By Any Means Necessary

In this segment of By Any Means Necessary, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Simon Tesfamariam, executive director of the New Africa Institute to discuss WHO chief Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus violating UN rules to advance the interests of Tigray People's Liberation Front, his history of shady deeds as an official in the TPLF government of Ethiopia prior to the election of Abiy Ahmed, the TPLF’s alleged abuse of UN aid and targeting of vulnerable groups in Tigray, and the TPLF’s use of US influence in the current conflict in Ethiopia.

In this segment of By Any Means Necessary, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Zoe Pepper-Cunningham, a journalist with People’s Dispatch to discuss the trial of software developer Ola Bini, irregularities in his arrest, detention, and trial which raise serious concerns about the fairness of his trial, how the US government may have played a role in the prosecution of Bini following the election of President Lenin Moreno, the connections between his case and that of Julian Assange, and how this case relates to the broader war on information and the freedom of journalists to expose crimes of the powerful.

In this episode of By Any Means Necessary, hosts Sean Blackmon and Jacquie Luqman are joined by Dr. Jodi Dean, Professor of Political Sciences at Hobart and William Smith Colleges and author of “Comrade: An Essay on Political Belonging” to discuss the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision outlining the right to abortion and attempts to roll back reproductive rights, how popular struggle, and not the benevolence of the Supreme Court, was responsible for the Roe decision and for reproductive care, and how women are organizing today against attacks on the right to abortion and the Supreme Court’s potential overturning of Roe.In the second segment, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Ari Paul, Contributing Writer to Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting to discuss the New York Times’ use of far-right and racialized rhetoric in its coverage of China’s policies to combat COVID-19, its disgusting comparison of the bureaucracy of the Chinese response to COVID-19 to the bureaucracy involved in the Holocaust, why the mainstream media’s biased coverage of China’s response is related to the abject deference of the US COVID response to capital, and the double standards employed by the mainstream media to magnify issues with China’s lockdown as it fails to cover the failures of the US response.In the third segment, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Nate Wallace, co-host of Red Spin Sports to discuss the hidden physical wounds that come with playing football and the story of former linebacker Chris Borland, the partnerships between the Department of Defense and the NCAA in covering up the physical toll of football, the increasingly racialized and classed nature of football and the wounds that are often involved with it, and the propaganda war waged to promote football in the wake of increased awareness of its physical toll.Later in the show, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Brian Becker, host of the Socialist Program to discuss the hypocrisy of the mainstream media in its coverage of the prosecution of Julian Assange, which threatens to chill speech and investigative journalism, the US government’s campaign to silence coverage of the crimes exposed by Assange and to cover up the crimes it continues to carry out on victims of imperialism, the history of US involvement in Ukraine and eastern Europe and how it fits into US warmongering in Ukraine today, and the US cold war drive against China as the anniversary of the establishment of relations between the two nations.

In this segment of By Any Means Necessary, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Nate Wallace, co-host of Red Spin Sports to discuss the hidden physical wounds that come with playing football and the story of former linebacker Chris Borland, the partnerships between the Department of Defense and the NCAA in covering up the physical toll of football, the increasingly racialized and classed nature of football and the wounds that are often involved with it, and the propaganda war waged to promote football in the wake of increased awareness of its physical toll.

In this segment of By Any Means Necessary, hosts Sean Blackmon and Jacquie Luqman are joined by Dr. Jodi Dean, Professor of Political Sciences at Hobart and William Smith Colleges and author of “Comrade: An Essay on Political Belonging” to discuss the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision outlining the right to abortion and attempts to roll back reproductive rights, how popular struggle, and not the benevolence of the Supreme Court, was responsible for the Roe decision and for reproductive care, and how women are organizing today against attacks on the right to abortion and the Supreme Court’s potential overturning of Roe.

In this segment of By Any Means Necessary, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Ari Paul, Contributing Writer to Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting to discuss the New York Times’ use of far-right and racialized rhetoric in its coverage of China’s policies to combat COVID-19, its disgusting comparison of the bureaucracy of the Chinese response to COVID-19 to the bureaucracy involved in the Holocaust, why the mainstream media’s biased coverage of China’s response is related to the abject deference of the US COVID response to capital, and the double standards employed by the mainstream media to magnify issues with China’s lockdown as it fails to cover the failures of the US response.

