The Black Myths Podcast

In this episode, we explore the myth that Africans don't value democracy with Nicholas Richard-Thompson and Tunde Osazua of the pro-peace anti-imperialist organization, Black Alliance for Peace. We discuss questions of liberal democracy across the continent, the political nature of coups, neocolonialism, and the political development of recent coups in the Sahel region.  https://www.afrobarometer.org/articles/do-africans-want-democracy-and-do-they-think-theyre-getting-it/

In part 2, we return with educator and researcher Mikaela Nhondo Erskog of Tricontinental Institute. We review the current political and economic trends driving hyperimperialism, ways global south nations can exploit them for good, and what Pan Africanists can do to advance in light of recent trends.  Mikaela is an educator and researcher. She is part of the Pan Africanism Today Secretariat, which coordinates the regional articulation of the International People’s Assembly and is also part of the No Cold War coordination committee, a peace platform promoting multilateralism and maximum global cooperation. She is also part of Dongsheng, an international collective of researchers interested in Chinese politics and society, and hosts The Crane: An Africa-China Podcast   Hyper-Imperialism Document https://thetricontinental.org/studies-on-contemporary-dilemmas-4-hyper-imperialism/#toc-section-4-1 Patreon https://www.patreon.com/blackmyths

In this episode, we explore the myth of "The End of History". The End of History is the idea that Western civilization in the form of capitalism and liberal democracy has solved the question of civilization. This claim was asserted after the fall of the Soviet Union. This belief was that the United States would lead the world into a place of less conflict, less war, and more prosperity. This prediction has severely backfired, especially for the colonized people of the Global South. We sit down with researcher and organizer Mikaela Nhondo Erskog to discuss the Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research's new study entitled "Hyper-Imperialism: A Dangerous Decadent New Stage." This groundbreaking document demonstrates how the United States has further polarized the world toward destruction and gives a sense of what is to be done to change course. Hyper-Imperialism Document https://thetricontinental.org/studies-on-contemporary-dilemmas-4-hyper-imperialism/#toc-section-4-1   Patreon https://www.patreon.com/blackmyths

Continuing with themes related to the new book, Laundering Black Rage: The Washing of Black Death, People, Property, and Profits, we explore the myth that the State is reducible to government with our guest Rasul Mowatt, Department Head of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Management in the College of Natural Resources and Affiliate Professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at North Carolina State University. We explore the origins of the State, theorists of the State, and how it informs anti-colonial movements. If the State is not simply the government, then how are we to understand it? We explore this question and more.    Laundering Black Rage is now available on pre-order and will be available worldwide on April 11th. To purchase it at a discounted rate please follow the instructions below.     Type Discount code at checkout: EFLY01   https://www.routledge.com/Laundering-of-Black-Rage-The-Washing-of-Black-Death-People-Property/Black-Mowatt/p/book/9781032573779     Discounted Ebook   https://play.google.com/store/books/details?pcampaignid=books_read_action&id=cY_2EAAAQBAJ     Original Essays     Pt. 1 http://www.blackagendareport.com/laundering-black-rage     Pt. 2 http://www.blackagendareport.com/laundering-black-rage-part-2     Patreon https://www.patreon.com/blackmyths

In this episode, department head and North Carolina State University professor, Rasul Mowatt joins as a guest host to interview our host, Too Black regarding their joint coauthored book Laundering Black Rage: The Washing of Black Death, People, Property, and Profits.    We use the analytic framework of the book to explore the myth of a Racial Reckoning in 2020—the idea that after the murder of George Floyd by Derek Chauvin in 2020, the US began a reckoning with its racial history of oppression and brutalization towards Black people. We discuss the pitfalls of reckoning with empire, the laundering of Black Rage historically, and offer reflections on writing the texts. Laundering Black Rage is now available on pre-order and will be available worldwide on April 11th. To purchase it at a discounted rate please follow the instructions below.    Type Discount code at checkout: EFLY01   https://www.routledge.com/Laundering-of-Black-Rage-The-Washing-of-Black-Death-People-Property/Black-Mowatt/p/book/9781032573779   Discounted Ebook https://play.google.com/store/books/details?pcampaignid=books_read_action&id=cY_2EAAAQBAJ   Original Essays   Pt. 1 http://www.blackagendareport.com/laundering-black-rage   Pt. 2 http://www.blackagendareport.com/laundering-black-rage-part-2   Patreon https://www.patreon.com/blackmyths

