Activist and former Amazon worker Chris Smalls told Misfit hosts Bob Schlehuber and Jamarl Thomas what he saw at his warehouse and how his concerns about his colleagues’ welfare were swept under the rug. He described how it feels to learn that the world’s wealthiest man is turning his PR team against you, but declared that it’s not Amazon versus Chris Smalls, it’s Amazon versus the People. He also spoke about the real toll of working on one of Amazon’s warehouses, the labor Amazon burns through to maintain its edge on the competition, and the robust organizing happening among Amazon’s workers and others behind the scenes. It’s our job to take our power back, Smalls said, and that’s what they’re working on. Prepare for unprecedented solidarity this May first.
Alan MacLeod, author, journalist, media analyst, and member of the Glasgow University Media Group discussed the work of Cuban doctors around the world, the message they send and the comical suspicion with which they’re viewed by some. He brought an update on COVID-19’s impact in the UK and how mainstream media controls the narratives about government responses. He also warned of coming global food insecurity. The US, the UK and other wealthy countries are facing supply chain crises that mean the food is being dumped while people are waiting in lines at food banks, but in countries that are already food insecure, the coming year could be catastrophic. Will the media connect the dots from oversupplies of food, dumping, long lines and profit? Unlikely. What’s in it for them? Likewise, with a media in servitude to the billionaire class, who’s going to tell Americans that their CARES Act is yet another huge giveaway to those among us already sitting pretty?
Trayce Redd, a longtime activist, spoke with the hosts about how mass action can happen under social distancing conditions, the theatrical elements of protest, and the need for more creativity in putting pressure on power.
The fellows also broke down the new AOC-Elizabeth Warren connection, some contrasts in handling the pandemic, DC’s dodgy new reopening plan, and coming meat shortages.
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