In this episode of By Any Means Necessary, hosts Sean Blackmon and Jacquie Luqman are joined by John Kiriakou, co-host of Political Misfits, which you can hear from 12 to 2 PM EST right here on Radio Sputnik to discuss the resignation of Bureau of Prisons Director Michael Carvajal and the rot that characterized the prison system under his watch, Carvajal’s refusal to act on the spread of COVID in prisons as people died directly because of his refusal to act, how this refusal and treatment of prisoners reveals a larger disdain for incarcerated people in society, and how the harsh treatment of prisoners contributes to high rates of recidivism.In the second segment, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Miko Peled, human rights activist and author of “The General’s Son: Journey of an Israeli in Palestine,” and “Injustice, the Story of the Holy Land Foundation Five.” to discuss efforts by Israel to displace a family in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of Jerusalem, how it fits into Israel’s campaign to expel Palestinians from the neighborhood and its colonization campaign, the greenwashing of Israel’s ethnic cleansing campaign in the Naqab, and the US taxpayer money that goes into these displacement campaigns.In the third segment, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Anthony Rogers Wright, Director of Environmental Justice with New York Lawyers for the Public Interest to discuss Joe Biden’s empty rhetoric on environmental justice and the health of Black people, the failure of the Justice40 initiative to allocate infrastructure funds to poor Black communities, how corporate control of politicians continues to contribute to the harms faced by working class communities, and the possibility of worsened infrastructure and economic inequality for communities suffering from environmental racism.Later in the show, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Margaret Kimberley, editor and senior columnist at Black Agenda Report and author of the book "Prejudential: Black America and the Presidents" to discuss the first year of Joe Biden’s presidency and his rejection of progressive reforms and so-called “harm reduction” that is responsible for his election in the first place, the crisis of legitimacy that has opened up due to Biden’s abandonment of working and poor people, the opportunity to organize for a system that works for working and poor people that has arisen because of that crisis, US attempts to overthrow the government of Nicaragua and the system that it represents, and the cooptation of progressive language in the service of imperialism.

In this segment of By Any Means Necessary, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Anthony Rogers Wright, Director of Environmental Justice with New York Lawyers for the Public Interest to discuss Joe Biden’s empty rhetoric on environmental justice and the health of Black people, the failure of the Justice40 initiative to allocate infrastructure funds to poor Black communities, how corporate control of politicians continues to contribute to the harms faced by working class communities, and the possibility of worsened infrastructure and economic inequality for communities suffering from environmental racism.

In this segment of By Any Means Necessary, hosts Sean Blackmon and Jacquie Luqman are joined by John Kiriakou, co-host of Political Misfits, which you can hear from 12 to 2 PM EST right here on Radio Sputnik to discuss the resignation of Bureau of Prisons Director Michael Carvajal and the rot that characterized the prison system under his watch, Carvajal’s refusal to act on the spread of COVID in prisons as people died directly because of his refusal to act, how this refusal and treatment of prisoners reveals a larger disdain for incarcerated people in society, and how the harsh treatment of prisoners contributes to high rates of recidivism.

In this episode of By Any Means Necessary, hosts Sean Blackmon and Jacquie Luqman are joined by Lillian House, writer for Breaking the Chains magazine and organizer with the ANSWER Coalition in Colorado to discuss the King Soopers strike in the Denver metro area and a recent ruling that severely limits striking workers’ freedom of speech, the intimidation tactics and starvation wages that sparked the strike, the unfair practices that the business is employing to break the strike, including paying scabs more than union workers, and how this strike fits into the larger labor movement.In the second segment, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Libre X Sankara, poet, cultural worker,educator and organizer with the Troika Kollective to discuss a judicial ruling restructuring Puerto Rico’s debt and the recent history of the exploitation of Puerto Rico, how this restructuring is a smokescreen that clouds the reality that Puerto Rico remains in debt and does nothing to alleviate the neoliberal exploitation of the island, and how the exploitation of Puerto Rico plays out in the lives of Puerto Ricans.In the third segment, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Leo Flores, Latin America Campaign Coordinator at CODEPINK to discuss Luis Almagro’s abuse of his position at the OAS to challenge progressive movements in Latin America, how he also has supported coups in Honduras and Haiti in line with US interests, his anti-democratic effort to maintain his position in the OAS to serve as a lackey for the US empire, and efforts in Latin America to present a challenge to the OAS with a more representative body.Later in the show, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Breakthrough News journalist Kei Pritsker to discuss the apartment fire in the Bronx that killed 17 people and the outright neglect for the lives of working and poor people that is commonplace in places where they live, the US sending military aid as part of its cold war drive against major powers and how it fits into US attempts to maintain its imperial influence, the bad approval numbers for the Biden administration and how Biden’s unwillingness to push for reforms for working and poor people has directly contributed to the precarious situation Democrats are in for the midterm elections, and the need for organizing to achieve a new, people-centered system.

