Podcasts about black alliance

ORIGINALLY RELEASED Apr 4, 2024 Musa Springer, Erica Caines, & Onyesonwu Chatoyer from Hood Communist join Breht O'Shea to discuss their participation in The Second International Meeting of Theoretical Publications of Left Parties and Movements in Havana, Cuba before discussing the history and current events playing out in Haiti. Together they converse about their time in Cuba, the various speeches they gave at the event, the ongoing embargo and its impacts, recent protests in Cuba, internationalism, the Zone of Peace campaign by the Black Alliance for Peace, US imperialism, the history of colonialism in Haiti, current events in Haiti, how Haiti is portrayed by Western corporate media, and much more! Links: Hood Communist Blog Venceremos Brigade All-African People's Revolutionary Party (Florida) Liberation Through Reading Black Alliance for Peace (ATL) Join BAP Groundings Podcast ---------------------------------------------------- Support Rev Left and get access to bonus episodes: www.patreon.com/revleftradio Make a one-time donation to Rev Left at BuyMeACoffee.com/revleftradio Follow, Subscribe, & Learn more about Rev Left Radio HERE Outro Beat Prod. by flip da hood

(Airdate 5/13/25) Nana Gyamfi received her undergraduate degree from Cornell University, and her Juris Doctorate from UCLA School of Law. She brings with her over three decades of service to the Movement for Black liberation, and over twenty years experience directing Black social justice organizations and networks. Nana is a human rights and criminal defense attorney, a professor in the Pan African Studies Department at the California State University Los Angeles, and Executive Director of the Black Alliance for Just Immigration.https://www.instagram.com/attorneynana/ https://www.instagram.com/diprimaradio/ https://www.instagram.com/instabaji/

ORIGINALLY RELEASED Mar 10, 2023 In this episode of Guerrilla History, we bring on two fantastic guests, Prof. Charisse Burden-Stelly and Prof. Jodi Dean. We discuss their co-edited collection, Organize, Fight, Win: Black Communist Women's Political Writing, which is an absolutely indispensable resource for those of us serious about achieving liberation!  This collection includes writings focused on the period from 1919-1956, which argue that racial and economic equality can only be achieved by overthrowing capitalism.  Pick up the book! Dr. CBS is an Associate Professor of African American Studies at Wayne State University.  She is an organizer with Black Alliance for Peace and a Co-Author of W.E.B. Du Bois: A Life in American History alongside our mutual friend Gerald Horne.  She can be followed on twitter @blackleftaf or on her website https://www.charisseburdenstelly.com/. Dr. Jodi Dean is a Professor of Political Science at Hobart and William Smith Colleges.  She is the author of numerous books including Comrade: An Essay on Political Belonging, Crowds and Party, and The Communist Horizon.  She can be followed on twitter @jodi7768. ---------------------------------------------------- Support Rev Left and get access to bonus episodes: www.patreon.com/revleftradio Make a one-time donation to Rev Left at BuyMeACoffee.com/revleftradio Follow, Subscribe, & Learn more about Rev Left Radio HERE

Grounding Our Purpose https://www.blackagendareport.com/grounding-our-purpose-second-national-black-radical-organizing-conference  INDIANAPOLIS, IN – April 7, 2025 – The Second National Black Radical Organizing Conference (NBROC) will convene approximately 500 Black/African/New Afrikan organizers from Friday, May 30th to Sunday, June 1st, 2025, at Butler University in Indianapolis, IN. This crucial gathering aims to build collective political power, advance revolutionary strategies, and craft a liberated future beyond capitalism, imperialism, patriarchy, and white supremacy. Inspired by the historic 1972 National Black Political Convention, this year's conference, themed “Base-Building for Collective Power,” will focus on skill-building, political clarity, and fostering a movement rooted in self-determination, solidarity, and transformative change in the fight against fascism. A significant component of the conference will be a call to action regarding the Pendleton 2. What: Second National Black Radical Organizing Conference (NBROC) - Action for Pendleton 2 When: May 30 - June 1st, 2025 Where: Butler University, Indianapolis 1000 W 42nd St, Indianapolis, IN 46208 Indianapolis, IN Who: Featuring representatives from: the Black Alliance for Peace, Community Movement Builders, National Black Liberation Movement, Black Men Build, Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, Cooperation Jackson, and more to be announced. Why: To build collective political power, advance revolutionary strategies, and craft a liberated future beyond systems of oppression. The conference aims to address critical issues facing Black communities and strategize for transformative change. A specific action will be called for in regards to the Pendleton 2.

Nicholas Richard-Thompson and Tunde Osazua from the Black Alliance for Peace join Breht to examine the life and legacy of Kwame Nkrumah—anti-colonial revolutionary, Pan-African visionary, and the first president of an independent Ghana. From leading the charge against British colonial rule to his bold attempts to unify the African continent under a socialist banner, Nkrumah's story is one of profound courage, political brilliance, and unfinished dreams. We explore his writings, his revolutionary vision for a liberated and united Africa, and the forces—both foreign and domestic—that sought to dismantle his project. Nkrumah's legacy still burns in the hearts of those fighting imperialism today, and this episode brings his voice back to the forefront of revolutionary memory.   Learn more and support Black Alliance for Peace    Follow Nicholas on Twitter    Follow Tunde on Twitter   BAP Chicago's Twitter   ---------------------------------------------------- Support Rev Left and get access to bonus episodes: www.patreon.com/revleftradio Make a one-time donation to Rev Left at BuyMeACoffee.com/revleftradio Follow, Subscribe, & Learn more about Rev Left Radio HERE Outro Beat Prod. by flip da hood

In this powerful and wide-ranging conversation, Margaret Kimberley—senior columnist at Black Agenda Report and a leader in Black Alliance for Peace—joins Breht to dissect the spectacle of American decline and, as usual, Kimberley offers a razor-sharp analysis of late-stage capitalism's collapse into cruelty, chaos, and confusion. Together, they explore the Democratic Party's complicity in ushering in this moment, U.S. weapons transfers to Ukraine in support of their proxy war against Russia, and the genocidal assault on Gaza as a revealing - if disturbing - lens into the true nature of the American empire. Kimberley also shares firsthand insights from delegations to Nicaragua, Venezuela, and China, illuminating how the Global South is resisting U.S. domination and reshaping global power. For those feeling the weight of worsening economic conditions, rising fascism, and political demobilization, Kimberley offers hard-won wisdom about organizing in the belly of the beast. We close with discussion about where real hope can still be found. Check out Black Agenda Report Black Agenda Radio -------------------------------------------------------- Follow, Subscribe, & Learn more about Red Menace & Rev Left Radio HERE Outro Beat Prod. by flip da hood

We return with for part 2 to discuss how Caribbean leadership bends to the rules of the west, the importance of Haiti, the BAP Zone of Peace Campaign and how imperialism in the Caribbean can teach us about Africans in the US. Austin Cole is co-coordinator of Black Alliance for Peace, and one of the co-coordinators of BAP's Haiti/Americas Team, and I'm based in the Boston area.  Erica Caines is a writer and organizer in Baltimore and the DMV. Caines is the Field Operations and Membership coordinator of The Black Alliance For Peace, an editor of Hood Communist Blog, and founder of #LiberationThroughReading, providing African children with books that represent them. https://www.patreon.com/c/blackmyths

With this episode of Guerrilla History, we launch into Pan-Africanism as a great additional starting point to our series on African Revolutions and Decolonization.  We bring on two marvelous guests, Prof. Layla Brown and Jacquie Luqman, to discuss the history, theoretical currents, and modern expressions of Pan-Africanism.  This is a 2+ hour masterclass, you certainly won't want to miss a moment of it!   Also subscribe to our Substack (free!) to keep up to date with what we are doing:  guerrillahistory.substack.com   Layla Brown is an Assistant Professor of Cultural Anthropology & Africana Studies and affiliate faculty in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Brown's research focuses on Pan-African, Socialist, and Feminist social movements in Venezuela, the US, and the broader African Diaspora.  She is a member of the All-African People's Revolutionary Party (GC), and can be found on twitter @PanAfrikFem_PhD.  She also cohosts the Life. Study. Revolution podcast alongside Charisse Burden-Stelly.   Jacquie Luqman is a radical activist, journalist, and is a coordinator with Black Alliance for Peace.  You can follow some (but not all!) of her writings at Black Agenda Report, and watch her show Luqman Nation on Black Liberation Media. She is on twitter @luqmannation1. Help support the show by signing up to our patreon, where you also will get bonus content: https://www.patreon.com/guerrillahistory 

We discuss how negative stereotypes about Africans in the Caribbean, particularly in Haiti, create a rationalization for US imperialism throughout the region. To help us discuss this topic we are joined by organizers Austin Cole & Erica Caines.    Austin Cole is co-coordinator of Black Alliance for Peace, and one of the co-coordinators of BAP's Haiti/Americas Team, and I'm based in the Boston area.    Erica Caines is a writer and organizer in Baltimore and the DMV. Caines is the Field Operations and Membership coordinator of The Black Alliance For Peace, an editor of Hood Communist Blog, and founder of #LiberationThroughReading, providing African children with books that represent them.   patreon.com/c/blackmyths

Just months after the fall of President Bashar al-Assad, Syria has been rocked by an eruption of violence. Coastal towns have turned into killing fields, with forces aligned with the government accused of massacring hundreds of civilians from religious minorities. The Syrian online space is also littered with misinformation - part of an information war that is inciting sectarian fear and deepening divisions, in a country still raw from years of civil war and decades under a brutal regime. Lead contributors: Zaina Erhaim – Journalist Ahmad Primo – Founder, Verify Syria Ola Suliman – Campaigns lead, The Syria Campaign Rim Turkmani – Syria research programme director, LSE On our radar: The Trump White House is waging an unprecedented crackdown on pro-Palestine activism on university campuses. Meenakshi Ravi reports on Mahmoud Khalil - a Columbia graduate and, in theory, permanent US resident, who now faces deportation. ICE's PR blitz: Immigration raids as entertainment In Trump's America, immigration enforcement isn't just policy - it's a spectacle. With ICE raids increasingly staged for the cameras, and journalists given front-row access to capture dramatic arrests, is it law and order or a made-for-TV performance? The Listening Post's Tariq Nafi explores the media's role in shaping the immigration debate. Featuring: Patrick Bet-David – Host, PBD podcast Michelle Garcia – Journalist and author Abraham Paulos – Deputy director, Black Alliance for Just Immigration

From firings to plane crashes to economic crashes to increased militarism, not to mention the deterioration of rights and the crackdown by the cops, what can we do? Craig Bardo member of Veterans for Peace, Black Alliance for Peace, Party for Socialism and Liberation sits in for Harvey Bennett who is on assignment. Craig discusses his evolution from military service member, banker, and capitalist, to a peace activist. We talk capitalism, socialism, media complicity, and the BOOMERANG EFFECT. We hear clips from capitalist Nancy Pelosi and non-capitalist Second Thought. We discuss all this and ask the question what we can do as members of Veterans for Peace.

The Black Alliance for Peace (BAP) launched the next phase of the Zone of Peace campaign, the creation of the US/NATO Out of Our Americas Network. Clearing the FOG speaks with Austin Cole of the BAP Haiti/Americas Team about the network, which debuted on February 21, the anniversary of the assassinations of Malcolm X and Augusto Sandino. Cole explains the origin of the term "Our Americas (Nuestra Americas)" and why that framing is necessary for the decolonization of our continents. He also describes current US aggression in the Americas, how our struggles are connected, and what the network will do to build a stronger popular movement for our collective liberation. For more information, visit PopularResistance.org.

  While no one these days is safe from the destructive impacts of climate change and the pollution that plagues our fragile environment, poor people and people of color are disproportionately at-risk, as it's their communities and neighborhoods that most frequently lie in flood plains, close to sources of toxic pollution, or in otherwise hazardous […]

With this episode of Guerrilla History, we launch into Pan-Africanism as a great additional starting point to our series on African Revolutions and Decolonization.  We bring on two marvelous guests, Prof. Layla Brown and Jacquie Luqman, to discuss the history, theoretical currents, and modern expressions of Pan-Africanism.  This is a 2+ hour masterclass, you certainly won't want to miss a moment of it!  Be sure to share this episode with comrades as well, we KNOW they will benefit from listening!   Also subscribe to our Substack (free!) to keep up to date with what we are doing.  With so many episodes coming in this series (and beyond), you won't want to miss anything, so get the updates straight to your inbox.  guerrillahistory.substack.com   Layla Brown is an Assistant Professor of Cultural Anthropology & Africana Studies and affiliate faculty in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Brown's research focuses on Pan-African, Socialist, and Feminist social movements in Venezuela, the US, and the broader African Diaspora.  She is a member of the All-African People's Revolutionary Party (GC), and can be found on twitter @PanAfrikFem_PhD.  She also cohosts the Life. Study. Revolution podcast alongside Charisse Burden-Stelly.   Jacquie Luqman is a radical activist, journalist, and is a coordinator with Black Alliance for Peace.  You can follow some (but not all!) of her writings at Black Agenda Report, and watch her show Luqman Nation on Black Liberation Media. She is on twitter @luqmannation1. Help support the show by signing up to our patreon, where you also will get bonus content: https://www.patreon.com/guerrillahistory 

President Trump is back in power and immediately moved to carry out his xenophobic policies with a slew of unconstitutional executive orders and plans for mass detention and deportation of the nation's immigrants. Suzi talks to three extraordinary activists whose organizations and coalitions are building effective solidarity and defense for those about to be detained and deported: Victor Narro, UCLA's long time expert on immigrant rights and low-wage workers, works in the sanctuary movement, Nana Gyamfi of the Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI), and Aquilina Soriano-Versoza of the Pilipino Workers Center of Southern California explain what their Black, Latino, and Filipino led and focused coalitions are doing to counter the Trump offensive against immigrants. This is practical solidarity that builds power — and it is moving and uplifting. Jacobin Radio with Suzi Weissman features conversations with leading thinkers and activists, with a focus on labor, the economy, and protest movements.

On today's show, we discuss the newly inaugurated President Trump's impact on immigration policy through the executive orders that have already been signed as well as his policy plans. Our first conversation from Wednesday, January 22nd is with Nana Gyamfi, Executive Director of the Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI), speaking about the implications of Trump's  immigration and deportation policies on Black immigrants living in the United States, as well BAJI's rejection of Congress' Laken Riley Act, which they call “a pipeline to mass detention and deportation.” Read more on BAJI's analysis of the Laken Riley Act: https://baji.org/the-laken-riley-act-is-anti-black-a-pipeline-to-mass-detention-and-deportation/ — Subscribe to this podcast: https://plinkhq.com/i/1637968343?to=page Get in touch: lawanddisorder@kpfa.org Follow us on socials @LawAndDis: https://twitter.com/LawAndDis; https://www.instagram.com/lawanddis/ The post Executive Order Border Impact w/ the Black Alliance for Just Immigration appeared first on KPFA.

