Frustration Is Not Enough - It Must Be Channeled Into Organizing

In this episode of By Any Means Necessary, hosts Sean Blackmon and Jacquie Luqman discuss the racist terror attack against voting rights activist Vernon Dahmer and why the vote has historically been kept away from black and poor people, the mythology of access to equality under the vote in the era of monopoly capitalism, and the need for organizing outside of the political mainstream to fight for their communities.

In the second segment, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Helen Yaffe, Visiting Fellow at the Latin America and Caribbean Centre and a Lecturer in Economic and Social History in the University of Glasgow and author of the new book We Are Cuba! How a Revolutionary People Have Survived in a Post-Soviet World to discuss the online premiere of Cuba's Life Task, Combating Climate Change covering Cuba’s state plan for climate change mitigation, the threat climate change poses to Cuba, how the Cuban government engages local communities to find the best solutions to problems posed by climate change, and how Cuba’s climate change mitigation strategies pose an important lesson for its neighbors in the Caribbean and the global south.

In the third segment, Sean and Jacquie are joined by T.J. Coles, a postdoctoral researcher at Plymouth University in the UK, a regular contributor to CounterPunch, and the author of We'll Tell You What to Think: Wikipedia, Propaganda, and the Making of Liberal Consensus to discuss Washington’s military presence in Djibouti and how it fits into US imperialism, how US propaganda efforts against China focus on China’s sole overseas military base in Djibouti and exclude the reasons for the base and the extraordinary number of overseas US bases, and the public relations stunts that US forces in Djibouti use to paint a veneer of benevolence on the colonial exploitation of the country.

Later in the show, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Chuck Modiano, justice journalist and Sports writer for Deadspin to discuss the firings of NFL coaches and general managers and the racism and nepotism in the NFL, the right-wing nature of the league as demonstrated by the black-balling of Colin Kaepernick and outsized economic power owners have over players, the valorization of police in media coverage of the anniversary of the Capitol insurrection despite their passivity in the face of right-wing violence, and the evasion of responsibility demonstrated by Eric Adams in his response to the tragic apartment fire in the Bronx.