A protest in Detroit, Michigan (photo pph)

Across the country, government officials are cutting education funding, and laying-off thousands of teachers. But students and teachers aren’t sitting back. Rallies are being held across the country to protest cuts to education. Community News Production Institute reporter Jaisal Noor filed this reports for Free Speech Radio News. (This story originally aired on FSRN)

On May 17, 2011, our very own Deepa Fernandes was a guest on Aljazeera’s sparkling show, The Stream, talking about the importance of empowering historically marginalized communities through media. It was an opportunity for the Qatar-based network to also feature some of the many projects People’s Production House has worked on. Here is a list of stories Aljazeera viewers got a glimpse of.

Some of the workers protesting in New Orleans

Thousands of migrant workers are regularly brought in the Gulf Coast by US based corporations that exploit them and then threaten to deport them if they complain. In April 2006, more than 500 workers from India were lured into this country under false promises. Early this year, some of the enslaved Indian workers walked from New Orleans to Washington DC to protest their illtreatment. They recently came to NYC to express their support for other immigrant workers. CNPI reporter Christine Lewis spoke to one of them, Aby Reju.

New Yorkers marching in Lower Manhattan (Photo Sophie Forbes/The Indypendent)

On May 12, thousands of demonstrators staged a massive rally against Mayor Bloomberg and the financial industry. CNPI reporter Jaisal Noor was there to file this report. This piece originally aired on Free Speech radio News.