12.10.2024 ##RolandMartinUnfiltered: Hope Global Forums, FL Judicial Circuit SA battle, NJ prohibits, Fights to Haiti suspended Live from the Hope Global Forums in Atlanta! Monique Worrell, the Duly-Elected State Attorney of Florida's Ninth Judicial Circuit, is here tonight to discuss her re-election and the man who was appointed in her place change of heart to assist in her transition. New Jersey is the latest state to prohibit bans on books in schools and public libraries. More U.S. flights to Haiti are indefinitely suspended after escalating violence and safety concerns in Haiti's capital. We'll talk to the Executive Director of Black Alliance for Just Immigration about what's happening in the gang-infested country. #BlackStarNetwork partner: Fanbasehttps://www.startengine.com/offering/fanbase This Reg A+ offering is made available through StartEngine Primary, LLC, member FINRA/SIPC. This investment is speculative, illiquid, and involves a high degree of risk, including the possible loss of your entire investment. You should read the Offering Circular (link) and Risks (link) related to this offering before investing. Download the #BlackStarNetwork app on iOS, AppleTV, Android, Android TV, Roku, FireTV, SamsungTV and XBox

We return for part 2 with organizer Max Rameau. We discuss his most recent piece, "Smash the Dupololy and Build Dual Power" and keys to organizing our movements structurally.  Max Rameau is a Haitian born Pan-African theorist, campaign strategist, movement scientist and organizer. Max is the National Coordinator of Black Alliance for Peace and is an organizer with Pan-African Community Action. He travels the country facilitating workshops, engaging in campaign strategy sessions and developing models for community control over land and the human right to housing. Smash Duopoly and Build Dual Power https://pacapower.org/duopoly-dual-power Patreon https://www.patreon.com/blackmyths

Rebroadcast of Live Show recording: Belonging to Blackness Podcast x Give Black Alliance #CouchConversations speaker series (August 18 2024 on Martha's Vineyard). In this episode, host Dr. Yndia facilitates an important conversation between two powerhouse journalists, political analysts and NYT bestselling authors Joy-Ann Reid and Goldie Taylor on the topic of “The Right to be […] The post S6, Ep 050 with Joy-Ann Reid and Goldie Taylor on The Right to be Loved (Live Show) x Give Black Alliance first appeared on Yndia Lorick-Wilmot, PhD.

THIS week, on the Global Research News Hour, we investigate and analyze the 2024 U.S. presidential election from a deeper political and historical vantage point then is typical in the mainstream press. In our first half hour, lawyer, journalist and activist Dimitri Lascaris offers his views from a foreign policy perspective, especially with regard to the Israeli wars in the Middle East and the Russo-Ukraine War. In our second half hour, Ajamu Baraka of Black Alliance for Peace offers his own "pox on both your houses" take. And Finally, journalist and writer matt Ehret offers his views on an article written in an article about the bankers coup plot foiled by patriotic military man Smedley Butler and why this historical incident could repeat itself in the new future against Donald Trump.

Election Day 2024 is now just a little over six weeks away and not surprisingly, there's been a spike of late in the activity of nonprofits that are seeking to help potential voters get schooled on the issues and ready to cast informed ballots. And one of those groups is the North Carolina Black Alliance. […]

The MAGA foreign-policy braintrust in Trump world is militarism all the way down. The unpopularity of the Democratic Party's popular front. The problem with threat inflation about disinformation. A defense budget out of control. And why Washington's manufacturing fetish is key to a convergence of jingoism, patriarchy, and oligarchy.Further Reading:Ken Klippenstein, “Russian Influence Operations Are A Joke"Van Jackson, “Why the Working Class Strategizes Against Genocide”Christian Lorenzten, “Not a Tough Crowd"Thomas Brodey, “Disinformation Dilemma: US Hands Are Way Dirty, Too"Gisela Cernadas and John Bellamy Foster, "Actual U.S. Military Spending Reached $1.537 Trillion in 2022—More than Twice Acknowledged Level: New Estimates Based on U.S. National Accounts"Black Alliance for Peace, "Black Alliance for Peace Condemns the Federal Indictments of Uhuru 3 and Denial of their Fundamental Human Rights to Speech, Association, Information and Political Dissent"Further Listening:Dead Prez, “Police State"

Too Black returns to the show to discuss the case of the Pendleton 2, the story of John “Balagoon” Cole and Christopher “Naeem” Trotter, the leaders of the Indiana prison uprising that rescued Lincoln "Lokmar" Love from being brutalized and killed by prison guards, exposed Pendleton's dehumanizing conditions, and unleashed the vindictive wrath of the Indiana Department of Correction. Together, he and Breht discuss the backstory, the legal case and trial, the absurdly long prison sentences they recieved, the KKK-affiliated "Sons of Light" operating amongst the prison guards, The Black Dragons, prison organizing, solitary confinement, how you can help the Pendleton 2 directly, the powerful legacy of George Jackson, the unacceptable and inhuman conditions of American prisons, the Black Alliance for Peace's "Black August" events, and more!   You can donate directly to campaign to free the Pendleton 2 HERE Watch the documentary "The Pendleton 2: They Stood Up" for free on YT HERE Check out Too Black's website HERE Here are previous episodes discussed during this converation, including the latest episode of the Black Myths Podcast, which you can find on your preferred podcast app:   Laundering Black Rage: Capitalism, Empire, and The Mechanics of Co-optation All Power to the People: The Kevin Rashid Johnson Interview Myth: Black August is a Celebration (w/ Christopher "Naeem" Trotter)   Follow Rev Left on IG   Outro Song: "Police State" by Dead Prez

In this episode of "The Truth in This Art," host Rob Lee converses with Bronx-based artist and designer Walter Cruz. They explore Walter's artistic journey, focusing on how architecture and design intersect with the experiences of marginalized communities. Walter shares personal anecdotes that sparked his interest in architecture, emphasizing the psychological impact of spaces and the importance of historical context. This discussion highlights the influence of ancestors and collective knowledge on artistic vision. Walter also promotes his latest projects and upcoming exhibitions, reflecting his commitment to community engagement and the transformative power of art.Episode Highlights:Walter's Artistic Focus (00:01:05) Walter shares his interest in the built environment and its connection to Black and Brown communities.First Architectural Experience (00:02:17) Walter recalls his first visit to Times Square, igniting his passion for architecture and design.Intersection of Disciplines (00:04:44) Walter Cruz explores how art, design, and architecture intersect, particularly for marginalized communities.Researching Black Designers (00:07:36) Walter shares his journey of discovering Black architects and designers, challenging Eurocentric narratives.Empowerment through History (00:10:30) Walter finds empowerment in learning about historical figures in design and architecture.Present Influence on Work (00:15:54) He reflects on being present and observant in his surroundings, shaping his current artistic work.Experimenting with Concrete (00:22:26) Walter describes his exploration of using concrete as a medium to express his artistic ideas and heritage.Returning to Baltimore (00:28:15) Walter shares the story behind his upcoming show in Baltimore and his connection to the venue's renovation.Visual Design for Advocacy (00:43:25) Walter talks about his work with the Black Alliance for Just Immigration and its significance.Key Takeaways:1. Design with Empathy: Always consider the emotional and psychological impact of spaces on the people who use them.2. Celebrate Diverse Contributions: Make an effort to learn about and highlight the achievements of marginalized communities in your field.3. Honor Collective Wisdom: Recognize that your creative work is part of a larger historical and cultural continuum.4. Embrace Everyday Materials: Use familiar, everyday materials in your art to create a deeper connection with your audience.Socials:Instagram: 2oceansLinkedIn: Walter CruzCheck out Walter's Show here:currencystudio.us/blogs/heather-grey-gallery/walter-cruz-carry-on-tradition-at-heather-grey-gallerywww.artscape.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Carry-On-Tradition-document

In this episode, CODEPINK's Krys Cerisier reflects on current events in Latin America, including Peru, Venezuela, and Haiti. We are joined by Clau O'Brien Moscoso from the Black Alliance for Peace's Haiti Americas team and a writer for Black Agenda Report, who helps us explore and understand the recent coup attempts in Peru and Venezuela, and intervention in Haiti, as well as the role of international bodies such as SOUTHCOM and NATO. In the second half of the show, Krys talks to Leonardo Flores from the Venezuela Solidarity Network to discuss the Venezuelan elections.

The debate about immigration and the humanitarian crisis at the US-Mexico border has taken center stage in the 2024 elections. But the terms of that “debate” have been set by Donald Trump and the MAGA right, who are calling for “mass deportation” and continue to demonize and scapegoat immigrants as the root cause of America's economic and political decline. With Democrats adopting much of the right's framing of the “immigration debate” and the “border crisis,” how should the left respond? In the face of the MAGA right's neofascist anti-immigrant campaign, what can working people do—during this election season and beyond—to build a truly multiracial resistance that defends the rights of all?Juan González, co-host of ‪Democracy Now‬!, hosts a timely and critical panel for The Real News on immigration, democracy, and the 2024 elections. Panelists include: José Luis Granados Ceja of Venezuelanalysis and Mexico Solidarity Media; Nana Gyamfi, executive director of the Black Alliance for Just Immigration; and Emily Lee, executive Director of Seed the Vote. This panel is cosponsored by Liberation Road.Read the transcript of this panel here. Pre-Production: Bill Gallegos, Maximillian Alvarez, Kayla RivaraStudio Production: David Hebden, Cameron GranadinoPost-Production: Adam ColeyHelp us continue producing Rattling the Bars by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.Sign up for our newsletterLike us on FacebookFollow us on TwitterDonate to support this podcast

Netfa Freeman Institute for Policy Studies, Black Alliance for Peace

In this week's Black World News, Kehinde Andrews makes plain the "All eyes on Congo" image trending recently after the "All eyes on Rafa [a Palestinian city in the southern Gaza Strip]" AI-generated image went viral. Kehinde says we need to have eyes on Congo due to the conflict, and child labor exploitation for corporate resources. But, the reality is that the resources being mined at poverty wages are predominately minerals used for batteries in smartphones and laptops that we use in the West. This is the paradox we're tangled in of living in the West. Kehinde says that the first step is acknowledging our complicity, but we can't just sit back and tweet about Congo + Neo-colonialism, that's not enough. That's the house negro mentality. We need a field negro mentality. We need to build alternatives that can sustain us, and we are trying. We're building the Harambee Organisation of Black Unity for Malcolm's 100th birthday and we're having a convention on the continent in Gambia, the Congress of Afrikan People (CAP -May 17-19, 2025).  - In this week's official guest interview, Kehinde Andrews talks with Charisse Burden-Stelly aka Dr. CBS about criminalizing pro-Palestine encampments and uprisings, particularly Black students and activists; squaring the circle of working in university as a Black radical intellectual; her new book Black Scare/Red Scare that lifts the ways marxism isn't just White people shit; and on being a Rodneyist. - Dr. CBS is an associate professor of African American Studies at Wayne State University, a critical Black Studies scholar, book author, co-editor, and a member of the Black Alliance for Peace (BAP) and Community Movement Builders (CMB).  - BLACK WORLD NEWS LINKS "All eyes on Kongo" imagehttps://bsmedia.business-standard.com/_media/bs/img/article/2024-05/31/thumb/featurecrop/600X300/1717159665-9211.jpg "All eyes on Rafah" image tweet https://x.com/Shayan86/status/1795789706501787707 - GUEST LINKS Dr. CBShttps://www.charisseburdenstelly.com/ Dr. CBS Five Walter Rodney Quotes I Lovehttps://www.charisseburdenstelly.com/blog/8-five-walter-rodney-quotes-i-love Dr. CBS' New Book Black Scare / Red Scare Theorizing Capitalist Racism in the United Stateshttps://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/B/bo207945104.html - MIP LINKS CAP25 - Convention of Afrikan People - Gambia - May 17-19, 2025 On Malcolm X's 100th birthday, the Harambee Organisation of Black Unity is bringing together those in Afrika and the Diaspora who want to fulfill Malcolm's legacy and build a global organization for Black people. This is an open invitation to anyone.https://make-it-plain.org/convention-of-afrikan-people/ BUF - Black United Front Global directory of Black organizations. This will be hosted completely free of charge so if you run a Black organization please email the name, address, website, and contact info to mip@blackunity.org.uk to be listed. From the growling wolf to the smiling fox "Malcolm already warned us of the dangers of running from the clutches of the wolf into the arms of the smiling fox." https://make-it-plain.org/2020/11/07/from-the-growling-wolf-to-the-smiling-fox/ - Guest: @blackleftaf(IG) @blackleftaf(T) Host: @kehindeandrews(IG) @kehindeandrews (T) Podcast team: @makeitplainorg @weylandmck @inhisownterms @farafinmuso Platform: www.make-it-plain.org (Blog) | www.youtube.com/@MakeItPlain1964 (YT) - If you need any help with your audio visit: https://weylandmck.com/

Welcome to Beyond the Thesis with Papa PhD! In today's episode, I'm thrilled to have Dr. Stephani Mason join us. Dr. Mason, an associate professor of accounting at DePaul University, is renowned for her impactful work on diversity and representation in academia and beyond. Today, we dive into the transformative impact of PhD programs on career paths and the vital role of researchers in non-academic settings and into the raison d'être of The PhD Project - pomoting diversity in faculty in the accounting/economics space. Join us as Dr. Mason shares insights on preparing individuals to utilize their talents for the public good, the importance of evidence-based decision-making, and the power of mentorship through initiatives like The PhD Project. Listen in to learn how this groundbreaking project has been diversifying corporate America and academia for 30 years, helping underrepresented minorities pursue PhDs in business disciplines. Whether you're interested in educational equity, the PhD journey, or the transformative power of diversity, this episode is packed with wisdom and inspiration! Dr. Stephani Mason is an Associate Professor of Accounting at DePaul University, where she teaches advanced-level undergraduate and graduate courses in accounting and valuation. She earned her Ph.D. in accounting at Rutgers University, her MBA in finance and accounting at the University of Chicago, and her BS in accounting at North Carolina A&T State University. With over a decade working in investment management at JP Morgan Investment Management, the JP Morgan Private Bank, and US Trust, she conducts academic research on accounting/auditing standards, financial regulation, as well as diversity in the accounting and finance industries. Mason serves as a member of The PhD Project Advisory Council (PAC-15), the Black Alliance of Colleges and Employers (BACE) board of directors, the AICPA National Accreditation Commission, Business Valuation Task Force, and Financial Instruments Advisory Group, and the American Accounting Association Meetings Committee and Diversity Initiative. In addition, she is a long-term committee member of the Canadian Academic Accounting Association, British Accounting and Finance Association, European Accounting Association, and Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand; is an editorial board member of five academic journals, and founded the WonderWomen of Diversity, a group that hosts discussions about diversity, equity, and inclusion in both the academic and corporate settings. What we covered in the interview: Broadening Horizons Beyond Academia: Dr. Mason discussed the critical need for researchers in non-academic roles, highlighting examples from the medical field and public policy institutions, showing how PhDs can solve complex real-world problems.Diversity and Representation: Emphasizing the importance of diverse perspectives in decision-making, Dr. Mason brings attention to how representation in academia and various professions can close the gap between students' aspirations and career paths, enriching education for all.Supportive Communities and Mentorship: The PhD Project, celebrating its 30th anniversary, provides a supportive network for underrepresented individuals. Mentorship, coaching, and events help individuals navigate their academic journeys and promote diversity in both academia and corporate America.

