Millennials Are Killing Capitalism

In this episode, Anthony Dest, an assistant professor of anthropology, discusses political economy, organizing, and resistance in Colombia. Topics include Black Colombians' organization, the US war on drugs, the Peace Accords process, neoliberal reforms, coordinated action, and political prisoners.

In this conversation Josh interviews Zachary Levenson and Marcel Paret discussing their article on “The South African tradition of racial capitalism,” which serves as the introduction to a special issue of Ethnic and Racial Studies on the same subject. Zachary Levenson is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Florida International University in the United States and a Senior Research Associate at the University of Johannesburg in South Africa. He is the author of Delivery as Dispossession: Land Occupation and Eviction in the Postapartheid City and a member of the Spectre editorial board. Marcel Paret is Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Utah and Senior Research Associate in the Center for Social Change at the University of Johannesburg. He is the author of Fractured Militancy: Precarious Resistance in South Africa After Racial Inclusion (Cornell University Press, 2022). Levenson and Paret situate the South African tradition of racial capitalism against the organizational backdrop of the anti-apartheid movement, and outline the key theses of this South African tradition of racial capitalism. They discuss how these activists, comrades, organic intellectuals and/or theorists within this tradition theorized the role of the state and capital in the development of racist policy, and the contradictions this created as well as the potential avenues of resistance it enabled.  And if you like the work that we do here at MAKC, this month we’re trying to reach a goal of adding 50 patrons to the show. We should be launching a new study group in the coming months as we are winding down with our Wretched of the Earth study group so keep your eye out for that too. You can stay informed on that and support the show by giving as little as $1 a month at patreon.com/millennialsarekillingcapitalism Links: Ethnic and Racial Studies Journal (the issue we discuss will be released in October) Fractured Militancy: Precarious Resistance in South Africa After Racial Inclusion Delivery as Dispossession: Land Occupation and Eviction in the Postapartheid City Spectre South African History Online

In this conversation we talk to Ivan Stoiljkovic.  Ivan is the General Secretary of Katarokwi Union of Tenants, the Kingston Peace Council and a member of the Communist Party of Canada. This conversation is a part of a newer series of conversations where we talk to people about texts that they find politically useful and important. It’s a different approach that moves beyond a typical author talk - which we will continue to do - to engage theory and history with people who are seeking to put theory into practice, or organize with others to deal with the concrete situation they face. Our first episode that came from this idea was last month our discussion with Thandisizwe Chimurenga and Yusef “Bunchy” Shakur on the political writings of Sanyika Shakur.  In this discussion we are talking about E.P. Thompson’s essay “Time, Work Discipline and Industrial Capitalism”  In that discussion we discuss the imposition of time and time discipline that came with the onset of industrial capitalism. We talk a bit about the various ways that workers resisted the imposition of this sense of time, and then began to fight over time itself. Ultimately however, the fight is to abolish time, which can only be achieved through the abolition of capitalism.  Prior to that discussion, we start with a little bit of Ivan’s personal and political history, including his childhood in socialist Yugoslavia, and then delve into a discussion of multiple aspects of Thompson’s essay.  If you appreciate the work that we do, for August we have an ambitious goal of adding 50 patrons to the show. You can help us meet this goal by either increasing your pledge or pledging as little as $1 a month at patreon.com/millennialsarekillingcapitalism. This is just our second episode of August, but we plan to feature at least four more discussions this month.  Links: Ivan Stoiljkovic's Twitter Ivan's FB Page Katarokwi Union of Tenants FB page and website The Yugoslavian leftist group called ‘Crvena Dijaspora’ which he describes in the discussion E.P. Thompson’s essay “Time, Work Discipline and Industrial Capitalism”   

