of these loans on RI families, and what you can [...]
Philadelphia-based Feminist Media Activist Group Led By Providence Native, Nuala Cabral, Launches Campaign Supporting Ethnic Studies in Arizona
Click here to check out my recent interview with Nuala Cabral and Denice Frohman of FAAN Mail, a Philadelphia-based media activist group that has launched a social media campaign (on Twitter, primarily, #WishiLearnedinHS), “Wished I Learned in High School,” in response to policies in Arizona restricting ethnic studies programs. Cabral is graduate of Moses Brown [...]
Imagination, Collective Struggle, and the Inclusion of Artists and Ordinary People: Angela Davis Speaks at RISD in Providence
PROVIDENCE, RI – Click on the image above to hear a short podcast with Dr. Angela Davis. It is from a brief interview I conducted with her after a keynote address she gave on Monday, June 23, 2012 at Rhode Island School of Design. More information about her talk is below; in the podcast/interview, I [...]
Understanding The Intersection of Race, Music and Politics
(RHODE ISLAND, MASSACHUSETTS) – If I were to describe some of the events I have coming up as political, I’m sure someone would ask me, “hey Reza, what is political about an event featuring spoken word poetry and world rhythms?” This is the type of question I love to answer, though, sadly, few seem to [...]
PODCAST: Brian Hull and Reza Rites Discuss the New RIFuture, January 11, 2012 Archive
by Reza Rites / Venus Sings Click here to listen to a podcast of Brian Hull talking to me, Reza Clifton, (Reza Rites / Venus Sings) on Sonic Watermelons, a show I produce weekly on Brown Student and Community Radio (www.bsrlive.com). (PROVIDENCE, RI) RIFuture.org, which was once RI’s number 1 political blog, has relaunched and re-entered [...]
Hear About the New and Improved RI Future Tonight at 6:15 PM: Sonic Watermelons on Brown Student and Community Radio
Rhode Island’s Future, which was once RI’s number 1 political blog, has relaunched and re-entered the state’s blogosphere (with new voices including mine). Learn more today when Brian Hull visits and takes on six questions starting at 6:15 PM. It’s all part of Sonic Watermelons on BSR (Brown Student and Community Radio), a show I [...]










New Comments