Aug 17, 2020
Tristan Taormino welcomes veteran anti-racist activist Jordan
Flaherty to discuss his book No More Heroes: Grassroots
Responses to the Savior Mentality. No More Heroes
traces "savior mentality” in pop culture, politics, non-profits,
and major events including Batman, Teach for America, the flood of
young white activists to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, and
Project ROSE. We talk about how white saviors often begin with good
intentions and where it goes wrong as well as how different
grassroots responses can both help people on the ground and
challenge the oppressive systems that undergird racism, poverty,
and inequity. Quote: “I don’t believe you can get rich while doing
good. Wealth and justice are mutually exclusive.” Plus, we talk
about his newest short film on the community of resistance behind
New Orleans’ historic protests including members of Southern
Solidarity.
Jordan Flaherty is an award-winning journalist, producer,
and author. He has appeared as a guest on a wide range of
television and radio shows. He is the author of the
books No More Heroes: Grassroots Responses to the Savior
Mentality and Floodlines: Community and
Resistance From Katrina to the Jena Six and has
produced television documentaries and news
reports for Democracy
Now, teleSUR, The Laura Flanders
Show, and Al Jazeera, including as a producer on the
Emmy, Peabody, and duPont award-winning program Fault
Lines on Al Jazeera. Jordan’s print journalism has been
featured in dozens of major publications around the world.
Jordan has produced award-winning fiction films, documentaries, music videos, and news reports, and his reporting and analysis has been published in several anthologies, including Live From Palestine, What Lies Beneath: Katrina, Race and the State of the Nation; What is a City; Red State Rebels; Bury The Dead. He has appeared as an actor in HBO's television series Treme playing himself. He produced the fiction film Chocolate Babies, which won best picture awards at South by Southwest and New York Lesbian and Gay Film Festival.