In this episode we welcome an organizer who goes by Grandma to talk about the campaign to Stop Camp Grayling. Encompassing roughly 150,000 acres of land, Camp Grayling is already the largest National Guard training facility in the United States. For about a year now there has been a concerted effort to expand it to an even larger area. In this conversation we talk to Grandma about the campaign to fight its expansion, about the environmental impacts of the current facility and the further devastation that could be generated by its expansion. We also talk about the relationship between the National Guard and settler colonialism, imperialism, and the fascistic management of human populations impacted by the worst impacts of climate change.  Of course, many around the country have also become more familiar with the national guard’s role in domestic counterinsurgency and pacification during times of social unrest such as the rebellions in 2020 in the wake of the extrajudicial killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and others. Understanding these roles of the National Guard and also Camp Grayling’s utility to the testing and development of new technologies of warfare and to the training of military and police forces domestically and internationally, Grandma also situates this intended expansion within various attempts to build new “cop cities” including but not limited to the struggle in Atlanta. We also discuss some of the actions that folks in the movement have taken, some of the repression they have faced, and some of the contradictions of local politics that create different spheres of opposition to the project than for instance the cop city project in Atlanta. I apologize that I did not get this episode out in time for the week of action, as I recently took a short vacation from production work, but hopefully there will be more of those coming in the future. You can follow them at @GraylingCamp on the website formerly known as twitter or email them at stopcampgrayling at proton dot me. This is our first episode of August, our goal for the month is get 50 people to either become patrons of the show or increase their pledge to the show. We’ll be looking to publish at least 6 episodes this month. So if you’ve been thinking about either increasing your pledge or becoming a patron you can do so for as little as $1 a month at patreon.com/millennialsarekillingcapitalism. Links: Follow them on X/Twitter or instagram The Base Among the Jack Pine: notes on the Camp Grayling Expansion on Anishnabewaki (zine we discuss in the podcast)

In this episode we discuss the brand new authorized English translation of Domenico Losurdo’s Stalin: History and Critique of a Black Legend, pre-orders are now being fulfilled, from Iskra Books.  Joining us for this conversation are the translators of the text Henry Hakamäki and Salvatore Engel-Di Mauro.  Henry Hakamäki is best known as the co-host of the Guerrilla History podcast. And of course among many other things, he is also the co-translator and editor of the book we will be discussing today. You can follow him on Twitter at @huck1995. Salvatore Engel-Di Mauro is Professor at the Geography Department of SUNY New Paltz and is chief editor for the journal Capitalism Nature Socialism.  His book Socialist States and the Environment is available from Pluto Press.  We talk to the two translators about why this book has taken so long to receive an authorized translation into English. How Henry and Salvatore got involved in the project. We also talk about how the book helps us deconstruct and reorient ideas and understandings about Stalin’s legacy and in doing so hopefully helps to pave the way for better understandings of the larger social processes during a critical era of Soviet History as well.  We talk about how Losurdo addresses the false equivalence often made between Stalin and Hitler. Which also sets up a false equivalency between fascism and communism. Our guests discuss problem of comparing abstract universalist ideals with concrete attempts to build socialism. How Losurdo deals with and situates the purges and terror with regards to Stalin’s legacy as well as contradictory charges that Stalin was both bumbling and incompetent and an absolute dictator that made every decision of any importance across the whole of the USSR. We close with some discussion of Stalin on the national question and his stance on language in the early USSR. The book is available now for pre-order and we will include a link in the show notes where folks can purchase the book. The free pdf should be available through the Iskra Books website by August 9th. We also just want to send a shout-out to Guerrilla History the podcast which Henry is a regular co-host. They have another episode on the book that is out that goes in more detail over some of the aspects of the book that we do not touch on as much so check that out and while you’re there subscribe and check out their other content and support their work if you appreciate what they do. And lastly this is our fifth episode of the month of July. We did hit our goal for new patrons for the month, so thanks to everyone who contributed to that. And if you have been thinking about becoming a patron of the show we can always use your support to sustain what we do here. You can become a patron of the show for as little as $1 a month at patreon.com/millennialsarekillingcapitalism Links: Purchase the book (paperback) Purchase the book (hardback) Free PDF will be available here in the coming days Guerrilla History episode on the book 

