Millennials Are Killing Capitalism
Millennials Are Killing Capitalism
We created this podcast in recognition that there are a number of podcasts for the American “left,” but many of them focus heavily on the organizing of social democrats, progressives, and liberal democrats. Aside from that, on the left we are always fighting a war of ideas and if we do not continue to build platforms to share those ideas and the stories of their implementation from a leftist perspective, they will continue to be ignored, misrepresented, and dismissed by the capitalist media and as a result by the general public.
Our goal is to provide a platform for communists, anti-imperialists, Black Liberation movements, ancoms, left libertarians, LBGTQ activists, feminists, immigration activists, and abolitionists to discuss radical politics, radical organizing and share their visions for a better world. Our goal is to center organizers who represent and work with marginalized communities building survival programs, defense programs, political education, and counterpower.
We also plan to bring in perspectives on and from the global south to highlight anti-capitalist struggles outside the imperial core. We view solidarity with decolonization, indigenous, anti-imperialist, environmentalist, socialist, and anarchist movements across the world as necessary steps toward meaningful liberation for all people.
Too often within the imperial core we focus on our own struggles without taking the time to understand those fighting for freedom from beneath the empire’s thumb. It is important to highlight these struggles, learn what we can from them, offer solidarity, and support with action when we can. It is not enough to Fight For $15 an hour and Single-Payer within the core, while the US actively fights against the self-determination of the people of the global economically and militarily.
We recognize that except for the extremely wealthy and privileged, our fates and struggles are intrinsically connected. We hope that our podcast becomes a meaningful platform for organizers and activists fighting for social change to connect their local movements to broader movements centered around the fight to end imperialism, capitalism, racism, discrimination based on gender identity or sexuality, sexism, and ableism.
If you like our work please support us at www.patreon.com/millennialsarekillingcapitalism
Our goal is to provide a platform for communists, anti-imperialists, Black Liberation movements, ancoms, left libertarians, LBGTQ activists, feminists, immigration activists, and abolitionists to discuss radical politics, radical organizing and share their visions for a better world. Our goal is to center organizers who represent and work with marginalized communities building survival programs, defense programs, political education, and counterpower.
We also plan to bring in perspectives on and from the global south to highlight anti-capitalist struggles outside the imperial core. We view solidarity with decolonization, indigenous, anti-imperialist, environmentalist, socialist, and anarchist movements across the world as necessary steps toward meaningful liberation for all people.
Too often within the imperial core we focus on our own struggles without taking the time to understand those fighting for freedom from beneath the empire’s thumb. It is important to highlight these struggles, learn what we can from them, offer solidarity, and support with action when we can. It is not enough to Fight For $15 an hour and Single-Payer within the core, while the US actively fights against the self-determination of the people of the global economically and militarily.
We recognize that except for the extremely wealthy and privileged, our fates and struggles are intrinsically connected. We hope that our podcast becomes a meaningful platform for organizers and activists fighting for social change to connect their local movements to broader movements centered around the fight to end imperialism, capitalism, racism, discrimination based on gender identity or sexuality, sexism, and ableism.
If you like our work please support us at www.patreon.com/millennialsarekillingcapitalism
Episodes
Mentioned books
Dec 28, 2017 • 52min
Episode 7: Devyn Springer Discusses Walter Rodney
In this episode we caught up with artist, organizer, educator, and writer Devyn Springer to talk about the work and legacy of Walter Rodney. Devyn also spoke about the Rodney family and the Walter Rodney Foundation and the work they do in Atlanta. Josh and Jay asked Devyn about how he utilizes Rodney's pedagogy as a teacher and organizer, what Rodney's most important contributions were, and Rodney's theory of development and underdevelopment. Devyn Springer is an Atlanta-based artist, writer, organizer, and educator with a background in African & African Diaspora studies and a concentration in Art History. He is the editor at Offtharecord.com, a digital media platform which focuses on uplifting marginalized voices, as well as assistant editor of two peer-reviewed academic journals, South and ATL. You can purchase his poetry/art book "Grayish-Black" on Amazon, follow him on Instagram @HalfAtlanta.jpeg, and see some of his visual art at Urbansoulatlanta.com. You can learn more about Walter Rodney and the Walter Rodney Foundation at http://www.walterrodneyfoundation.org.
Dec 21, 2017 • 38min
Episode 6: All I Want For Christmas Is... featuring George Ciccariello-Maher
This week as a special cup of holiday anti-capitalist cheer we’re joined by George Ciccariello-Maher. He’s a writer, professor, organizer, and the author of Building The Commune: Radical Democracy in Venezuela, Decolonizing Dialectics, and We Created Chavez: A People’s History of Venezuelan Revolution, which has now been translated into French, Arabic, and Spanish. In this episode George recaps some of the moments in 2017 that inspired him the most. We also talk about Decolonizing US Dialectics, Du Bois’s Black Reconstruction, the place for electoral politics in revolutionary spaces, the cultural work of building revolution, the drawbacks of shaming people, Venezuela, and where he thinks the left movements we've seen in recent years might go in 2018. Finally we get the opportunity to ask George the question leftists have been waiting for an answer to all year long. What does George want for Christmas in 2017?
