On this episode of By Any Means Necessary, hosts Sean Blackmon and Jacquie Luqman are joined by Dr. Margaret Flowers, Co-Founder of Popular Resistance and Director of the Health Over Profit for Everyone (HOPE) Campaign, to talk about how prepared the US healthcare infrastructure is, or isn't, for potential Coronavirus outbreaks, why the Chinese government's actions were lauded by the World Health Organization but condemned by the mainstream media, why prominent narratives surrounding the virus are steeped in the legacy of anti-Chinese racism, how the US healthcare system's for-profit orientation and general lack of worker protections make the challenge for healthcare workers so much harder, and why the US is so unwilling to learn from the many positive achievements of the Chinese response.
In the second segment, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Maury Johnson, Executive Member of the POWHR Coalition, to talk about the legal battle being waged before the Supreme Court between backers and opponents of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, why the case hinges on questions of jurisdiction over the Appalachian Trail, how his family and community continue to be negatively impacted by pipeline construction, how gas fracking has led to elevated rates of cancer, birth defects and contaminated water in rural areas, and why individual gas consumers are getting stuck with the bill for all of this.
In the third segment, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Gloria La Riva of the Cuban-Venezuelan Solidarity Committee and the ANSWER Coalition to talk about the Cuban literacy initiatives which Bernie Sanders has been attacked for supporting, how Cuba's "Yo Si Puedo" educational model has been so successful in eliminating adult illiteracy on an international level, why Sanders' perceived sympathy for a country long in the crosshairs of the US ruling class terrifies the Democratic establishment so much, the ways that the threat of Cuba's good example motivates the US government's ban on travel to the island nation, and how the high-quality social services provided there are motivating Americans to look past the propaganda and see the country for themselves.
Later in the show, Jacquie and Sean are joined by Jamarl Thomas, host of The Progressive Soapbox podcast and co-host of Political Misfits on Radio Sputnik, to talk about whether the US healthcare system will be able to handle the coming Coronavirus outbreaks, why Joe Biden's own campaign is correcting his Nelson Mandela tall tale, why white politicians who tokenize black voters seem to provoke so little outrage, why Joe Biden feels compelled to whitewash his positions toward the civil rights movement, how class informs the perceived generational gap in Black attitudes towards insurrectionary politics, why racism is not a question of attitude but of power, the news that MSNBC commentator Jason Johnson has been temporarily forced to step down after his comments describing two high-profile Sanders surrogates as coming "from the island of misfit Black girls," how Nancy Pelosi and the Democratic establishment are subverting democracy while claiming to do the opposite, and whether they'll be be able to successfully swipe the nomination from Sanders without causing an irreparable schism in the party.
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