This is the conclusion of our two-part discussion with Dr. Jared A. Ball on the release of the second edition of his book The Myth and Propaganda of Black Buying Power. Part one can be found here. Once again, Jared Ball is the host of imixwhatilike and co-host of Earn Your Liberation and the RemiX Morning Show over on Black Power Media.  He works as Professor of Africana and Communication Studies at Morgan State University in Baltimore, MD. His decades of journalism, media, writing, and political work can be found at imixwhatilike.org.  In this part of the discussion we talk a little bit about hip hop and its modern relation to corporations and social media influencers. Content warning on that conversation especially for fans of modern hip hop music, as Jared Ball and Jared Ware both turn into old men shaking our fists at clouds and telling children to get off our lawns during that portion of the discussion. Jared Ball talks a bit more about how nonsensical it is to confront his work around “Black Buying Power” with a demand for an alternative solution. From there we get into the After Party concept that Dr. Ball has shared on his platforms over the years, and get into some discussion of Green Party politics and Dr. Cornel West’s campaign. All in all it’s a pretty free ranging conversation where we discuss a variety of different topics. We had a lot of fun doing it and we hope you enjoy it half as much as we enjoyed recording it.  We did record it a month ago back on June 20th. So you’ll note at the end we referenced the launch party for the second edition, which unfortunately we weren’t able to get this episode out in time to help promote, but we will link a recording of that in the show notes. We will link to some other places folks can learn more about the book, as well as a link to where you can purchase a copy.  We do want to mention that Black Power Media did get a strike from YouTube for their H8 Awards so their new content this week will be on Twitch, Twitter and Facebook, until they have served their 7 day sentence for that. You can also find all of the relevant links and information at blackpowermedia.org including ways to donate and support their work. And last but not least if you like what we do, please become a patron of the show if you have the means to do so. You can do that for as little as $1 a month at patreon.com/millennialsarekillingcapitalism Links: Launch Party for the second edition of The Myth and Propaganda of Black Buying Power Our first conversation with Dr. Ball on the The Myth and Propaganda of Black Buying Power Discussions on the Myth and Propaganda of Black Buying Power Purchase the hardback or e-book of The Myth and Propaganda of Black Buying Power Our conversation with Dr. Ball from the Journalism For Liberation and Combat Session 1: Internal Colonialism & Emancipatory Journalism with Dr. Jared A. Ball "A Threat To This Day" Jared Ball on the Distortion and Erasure of Black Revolutionaries in Corporate Media  

In this episode we welcome Dr. Jared A. Ball back to the podcast. Of course we know Jared Ball as a host of imixwhatilike and co-host of Earn Your Liberation and the RemiX Morning Show over on Black Power Media.  In addition he is of course Professor of Africana and Communication Studies at Morgan State University in Baltimore, MD. His decades of journalism, media, writing, and political work can be found at imixwhatilike.org.  He has previously joined us for multiple discussions which we will link in the show notes. For this conversation we talk about the newly released second edition of his book The Myth and Propaganda of Black Buying Power. We should note that we do have a previous conversation on the first edition and if you missed that it would be helpful to understand the work more holistically. Today we talk about some of the new sections in the second edition, including the chapter on Cryptocurrency and Cryptoganda targeted at Black audiences. We also talk to him about what it has been like to confront various promoters of the concept of Black Buying Power in the promotion of the book.  There will be a second half of this conversation which we will release later this week where we wrap up our discussion of the second edition and get into some other topics. We will link to some other places folks can learn more about the book, as well as a link to where you can purchase a copy.  And if you like what we do of course as always, support our ability to continue to do it. You can become a patron of the show for as little as $1 a month at patreon.com/millennialsarekillingcapitalism Links: Our first conversation with Dr. Ball on the The Myth and Propaganda of Black Buying Power Discussions on the Myth and Propaganda of Black Buying Power Purchase the hardback or e-book of The Myth and Propaganda of Black Buying Power Our conversation with Dr. Ball from the Journalism For Liberation and Combat Session 1: Internal Colonialism & Emancipatory Journalism with Dr. Jared A. Ball "A Threat To This Day" Jared Ball on the Distortion and Erasure of Black Revolutionaries in Corporate Media  

