Radical Imagination

Putting People First: Reimagining OUR Economy

What would our economy look like if it put people before profits? For one thing, nobody would have to accept the sub-minimum wage of $2.13, which many states allow for restaurant workers -- a legacy of slavery that marginalizes and impoverishes a wide swath of a workforce made up largely of people of color and immigrants.  In this episode of Radical Imagination, host Angela Glover Blackwell speaks with Saru Jayaraman, president of One Fair Wage and director of the Food Labor Research Center at UC Berkeley, about the fight to raise the minimum wage for all workers and end subminimum wages. We also hear from USC Sociology Professor Manuel Pastor about solidarity economics, a radical but commonsense concept that challenges us to reimagine our economy and how it can prioritize the needs and interests of all people.