Writer and activist Benji Hart discusses the multitude of ways grassroots movements against police in Chicago are challenging the Black misleadership class. We discuss the struggle around the struggle against the construction of a $95 million cop academy in Chicago, the many movements and educational moments birthed from this struggle, and how individuals like Mayor Lori Lightfoot represent the 'Black misleadership class'.You will here audio from a 2017 Chicago City Council meeting which can be found here. In this audio clip you will also hear chants stating "NTA is here to stay" - you can find out more details about that chant and the struggle surrounding it here. You can also learn more about LVEJO's ight against environmental racism here. You can find more of Benji's work at Benjihart.com.If you enjoyed the episode, consider supporting the podcast on Patreon here. Money goes to transcription of episodes (releasing soon!), production assistance, equipment, and more to keep the show running. 

Groundings

The Grassroots VS The Misleadership Class

The entire world has witnessed israel's naked colonial violence in Sheikh Jarrah, Palestine, where countless Palestinians have been brutalized and forcefully removed from their homes. Palestinian writer and activist Mohammed el-Kurd joins the show to discuss the latest round of ethnic cleansing in his home neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, the many ways that Palestinians are resisting israel colonial domination, and why we're seeing unprecedented resistance from Palestinians.  We also discuss those who only support Palestinians when they appear to be 'perfect victims' but are quiet when they are resisting iraeli state violence, and how international media is complicit in ongoing israeli apartheid. Palestinian-American medical worker and community organizer Abu Shawarib joins as co-host. This is a special bonus episode of season 3 in collaboration with Mondoweiss, an independent website devoted to informing readers about developments in occupied Palestine and related US foreign policy.

The Palestinian Resistance & Sheikh Jarrah

Professor, writer, and activist Dr. Joy James joins the show to discuss her work around abolition. More specifically, we look at what Dr. James calls "academic abolitionism", the role that academics play in halting or co-opting revolutionary organizing, the current state of the prison abolition movement, and why it is revolutionary to start our political organizing with one simple question: what do Black children need?Felicia Denaud joins as co-host. The beat you hear was produced by JayOhAye, and you can hear more here. The painting on the cover art is "J.D. McClain’s Day in Court" (1970) by Jeff Donaldson.If you enjoyed the episode, consider supporting on Patreon here. 

The Plurality of Abolitionism

Patricia Rodney, public health expert, researcher, activist, and wife of the late Dr. Walter Rodney, discusses her 1998 book, "The Caribbean State, Health Care, and Women: An Analysis of Barbados and Grenada." We talk about her analysis of Caribbean state healthcare as it relates to women, the Cuban healthcare system, and how her analysis remains incredibly relevant during our current pandemic. We then speak on her decades-long work in preserving Walter Rodney's legacies, as well as the trouble that sometimes comes along with that.   

The Work of Dr. Patricia Rodney

Dr. Jared Ball joins the show to discuss his new book, The Myth and Propaganda of Black Buying Power. We discuss the propaganda used to perpetuate the supposed trillion-dollar "buying power" myth, Black capitalism, and the Black misleadership class of rappers. Writer and organizer Erica Caines just as guest co-host for the conversation. The first audio you will hear is a scene from the Malcolm X movie, the second audio clip is Angela Davis discussing the relationship between capitalism and racism. 

The Myth of Black Buying Power

Rapper and poet Noname has spent a bulk of her career rejecting celebrity, and is now taking a turn towards the left to embrace anti-imperialist, anti-capitalist, and radical politics. Dr. Charisse Burden-Stelly and Devyn Springer speak with her to find out what the trajectory towards political activation has been like, who inspires her, where she sees the state of hip-hop today, how she hopes to continue on her political path, voting, and much more. You will hear interlude audio of Nina Simone discussing the role of artists, and of a clip contrasting the political orientations of Tupac Shakur and Young Thug.  If you enjoy the episode make sure to rate it 5 stars, subscribe and share. Also, consider supporting patreon.com/HalfAtlanta.

The Role Of Artists Beyond Celebrity

Guest hosts Yasmina and Tarik  interview filmmaker Merawi Gerima, who discusses his new film Residue. The film puts the spotlight on gentrification in DC, and all the racist, violent baggage and displacement that accompanies it. They discuss the process of 'community filmmaking' that helped create the film, the role of capital in dictating creative directing choices, the importance of Black film and narrative-shaping, the Gerima  legacy of filmmaking and community building, the power of DC's go-go music, and much more.  

The 'Residue' of Gentrification

Writer, educator, and author of Policing Black Lives: State violence in Canada from slavery to the present, Robyn Maynard joins me to discuss policing, state violence, and prisons in Canada, as well as the connections between Indigenous and Black struggles against state violence. We also talk about the 'post-racial' mythmaking which is synonymous to Canada, despite its centuries-long history of enacting structural and systemic violence on colonized communities globally.  

