From Starbucks to The Great Resignation, Labor Seizes Its Power

In this episode of By Any Means Necessary, hosts Sean Blackmon and Jacquie Luqman are joined by Ajamu Baraka, National Organizer of the Black Alliance for Peace to discuss the shortcomings of liberal conceptions of human rights as the world recognizes human rights day, how the US defanged the declaration of human rights to assuage white fears of the civil rights movement, the necessity to decolonize and reconstruct the framework of human rights, and how people-centered human rights pose an ideological challenge to the capitalist system.

In the second segment, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Karleigh Webb, an athlete, activist, journalist, socialist, contributor to @Outsports and host of the TransSporter Room to discuss the transphobic attacks against swimmer Lia Thomas, who recently set two conference records, how these attacks are not only transphobic but also misogynist by implying that women’s sports are inferior to men’s sports, and the danger that these attacks pit against future trans athletes and trans people.

In the third segment, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Justin Williams, co-host of Red Spin Sports to discuss the diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics by the US, UK, Australia, and Canada as part of the cold war drive against China, the baseball hall of fame’s snub of free agency and labor advocate Curt Flood and the continuation of his blackballing long after his death, and the induction of Nego League baseball players into the hall of fame.

Later in the show, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Maximillian Alvarez, Editor in Chief of the Real News Network and host of the podcast “Working People" to discuss the victory of Starbucks workers in Buffalo who have voted to unionize and how the pandemic has awoken the consciousness of workers to their power and ability to secure gains in the workplace, how the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic and the inequality exposed by it have fueled the great resignation and record job openings, the toxicity of common practice of calling work a family and how work often keeps workers from seeing their families, and how cultures of work and overwork and the broader capitalist system rob us of what makes us human.