Dec 13, 2017 • 52min
Episode 5: Wendi Muse, #LeftPOC, Brazil & Lusophone Africa
In this episode we talk to Wendi Muse, a PhD candidate in History at New York University. Her research concerns intellectual and political exchange between Brazilians and Portuguese-speaking African scholars, journalists, and activists during their concurrent respective struggles against authoritarian regimes of a military dictatorship and colonialism and its impact on Brazilian leftist practice & thought. Wendi is the creator of the LeftPOC hashtag and the LeftPOCket Project, which bridges academia, activism, and digital media to make the history of leftists of color more readily accessible to the public.
Dec 3, 2017 • 59min
Episode 4: Eugene Puryear - What The Russian Revolution Means 100 Years Later
For this episode we caught up with Eugene Puryear, member of the Party for Socialism and Liberation and their candidate for the US Vice Presidency during the 2016 election. For our show, Eugene talks with Jay about the Russian Revolution and what it means to him 100 years later, both historically and within this current political moment. He also talks about what the Russian Revolution meant for not just the working class, but for oppressed people around the world, including for people on the African continent and the African diaspora in the immediate aftermath of the Bolshevik Revolution. We then pivot to current events to get Eugene’s perspective on the unfolding situation in Zimbabwe. Eugene also shared some of his own reflections on Mugabe’s legacy and the centrality of land redistribution to decolonization efforts. Finally Eugene discussed the situation in Libya and cautions that the sudden uptick in media attention is already leading to compelling, but misguided, calls for US intervention.
Nov 6, 2017 • 48min
Episode 3: #NoNazisAtUF featuring Chad Chavira
For this episode we interviewed Chad Chavira. Chad is the lead organizer for #NoNazisAtUF, the student led organization that protested Richard Spencer’s speech at University of Florida back on October 19th. Chad is also an organizer with Dream Defenders and a junior at the University of Florida, studying Political Science and Sociology. We talk to Chad about organizing on a college campus with a particular emphasis on all the planning, mobilization, and political education efforts he and his comrades put into Gainesville's confrontation with Richard Spencer. Josh talked to Chad about the pros, cons, and challenges of mobilizing large groups of liberals in anti-fascist spaces in areas where there are not enough leftists to confront fascist speakers. Chad also talked about non-violence, self-defense, and his stance on nazi punchers and nazi huggers alike. We also talked more broadly about organizing strategies for student movements and antifascist movements. Finally, we got the chance to talk with Chad a little bit about what his work with Dream Defenders has meant for him and what he’s learned by being a part of their organizing efforts and campaigns in Florida over the past couple years.
Oct 24, 2017 • 53min
Episode 2: Black Feminist Anarchism & Leftist Neglect of the African Continent with Zoé Samudzi
This week we’re excited to bring you a conversation with Zoe Samudzi. Zoé is a freelance writer and doctoral student at the University of California, San Francisco. Her work is broadly around different aspects of race and coloniality, specifically through a black feminist lens. We had an opportunity to talk with Zoé about Black Feminist Anarchism. We also talked more broadly about how the necessity for US leftists to develop fuller understandings of the continent of Africa and its current conditions. Zoé talked about how her mother’s memory of Rhodesian colonialism has informed her anti-fascism. And she suggests that if the US is to unify around anything meaningful it will be on the ground meeting the material needs of marginalized communities, not developing a post-revolutionary theory upon which we’re all going to agree.
Oct 4, 2017 • 41min
Episode 1: HU Resist Shuts Down Comey
In our first episode of Millennials Are Killing Capitalism we caught up with Alexis McKenney and Jason Ajiake from HU Resist to discuss the shutting down of James Comey's speech at Howard's convocation in September. This event was widely misunderstood by liberals who have given James Comey a bewildering "hero status." This support of Comey has come about despite his history of anti-blackness and racism as the former FBI Director, where he targeted the Black Lives Matter Movement, created the term "the Ferguson Effect," and laid the ground work for fascistic Blue Lives Matter legislation that has since been adopted in multiple states. McKenney and Ajiake discuss the history of Howard, the history of the FBI, their rationale for shutting down Comey, and their struggles to develop a culture of activism on Howard's campus. They talk about the foundations of HU Resist and some of the challenges they've faced due to Howard University's close relationship with the Federal Government and its role in developing a Black bourgeoisie. They also discuss Kwame Ture's (f/k/a Stokely Carmichael) history at Howard and the university's coordination with the FBI during the bureau's surveillance of Ture. We discuss when it is appropriate to deny a platform to a speaker and they interrogate the true meaning of "dialogue." It's a powerful conversation that provides critical context to their decision to protest a convocation speech from a speaker their administration, many alumni, and some current students really wanted to give a platform, despite over 400 students who signed a formal denouncement of his presence on campus. We'd like to thank Jason Ajiake, Alexis McKenney, and all the comrades at @HUResist for their work and for joining us on this inaugural episode of Millennials Are Killing Capitalism to discuss it.