The Canadian Police State

Dr. Charisse Burden-Stelly discusses the history and institutionalization of Black Studies, the often overlapping relationship between anti-communism and anti-Blackness, and the 'elision' of political economy in capitalist academia. Moreover, she also talks about 'academic McCarthyism', academic celebrities, ideological battles, and the current state of Black Studies. [cover image: student activist Don McAllister beaten bloodied and arrested by pigs during San Francisco State College protests, 1968]

The Anti-Black, Anti-Communist Academia

Community organizer and educator Dustin Gibson discusses the white supremacist, colonial, capitalist roots of ableism which structures capitalist society, why a disability justice framework must be abolitionist, and why "the state always has a carceral response to disabled Black people."Throughout the episode, you will hear the following audio clips:Leroy Moore discussing the erasure of Emmett Till's disability Members of Fairfax County, Virginia, at a public forum following the killing of Natasha McKennaJennifer Msumba describing the abuse faced at the Judge Rotenberg Center in Canton, Mass.Cover image: “Back of the Neck,” (1983) by Jean-Michel Basquiat    

The Anti-Black Pinnings of Ableism

Mumia Abu-Jamal, world-renowned political prisoner, former Black Panther, and award-winning journalist, gives me his opinion on the movement taking place in the streets right now against police violence, the outpouring of international solidarity we've witnessed, and more. Because he is incarcerated, our interview was cut very short, but he still manages to pack intense amounts of wisdom into only a few minutes.Then we hear from author, professor, and longtime activist Johanna Fernández, who has spent nearly two decades working on the campaign to free Mumia and all political prisoners. We discuss what it is about Mumia specifically that makes millions around the world demand his freedom, why this new generation of activists and everyone else has a moral duty to free political prisoners, and why the creation of political prisoners inevitably means the ruling class shooting themselves in the foot.Mumia is arguably the most recognized political prisoner in the world, having served three decades on death row for a crime he was framed for. Millions across the world have read and engaged with his writings, listened to his audio analyses from incarceration, and found clarity in the always stellar commentary in his multiple top telling books. As we discuss abolition, tearing down prisons, defunding the police, and all related topics, it's imperative that we continue to uplift the fight to free all political prisoners, including Mumia. You can find out how to donate, write letters to, and spread the word for Mumia's freedom here. You will hear an audio interlude which includes clips from old news coverage of the cases of Mumia Abu-Jamal, Assata Shakur, Jamil Al-Amin, Herman Bell, and Angela Davis.// Transition music produced by 23djTbone 

The Political Prisoner: From Mumia Abu-Jamal To Palestine

I spoke with scholar, writer, and professor Charisse Burden-Stelly about W.E.B. Du Bois. Charisse recently co-authored the new book W.E.B. Du Bois: A Life in American History with historian Gerald Horne, and has an extensive amount of insight, knowledge, and research on the life of Du Bois. Moreover, she's apt to think deeply on the intellectual, political, and ideological history within his life trajectory.We speak about Du Bois, the many ways his ideological positions shifted over the century (!) he lived, where Du Bois fell short and where he accelerates, how to position him between Pan-Africanism, communism, and Black Nationalism, his internationalist politic, and much more!Throughout the episode you will hear excerpts from his speech "Socialism and the American Negro" given in 1960. You can read the speech here. You can purchase Charisse's book here. 

The Intellectual Life Of Du Bois

Philadelphia based community organizer and writer Steven Powers helps run a community based, free, socialist gym, the People Power Gym, and is involved in a number of other community survival projects. In this episode we discuss how his organization was able to turn these survival programs into a Covid-19 mutual aid grocery program, delivering free groceries throughout their neighborhood. We also discuss how capitalism has exacerbated this pandemic into a crisis with blood on its hands, the need for community organizing, a cautious understanding of 'mutual aid', and Sock'em Boppers. Support their fundraiser here. You can read Safiyah Bukhari's The War Before here, and George Jackson's Soledad Brother here. Audio samples used:Assata Shakur, Eyes of the RainbowMumia Abu-Jamal, Safiyah Bukhari: Lioness for LiberationFred Hampton, On the Importance of EducationEricka Huggins, On Meditation

The Revolution Can't Be Quarantined

Professor Johanna Fernandez introduces listeners to the Young Lords, a revolutionary Puerto Rican organization that radically shifted international discourse on Puerto Rican politics.Fernandez recently publish The Young Lords: A Radical History, a groundbreaking and foundational new book which compiles 20 years of research to create the authoritative history of the Young Lords. In our conversation we discuss the roots of the Young Lords organization, how they transformed from a street gang to revolutionary socialist organization, the political and ideological motivations of the group, why they took a specific, relevant focus on health issues, and much more. The poem you hear recited throughout the episode is titled "Puerto Rican Obituary",  written and performed by the late Pedro Pietri, poet, activist, former Young Lord, and one of the founding members of the Nuyorican Movement. If you enjoyed this episode, consider purchasing Johanna's book and support her work, and you can also support the host on Patreon as well. 

The Young Lords: A Radical History

I speak with community organizer, researcher, and writer Taiza Troutman to discuss urban development, trap music, Tyler Perry, activism, homelessness, neoliberalism, displacement and, above all else, gentrification in Atlanta. Audio used throughout the episode was provided graciously by Eva Dickerson, activist, educator, and all around comrade. Watch the full video in which this audio is from here.  Some of the books mentioned in the episode:Rashad Shabazz, Spatializing Blackness: Architectures of Confinement and Black Masculinity in ChicagoLester K. Spence, Knocking the Hustle: Against the Neoliberal Turn in Black PoliticsSaidiya Hartman, Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments: Intimate Histories of Social Upheaval

The Gentrification of Atlanta

The #GroundingsPodcast is a place where organizing, theory, and history come in contact with dialogue, experience, and storytelling. The title "Groundings" is in honor of the revolutionary educator Walter Rodney, whose concept of "groundings" as a form of radical, political, dialogic, and communal education continues to inspire today. Groundings: we sit, we listen, we talk, we share, and we learn. The podcast is hosted by Devyn Springer with production help from Christopher Hollis.