In this episode of Guerrilla History, we bring on the absolutely terrific Professor Jemima Pierre to discuss her vital piece Haiti as Empire's Laboratory, which came out in NACLA late last year.  Here, we discuss the history of Western Imperialist intervention in  Haiti primarily since the revolution, and why Haiti is often overlooked outside of analysis of the Revolution, or the current material situation divorced from any historical understanding.  You may remember our episode Haiti and Western Intervention w/ Pascal Robert, which came out just over a year and a half ago.  This conversation is in much the same vein, with some updating and additional analysis, so if you haven't already listened to that other conversation, please do so! Jemima Pierre is Professor at the Social Justice Institute at the University of British Columbia and is the Haiti/Americas Coordinator with the Black Alliance for Peace. She is the author of The Predicament of Blackness: Postcolonial Ghana and the Politics of Race and numerous academic and public articles about Haiti.  Try to find her on her secret twitter account, one of the best follows out there, but you have to do the searching yourself! Help support the show by signing up to our patreon, where you also will get bonus content: https://www.patreon.com/guerrillahistory   

In this episode, we explore the myth that Africans don't value democracy with Nicholas Richard-Thompson and Tunde Osazua of the pro-peace anti-imperialist organization, Black Alliance for Peace. We discuss questions of liberal democracy across the continent, the political nature of coups, neocolonialism, and the political development of recent coups in the Sahel region.  https://www.afrobarometer.org/articles/do-africans-want-democracy-and-do-they-think-theyre-getting-it/

Bithiah Carter is the President and CEO of Give Black Alliance, which "seeks to create a strong Black community capable of advocating on its own behalf and identifying the necessary resources to support its vitality." Bithiah joins host Steve Boland to talk about the origins of the Give Black Alliance and the tools they use to engage the community around understanding the impact of Black donors and conversations within Black movements. Bithiah shares about the Giving Black reports sharing information about specific cities and case studies, the #CouchConversations series available on their website, and a challenge for all communities to meaningfully engage in Black philanthropy.