In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Joy James, political philosopher and Ebenezer Fitch Professor of Humanities at Williams College, about the idea of the 'lesser evil' in relation to her new book--New Bones Abolition. We reflect on police violence, movement capture, Black feminism, Erica Garner, political prisoners, caretakers and more in a wide-ranging conversation.   NEW BONES ABOLITION: CAPTIVE MATERNAL AGENCY AND THE AFTERLIFE OF ERICA GARNER https://www.commonnotions.org/new-bones-abolition Patreon https://www.patreon.com/blackmyths  

For part 3 we explore the role of counterinsurgency in mass incarceration. We interview Dr. Orisanmi Burton--Assistant Professor of Anthropology at American University--about his book Tip of the Spear Black Radicalism, Prison Repression, and the Long Attica Revolt. We analyze the four types of counterinsurgency named by Burton: Expansion, Humanization, Diversification, and Programification.  Tip of the Spear Black Radicalism, Prison Repression, and the Long Attica Revolt https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520396326/tip-of-the-spear Patreon https://www.patreon.com/blackmyths

In part 2, we explore the factors that drive mass incarceration. Per usual the truth is more complicated than the myth. We begin with the early history of prisons in the United States. Then we delve into the work (Golden Gulag and Abolition Geography) of geographer and abolitionist Ruth Wilson Gilmore to analyze how prisons became a fix all for social problems. We offer California as a case study to understanding prison expansion on state level. In part 3, we will explore the role counterinsurgency played in prison expansion. Golden Gulag: Prisons, Surplus, Crisis, and Opposition in Globalizing California https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520242012/golden-gulag Abolition Geography: Essays Towards Liberation https://www.versobooks.com/products/2615-abolition-geography https://www.patreon.com/blackmyths

In this episode, we examine the myth that prison is built for profit. That is, the myth that mass incarceration is driven by private profit above all else. Although there are certainly profiteers within the prison industrial complex, prisons operate at a loss. Therefore, in part 1 of this series, we explore what does not drive mass incarceration. In part two we will explore what actually drives mass incarceration. In part three we will interview, Orisanmi Burton, Assistant Professor of Anthropology and author of the book Tip of the Spear: Black Radicalism, Prison Repression, and the Long Attica Revolt.  Monologue- 00:09:40 Prison For Profit Myths - 00:14:12 Private Prisons - 00:37:24 Prison Labor - 00:45:35 Prison Fees - 00:57:24 Cost of Prison & Slavery - 01:02:54 Closing Thoughts - 01:22:57 Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie 2023 https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/pie2023.html#myths   Captive Labor: Stories of Involuntary Servitude https://www.aclu.org/news/human-rights/captive-labor-stories-of-involuntary-servitude   Are private prisons driving mass incarceration? https://www.prisonpolicy.org/blog/2015/10/07/private_prisons_parasite/   "Prisons Make Us Safer": And 20 Other Myths about Mass Incarceration Book by Victoria Law https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/659473/prisons-make-us-safer-by-victoria-law/   The Unlucky 13th: Liberalizing the Extreme https://imixwhatilike.org/2016/10/25/the-unlucky-13th-liberalizing-the-extreme/   patreon.com/blackmyths

Black Myths Pod crew reviews the myths we covered over the last year of 2023 including Patrisse Lumumba, Pan-Africanism, Political Prisoners, the Black dollar, Third World, Israel/Hamas, and Anti-Communism. Patreon https://www.patreon.com/blackmyths