In this episode we welcome Thandisizwe Chimurenga and Yusef “Bunchy” Shakur to have a conversation that revolves around Sanyika Shakur’s final book, Stand-Up, Struggle Forward: New Afrikan Revolutionary Writings on Nation, Class and Patriarchy. Thandisizwe Chimurenga is an award-winning Los Angeles-based journalist. Having worked in print and radio/broadcast journalism, she is the author of No Doubt: The Murder(s) of Oscar Grant; Reparations … Not Yet: A Case for Reparations and Why We Must Wait; the soon-to-be-published Some Of Us Are Brave: Interviews and Conversations with Sistas on Life, Art and Struggle, published by Daraja Press, and Nobody Knows My Name: Coming of Age in and Resilience After the Black Power Movement co-written with Deborah Jones, to be published by Diasporic Africa Press. Her commitment to infusing radical Black feminist/womanist politics within Revolutionary New Afrikan Nationalism, which she believes is key to destroying capitalism, patriarchy and white supremacist imperialism, has been informed by Aminata Umoja, Assata Shakur, Pearl Cleage, bell hooks, Angela Davis, Queen Mother Moore, Gloria Richardson, Fannie Lou Hamer, Ella Baker, Claudia Jones, Ida B Wells and the “Amazons” of Dahomey. Yusef “Bunchy” Shakur is a father, neighborhood organizer, author of multiple books, educator and a member of Community Movement Builders. He organizes in Detroit, Michigan. Yusef wrote the foreword to Sanyika’s Stand Up, Struggle Forward which we’re discussing today and Sanyika Shakur wrote the foreword to Yusef Shakur’s book Redemptive Soul.  In this discussion Thandisizwe and Yusef talk about their own personal and political relationships with Sanyika Shakur and to his writings. We talk a little bit about New Afrikan political thought as it emanated from the New Afrikan Prisoners Organization particularly as was elaborated by Owusu Yaki Yakubu formerly known under the names James “Yaki” Sayles and Atiba Shanna. We discuss the importance of terminology within the New Afrikan Independence Movement and the contributions of Yaki and Sanyika to this body of political thought.  Thandisizwe Chimurenga and Yusef “Bunchy” Shakur share reflections on Sanyika’s writings on patriarchy, homophobia and transphobia and on revolutionary transformation. They discuss the difficulties of re-entry for politicized and political prisoners in an environment without a strong political home to return to, as well as the use of solitary confinement and control units as weapons against politicized figures. Since the publication of our last episode Dr. Mutulu Shakur has transitioned beyond this realm and we want to send our condolences to all of his loved ones and co-strugglers, we also want to take this moment to recognize his indelible contributions to the New Afrikan Independence Movement and the cause of Black Liberation. In the show notes we will link to the book we discuss which can be found through Kersplebedeb or leftwingbooks.net along with the writings of Yaki. We highly, highly recommend both. We will also include a link to many more related writings available digitally through Freedom Archives.  And of course if you like what we do, bringing you these episodes on a weekly basis, become a patron of the show. You can do so for as little as $1 a month at patreon.com/millennialsarekillingcapitalism Links: Thandisizwe's website (includes ways to support her work) Yusef "Bunchy" Shakur's website (includes a store with his books) Stand-Up, Struggle Forward: New Afrikan Revolutionary Writings on Nation, Class and Patriarchy Meditations on Frantz Fanon's Wretched of the Earth: New Afrikan Revolutionary Writings by James "Yaki" Sayles Freedom Archives: New Afrikan Prisoner Organization Archives "Pathology of Patriarchy: A Search for Clues at the Scene of the Crime" by Sanyika Shakur Beneath My Surface - Thandisizwe Chimurenga (includes reflection on Sanyika's passing as discussed in the episode) Day of the Gun (George Jackson Doc) The Political Theory of Dr. Mutulu Shakur with Thandisizwe Chimurenga, Kalonji Changa, & Akinyele Umoja