Find me and the show on social media @DrWilmerLeon on X/Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. Our guest Ajamu Baraka is on X/Twitter @ajamubaraka Our Facebook page is www.facebook.com/Drwilmerleonctd   FULL TRANSCRIPT Welcome to the Connecting the Dots podcast with Dr. Wilmer Leon, and I'm Wilmer Leon. Here's the point. We have a tendency to view current events as though they happen in a vacuum, failing to understand the broader historic context in which events take place. During each episode of the podcast, my guest and I have probing, provocative, and discussions that connect the dots between these events and the broader context in which they occur. This enables you to better understand and analyze these events that impact the global village in which we live. On today's episode, the issue before us is the mask is off the hideous connections between Zionism, colonialism, capitalism, and genocide. This is the title of an article in Black Agenda Report, and it's written by the Black Alliance for Peace. It was originally published in or at the Black Alliance for Peace website, which is Black alliance for peace.com. My guest is the chair of the Coordinated Committee of the Black Alliance for Peace and Editor and contributing columnist for the Black Agenda Report and the Green Party candidate for Vice President of the United States in 2016. Ajamu Baraka Ajamu, my brother. As always, welcome back. Thank you so much. It's good to be with you once again. So Ajamu, the piece opens as follows. In April, students across the US Empire rose up with campus-based encampments designed to bring attention to the genocide against Palestine and demand that their universities divest from economies engaged in active genocidal campaigns. It came as a little surprise to anyone who has ever read a history book that US universities chose to stand by the Zionist genocide machine and instead attack their own students. Ajamu. There were and are a number of forces applying pressure to the leadership of these institutions to punish these students. Your thoughts on the intersection of genocide of Zionism, capitalism and colonialism and how it's now impacting the higher education of kids across this country? Well, the way we approached it, Dr. Leon, was to in fact, make those connections reflected in that piece. We have always taken the position that colonialism is in fact fascism, that the intervention, the invading of the Americas in 1492 by the Europeans was the beginning of the process in which two things happened. The enrichment of Europe as a consequence of the conquering of the peoples, the indigenous peoples of the Americas, the theft of their lands and the importation of black people to provide free labor. This was a material basis for the rise of capitalism and the European, so-called civilization. This is and was a colonial relationship. The peoples of these various territories that became Jamaica and Haiti and Colombia and Mexico had their wealth stolen from them and transported back to Europe. While the people themselves lacked any kind of human rights. Colonialism is based on a fascistic relationship in which people are terrorized into accepting oppression. It is the ultimate expression of fascistic policy. So we made the connection there. We said that also there are the connections of the other elements that characterize the rise of Europe and the domination of Europe over the last 500 years. This strange conception of patriarchy, which is something that was alien to most parts of the global south. This came on the heels of the imposition of Christian religions and some of the strange ideals regarding the role of men. And so-called women. So this is also part of the process of European domination. And of course all of this is within the context of imperialism and the rise in development of capitalism. So all of these elements have to be understood to be interconnected, and that if we're going to address the issues that are emerging in Palestine, for example, with the European settler colonial project are called Israel, then we have to make sure we understand these historical processes, these connections, these dots that have to be connected. So that's reflected in our piece. So basically all of the talk about civilizational assistance and humanitarian interventions of the responsibility to protect the Europeans divides over the course of decades. What has happened with Gaza is that they have now been exposed. This system has been exposed to what it is, a brutal, hideous system that degrades and dehumanizes human beings. So that was a thrust, the essence of that piece, An incredibly powerful piece at that. And fact in the piece, peace it's written that black Alliance for Peace has consistently asserted that as people rise up against the deepening crisis of capitalism, the veneer of western civilization and enlightenment will fall revealing the naked aggression and violence inherent in capitalism, imperialism, white supremacy and patriarchy. The horror of the colonial Zionist campaign of genocide is that reveal, this reveal of colonial violence is forcing people to rethink the propaganda they have internalized. But the revelation of facts is not the same as drawing correct conclusions. What got me in that paragraph in the first sentence of the second is this whole idea of rethinking the propaganda because one of the things that I've been saying for a very long time is the Zionist narrative. They're losing the argument. They now realize that the covers have been pulled off, they've been exposed, and they are now going to extra judicial and incredibly extreme measures to try to justify, resurrect, defend that narrative. And I think it's important for people to understand in this conversation that this is not an anti-Semitic conversation. This is an anti Zionist conversation and part of their narrative is conflating the two. And the final point is that not all Jews or Zionists, and not all Zionists are Jews, as in Joe Biden saying very clearly, very publicly, I am a Zionist, and Joe Biden isn't Jewish. Joe Biden is Irish Catholic, a Jammu Baraka, You're absolutely right. Zionism is a political philosophy, but a political doctrine, if you will. It is a doctrine that provided the foundation for a political project, which was a project by advanced by Europeans who define themselves as Jewish, but secular Jews who wanted to capitalize on the rise of and consolidation of nationalism in the latter part of the 19th century to in fact create a national state for Jewish people. And so the ideal that of Jewish nationalism was being consolidated, and they decided that they would attempt to build this national home on the land that was under occupation and controlled by European powers that used to be referred to as Palestine. And that process began there. So this was a political project that then culminated and the creation of the Jewish state or Israel in 1948 with the full support of the colonial powers at that time, and even the victorious powers that came out of the Second World War. But that creation of the European of the Zionist state, 1948, came at the expense as always in the colonial projects of the indigenous people. So you have what the Palestinians referred to as a nack bar where several hundred and 50,000 Palestinians were uprooted and basically displaced. Dozens and dozens of Arab villages across the territory of Palestine were conquered by the Israelis and controlled, and that became the contiguous land basis for the birth of Israel. So this process of colonial imposition is something now that's 75 years old. It didn't begin on October the seventh. It began even before 1948. So yes, this is a process and part of the ability of the Zionist to be able to be successful is the connection of this project with European colonialism, with the subtle appeal to European superiority, the notion that they were bringing something new to the So-called Middle East, creating a paradise out of the desert. These are all very important cultural reference points that provided support for the Southern Columbia project, very similar to what we had in the US territory that became the United States America notions of manifest destiny, being connected to the program of God, the white man's burden both in the US and throughout the world to bring civilization. All of these were themes that helped to provide the support for what we see unfolding today, but today is even more naked, Dr. Leon, because what that statement talked about is the fact that all of this was dressed up in these sort of civilizational discussions, that discussions and language coming out of the European Enlightenment notions of human rights and democracy and civilizational advancement. And so the interventions were always framed. Interventions by Europeans were always framed as something that will be helpful to the natives because of course, the people who were being imposed on, they needed to have that imposition because they needed to be able to develop as human societies. And of course they couldn't do that without the Europeans. So this became the justification for this project. And the violence that was at the center of this was also justified too, because it was those bad natives who didn't understand that they were being saved, that resisted colonialism, that needed to be suppressed, that needed to be eliminated. And so at the court center of the Colonial Project has always been violence. In particular the settler colonial projects. When you have settlers who come to a land and their main objective is to control the land, then the people themselves become an impediment. They're not needed. And so they are clear. That's what happened with the march across the US from the east coast to the west where they shot, murdered and raped and plundered from the east coast to the west, establishing what became the United States of America. We see a similar process unfolding with the settler colonialists in Palestine. They took most of the land about 77% of the land in 1948. And now with this invasion of Gaza and the escalation of violence on the West Bank, they are now prepared to finish the project from the river to the sea. They've always been quite clear about that, that they want that land to be exclusively under the control of the European Jewish ethanol state. And to that point, I'm glad you brought up from the river to the sea because that language, that phraseology was originally Zionist phraseology. And I'm bringing that up because this goes back to the whole conversation about the narrative. Now, if I go on a college campus and I say, from the river to the sea, Palestine must be free. Oh, I'm antisemitic. Oh, I'm using language that is disturbing to the sensibilities of the good Jewish students. That's not their language. The Zionist settler colonialists first used that phraseology. And along the lines of propaganda, I just want to point out a couple of things. One is the New York Times a few months ago had an editorial meeting where they decided they were no longer going to use the term occupied territories, for example. Now that's phraseology that came out of the United Nations, and that has been the internationally accepted reference of that space. They are the occupied territories. But now the New York Times has decided or told their writers, they shouldn't really use that. They should stay as far away from using that language as much as possible. One of the reasons being that when you refer to occupied territory, that means you have an occupier and it means you have the occupied. And international law says that the occupied can use any means at their disposal to resist the occupier. It also means that this whole, one of the things that a lot of people love to start these conversations with is Israel has a right to exist. But if you understand that Israel is the occupier, then that position then becomes in question. So that's just this whole idea of all of these Jewish students at Columbia that were under threat and being challenged. I never saw any evidence to support that story. In fact, when you look at the students that are involved in the protests, what you find is there are a lot of American Jewish students that are working with and supporting the Palestinians. For example, she's not a student, but her last name is Klein. I just draw a blank on her first name. I'm sorry. Naomi. Naomi Klein. Naomi Klein is Jewish, and Naomi Klein was one of the featured speakers at the Columbia protest. So they're going back to the narrative. What I think they are finding is they are losing control of the narrative. And you're right, that narrative is very, very important. The use of language is important and the ruling elements understand The ability to define is the ability to control. Exactly. Exactly. And that's why they were very careful, meaning the ruling elements and even framing what was happening on these college campuses as so-called pro-Palestinian efforts. Well, they weren't really pro-Palestinian efforts. They were anti genocide, anti Genocide Efforts. But the idea was to try to implant in the minds of the average reader that these people took not only a political position, but a position that was in alignment with that of Hama. And so this was the basis of the demonization of these students that didn't allow for violence to be directed at them. People has to have to be reminded. There was no violence in any of these encampments. These were peaceful protests, something that theoretically you're supposed to have a right to in fact do, even if those protests can be somewhat disruptive. But how disruptive was it and is it to have some tense put up on open spaces on a college campus? But as you said earlier, as you intro this conversation, there appeared to be decision made at the highest levels that they were not going to tolerate any real opposition on these campuses, and that what they were going to in fact do was to violently suppress those efforts. The encampments of the protests and the violence was imposed on the students by who the representatives of the states, and these were the elite campuses controlled by political elements firmly in alignment with what party, the Democrat party. So this was something that was a partisan effort, not only in terms of support of Israel, but in terms of support for the Biden policy of support for genocide. Well, Wait a minute. When you put this in a partisan context, then how with that understanding, do you explain Mike Johnson, the Republican speaker of the house, going to Columbia and standing there and challenging the students and spewing a lot of lies? Again, he was right there in front and center talking about, oh, the students have been threatened and all and no such evidence. And folks, I got to keep going back to this because this is so important. No such evidence has been presented. So Mike Johnson, Republican House speaker, he shows up. A whole lot of Republicans have it. So how do you put that in the partisan context? The majority of the ups have taken place on those campuses that are in alignment with the Democrats. So that's a partisan effort in that sense. But the point you're making, and I think is a very important one, is to remind people that the positions of the US state on Israel is in fact a bipartisan position that the Republicans are, even the non Trumpian Republicans are just as adamant in their support for Israel as the Democrats. So this is the nature of this, what I refer to as the growing consolidation of fascism. The popular perception or the popular position is that the main threat of fascist development in the US is coming from the Trumpian, right? As you know, I've been making the counter argument that the driving force of a particular form of US fascism reflecting the new historical conditions, the conditions of today is emanating from the neoliberal, right? That is fascist. But what we see now in the last couple of months in a very dangerous development, and I'm glad you mentioned Mike Johnson, it's what I consider to be now the real consolidation that's happening in the open, if you can see it. Why do you think Mike Johnson's playing this kind of role? We all know that Mike Johnson wouldn't even be the speaker today without the deal that was cut with Democrats to allow him to be able to avoid being displaced by his own caucus. Why was it that the Trumpian forces have been adamant in their opposition to further money, further us public money being sent to Ukraine in support of the Ukrainian proxy war, but then all of a sudden that criticism is muted and Mike Johnson was clearly in alignment with Donald Trump cuts a deal with the Democrats to allow 61 billion to go to Ukraine. I make the argument that not only is this a reflection, not only is this a reflection of the fact that the very powerful elements in the ruling class have decided that there's going to be a second Trump, but it is a reflection of growing open embracement, if you will, between the Trumpian forces and the neoliberal forces, the consolidation of fascism. So this is a very dangerous, I think, dangerous development here in this country. And right now, the most effective opposition to it are the students across the country. And that's very important, very important that people understand that because what the students are involved in, even if they don't define it as such, is really our anti-fascist opposition. I want to just point out a couple of other points that as we've been talking about this narrative, there is this narrative that the United States is involved in backing the Zionist regime in Israel because it's defending democracy. There's nothing democratic about the Zionist state, the settler colonial state of Israel. Palestinians, indigenous Palestinians do not have the same rights as Jews in Israel. There is nothing democratic about Israel. The United States says it's in Ukraine in order to protect democracy. If that's true, then why did the United States go into Ukraine in 2014 and overthrow the democratically elected Lucas Shanko government in the Maan coup in 2014? Folks, look it up. We're not making it up. This is not conspiracy theory. Why did the and put in place right sector Nazis, real Nazis in Ukraine. The United States says it must go into Haiti. Why? To quell unrest and protect democracy. The United States is the one fomenting the unrest. And the United States, the DEA has been proven with Colombian mercenaries, and assassins are the ones that went in and assassinated the Haitian president, Jovi o Moise. I could go on and on and on Jammu. But again, it's the narrative. Exactly, exactly. And that narrative is important because that determines the politics and this collaboration we see of developing this cross party, this bipartisan collaboration is a very, very dangerous development. And the fact that Ukraine is defined as a democracy is dangerous. The fact that the US continues to define itself as a democracy and a champion of human rights while systematically and simultaneously supporting a genocide in Gaza is dangerous. But you know what? Dr. Leon, the obfuscation of us policies by the control of the narrative is now being diminished. That this is what we talk about in terms of the dots being connected and the veneer of civilization and high principles are now being stripped away. We see the naked reality of what this western project has always been, this western colonial capitalist project has always been what we are seeing in Gaza is the most brutal expression of it ever allowed to be exposed to the US population. And what I mean by that, we have to understand that as brutal as we have seen the situation in Gaza, it's not even the most brutal that has developed over the last few years. People have to remember that NATO under the first black president went in and completely destroyed the most prosperous state on the African continent Libya in the process of bombing campaign that took, that occurred over months, and the arming and equipping and support of a bunch of bandits on the ground is estimated between 30 and 50,000 people lost. Their lives were murdered. The difference was that we didn't see that we had to be relying on reports primarily filtered through the western press. So this is an example that is Gaza is an example, a brutal example of what happens, how the colonial project has unfolded, and now people are beginning to rethink everything. This is what we talk about in terms of questioning the propaganda the one is exposed to as part of a so-called educational process. Everything that you have been exposed to in this country is a lie. You have been exposed to a colonial education that was geared to provide support to a interest of a ruling class that doesn't give a damn about ordinary people, really doesn't give a damn about people in the US at all, and certainly does not see a non-European people as worthy of dignity and human rights. That's why you can have a situation like Gaza where they are starving people to death, bombing and killing children and women primarily In hospital And getting away with it in hospital and getting away with it. Yes. You remember when it first started, Dr. Leon, when Al Shifter was first hit with a bomb and it was like global news, and even the Israelis tried to explain it away because in all of these conflicts, the hospitals that have always been allowed to be an oasis, if you will, within the middle of these conflicts, it will seem to be the most egregious war, criminal war crime when you attack a military, attacked a hospital. Okay? People don't seem to understand Dr. Leon, what the Israeli fascists are during today is really kind of unprecedented. They've been allowed to basically attack and dismantle and destroy something like 36 hospitals. There's not a hospital left. When our shifted was first attacked, there's an outcry, but then it died down. What that said to the fascists, Israeli fascists was, we can get away with this. And that's exactly what they did. So this kind of brutality that we are seeing in Gaza is a reflection of the kind of brutality that made the west what it is today. They tried to rationalize the attacking ealing of hospitals by saying Hamas was using the hospitals as terrorist centers. There were tunnels under the hospitals all proven to be false. Again, the narrative, it was a lie. IDF forces would even dress as doctors and male soldiers would disguise themselves as women go into the hospital, kill 15, 20, 30 people then say, oh, they were all Hamas sympathizers. You mentioned the educational process. Going back to what's happening on the college campuses across the country, you mentioned the educational process. Are there elements within the country that are using this campus unrest as the basis for them to undermine education in the United States? Because we know that that higher education in the United States has been under attack by conservative forces for a number of years. Do you see in some of this, the attacks on the presidents of many of these institutions as being an attack on academia? I do, and I see this as the beginning of a more systematic attack. We've already seen cases where administrations are attempting to put in place rules that would in effect make it illegal, or subject students and faculty members to being suspended, expelled, lose their jobs, Lose their funding, lose their government funding, Lose their government funding, just raising certain kinds of questions as it relates primarily to Israel, but also is born in just Israel is really a US foreign policy. So this is again, for me another example of the consolidating fascism here in this country. Now we are really going to see where we are once the students come back in the fall because for our intents and purposes, we're going to see a bit of a petering out of this. And of course the press is going to jump on this as though this is kind of some kind of reflection of the flightiness of students. Well, no, the organizing will be taking place this summer. The real battle is going to unfold probably in the fall. So it remains to be seen what kind of impact this will have. But all of this is reflective of the complete jettison of liberal values at these liberal institutions and liberal philosophy being, again, primarily driven by neoliberals with their liberal allies, that basically, in order for the US empire to maintain its global hegemony, it has to jettison any constraints. And so any concerns about human rights or human dignity on the part of any of their victims or potential victims that has to be ignored now is about the brutal imposition of power in order to maintain hegemony. That's why they have more than 40 nations under economic sanctions. That's why they have strengthened their military command apparatus around the world, including on the African continent. That's why they using their superior military force and political power to intervene once again into Haiti. So this is a dangerous moment and people have to understand how dangerous this moment really is. I want to move on from this because there are a number of things that we also need to cover, but as we start to wrap up this portion of the conversation, and just as another example of how insidious so much of this is, there's a law professor at Bolt Hall, which is the law school at University of California Berkeley. His name is Steven David Dolf Solomon, and he published an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, October 15th, 2023. And the piece is entitled, and I just lost my, here we go. Here we go. The piece is entitled, don't Hire My anti-Semitic Law Students. Would your clients want an attorney who condones hatred and monstrous crimes? And this is a little bit about what he wrote. I teach corporate law at the University of California Berkeley, and I'm an advisor to the Jewish Law Students Association. My students are largely engaged and well prepared, and I regularly recommend them to legal employers. But if you don't want to hire people who advocate, hate and practice discrimination, don't hire some of my students. anti-Semitic conduct is nothing new on university campuses, including here at Berkeley. And what he's doing here is a number of things. One, again, he's conflating opposition to genocide with antisemitism. He is conflating anti-Zionism with antisemitism. And when law professors at prestigious institutions such as the University of California, Berkeley Bolt Hall start to write to the law firms that they have influence at, in and or over, don't hire my students because their anti-Semitic conduct is nothing new on university campuses, including here at Berkeley. That's dangerous. Ajamu Baraka. Well, it really is, and it is reflective of a tendency that's unfolding across the country, unfortunately. But you know what? Dr. Leon is really encouraging that so many young people, so many students are prepared to make the sacrifice. They have understood that their positions could have a major impact on their careers. If you'll, we have a few students in the Black Alliance of Peace who have been thrown out of school, people who have just done their dissertation defense, and now that's up in the air because they were suspended and banned from the campus. And they knew this was a possibility when they decided to not only join but also lead some of the protests. And that is encouraging because what is happening is that there is a new kind of sensitivity, new kind of awareness that's being developed primarily with the Generation Z regarding violence and war. And if you think about it, it's understandable that this will be the generation that will finally be sick of conflicts because these are folks, Dr. Lehigh, that have never known anything but war. My son is 22 years old, just graduated from Hampton University this past Sunday. Way to go boy, congratulations and has never known peace in his lifetime. He exactly the 21st century has been a century of conflict, a century of war. And this was basically predicted by the project for a new American century that he was committed to using the US' superior military strength to impose the US on the rest of the planet to make sure that the US was the hegemonic power on the planet with no competitors. And that's exactly what they have been doing, beginning with the invasion of Afghanistan and up to today. And so this generation who for the first time doesn't have any illusions about the so-called American Dream that has seen the normalization of mass shootings, that has seen nothing but war and conflict their entire life, now they're being exposed to the horrors of a livestream. Genocide. And they have finally said, enough is enough. And so that is encouraging, and it's the base of the kind of alternative political organizing that many of us are involved in because unless we are able to build a movement powerful enough to put a break on these maniacs who are making policies today, we are on a fast track to human extension, extension. I mean, you look at what's happening in Ukraine and you connect that to Israel. This is a moment that these young people are beginning to understand is a moment in which if they don't make the pivot from just being concerned with genocide and Gaza, as important as that is to this being a generalized movement against war and for peace and for social transformation, then I think they recognize we all are facing an existential threat. The Black Alliance for Peace closes its peace with, as the masses of African people examine with new eyes the relationship between Zionists and Palestine, what will we conclude? Will we fall for the ploy to scapegoat Benjamin Netanyahu for all of Israel's crimes and then fall back to complacency after he is removed from office? Or will we make the connection between Israel and colonialism? Colonialism and capitalism and capitalism and genocide? I'm glad you mentioned in your piece Benjamin Netanyahu, and will we fall for the ploy to scapegoat him? Because what a lot of people don't really appreciate, as you listen to Joe Biden talk about Benjamin Netanyahu needs to go, and Tony Blinken made reference to that. Folks who really don't understand the dynamics and the intricacies of Israeli politics have to understand if you get rid of Netanyahu, who or what does he get replaced with or by? Because most folks don't understand the compromises that Netanyahu had to make in order to remain in power. And he had to compromise if this is even fathomable, he had to compromise with even more hawkish, more racist, more white supremacist elements within that Zionist society than even Netanyahu is. And he's about as racist as one could think they could get. But when you start talking about Morich and you start talking about Ben, I mean these folks are evil personified. They're fascist. And what is interesting about that analysis you just laid out too, is the fact that it is a ploy. And we've been sort of raising this question or trying to help people to this because what they're trying to do is divert attention away from the settler colonial project itself. Its nature and the policies of Benjamin Nhu. But the Nhu policies are reflection of the Israeli society. Over 80% of Israeli society supported the incursion, the invasion of Gaza. There are people who are criticizing the government for not being tough enough. Okay? So it is the project itself. We all have seen those of us who follow this, the images of the Israelis marching with signs kill all the Arabs, death to Arabs, that society has gone actually mad. They really, And many of them, particularly in the West Bank, are carrying weapons supplied by the United States. And these are rogue bans of settlers that are indiscriminately a attacking indigenous Palestinians and murdering them where they stand. I went to the West Bank in 2014 and I saw with my own eyes those kinds of elements, those kinds of racist elements holding guns, one of the most vicious and dangerous places I've ever seen in my life. Lemme add, many of these people weren't born there. These people are from Brooklyn. These folks are from Brooklyn. Exactly. Americans there you could be a Jewish bus rider, a driver one day, and next week you could be a colonialist carrying an M 16 and able to shoot and kill a Palestinian with impunity. But it's a democracy. No, it can't be. It's a democracy. A jama. Yeah. So this is what is being exposed, and this is why we have the uprising and what they don't seem to understand, Dr. Leon, that is the ruling element. There's no reversal. You see these articles where Democrats would say that in essence, this will blow over and people will recognize that the real threat is Donald Trump, and then you'll come back into the fold and vote for Joe. That ain't happening this time, especially even after all of this where you see that Trump is leading across the country, the turnout for Democrats are not going to be anywhere where it needs to be in order to stem this Trump tie. They have really screwed up on this one, the Democrats. I'm glad you raised that point, because there are a lot of people that don't. What those who make those statements do is they try to personalize the atrocities and they try to personalize the policy instead of understanding its American foreign policy. And so when you look at the policies of Joe Biden and you look at a lot of the policies of Donald Trump, Biden has in many regards, been more Trumpian than Trump. Look at, for example, Exactly like you said, it's the same policy. See the cultural war and all that. These are all the only elements that really differentiate these two parties. Underneath that there is unanimity among the ruling elements. Now, there's real conflicts of interest though, because what Trump represents are those class forces that are national. They are the ones that want a bigger piece of the pie within the us, and they feel oppressed by the globalists, by international capital of finance capital. That really is the hegemonic capitalist sector. And so they're the ones that want expanded opportunities. They're the ones that feel threatened by all of this importation coming into the country from places like China understanding that. And they understand this. It ain't just the Chinese government that's importing consumer goods. It's US corporations who use China as a platform to bring stuff into the us. And so they're saying, you all are killing us. The iPhone killing the iPhone is the perfect example. And so that is part of the tension there. And those are the forces that the Trumpian people face represent. But ideologically, they all are connected to. They all support the continuation of the capitalist system. So there's no contradictions there. It is an intro bourgeois struggle, and people make the mistake of allowing themselves to be pulled into that struggle. We've got to define our objective interests and organize around those interests. And when you do that, basically you recognize that it's the duopoly that has to be smashed, that you don't fall prey to all of these games, people being played, the Biden administration, pretending like they're really taking a position against the net, Yahoo and all this kind of crap. I mean, this is about advancing the interests of the most powerful sectors of capital in this country. Final point on this, final point on this, because we could stay on this for a month. Again, just another element of the hypocrisy. So last week, Joe Biden says, I'm taking a stand. I've drawn a line in the sand, and we're not going to send these. We're going to have a pause on these weapons to Israel. Well, today they announced what a $1 billion weapons package on its way to where? On its way to Israel. This is a money laundering scheme. Folks, your tax dollars are being used to buy and send weapons of genocide to the settler colonial state. And remember, it's not like the money's being sent to Israel. This is a lateral transfer, Martin, from of the US state to the pockets of the military industrial complex for the weapons that then get sent to Israel. Say that again, please. This is a lateral transfer from breach. It Closed in the back pew, Reverend Reverend From the conference, from your money's being stolen, taken from you, sent to the military industrial complex, the defense contractors for weapons that are then sent to Israel to commit crimes in your name. Amen. And another example, the US planned to outsource its imperialism in Haiti to Kenya. This is from MSN. The US has long outsourced meddling in Haiti to global south countries. Recently, Kenya has agreed to take over leading a US backed multinational police intervention there justifying its own stabilization mission with Pan-Africanist rhetoric. And William Ruto, the president of Kenya, is scheduled to meet with Joe Biden in the White House on the 23rd of this month as the first, I think it's 200. So-called police. But these are incredibly, incredibly brutal. These aren't New York. This ain't NYPD. This is not LAPD. No. These are US trained brutal hit squads that they're sending in to Haiti via Kenya at the behest of the United States. It's Kenya military. Kenya Military is a misnomer to refer to these forces just as police. That gives us sort of a milder sort of image. If you'll Innocuous, Innocuous. This is a, they're Going to establish law and order. This is a military invasion that is going to result in hundreds of deaths of Haitians because there will be resistance. They've already said there's going to be resistance. And so to save Haiti, supposedly they have imposed this military invasion. Dr. Leon, as you know, one of the things that really has made Western colonialism so effective has always been its ability to divide people, to have people who are people working with them who actually should be against 'em. So here we have one of the most egregious examples of that in this period, with the Kenyas being recruited to front for us white power. In that article or one of the other articles they talked about, they imply that this was, it didn't have a race component to it, that because these are black intervention of troops coming from Kenya and Jamaica and Grenada, that this is just solidarity. This is Pan-African solidarity, and they're using that term stabilization. This is, but this is the white mans bird. This is white saviorism in blackface. The Power behind this, I call it minstrel diplomacy. It's a black face on white imperialism. Exactly. It's menstrual diplomacy. They might as well just start singing mammy, Who's paying for this? The us? How did you move troops from Kenya all the way over to hay Kenya? Just don't have that capacity. Who Feeds them? Who supports them? Who provides the logistics for them? And anybody who believes that a government and a society that can justify genocide, supporting genocide in Gaza, they then turn around and are supposed to be concerned about black life in Haiti. You got to be a fool. I got a bridge for you to sell. I mean, you've got to ask the right questions, folks. Why is the US involved in this? When has the US been on the right side of history in any question? When has the US really been committed to any kind of humanitarian, anything? So this is another move by the US to strengthen itself in the Caribbean and in our region. When we say our region, we say that we are part of the broader Americas. America isn't just the United States of America. America are all of the nations in the Caribbean and in Central and South America. And we have a campaign, the Black Alliance of Peace, where we say that we support the idea of making this region a zone of peace. And we say the only way we can make this a result of peace, we have to eject the US from this region. One of the things that they love to talk about as it relates to Haiti and the violence in Haiti, all these armed gangs that are roaming the roaming the countryside like feral cats or wolves or whatever. And I haven't heard anybody talk about the weapons that these individuals are carrying. Where do the weapons come from and who pays for the weapons? And here's some very simple data. The average Haitian makes $1,694 in a year, $1,694 in a year. That's $4 and 64 cents a day. A sniper rifle costs about $1,800. Where does a Haitian, who makes $4 and 64 cents a day if he or she's lucky amass the money to buy an $1,800 sniper rifle, a 40 caliber Beretta pistol cost close to a thousand dollars, you make $4 and 64 cents a day. Where are you getting these weapons? How are they getting into the country? We don't hear. It goes back to the adage, don't start nothing. It won't be nothing. If the United States were not behind fanning the flames of this unrest, there wouldn't be any unrest. Ajamu Baraka, You're absolutely right. I mean, this is the importation of these weapons. It's all part of a process. You have different sectors of the Haitian ruling class have basically their own paramilitaries And they control the ports, But they're called gangs here at the us. Right? And the other thing that we have to make sure that we are very clear on all of this activity, the vast majority of this, so-called gang activity is centralized in port nce the capital, you go outside Port Prince, it's relatively normal. They're not roaming the countryside basically. It's a porter prince kind of thing. It's a power kind of thing. Okay? And so you're right. This is the military aspect of the conflict, the struggles among sectors of the ruling class in Haiti, the what we call copy doors who are in a cahoots with the powerful economic sectors outside of Haiti, primarily the us but also the Canadians, and even France. So this is another economic struggle being translated into a armed struggle in Haiti. And quickly talk about, because a lot of people listening to this would ask the question, well, what's behind all of this? Why Haiti? And we know the historic aspects of this in terms of the first successful slave uprising throwing France out of Haiti in the 18 hundreds. We know that story, but connecting the dots in the current context, this is I believe a huge, one of the elements is a preemptive move against China. As the United States continues to try to bait China into a war over Taiwan, the United States realizes that they're going to lose access to their cheaper Chinese labor sources. And there is a lot of labor in Haiti. A lot of, again, folks make $4 and 64 cents a day in Haiti. If you look at where Haiti is located, the United States wants to build a naval base in Haiti as another stopgap measure to protect the Pacific. We know that there's oil, some geologists have estimated there's more oil off the coast of Haiti than there is off the coast of Venezuela. We know about the relationship between Nicaragua and China. China wants to build a Suez type canal through Nicaragua. The United States doesn't want that to happen. So a lot of this has, I believe, to do with preemptive measures that the United States is taking in anticipation of what's happening in other places. Your thoughts, sir? I think you're right. I mean, the geopolitics are quite clear that Haiti is one of the largest countries in the Caribbean, if not the largest. And as you said, it is a haven for cheap labor. There's significant foreign investment taking advantage of that cheap labor right now. It has those potential deposits of oil off the coast and politically is key. We remember the connection that was made between Haiti and Venezuela for a few years. And so making sure that Haiti does not move to The petro project, Petro, Where Venezuela was providing Haiti oil below market rates, so way Below So Haiti could then sell the oil generate revenue for itself. And that was seen as a threat to US imperialism. And so those kind of political connections, they understand what many people and many of your listers may not know. Also, they are very strong currents of progressivism or leftism, if you will, in Haing. And the biggest fear that US has is those forces actually able to take power in Haiti that would transform geopolitics in this region. And so yeah, that's why they are intervening. That's why they have encouraged other countries in the Caribbean to be a part of this, The Bahamas, Jamaica, Grenada, to be part of this, what I call neoliberal Pan-Africanism, because they want to keep Haiti in their pocket. Look, the so-called governing council, they just put in place in order to serve on that governing council, you had to commit of this transitional council. You had to commit to the US intervention. You had to be in alignment with it. If not, you are not going to be allowed to serve on that transitional ruling council. And they talk about elections in Haiti, but they talk about the possibility of elections in 2026. So this is not a democratic intervention. This is not on behalf of the interest of Haiti. This is about the interest of US imperialism. Final question. Talk about this in a broader context of a number of African countries demanding now that the United States militarily leave their countries. Niger has done this. I think Chad is demanding that the United States take its troops out. I think Mali is making a similar request. And reen Jean Pierre, by the way, a Haitian American press secretary for the administration says that Ruto coming from Kenya to the United States, that the United States is going to need African leadership in order to promote the United States interest. I'm paraphrasing, but that's their basic point. So once again, menstrual diplomacy of black face on the racist administrative message. But talk about that quickly, please. In the broader context of African countries demanding that the United States leave their soil militarily First, if the US was really interested in African leadership, it would've listened to African leadership that were trying to bring about a peaceful resolution of the situation in Libya before NATO went in and destroyed that state. So we know that's all BS across the African continent. Yes, particularly in the Sahel region, you have these progressive militaries that have taken power because the civilian institutions have been so weak, and one of the first moves they've been making is to try to authentic sovereignty. What they discovered was you cannot be sovereign if you have foreign military troops in your country and that these troops act like and behave as though it's their country. And you can't be sovereign if you don't control your economy and the resources under your soil. Exactly. And so they've been invited to in fact leave, and they are leaving. The US is still dragging its feet in leisure, but this is catching on. And now with we're have time to talk about what's happening with Senegal, but you have another progressive change where the French are going to probably end up being pushed even out of Senegal. So you have a massive transformation taking place on the African continent in this section of Africa for now. But the model is a model that is now threatening to many of the other Conor leaders on the African continent that real change may be in the works. We may have in fact an authentic Pan-African movement. Finally, once again, Folks, I have to thank my guest brother Ajamu Baraka for joining me today. Brother Baraka, thank you so much. Greatly, greatly appreciate it. My pleasure. My pleasure. Thank you all so much for listening to the Connecting the Dots podcast with me, Dr. Wier Leon. Stay tuned. New episodes every week. Also, please follow and subscribe. Leave a review, share the show, follow us on social media. You can find all the links below in the show description. Do us a huge, huge, huge favor. Go to Patreon, please, and contribute. This is not an inexpensive venture to engage in, and your support is greatly, greatly appreciated. And as you all can see every week, you're getting a hell of a lot for your money. Remember, this is where the analysis of politics, culture, and history converge because talk without analysis is just chatter, and we don't chatter here on connecting the dots. See you again next time. Until then, I'm Dr. Wimer Leon. Have a good one. We're out. Peace. Connecting the dots with Dr. Wilmer Leon, where the analysis of politics, culture, and history converge.

