Wpkn Community Radio

The January 21, 2024 episode of Mic Check was a re-broadcast of host Mike Merli's January 1 interview with Mahmoud Abbas, a Palestinian activist based right here in Connecticut. Mahmoud shares his story, and speaks as an organizer with Bridgeport for Ceasefire, a diverse and inclusive grassroots campaign, led by local Palestinians and Muslims, that organized for a Ceasefire Resolution at the municipal level here in Bridgeport. The resolution was conceived by, and put forth by, City Council Member Jazmarie Melendez, whose community organizing and activism began six years ago, when she and her family suffered a very personal tragedy and injustice. On May 9, 2017, her 15 year-old brother Jayson Negron was shot and killed by Bridgeport Police. Having that first-hand experience of being directly impacted by state violence, Jazmarie powerfully decided she wanted her first official act as a Bridgeport City Council Member to be putting forth a Ceasefire Resolution in solidarity with the Palestinian people, and