In this segment of By Any Means Necessary, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Libre X Sankara, poet, cultural worker, educator and organizer with the Troika Kollective to discuss a judicial ruling restructuring Puerto Rico’s debt and the recent history of the exploitation of Puerto Rico, how this restructuring is a smokescreen that clouds the reality that Puerto Rico remains in debt and does nothing to alleviate the neoliberal exploitation of the island, and how the exploitation of Puerto Rico plays out in the lives of Puerto Ricans.

In this segment of By Any Means Necessary, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Leo Flores, Latin America Campaign Coordinator at CODEPINK to discuss Luis Almagro’s abuse of his position at the OAS to challenge progressive movements in Latin America, how he also has supported coups in Honduras and Haiti in line with US interests, his anti-democratic effort to maintain his position in the OAS to serve as a lackey for the US empire, and efforts in Latin America to present a challenge to the OAS with a more representative body.

In this segment of By Any Means Necessary, hosts Sean Blackmon and Jacquie Luqman are joined by Lillian House, writer for Breaking the Chains magazine and organizer with the ANSWER Coalition in Colorado to discuss the King Soopers strike in the Denver metro area and a recent ruling that severely limits striking workers’ freedom of speech, the intimidation tactics and starvation wages that sparked the strike, the unfair practices that the business is employing to break the strike, including paying scabs more than union workers, and how this strike fits into the larger labor movement.

In this episode of By Any Means Necessary, hosts Sean Blackmon and Jacquie Luqman are joined by Maurice Carney, co-founder and Executive Director of Friends of the Congo to discuss the anniversary of the assassination of Congolese leader Patrice Lumumba by Belgian and US forces, the pan-African vision that he had and why that posed a threat to the United States, the theft of Lumuba’s remains and how it connects to historic theft from the African continent, and the role of the US government and corporations in the continued exploitation of the Congo.In the second segment, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Brian Mier, co-editor of Brasil Wire and author of Year of Lead: Washington, Wall Street and the New Imperialism in Brazil to discuss the political outlook in Brazil as it faces its presidential election later this year, the struggles that the Jair Bolsonaro faces as he tries to maintain his power, Steve Bannon and his movement’s attention to Brazil and its upcoming election and Bannon’s interest in the election, and the US interest in securing alliances in Latin America as it pursues a new cold war against Russia and China. In the third segment, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Chris Garaffa, the editor of TechforthePeople.org to discuss Russia’s arrest of key members of the REvil ransomware gang and skewed corporate media coverage of the arrests, models of governance of artificial intelligence coming out of China and what it means for the use of the technology, and more surveillance programs between home surveillance systems and police and the dangerous intrusions of privacy that such programs pose.Later in the show, Sean and Jacquie are joined by James Early, Former Director of Cultural Heritage Policy at the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage at the Smithsonian Institution and board member of the Institute for Policy Studies to discuss the abstraction of Martin Luther King Jr. and the working class character of his movement, the obscene accumulation of wealth by billionaires during the pandemic as working and poor people suffer its impacts, and the bailout to corporations that contributed to the massive transfer of wealth seen during the pandemic.

In this segment of By Any Means Necessary, hosts Sean Blackmon and Jacquie Luqman are joined by Maurice Carney, co-founder and Executive Director of Friends of the Congo to discuss the anniversary of the assassination of Congolese leader Patrice Lumumba by Belgian and US forces, the pan-African vision that he had and why that posed a threat to the United States, the theft of Lumuba’s remains and how it connects to historic theft from the African continent, and the role of the US government and corporations in the continued exploitation of the Congo.