This week on CounterSpin: U.S. corporate media's story about Haiti is familiar. Haiti, according to various recent reports, has “whipped from one calamity to another.” The country is a “cataclysm of hunger and terror,” “teetering on the brink of collapse,” “spiraling deeper into chaos” or else “descending into gang-fueled anarchistic chaos.” It's “become a dangerously rudderless country.” According to one Florida paper's editorial, “Haiti's unrest” is now “becoming our problem,” as Floridians and the U.S. “struggle to help people in Haiti, although history suggests there are no answers.” According to The Washington Post, there is one answer. They made space for a former ambassador to explain that 20 years ago in Haiti, “the worst outcomes were avoided through decisive American intervention. Today's crisis might require it as well.” We talk about what has to change — including Western media presentations that ignore or erase even recent history — with Chris Bernadel, from the Black Alliance for Peace‘s Haiti/Americas Team and Haitian grassroots group Moleghaf.   The post Chris Bernadel on Haiti appeared first on KPFA.

Musa Springer, Erica Caines, & Onyesonwu Chatoyer from Hood Communist join Breht O'Shea to discuss their participation in The Second International Meeting of Theoretical Publications of Left Parties and Movements in Havana, Cuba before discussing the history and current events playing out in Haiti. Together they converse about their time in Cuba, the various speeches they gave at the event, the ongoing embargo and its impacts, recent protests in Cuba, internationalism, the Zone of Peace campaign by the Black Alliance for Peace, US imperialism, the history of colonialism in Haiti, current events in Haiti, how Haiti is portrayed by Western corporate media, and much more! Links: Hood Communist Blog Venceremos Brigade All-African People's Revolutionary Party (Florida) Liberation Through Reading Black Alliance for Peace (ATL) Join BAP Groundings Podcast  

On March 17, the International Coalition to Stop Genocide in Palestine (ICSGP) held its first Global Call to Action as a webinar moderated by Ajamu Baraka of The Black Alliance for Peace and featuring Azhar Sakoor, a lawyer and executive with the Palestine Solidarity Alliance Youth League in South Africa, Marcy Winograd with CODEPINK, Pavel Wargan, the Coordinator of the Secretariat at the Progressive International, Lamis Deek, a Palestinian born and internationally practicing attorney based in New York, and Fuad Abu Saif, Director of the Union of Agricultural Work Committees - Palestine. Listen to some of their presentations edited here for the program. You can watch the full webinar at PopularResistance.org: https://popularresistance.org/international-coalition-to-stop-genocide-in-palestine-global-call-for-action/. 

Guest: Charisse Burden-Stelly is associate Professor of African American studies at Wayne state. and a member of the Black Alliance for Peace Research and Political Education Team. She is the c-editor, along with Jodi Dean, of the book ORGANIZE, FIGHT, WIN: Black Communist Women's Political Writing. The post The Black Women in The Communist Party 1919-1956 appeared first on KPFA.

Welcome to ST as the genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, and increasing attacks on Palestinians on the West Bank, an on-line event was held on March 10th 2024. The program uplifted the stories and voices of women living in Palestine, they participated in an event that marked IWD entitled “we stand with Palestinian women, children, and their families against the Israel/US genocide including bombing and starvation”. The program also included the voice of a Palestinian American woman on the impact of the on-going genocide in Gaza on Palestinian children and families living in the US. The event was called by the Global Women's Strike and Women of Color/GWS. We were joined by a wide-ranging planning group that brought women and men across movements standing in solidarity with and offering practical support via the Middle East Children's Alliance to women, children and their families in Palestine. We worked directly with the Middle East Children's Alliance in organizing the event. In addition to the planning group sponsoring organizations included: Alexandria House; Rev. Annie Chambers; Black Alliance for Just Immigration; Black Lives Matter/LA; Every Mother is a Working Mother Network; Haiti Action Committee; Indigenous Environmental Network; International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network; Katea Stitt Program Director of Pacifica Radio's WPFW, La Resistencia, Long Beach Area Peace Network; Los Angeles Baby Cooperative; Military Families Speak Out; Movement for Family Power; Orange County Peace Coalition; Payday men's network; Peace, Justice, Sustainability NOW!; Pete White, Founder of LA CAN; Robin D. G. Kelley; San Pedro Neighbors for Peace & Justice; Social Welfare Action Alliance; Social Workers Ending Poverty Together; US PROStitutes Collective; Veterans for Peace Chapter 110; Veterans for Peace LA; We Stand Up for All; Welfare Warriors; Women's March Foundation Los AngelesThe voices of Palestinian women are rarely heard, so we are glad to bring you their voices on today's program.

Welcome to ST as the genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, and increasing attacks on Palestinians on the West Bank, an on-line event was held on March 10th 2024. The program uplifted the stories and voices of women living in Palestine, they participated in an event that marked IWD entitled “we stand with Palestinian women, children, and their families against the Israel/US genocide including bombing and starvation”. The program also included the voice of a Palestinian American woman on the impact of the on-going genocide in Gaza on Palestinian children and families living in the US. The event was called by the Global Women's Strike and Women of Color/GWS. We were joined by a wide-ranging planning group that brought women and men across movements standing in solidarity with and offering practical support via the Middle East Children's Alliance to women, children and their families in Palestine. We worked directly with the Middle East Children's Alliance in organizing the event. In addition to the planning group sponsoring organizations included: Alexandria House; Rev. Annie Chambers; Black Alliance for Just Immigration; Black Lives Matter/LA; Every Mother is a Working Mother Network; Haiti Action Committee; Indigenous Environmental Network; International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network; Katea Stitt Program Director of Pacifica Radio's WPFW, La Resistencia, Long Beach Area Peace Network; Los Angeles Baby Cooperative; Military Families Speak Out; Movement for Family Power; Orange County Peace Coalition; Payday men's network; Peace, Justice, Sustainability NOW!; Pete White, Founder of LA CAN; Robin D. G. Kelley; San Pedro Neighbors for Peace & Justice; Social Welfare Action Alliance; Social Workers Ending Poverty Together; US PROStitutes Collective; Veterans for Peace Chapter 110; Veterans for Peace LA; We Stand Up for All; Welfare Warriors; Women's March Foundation Los AngelesThe voices of Palestinian women are rarely heard, so we are glad to bring you their voices on today's program.

