Groundings

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 

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. 

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

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. 

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

We explore the philosophy and theoretical work behind the actions of Amílcar Cabral, African revolutionary from Guinea-Bissau who helped lead a succesful anti-colonial movement against the Portugese in Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde.Reasearcher, writer, and organizer Zeyad El Nabolsy discusses Cabral's approach to culture and cultural liberation, dispels some eurocentric and racist myth surrounding Cabral's legacy, and looks at Cabral's relationship to Marxism.You can find Zeyad's essays we reference here, as well as the essay by Blaut here which he mentions towards the end.Intro/outro audio: Angela Davis on Amilcar Cabral, 1973You can support me at Patreon.com/HalfAtlanta, and follow me on Twitter @halfatlanta.

If you don't know the story of #KeithDavisJr., make sure you listen to this episode of the #GroundingsPodcast. Keith is being framed for murder by the Baltimore police and the state of Baltimore. Police shot at Keith over 44 times, hitting him in the face and neck. Keith has been in jail for a crime he didn't commit since 2015. Keith has been through FOUR trials because Marilyn Mosby, the state attorney, is determined to see him behind bars. Keith was the first high-profile police in shooting in Baltimore since Freddie Gray, and because Marilyn Mosby gave the allusion (at the time) of accountability for Freddie Gray's murder, she's now being as hard on Keith as possible to win back the trust of police, police unions, and prosecutors. Virtually all evidence — surveillance footage, ballistics reports, firearms reports, firearms registries, witness testimonies — show that Keith is innocent. Keith's wife, Kelly, was on the phone with him when police began to fire over 44 rounds at him. She has fought relentlessly to free him since that day. We get into all of these details, the context for his involvement, who he is, the lies and scandal and coverup surrounding his case, in this episode. You can donate to Keith's family here. You can follow Bilphena and Amelia as well.

In this episode, activist and writer Bilphena Yahwon get into the nitty gritty details of the school-to-prison pipeline, racial disparities in school disciplinary actions, how these disparities send Black children to prison, and the ways she uses restorative justice processes to combat it.

Haiti is an island in perpetual revolution, and over the past few months massive island-wide mobilizations have been taking place as Haitians protest to oust their corrupt, neo-colonial, U.S.-installed government. I speak with lawyer, activist, and director of the Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti Brian Concannon, who gives a general overview of why Haitians are protesting, and how the corrupt and violent Moïse government has remained in power with support from Western empires like the US. Then we discuss the connection between the protests in Haiti and the imperialist aggression on Venezuela, and we compare the stark differences in Western media attention to both situations. The struggle in Haiti is ongoing, and independent media outlets like the Haiti Info Project are critical to understanding what's happening on the ground there. Please follow and support their work! If you like the podcast, make sure you subscribe, share it, and tweet at @halfatlanta to let Devyn know! You can also support the podcast efforts at Patreon.com/HalfAtlanta.

This is part two of a special report on Venezuela, in collaboration with Venezuelanalysis.com. First I speak with Christina Schiavoni, scholar and activist who deals with issues of food, food sovereignty, and agriculture. Her work in Venezuela has been very important to dispelling misinformation about food, food shortages, and agricultural production in Venezuela, as well as the great strides towards food sovereignty that the Bolivarian Revolution has made. We specifically reference an essay of hers titled "The Politics of Food in Venezuela" that masterfully combats myths and intentional misinformation surrounding the subject. Then Jeanette Charles of Venezuelanalysis.com interviews Dr. Akinyele Umoja, head of Georgia State University's Black Studies department and co-founder of the Malcom X Grassroots Movement. Akinyele is a friend of the Walter Rodney Foundation and has an incredible ability to tie relevant historical information in Black history with the social, political, and cultural movements of today. In this interview he discusses the long history of the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement doing solidarity work with Afro-Venezuelans, how the Bolivarian Revolution was a Black revolution, and how the government has taken great strides to help African people both in Venezuela and throughout the entire diaspora. Dr. Umoja has traveled several times to Venezuela, including for the International Meeting on Reparations for African peoples which was held in Caracas. A very special thank you to Jonathan Chai-Chang Azterbaum, who did post-production for this episode, as well as part 1. If you missed part 1, where we cover the grassroots activist perspectives of the importance of the Bolivarian Revolution and elections in Venezuela, you can listen here.