Burn it Down with Kim Brown

We already knew Congress’s priorities are bailing out corporations and serving the rich, but this latest COVID-19 relief package is beyond laughable.

It is abundantly clear: The calvary is not coming; we are on our own. So, with need running high, mutual aid organizers are taking it upon themselves to address food scarcity, housing, and jail support in their communities. We speak with Zoe Grieder from Tacoma Mutual Aid Collective, Nitish Pahwa from Crown Heights Mutual Aid, and a member of Good Trouble Cooperative.

Democrats have seemingly caved to Mitch McConnell's grim will once again and are now leaning toward passing an abominably paltry second COVID-19 relief package. In case it wasn't obvious before, it's certainly obvious now: We're on our own. In today's episode of Burn It Down, Kim is joined by TRNN Managing/Baltimore Editor Lisa Snowden-McCray, and TRNN Editor-in-Chief Maximillian Alvarez to discuss the failures of both parties in our collective hour of need.

The Proud Boys hit the streets yet again this week to protest the validity of the general election results and demonstrate their undying support of Donald Trump. We discuss why, with stabbings and a shooting taking place at these demonstrations, police continue to take a hands-off approach. We are joined by guests journalist Chuck Modiano, editor and founder of Black House News Sean Michael Love, reporter and photographer Shauna Sowersby, and a representative from Independent Media PDX.

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On June 18, 2020, 18-year-old Andrés Guardado was shot in the back and killed by an L.A. County deputy sheriff. With witnesses disappearing and officers involved pleading the Fifth, the investigation into the police killing of Guardado is looking pretty damn sketchy. We speak with Memo Torres, director of partnerships for L.A. Taco, about the case. Also, the Seattle City Council voted to cut their police budget by 20%, but some residents argue it should be slashed by more. We speak with Seattle Councilmember Kshama Sawant about what defunding the police means in principle and looks like in practice.

Sociologist Taure Brown and editor from Hood Communist, Onyesonwu Chatoyer join us to set the record straight on Obama’s flimsy attempt to rewrite his own legacy and his dogged insistence on crushing leftist movements. We also speak with Ricci Sergienko from The People’s City Council about the inhumane and forcible removal of families by police from state-owned housing the day before Thanksgiving.

Neera Tanden? Rahm Emanuel? Here’s the deal, Jack: President-elect Joe Biden’s cabinet picks and top candidates so far comprise a who’s who of neoliberal ghouls from the Obama and Clinton eras. We speak with political consultant Adriel Hampton and Jacobin staff writer Branko Marcetic about whether the battle lines have been drawn between progressives and establishment Dems.

We're joined by Marilyn Vann, president of both the Descendants of Freedmen of the Five Civilized Tribes Association and African Indians of the 5 Civilized Tribes Foundation; Johnnie Jae, journalist and co-host of Decolonized News Hour; and Antonio Cosme, Indigenous activist, economist, and beekeeper from Detroit.

We look back on the history of Indigenous slave ownership, examine how that history influences anti-Black attitudes today, and discuss the push by Black Native Americans for Rep. Deb Haaland to urge tribes to honor the Treaties of 1866 requiring freedmen to be admitted to tribal nations as full citizens.

Burn It Down with Kim Brown returns live on Tuesday, Dec. 1 at 5:00 p.m. EST!

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Billions are spent here in America on incarcerating the world’s largest prison population. We speak with Hawai’i Friends of Restorative Justice Director Lorenn Walker and TRNN Executive Producer Eddie Conway about what it would take, and what it would look like, to abolish prisons in the U.S.

We ask why police suddenly left all their tear gas and rubber bullets at the office while Trump supporters took to the streets for the Million MAGA March in Washington, DC. Core organizer for BLM DC April Goggans, journalist Chuck Modiano, and TRNN investigative reporters Taya Graham and Stephen Janis join Kim Brown for the discussion.

Drugs won big on Election Day, and the bipartisan divide on the war on drugs appears to be closing. With major strides in drug decriminalization and legalization taking place, we talk to Law Enforcement Action Partnership Executive Director Neill Franklin and NORML State Policies Coordinator Carly Wolf to explore how states are handling these measures and how it will impact us.