Musa and Tunde from the ATL chapter of the Black Alliance for Peace join Breht to discuss the GILEE Program (Georgia International Law Enforcement Exchange) and its implications, the construction of Cop City (and the plans for more), the militarization of police in an era of capitalist and liberal crisis, Israel and its connections to GILEE, the Palestinian Liberation movement, "Black Mecca" and its class contradictions, and what all this means for our near-future... Check out BAP-Atlanta HERE Check out the Groundings Podcast HERE Check out Demilitarize US to Palestine HERE Follow BAP on Twitter or on Insta Outro Song by Liberation Beats ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Get 15% off any book in the Left Wing Books Library HERE   Support Rev Left Radio Follow Rev Left on IG 

Find me and the show on social media @DrWilmerLeon on X (Twitter), Instagram, and YouTube Facebook page is www.facebook.com/Drwilmerleonctd TRANSCRIPT: Announcer (00:06): Connecting the dots with Dr. Wilmer Leon, where the analysis of politics, culture, and history converge. Wilmer Leon (00:13): Welcome to the Connecting the Dots podcast with Dr. Wilmer Leon. I'm Wilmer Leon. So here's the point. We have a tendency to view current events as though they occur in a vacuum, failing to understand the broader historical context in which most events take place. During each episode of this show, my guest and I will have probing, provocative and in-depth discussions that connect the dots between current events and the broader historical context in which these events occur. This will enable you to better understand and analyze the events that impact the global village in which we live on today's episode. The issue before us is anti imperialism in the US today. What is it and what is it not? And for insight into this, my guest for the discussion is the chair of the coordinating committee for the Black Alliance for Peace, an editor and contributing columnist for the Black Agenda Report and the Green Party candidate for vice president of the United States in 2016. Ajamu Baraka, as always my brother. Welcome. Ajamu Baraka (01:21): Good to be here, Dr. Leon. Thank you. Wilmer Leon (01:24): So today's topic is based on a piece in Oroco Tribune entitled Anti Imperialism in the US Today, what it Is and Is not. It's written by Stanfield Smith and he opens his piece by quoting the late Cuban president, Fidel Castro, saying there is an enemy that can be called universal, an enemy whose attitude and whose actions threaten the whole world, bully the whole world. That universal enemy is Yankee imperialism. Ajamu your thoughts on Castro's assessment, especially in the context of the recent president Joe Biden and a bipartisan group of lawmakers urging the Republican controlled House of Representatives to take up this $95 billion military aid package for Ukraine, for Israel and Taiwan and other allies, especially understanding if the United States wasn't using Ukraine as a proxy, you wouldn't need that money. The United States is funding the genocide in Gaza and is also trying to use Taiwan as the tip of the spear against China. Ajamu Baraka. Ajamu Baraka (02:45): Well thank you so much for that question because it's a very important question and a very important conversation that we have to have. Fidel's position is in alignment with my position, the position I've been advocating or arguing for the last few years that one of the issues among left forces in the US primarily and also in Western Europe is that they seem not to understand the difference between a primary and the secondary contradiction. That is that they don't seem to recognize that for many of us in the colonized world, in the global south, in the northern states, but in those parts of the northern states where we are exploited and nationally oppressed, that for us the primary enemy, if you'll emanates primarily from the US and is Western European allies, we see the US and Western European allies as Fidel sees them as in fact representing an existential threat to the rest of collective humanity. (04:02) Therefore, that enemy becomes the primary objective of our political activity. Now, some western left leftists, they confused by that and so they will look at some of the issues or contradictions and some of the emergent socialists countries or countries with socialist aspirations, countries that are just trying to build some kind of progressive movement in their nations to have some breathing room for development but who find themselves as a consequence in the crosshairs of the US and US policies attempting to undermine their projects and these leftists will focus in on those internal issues, giving left coverage and rationalization for the targeting of those nations. We see that as fundamentally contradictory. We see that as in fact reactionary confusing what should be the primary objective, which is the defeat of Western imperialism with the internal issues in these various states as equal and they are primary and secondary contradictions are in fact that they are different. Wilmer Leon (05:28): You mentioned the United States and its Western European allies and what is even ironic now is many of those Western European allies are finding themselves being victimized by US imperialism. We're looking at over the last seven months to a year a dramatic decline in productivity in Germany as a result of the United States blowing up the Nord Stream pipeline. Now Europe is having to pay exorbitant amounts of money for natural gas. We find that impacting Britain, we find that impacting France. We find that all over Europe and and now for example, for those who may have listened to the interview with Russian president Putin and he's supposed to be the villain and Donald Trump mentions moving away from NATO and folks in the United States were screaming, how can Donald Trump talk about NATO like that in the United States attacked a NATO ally in act of war in blowing up Nord stream. So again, you mentioned the US and its allies and now American imperialism is even attacking its Western European allies. Ajamu Baraka (06:57): Exactly. I mean it's really amazing. I mean look, one of the objectives of the proxy war in Ukraine was in fact to ensure that there would be policies that would disarticulate the Russian economy from western Europe, specifically from the German economy. And the objective there was to weaken the German economy and also by extension various Western economies in order to make the further exploitation and in fact the intensification of the exploitation of the European market more favorable to US capital and the Europeans and the European ruling class fell right into that trap and to make sure that that plan was successful. As you indicated in your question, the US ensured that there would be no backsliding by blowing up Nord Stream two. They knew that once the German workers, once many European workers and even parts of the middle class woke up to the fact that they had got suckered into supporting this aggressive war in Ukraine and that they were being negatively impacted, that there'd be political pressure on these various states to reverse course and to reengage with the Russians. Whether us said, oh no, you're not going backwards. In fact we're going to make sure that by blowing up this pipeline and making sure that you remain now dependent on the importation of liquified natural gas coming from where from the us as Anthony said, the secretary of state of this is a marvelous opportunity. And so that was part of the objective of this war. It was a war to enhance the positionality of US capital in Europe. Wilmer Leon (09:08): In fact, going back to, I made reference to Vladimir Putin's interview with Tucker Carlson and Putin raised the question, he says, well, you blew up part of Nord stream because folks don't know there's Nord stream one and Nord stream two. He said, you blew up part of Nord stream, one of the pipes still works. Why don't you turn it up? He said, Europe can get natural gas from Russia through Ukraine. There are pipelines running through Ukraine that could carry natural gas to Europe. He says, turn it up. He says, there are pipelines that run from Russia through Poland. You can get natural gas through Poland. He says, why don't you turn those up? It all goes back to Western hegemony and imperialism. Ajamu Baraka (09:58): It goes back to the issue of the European ruling class that understanding that they have interest that are really counter those of the US and that irrational policy of allowing themselves to be suckered into this proxy war and not looking out for their own national interests is resulting in real political issues within their countries. Not only the issue of natural gas. You and I talked about on another one of your programs, this issue with using the Ukrainian war, the US capitol that's gone in and basically bought up some of the best land in Ukraine and are now exporting from Ukraine various agricultural products. They are using the war as a battery realm to avoid or to circumvent the requirements of the importation of agricultural products across Europe and imposing the products from Ukraine into various European markets as an act of solidarity. Well, the problem with that of course is it's undermining the positions of European farmers across Western Europe. (11:24) And so you find that farmers and places like France and other countries, I say, Hey, wait a minute, we are now losing money because of our markets now being flooded with wheat and other products coming in from Ukraine. What is this? We have to engage in production by very clear meticulous requirements, regulations, and now using this solidarity issue with the Ukrainian war, you are undermining our position. You're undermining our ability to make a living. And so that's causing real political issues in these various nations. So these policies being pursued by these European nations are really such that they are putting themselves in a position where they are creating issues for themselves politically that they're going to find it very difficult to reverse very soon, as a matter of fact in the next few months. Wilmer Leon (12:34): And in fact to that point talking about agriculture, there are farmers in Germany that have been protesting for weeks. They're dumping manure in the roads, they're doing a lot of activism, real on the ground, practical activism to show their resistance to the policies that you're mentioning. And also they're incredibly angry because a lot of the subsidies that the government was providing to them in order to offset the price differentials that they were experiencing as a result of flooding the market with Ukrainian products, those subsidies have been cut if not totally eliminated as the German government, as the French government, as other EU countries are sending more money to Ukraine, so many of them, many of these Western Europeans are experiencing a lot of the same issues there that many in the United States are suffering here. As our infrastructure is in decline as our schools are underfunded, as healthcare costs are going up and people are, as homelessness is on the rise, we can find 95 billion to send to Ukraine and to send to Israel and to send to Taiwan. All three of those fights are fights that would not be ongoing if the United States hadn't started them. But we can't seem to find the way to take care of Americans here in the United States. Ajamu Baraka (14:05): We can't find the way Dr. Leon because we can't have an honors and open and free national conversation because the same interests that are advancing themselves in Western Europe of the same interests that control the means of communication in the us. And so therefore a conversation with the people of the US around what really makes sense in terms of policy. Does it make sense to have 886 billion devoted toward defense? So-called defense or should we use some of those resources to in fact address issues of homelessness, invest in education, create the conditions where everybody can have access to healthcare pay for free education up to through the university level. US population is paying a price for supporting the policies that only are benefiting a small minority of the population, in fact about 1% of the population. So that kind of understanding that kind of discussion, it's not taking place, it's only taking place in spaces like this in alternative media spaces and as a consequence it makes it very difficult for us to turn the corner with advancing policies that make more sense, that address the real interest of the American people Wilmer Leon (15:49): And in this piece, anti imperialism in the US today, what it is and is not Stansfield Smith, he draws the distinction between progressives and anti-imperialist. He says that imperialism uses human rights and democracy issues in countries that it is targeting for regime change as a rationale for foreign interference and that many progressives swallow and even join in these disinformation campaigns to support these moves where in contrast, anti-imperialist, they focus on uncovering and bringing to light US disinformation and interference in national sovereignty. So can you elaborate a little bit on this issue? He talks about progressives versus anti-imperialist you use in many instances, use the term the left if you could because we hear these references, we hear these terms baned about all the time and many people mistakenly think that they're all the same, but in fact they're not. Ajamu Baraka (17:01): Well, they really aren't and I'm glad you raised that question. I think the way Stanfield is using that term and many others, when you talk about progressives, you're really talking about liberals and maybe social Democrats. That is those individuals who have politics and very similar to say for example Bernie Sanders who's a social democrat, who have a soft socialistic orientations Bernie Sanders, Cornell West, as opposed to elements of the left that are not only anti imperialists but of course politics that suggest that this global system of colonial capitalism has to be transcended and be replaced with a new kind of political economy, one that's organized around socialistic lines. And so that to me constitutes the left, the real left if you will. But even within that camp, if you'll, there's still some issues in terms of how one gets to socialism and that's where you have some of the confusion because even among the left, they will sometimes find themselves inadvertently often providing political cover to the US because they are in opposition to a particular nation's experiment, be it Nicaragua, Cuba or Venezuela, Peru or Bolivia, that if the politics aren't developing in ways in which these western leftists believe they should be developing, if they don't correspond to some kind of imagined model, then they will, they begin to criticize those experiments at the same time, did those experiments find themselves in the crossheads of US subversion? (19:08) That's backward. It's backward and it's contradictory. So that is the issue that Smith is alluding to in that very important article. Dr. Leon? Yes, there's another element to this, okay, (19:25) Even the way in which the bourgeoisie, meaning the bourgeoisie, meaning the ruling class has used and weaponized democracy and human rights in order to obscure real interest in undermining these various nations as a consequence of gods. They're not going to be able to use those weapons like they did in the past because they have now been exposed. It's quite clear to so many people around the world and even people within the US the hypocrisy of those positions. What happened to the responsibility to protect a component of humanitarian intervention in order to protect the human rights of certain collectives? It doesn't exist when it comes to the Palestinians. So they have undermined in their own short-term greed and their own short-term pursuits to undermine a very important and powerful weapon that used to use to be able to obscure their reactionary politics Wilmer Leon (20:39): To that. It is really amazing when you look at how long the been exposed to the genocide, how long that struggle has been ongoing and how quickly things turn post October 6th. One of the ways that I have described it is I tell people that Israel has bombed the world into reality that now that this horror, now that this genocide is playing itself out on your telephone screens, not to mention your computers and your home screens, the atrocities, the reality of these atrocities have just decimated the myths Ajamu Baraka (21:39): Exactly, and they're never going to be able to return back to the ideological status quo. They have exposed themselves, we are seen behind the curtain and we understand now the reality of the naked power that they are exercising to try to maintain their global control. We now see the nature of the settler colonial project in Israel, and by extension we are getting a better understanding of the settler colonial project in the territory called the United States of America. At the core of these projects is the reality of naked violence to establish those regimes and to maintain them. So that understanding of the nature of colonialism coupled with a deeper understanding of the nature of capitalism disconnected is radicalizing millions of people across the globe and millions of people within the US So the politics going forward are going to be fundamentally different, but it's going to be different but even more dangerous. (22:53) Dr. Leon, why without the ideological weapon that they were able to use to impose conformity and support for their policies, now they're going to be more and more dependent on the use of naked force. That's why you find the naked use of force in various local environments. That's why you see in Atlanta, for example, the use of RICO laws to criminalize the opposition to cop city. These are examples of the hysterical reaction from the rulers to this change in consciousness. That's why the O rule three is facing federal prosecution because of their to the policies in Ukraine. So the repressive apparatus and the repressive network of the state is being strengthened and being utilized against this growing consciousness that's being manifested within the United States of America. Wilmer Leon (24:06): And another place where I believe that we're going to see this manifest itself is in the Middle East itself. Hassan Nala, the head of Hezbollah in Lebanon recently gave a speech where he said, and I'll paraphrase, he said, basically for as horrific as all of this is, he said, this is really going beyond the Palestinians and that this is an issue for the entire region. And there have been a number of interpretations of that statement. What that says to me is he is not only speaking to the Palestinians that he and speaking to Anah in Yemen and others, he's letting the United States know he's letting the west know that you all are about to start a global conflict that he's saying everybody in the pool and because they see themselves as facing a common oppressor, they see themselves facing a common enemy and he's saying, you all are about to ignite a fuse, the likes of which you will not be able to exterminate or put out, and it's going to be all adults in the pool, and the result isn't going to be very positive, Ajamu Baraka (25:34): Dr. Leon, and what's going to really like that is if there is in fact a ground assault in Rafa, the Egyptians have already said that that can very easily result in the cancellation of Camp David, the Saudis have said that there's going to be dire circumstances. This is going to see what has happened is that these policies have forced these monarchs and all of these Arab and Muslim right-wing elements to have to respond to the pressure that they're feeling from their own populations. So horrific what is happening in Gaza, they can no longer collaborate under the table with the us. They are being now forced to take more forthright positions in opposition to what is happening in Palestine that you couple, what is happening on the Israeli Lebanon border was Hezbollah. You look at what is happening with the Hutu that have basically shut down shipping as it relates to ships going into and supporting Israel, and you see that these unwise policies are creating a situation that can very easily span out of control and even elements within the US believe that this has gone too far. (27:16) And that's why you find some fleeting commentary from genocide, Joe talking about that the Israelis have gone over the top because now they understand the real possibility of this igniting a regional conflict that they're not going to be able to control. If it does in fact lead to that, and they know that you have leadership in Israel, you have a lunatic that's in power. You have a right wing racist settler regime that is engaged in murder, not only supporting the murder in Gaza, but they are actively murdering Palestinians on the West Bank. Over 400 Palestinians have been murdered by settlers since October the seventh. So this is creating a situation that's untenable, and so there has to be a pullback. Yesterday the Moody credit agency downgraded Israeli stocks and downgraded the economy. So there is a real economic consequence now developing. So it's a very dangerous situation that the wiser elements of the international ruling class is saying, we've got to get a hold of this Wilmer Leon (28:47): And talk about how this hypocrisy of the United States has been exposed, is being exposed and the international reaction, what I mean by that is as we sit and look at the genocide that is taking place in Gaza and the United States is paying for it, the United States is arming it. And on one hand you hear Tony Blinken saying, I'm traversing the region, I'm talking to the leaders. I'm asking them to be very careful. Basically what he's saying is he's asking for a kinder, gentler genocide and Joe Biden is saying that we are concerned about the Palestinians and while in fact he's not telling Netanyahu, I'll just pull the plug on your money and we'll put a stop to this thing in about two or three days, days. What's your take your sense as you travel the world and speak to those around the world, how is that hypocrisy resonating around the world? Ajamu Baraka (29:54): The result of this is that the US has lost prestige, will never regained, that the world understands that the US and Europe is basically finished and that nations are deciding that they're going to put their eggs is a different basket, and that basket is called bricks. This emerging group of nations that now control something like 36% of global GDP as opposed to the G seven that's controlling about 30%, the shift has already taken place materially. Now the shift is taking place ideologically and politically. So it is a shift in momentum is a recognition that for all intents and purposes, the decline of the west is irreversible, but it's also a recognition of the danger that all of this poses for all of us because it becomes quite clear when you see the support that all of the western nations have given to the Israeli fascists that the west is prepared to blow up the world before they voluntarily surrender power. Wilmer Leon (31:19): Now wait a minute. Wait a minute. Elaborate on that because a lot of people will hear you say, blow up the world. Oh, that's hyperbole. Oh, he's just being over the top. Oh, that Aja mu Baraka. He's so dramatic. But no, that's real talk. Ajamu Baraka (31:36): Yeah, it really is because they're still flirty with the possibility of nuclear confrontation in Ukraine. There's still the possibility of some kind of wild and reckless attack by the Israelis on Iran and even the use of a nuclear weapon. There is the