Visitors to Brooklyn Commons several weeks ago were taken back when they noticed on the bulletin board a flyer advertising an upcoming event on “9/11 and our Political Crisis” with Christopher Bollyn. Bollyn is by media accounts “a conspiracy theorist “and a “raving anti-Semite”

Why would a progressive café provide a platform to a blatant racist?”  Demands for cancellation and physical confrontations followed.  The Commons owner Melissa Ennen defended the event  based on free speech noting that anyone can book the space and hold events and she does not investigate their views arguing for a “marketplace of ideas” and dialogue.  Listen in as Howard interviews Melissa on this controversial issue.  Was the first Amendment on trial at Commons that day? 

DOMINICAN WOMEN GAIN POWER & ADRIANO ESPAILLAT CONSOLIDATES BASE - Marisol Alcantara, who won the Democratic primary for the Senate district formerly held by soon to be Congressman Adriano Espaillat, talks to radio host Howard Jordan about her future plans. She is a longtime labor organizer, community organizer, and activist who has devoted her life to empowering low-income communities, women, workers, and immigrant New Yorkers.

Since coming to the United States at the age of 12, from the Dominican Republic, she has seen firsthand the problems facing our community. Marisol is a graduate of Manhattan College, where she earned a B.A. in Government and Politics. She later earned a Masters in Labor Relations from the CUNY Murphy Institute of Labor. She coordinated SEIU’s Latino outreach efforts in 2008. Until recently she served as an organizer for the New York State Nurses Association.

TWO-DAY CONFERENCE AT JOHN JAY TO HIGHLIGHT LATINOS AND THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM - Jose Luis Morin an attorney and Professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice discusses the Sept. 21-22 conference on “Latinos and Criminal Justice.” Mr. Morín  formerly served as the Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost of Stella and Charles Guttman Community College.

He was a visiting professor at the University of Hawaii and worked for many years as a civil rights litigator and advocate with the Center for Constitutional Rights and Latino Justice . He is a graduate of Columbia University and New York University School of Law