This past May David Chávez, Steven Osuna, Alejandro Villalpando, and Jared Ware (co-host of MAKC) gave a panel presentation at the Abolitions Conference in DC. We wanted to have a conversation to share some of what we talked about, some of our reflections on the conference, discuss some of the possibilities, limitations and contradictions of Abolition within Academic spaces, as well as some of the potential ways that these spaces, jobs within them, or alternatives to them might be useful in advancing the abolitionist struggle. Before we get into this conversation we would like to thank organizers Whitney Pirtle and Tanya Golash-Boza for putting the conference together and welcoming us to it. And also shout out all the folks we were able to connect with there and the people who gave talks and shared their insights and their research. We will include links to our presentation from the conference and encourage folks to check out others from the conferences if they’re interested. There is a lot of good work that was presented and good discussions that were had.  Joining J for this conversation:  David Chávez teaches History & Ethnic Studies at Compton College. With his dissertation, “From Delinquents to Street Terrorists: L.A.’s War on Black and Chicanx Youth, 1945-1965,” Chávez has studied the policing and criminalization of those populations in Greater Los Angeles. He also has many years of organizing experience, including with Critical Resistance. Steven Osuna is an associate professor of Sociology at CSU Long Beach. He has written extensively on street organizations, policing, the so-called war on drugs, and the ravages of capitalism and neoliberalism. He also has experience organizing in the Philippine solidarity movement and other struggles.  Alejandro Villalpando is an assistant professor in the Department of Pan-African Studies and the Latin American Studies Program at Cal State LA. He earned his Ph.D. in Critical Ethnic Studies from UC Riverside, and an M.A. from Latin American Studies at Cal State LA. His work lies at the intersection of Black, Central American, and Ethnic Studies. He also organizes with the Coalition for Community Control Over the Police. We have had previous conversations with Alejandro and Steven and will link those in the show notes as well. It is July. Over the months of June and May we released over 14 new episodes of material. We probably will not be able to keep that pace up for this month, but we could definitely use some support from our listeners. We unfortunately just missed our sustainability goal for June. So if you are listening and are able to support the show become a patron for as little as $1 a month at patreon.com/millennialsarekillingcapitalism Links: Our presentation at the UCDC Abolitions Conference “Advancing the Abolitionist Struggle, Everywhere” (starts at approximately 4:31:30 into the recording) “The Day in Day Out Commitment to Abolition” - Alejandro Villalpando on Organizing, Building Connection, and the Abolitionist Horizon  "We Need To Be Active In The Working Class Struggle For Socialism Globally" - Steven Osuna on Class Suicide  One alternative to an academic conference is the recent Black Radical Organizing Conference, you can find video of it on Black Power Media  Photos of panelists taken by Charles H.F. Davis III at the Abolitions Conference

In this episode we welcome on multiple activists and organizers involved in the struggle to stop cop city. For this discussion Kamau Franklin from Community Movement Builders, and Micah Herskind return to the podcast, and K from Unity and Struggle, and Matthew Johnson from the Stop Cop City Faith Coalition join them to talk about various facets of the movement to stop cop city current strategic and tactical questions and concerns. They each provide brief introductions during the show itself. We catch folks up on some of the important recent events in this struggle since our conversation on the movement last Fall. We discusss the repression of the Atlanta Solidarity Fund, the use of domestic terrorism charges, and against firm and nearly unanimous public opposition the Atlanta City Council’s recent allocation of the funding for the building of Cop City.  We also get into the new referendum initiative and some of the tactical and strategic debates around that effort. Further all of our guests offer up multiple ways that people can get involved and plug into the struggle against cop city wherever they are. This week is a week of action in the struggle to Stop Cop City so we will include links with more information on ways people can get involved in that as well. UPDATES which occurred after the recording (which are relevant to some discussions within the episode): The referendum effort is now underway, the county clerk approved the ability of organizers to begin collecting signatures a couple of hours after we recorded this conversation. Dekalb County DA Sherry Boston has withdrawn her office from the prosecution of 42 cases against stop cop city activists due to movement pressure.  And we are almost at the end of the month, this is our 7th and final episode for the month of June. We are unlikely to hit our goal for new patrons of the month, as we are still over new 10 patrons away from reaching it. But any support you can offer is very much needed and appreciated. You can become a patron of the show for as little as $1 a month at patreon.com/millennialsarekillingcapitalism Links: Week of Action in Atlanta June 24 - July 1  Contribute to the Atlanta Solidarity Fund Referendum Effort - Cop City Vote (thread on helping with referendum) stopcopcitysolidarity.org communitymovementbuilders.org's Stop Cop City Page Unity and Struggle's Three Theories of Victory in Atlanta This is the Atlanta Way: A Primer on Cop City by Micah Herskind defendtheatlantaforest.org atlpresscollective.com Our prior episode on the movement to Stop Cop City