situation we haven't touched on yet, that is the unwise policies of the part of the US in providing support to and propping up and encouragement to the government on the island of Taiwan, the provocative moves being made in the South China Sea, the whole pivot toward Asia. There is always the possibility of these situations escalating to a nuclear confrontation. And it seems like that there are elements within the foreign policy community that believe that they in fact can not only escalate, but they can engage in a first strike and win. There are people openly talking like Dr. Strange love and talking about the possibility of winning a nuclear confrontation. (32:55) That's what makes it so incredibly dangerous because when you have missiles in western Europe, for example, in and Poland and Romania and other places that are theoretically defensive according to the us, but the Russians know that they can be recalculated if you'll or refitted in a matter of minutes and to become offensive, which means that you have the ability to strike from say, Poland to Moscow in six minutes. Now you have the Russians who are on a head trigger alert, they have to launch on warning because you can't allow your nuclear arsenal to be caught in the silos. So when you had situations in the past where there were computer glitches where one side thought that the other side had launched, launched, we had 30 minutes to correct it, we have documented situations where that in fact happened at least on two or three occasions. How do you do that when you are on a trigger hair launch or warning in six minutes? So it's very, very dangerous. So that's what we are referring to. This is not hyperbole. People talk about in five years I'm going to be doing so and so and so I'm like, are you sure you're going to be here in five years? Yeah, I'm being dramatic because I'm being for real. We can see the possibilities of these maniacs escalating a situation to the point of a nuclear confrontation because the amateurs, Dr. Leon, (34:36) The gap between the leadership in places like Russia and China and the US and in western Europe, it's never been bigger before. They don't know what they are doing and that's what makes us so incredibly dangerous for all of us. Wilmer Leon (34:54): You just mentioned the mistake being made, and that is not theoretical. I want to say it was 1983, a Russian, I don't even know what his title is, but he's in a silo in a Russian silo. His name is Stanislav Petrov, and he is a missile technician, I'll call him, sitting in a Russian silo looking at his screen and he sees a blip on his screen. And the protocol is when you see this blip, you push a button and when you push that button, silos open, missiles come up, we're ready to launch. But he thinks that there's something wrong with the blip on his screen. And thank God he did because by his taking just a couple of minutes to be rational and to think, what he found out was it wasn't an incoming missile. It was a mistake in a software program that miscalculated or misinterpreted something that was transpiring. (36:05) So that was 1983. Folks can look this up. Stanislav Petrov is his name, and if it hadn't been for him, we would've been in a nuclear conflict. What you just talked about in terms of missiles in Poland and Yugoslavia and other places, that's one of the big reasons why Russian president Putin is so hell bent on Ukraine not becoming a part of nato because he says, and he's right, if Ukraine becomes a part of nato, NATO will put missiles in Ukraine. You've now cut my response time from seven or eight minutes to three minutes, which means Stanislav petrov, God bless his soul, that doesn't work anymore. Launch on notice. And the other point is Putin has made this point a number of times saying, look, you guys got to understand something. I got missiles too. I got missiles like you got missiles. And in the west that gets spun as Vladimir Putin is threatening to use nuclear weapons. No, what he's telling you is if you think you can come in here and punch me in the face, understand I can punch back. I have what you have. And now what we're seeing from a technological perspective is what they got is a little better then what we're used to seeing. So this is not hyperbole, this is not fantasy. This is real talk. Ajamu Baraka (37:59): Yeah, no, they have demonstrated with supersonic weapons that they have Wilmer Leon (38:04): Hypersonic Ajamu Baraka (38:05): Hypersonic weapons. They have a technological advantage of us and not been able to catch up with yet. It's very dangerous Wilmer Leon (38:14): Minute. Wait a minute. To that point, when President Biden, I'm sorry to interrupt you, but I want people to understand this isn't theoretical high hyperbole. When Joe Biden sent the USS Gerald Ford into the Mediterranean Sea as a show of force to Hezbollah and to the Houthis, Vladimir Putin said, Joe, why are you doing this? You're not scaring anybody, you're not scar. He said, these people don't scare, and oh, by the way, we can sink your aircraft carrier from the Black Sea with our armed missiles, the Ken Jaw missiles, he said, and they're hypersonic. You won't even know they're coming until your aircraft carrier is sinking. That's real talk. Ajamu Baraka (39:19): And what's also kind of funny but tragic at the same time is that while they are engaged in provocative activity in the Endo Pacific region outside of Taiwan and in the Taiwan straits, the Pentagon has war games, a confrontation between the US and China, and I think we talked about it before, and they were lost every time, Wilmer Leon (39:48): 25 out of 25. Ajamu Baraka (39:50): So it's like, what are these people doing? What are you doing? The whole concept that was coming out of the project for a new American century in which they argued that the US had the capacity to fight two theater wars simultaneously that should have been put to rest when they lost both in Afghanistan and in Iraq, basically global solve nations. But now they are actually a few months ago you thought they were really going insane because they are fighting in Ukraine and they are fighting in Ukraine. Make a mistake about that is the Ukrainians are dying, but this is a Western and US ward, while at the same time they were needling the Chinese. So it's like what? You all are going to fight the Russians and the Chinese at the same time? It wasn't making and they Wilmer Leon (40:48): Are allies. Ajamu Baraka (40:51): Yeah, well, part of the conflict, Wilmer Leon (40:54): You got to throw North Korea in there too. Ajamu Baraka (40:56): Well, part of the conflict water of the element that we didn't talk about, when you talk about what's happening in Ukraine in terms of the secondary objectives of this proxy war, it was to weaken the Russians to the point where they would not be a very effective ally to the Chinese. The target was not just Russia, it was Germany as we talked about, and the Chinese. So they were creating a situation where they were going to win regardless of what happened in their own imagination. Wilmer Leon (41:27): There are some neocons that thought you could go at China directly. There were some neocons that believed that you could go at Russia directly, and then there were others who believed the way you get to China, you've got to go through Russia. Ajamu Baraka (41:42): Yes, exactly. All Wilmer Leon (41:44): Are wrong. All are wrong. Ajamu Baraka (41:47): They were proven wrong. I mean the Russian economy was supposed to be destroyed, be destroyed as a consequence of this conflict. And as Putin indicated in that interview that the Russian economy is stronger than there's ever been. Every time they have imposed series of sanctions against the Russians. Even Putin said this a couple of years ago, it allowed him to impose economic reforms that he couldn't have done without the sanctions. He made the oligarchy disengage from the European economy and reinvest and the Russian economy. So they have become more economically independent as a consequence of these sanctions. So it's always been counterproductive and you have some realists in the US foreign policy community that predicted that. But the realists have had to take a second, have had to stand back and allow these neocons who have been driving policy in both parties for the last 20 years basically or more. And the result is the US is weaker than it's ever been since the end of the second imperialist war that we call World War ii. Wilmer Leon (43:14): Another example, and I think a more practical example, and what I mean by practical is it doesn't involve the oligarchs. It involves the everyday Russian person. One of the things when President Biden told us that as a result of this Ukraine conflict that he was going to turn the ruble into rubble, and by imposing sanctions on the Russian economy, one of the things that they were projecting was or predicting was that the Russian citizens would run to the Russian banks and take their money out of the banks and put their money other places. And what Putin did was he raised the interest rates. One of the things that he did was he raised the interest rates that the banks would pay on deposits. So the Russian citizens found, oh, I'll make more money if I leave my money in the bank. And what a lot of people don't know about him, dude has a PhD in economics. Not only is he an attorney, he has a PhD in economics. So he has a little bit of understanding. He has a better understanding of econ than Joe Biden. Ajamu Baraka (44:41): I mean Joe Biden's a moron. I mean most of the US leadership are morons. One thing we can say about Barack Obama, though he was not in that same category. He was just a slickster. And same thing with Bill Clinton. But the quality of the leadership in the US state has been a mean, been dangerously. Frighteningly are incompetent. And that's the thing that scares me the most, that we are going to trip up into a situation that the US is not going to be able to reverse and all of us will suffer as a consequence. Look, when you hear no matter what your opinion may be a Putin or a President Xi when they speak and even the way they comport themselves, these are adults, these are statesmen. If you'll, and you compare that to these idiots in the US started with genocide jokes and these idiots who are making policy both in the Democrat and Republican parties, there's no gravitas, there's no worldly sophistication. They're just like country bumpkins. They are so incredibly unsophisticated and adolescent. That's the term that I use to describe US culture. It's an adolescent dangerous culture. And because it has so much power, that's what makes it so incredibly dangerous to all of us that people need. If you haven't seen this check out that interview, you can have your views about Putin and the cartoon characters that's been drawn up for you by your bosses, but you cannot conclude that this is not a states person with a sophisticated understanding of the world. Wilmer Leon (46:46): If you look at a couple of examples of what you're talking about, particularly as it relates to the Chinese, I'm not even going to get into Secretary Lavrov because that dude is oh, just brilliant. But Wang Ye, the foreign secretary of China early in the Biden administration, Tony Blinken was supposed to meet with the Chinese delegation in Anchorage, Alaska. And so they all convene in Anchorage and Blinken starts lecturing the Chinese and they look at him and they say, whatcha doing? You have no idea who you are talking to. We didn't come here to be lectured by you. We're China, we hold your debt. You don't hold out out. Ajamu Baraka (47:52): What was so incredible about that was this was the clumsy attempt on the part of the Biden administration to assert their white maleness. They're going show it was whiteness. We going to show we running the show with these Chinese. I mean it was incredible. And like you said, the Chinese Wilmer Leon (48:17): Said the sick men of criticize, Ajamu Baraka (48:19): You're not competent enough to criticize us, Wilmer Leon (48:21): Right? Our culture is thousands of years old. And then you've got the whole spy balloon. What a lot of people don't understand is Tony Blinken said, I'm going to China to meet with President Xi. He was not invited. He said, I'm going to China. And G said, no, but he said, I'm coming to China. So usually diplomats are welcomed in Beijing. President Xi said, okay, well if you're coming, I can't remember the name of the city, but there's another city where they send lesser caliber diplomats and folks that they really don't want to deal with. He said, I'm going to send you here. I'm not going to meet you in Beijing and I'm not even come see you there. And Blinken got embarrassed and that's when the balloon comes in the jet stream, the weather balloon comes in the jet stream as weather balloons will do. (49:30) And they used that calling it a spy balloon as the basis of, oh, you're sending a spy balloon, therefore I can't come see you. No, it was, Xi didn't want to totally embarrass Blinken by saying, I'm not going to let you in my country. What he said was, I'm going to send you off to the hinterlands and you can go on a tour if you want to. And Tony Blinken said, well, no, I ain't doing that. I mean, those are just examples and they don't get explained as such by Western media, but that's what really happened. Ajamu Baraka (50:10): Look, Dr. Leon, I was in China a couple of months ago. Wilmer Leon (50:14): There we Ajamu Baraka (50:14): Go. Wilmer Leon (50:16): Am I right? Ajamu Baraka (50:18): You are absolutely right. I'm going to tell you they can't can't be defeated. This what they are building there is absolutely incredible. I'm sitting on this bullet train going from Beijing to Shanghai, and I had a cup of water and I was doing something and I put it down and I realized, oh, the water's on the floor cause fly when you do Amtrak. You know how that on Amtrak, (50:52) They have this tick or take thing on the end of the car that tells you how fast the train's going. We sitting there going 325 miles an hour. It's like you're not even moving. You're going across the countryside is flat plains. And then you look up and then there's a city with skyscrapers, and I don't want to go into it too much, but what I saw in just those few days I was there was incredible. And so they're not keeping allowing people to understand what's happening in China. They have an urban development policy that when they create these cities and these communities, every social service in that community has to be within a 15 minute walk. The hospitals, the schools, the elder care, 15 minute walk is fully integrated everything that you need. So you compare this and what I saw in terms of infrastructure, it made the US look like, unfortunately, like a developing country and see the bourgeois there, they know this, but they're not telling the US population how far behind the US has fallen. Wilmer Leon (52:18): Well, and a perfect example of that is 5G technology. The Chinese approach, the United States, I'll say now, 15 years ago about working with the Chinese on developing 5G, and the United States said, no, we don't need to work with you on that. And so China went ahead and developed 5G. And with that we're talking about the internet of things and the ability of your refrigerator to talk to your cell phone to talk to your car, all of that kind of stuff. And so now when you turn on your phone, it says 5G, but the United States does not. All we really have is faster 4G. It's not truly the 5G technology that Huawei and other Chinese companies have developed. And they're now, they're on their way to six and seven G. We just don't get it. Ajamu Baraka (53:26): And the funny thing about it too, the US thought that they were going to undermine the Chinese by undermining the ability to have access to advanced Chips, chips. But they are rapidly developing their own capacity for that. And see, people don't understand as part of the struggle with Taiwan, also the home of one of the largest semiconductor chip factory in the world. Wilmer Leon (53:55): Psc, is that what? It's Ajamu Baraka (53:56): Something like that, yeah. Right. And that reincorporation of Taiwan into China would be a nonviolent and relatively seamless if it wasn't for the agitation on the part of the us. This notion that Chinese want to invade Taiwan militarily is all complete and utter nonsense. There is a political process there. There was developing in favor of the Chinese until the last few years when the US really began to ramp up is meddling within the Taiwanese political system. So that's part of the issue that basically the technological advances that the US has, and they still have some, that gap is being progressively narrowed down. Wilmer Leon (54:50): And as we move on to our final segment, there have been studies and reports put out by various elements within the government that if China were to invade Taiwan, and that's not on anybody's drawing board, I always challenge folks that want to have this conversation with me, show me one time where President Xi Jinping has said that they're planning to invade China. You can't find it because they're not going to do it. But the United States says if that were to happen, the United States would blow up the TSC, I think it's TSC chip manufacturing facilities so that they would not fall into the hands of China. And now China has designed its own chips, it's on its way. Necessity is the mother of invention, and China is on its way. I want to tie something else into coming back to the northern hemisphere, and that is this immigrant conversation. (56:01) All of this conversation about the Republicans in the house are trying to hold up this defense bill because they say there's not enough money for the immigration bill. But in all of this bipartisan discussion about immigration, nobody talks about the American foreign policy in the region as in Central America and South America that is basically forcing these people to leave their homes and come here. The analogy I use is if you're sitting in your basement watching a game and water starts coming down your stairway, you want to close the basement door instead of going upstairs and figuring out, oh, either your tub is overflowing or your sink, your kitchen sink is overflowing. They just want to close the, they don't want to turn off the spigot. And the way you turn off the spigot is by changing your policy. That is decimating the economies of Nicaragua decimating the economies of all of these other countries in central and South America. They never talk about the US foreign policy policy that creates the motivation or motivates these folks to want to come here. They just talk about building a wall to keep 'em in Mexico. Ajamu Baraka (57:31): No, they don't talk about that. And what's interesting too is that you remember at one point the Democrats pretended to be the party of progressive immigration policy, but who talks about that now? Now they are the party that has embraced the same kind of policies of Donald Trump border security expanding a wall. So there is consensus now among both wings of the ruling class represented by the Republicans and the Democrats on this issue of so-called border control. And they're never going to talk about the kinds of imperialist policies that are decimating the economies of Central America and parts of South America driving immigration. That's not part of their analytical framework. And so an understanding of these forces, again, has to come from sources like your show and other alternative sources that help people to understand the complexities of the world and sometimes how simple some things are. Like you destroy an economy and people have to find a way to survive, and they are a few hundred miles away from the most powerful and richest country on the planet. We need to go there. It's quite simple. So this is what has to be dealt with a better understanding on the part of people in the US to these issues and understand that you have more in common with understand. Understand that basically if we're able to put a break on these imperialist policies, these exploitative policies in Latin America, in South America and in the us, then we have the material basis for all of us to live a little better. So that's really where we need to be going. That's the level of understanding we have to arrive at. Wilmer Leon (59:47): And you talked about, I'll use these words, the misinformation and the disinformation in western media. I want to hit on one more thing, but before you go, if you can just give me two or three more minutes, and that's Haiti, and that could be three hours on its own, but this is from the Washington Post this week, rebel leader who ousted risid set sights on Haiti's current leader. The crisis here keep compounding armed. Gangs have forced more than 300,000 from their homes. The police are outgunned and overmatched. Half the people don't have enough to eat. This Caribbean nation of 11 million has no dramatic democratically elected officials. The National Assembly is empty, the presidency is vacant. That's left Arial Ri, the unelected and deeply reviled prime minister in charge appointed by president jovial Moise days before. Moise is still unsolved assassination in 2021 on re was due to leave office on Wednesday, but is so far successfully stymied a political transition. They're talking about GI Philippe coming back into Haiti. And this is written as though the United States has had absolutely no involvement in the decimation of Haiti. And so people read this from the Washington Post and they go, oh, these poor, ignorant, silly Haitians, they just can't seem to do anything for themselves. We must intervene and save them from theirselves. Doesn't talk about GI Philippe. And he was an American operative and how much time he spent in American prisons and how, by the way, does he get back into Haiti after none of that ajamu Baraka? Ajamu Baraka (01:01:37): You're absolutely right. And the situation in Haiti has become almost untenable. And that's how they wanted, he was reinserted into Haiti to intensify the chaos, to make the situation even more ripe for outside intervention. They don't trust him. He doesn't trust them. But there is a convergence of interest, short-term interest that is Wilmer Leon (01:02:05): Financial interest, Ajamu Baraka (01:02:07): Financial interest, political interest, right? Is it terrible situation in that country and one that we have to continue to monitor because the result of this situation is the possibility of more violence inside the country as the consequence of those issues. Wilmer Leon (01:02:23): And this is another example of the United States through what it created called the Global Fragilities Act. It is creating the fragility and then claiming we now have to use the US military to go in and resolve the chaos that we created in the first place. Ajamu Baraka (01:02:41): Exactly. That is the objective. That could be the end result if we don't stop it. Wilmer Leon (01:02:50): Brother Ajamu Baraka, I want to thank you so much for joining me today. Ajamu Baraka (01:02:54): My pleasure. Thank you so much Dr. Leon. Wilmer Leon (01:02:57): I want to thank you all for listening to the Connecting the Dots podcast with me, Dr. Wilmer Leon. Please stay tuned for new episodes every week. Also follow and subscribe. Leave a review, share the show, follow me on social media. You can find all the links below in the show description. I'm going to see you again next time. Until then, I'm Dr. Wilmer Leon. Have a great one. And remember that this is where the analysis of politics, culture, and history, converge talk without analysis is just chatter and we don't chatter on connecting the dots. Peace and blessings. I'm out

A series discussing and deconstructing Pan-Africanism, Zionism, and Islam in relation to contemporary Palestine.   Webinar 1: Settler Colonialism and Imperialism  Deconstructing how settler colonialism emerged as a distinct political structure from other colonial forms and the centrality of imperialism to its structure. Presenters: - MC: Isra Ibrahim with the South Florida Coalition for Palestine - Nick Estes: The Red Nation and Red Media - Onyesonwu Chatoyer: All-African People's Revolutionary Party, All African Women's Revolutionary Union, & Hood Communist Video edition  Sponsored by: Black Alliance for Peace, Hood Communist, Students for Justice in Palestine, and Al-Awda the Palestine Right to Return Coalition.   Register: tinyurl.com/AfricansAgainstZionism 

Nicholas Richard-Thompson and Tunde Osazua from the Black Alliance for Peace join Breht to discuss the life and legacy of Kwame Nkrumah. Together, they discuss the Ghanaian Marxist and Pan-Africanist politician, political theorist, and revolutionary, his upbringing, his entrance into Ghanaian and African politics, his political ideology, the many assassination attempts on his life, the coup that overthrew him and who backed it (just take a guess...), his life in exile, his continuing legacy on the continent and beyond, and much more!    Learn more and support Black Alliance for Peace    Follow Nicholas on Twitter    Follow Tunde on Twitter   BAP Chicago's Twitter     IMPORTANT: As the PAIGC/A-APRP is an active member of BAP's U.S Out of Africa Network (USOAN), and As the PAIGC is facing dire political repression within Guinea Bissau due to its substantial revolutionary gains against neo-colonialism in that country,   We therefore call on BAP and the USOAN to mobilize immediate support for the PAIGC/A-APRP.   Please read the following for background information: The A-APRP Condemns the Attack on the PAIGC and the PAI Terra Ranka Coalition, 4 December 2023 By A-APRP African Party for The Independence Of Guinea and Cape Verde,  PRESS RELEASE: December 10, 2023   By National Secretariat     ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Support Rev Left Radio 

This is audio from a panel discussion about the role of artists against imperialism and apartheid, that took place on November 29, 2023 in Atlanta, GA. Our focus was on the genocide unfolding in Palestine, however the topic spans many relevant points related to art, revolutionary movements, and more. We expected about 40 people to show up, and instead nearly 100 did, and we had people sitting on the floors, in people's laps, and even 4 rows of chairs outside the room in the hallway listening. The panel was hosted by WRFG, Artists Against Apartheid, Atlanta Radical Art Collective, and the Black Alliance for Peace Atlanta. The audio has been lightly edited for time purposes, and to make it a better listening experience. We opened up with a series of readings from poets, which I unfortunately had to condense due to time constraints. If yall would like a 'bonus' episode with the full poetry readings, let me know.Poets: Stephen Foster Smith, W.J. Lofton, Aurielle MariePanelists: Lulu Ali Amar, Umaymah, Rozina Shiraz Gilani, Musa Springer, Jasmine Nicole Williams (moderator) Enjoy!

This episode is from our sister podcast Guerrilla History, subscribe to it on your preferred podcast app!   In this absolutely fabulous episode of Guerrilla History, we bring back on the one and only Dr. CBS, Charisse Burden-Stelly!  Here, we discuss her outstanding new book Black Scare/Red Scare: Theorizing Capitalist Racism in the United States.  This work focuses on how anti-radical repression (especially anti-communist repression) is infused and inseparable with anti-Black racial oppression, and vice versa.  This is a critical work by one of the most critical voices in our times, and we think that this conversation is a truly important one for everyone to hear!   Charisse Burden-Stelly is associate professor of African American studies at Wayne State University. She is the coauthor (alongside Gerald Horne) of W.E.B. Du Bois: A Life in American History and the coeditor (alongside Jodi Dean) of Organize, Fight, Win: Black Communist Women's Political Writing.  Join the Black Alliance for Peace or BAP Solidarity Network, keep up with Dr. CBS's work by checking out her website www.charisseburdenstelly.com, and follow her on twitter @blackleftaf.   Help support the show by signing up to our patreon, where you also will get bonus content: https://www.patreon.com/guerrillahistory

In this absolutely fabulous episode of Guerrilla History, we bring back on the one and only Dr. CBS, Charisse Burden-Stelly!  Here, we discuss her outstanding new book Black Scare/Red Scare: Theorizing Capitalist Racism in the United States.  This work focuses on how anti-radical repression (especially anti-communist repression) is infused and inseparable with anti-Black racial oppression, and vice versa.  This is a critical work by one of the most critical voices in our times, and we think that this conversation is a truly important one for everyone to hear! Charisse Burden-Stelly is associate professor of African American studies at Wayne State University. She is the coauthor (alongside Gerald Horne) of W.E.B. Du Bois: A Life in American History and the coeditor (alongside Jodi Dean) of Organize, Fight, Win: Black Communist Women's Political Writing.  Join the Black Alliance for Peace or BAP Solidarity Network, keep up with Dr. CBS's work by checking out her website www.charisseburdenstelly.com, and follow her on twitter @blackleftaf. Help support the show by signing up to our patreon, where you also will get bonus content: https://www.patreon.com/guerrillahistory

Nicholas Richard-Thompson and Tunde Osazua from the Black Alliance for Peace join Breht to discuss AFRICOM, or The United States Africa Command - responsible for U.S. military operations and imperialism on the continent. Together they discuss the ongoing conflict in Palestine, the connections between black liberation movements and palestinian liberation, BAP's Month of Action against AFRICOM, recent coups in West Africa, developments in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, the recent history of Libya, the role of French neo-colonialism on the continent, the revolutionary contributions of Patrice Lumumba and Kwame Nkrumah, and much more!      Learn more and support Black Alliance for Peace    Follow Nicholas on Twitter    Follow Tunde on Twitter   BAP Chicago's Twitter Check out Rev Left's episode on Thomas Sankara Revolution in Sahel?   Get 15% off any book from Leftwingbooks.net    outro music 'Terrorist?'  by Lowkey Support Rev Left Radio  or make a one time donation: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/revleft

Over 200 demonstrators gathered in front of City Hall in Baltimore on Friday, October 20, and subsequently marched through the streets of downtown Baltimore, to protest Israel's retaliatory bombing of Gaza after the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attacks, and to call for an end to Israel's 75-year occupation of Palestine. The rally and march, billed with the title “We Won't Back Down: All Out for Palestine!,” was cosponsored by The Party for Socialism & Liberation (PSL), Black Alliance for Peace (BAP) Baltimore, Baltimore Student Union, Runners 4 Justice, Friends of Latin America, and Baltimore BLOC. TRNN was on the ground covering the event. The following recording includes a number of speeches delivered at the rally, as well as on-the-ground interviews with Rachel Viqueira of PSL and Sammy Alqasem of the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM), DC-MD-VA Chapter. Other speakers include: Rafiki Morris of the All African People Revolutionary Party (A-APRP); Duane "Shorty" Davis of Baltimore BLOC; Anna, a self-identified Jewish American against the Occupation; Jameela of the Black Alliance for Peace; Elias of PSL; and Sammy Alqasem of the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM), DC-MD-VA Chapter.Post-Production: Alina NehlichHelp us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer:Donate: https://therealnews.com/donate-podSign up for our newsletter: https://therealnews.com/newsletter-podLike us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/therealnewsFollow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/therealnews

On Oct. 2, the UN Security Council voted to approve a "multinational security support mission" in Haiti—ostensibly for the purposes of stopping gang violence and restoring law and order. Led by Kenya, this multinational force will be comprised of security forces from mostly Caribbean and Latin American countries. Despite receiving the blessing of the Security Council, this "security support mission" is not an official UN mission. Rather than being funded by the UN, the mission will be primarily funded by the US, which has already committed $200 million. This latest military intervention, should it materialize, will be the fourth foreign occupation of Haiti in 30 years. While the UN Security Council, the Haitian elite, and the ever-obedient corporate media spread a lurid narrative of a country engulfed by bloodthirsty gangs, the real situation in Haiti—not to mention the true story of how it got there—is far more complex. To understand the situation today, we must look back to the role of the US and other countries in the Core Group in dismantling Haiti's democracy and sovereignty over the past thirty years of military interference. Dr. Jemima Pierre of UCLA and Booker Omole of the Communist Party of Kenya speak with The Real News to break down what's going on with the latest foreign invasion of Haiti, and why Kenya of all countries has been tapped to helm the operation, at least officially.Jemima Pierre is Professor of African American Studies and Anthropology at UCLA and a research associate at the Center for the Study of Race, Gender and Class at the University of Johannesburg. She is the author of The Predicament of Blackness: Postcolonial Ghana and the Politics of Race and numerous academic and public articles about Haiti, including a very recent essay originally published in NACLA, and now reprinted at The Real News, called “Haiti as Empire's Laboratory.” Pierre is also an editor for Black Agenda Report and a member of Black Alliance for Peace.Booker Omole is the National Vice Chairperson and National Organizing Secretary of the Communist Party of Kenya.Help us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer:Donate: https://therealnews.com/donate-podSign up for our newsletter: https://therealnews.com/newsletter-podLike us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/therealnewsFollow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/therealnews

Dr. Charisse Burden-Stelly joins Breht and PM for a second installment of our Du Bois series, this one focusing on Du Bois' human rights and peace activism and how he tied that in with his revolutionary Marxism. Together they discuss Du Bois' political evolution, the influence of his friend, comrade and wife Shirley Graham Du Bois, his book "In Battle for Peace", DR. CBS' articles on Du Bois, the targeting and trial of Du Bois by the US State, what he meant by "real pacifism", the Black Alliance for Peace, and much more!   Check out Dr. CBS' article “In Battle for Peace During Scoundrel Time” Check out her upcoming book  "Black Scare / Red Scare: Theorizing Capitalist Racism in the United States You can find PM on IG @worldmaking_   Or find out more about him and his work HERE Check out the Black Alliance for Peace and their Solidarity Network music 'Balloons'  by Noname (feat. Jay Electronica & Eryn Allen Kane)   Support Rev Left Radio or make a one time donation