By Any Means Necessary

In this episode of By Any Means Necessary, hosts Sean Blackmon and Jacquie Luqman are joined by Don Debar host of the Weekday World show on Radio Justice LA to discuss Joe Biden’s push for voting rights in Georgia, how this fits into the records of Chuck Schumer and Joe Biden on voting rights, the cynical lip service of Biden’s calls for changes to the filibuster as it continues to be used to block reforms that would benefit working and poor people, and fundamental flaws with the voting rights bills in Congress.


In the second segment, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan-African News Wire to discuss the imposition of sanctions by the Economic Community of West African States on Mali in response to issues regarding security and elections, the role of France, Mali’s former colonial power, in the imposition of these sanctions and in Mali, what interest other powers such as the US have in Mali and in West Africa, and the use of insecurity in West Africa to justify US and French involvement in the region.


In the third segment, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Jia Hong from Nodutdol for Korean Community Development to discuss demonstrations in Seoul over worsening inequality in South Korea, the history and contemporary manifestations of the united front between peasants and urban poor, how US imperialism has destroyed the land and livelihoods of Korean peasants and created the conditions for mass inequality, and the pressure that these demonstrations put on the political system as South Korea faces a presidential election.


Later in the show, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Rachel Hu, co-host of the podcast It’s Not You, It’s Capitalism to discuss New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ placing blame for the deadly apartment fire in the Bronx on victims not closing a door instead of the longstanding issues with heat and safety in the building, the normalization of the COVID-19 pandemic by the Biden administration to grease the wheels of capitalist production and its comparison to China’s response to the pandemic, and the racist domestic manifestations of the new cold war drive against China.

In this segment of By Any Means Necessary, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Jia Hong from Nodutdol for Korean Community Development to discuss demonstrations in Seoul over worsening inequality in South Korea, the history and contemporary manifestations of the united front between peasants and urban poor, how US imperialism has destroyed the land and livelihoods of Korean peasants and created the conditions for mass inequality, and the pressure that these demonstrations put on the political system as South Korea faces a presidential election.

In this segment of By Any Means Necessary, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan-African News Wire to discuss the imposition of sanctions by the Economic Community of West African States on Mali in response to issues regarding security and elections, the role of Mali’s former colonial power France in the imposition of these sanctions and in Mali, what interest other powers such as the US have in Mali and in West Africa, and the use of insecurity in West Africa to justify US and French involvement in the region.

In this episode of By Any Means Necessary, hosts Sean Blackmon and Jacquie Luqman are joined by Paki Wieland, volunteer with CODEPINK: Women for Peace to discuss the anniversary of the first detainees arriving at the Guantanamo Bay prison, the human impact of renditions to Guantanamo,the struggle for reparations for people who were detained at Guantanamo to alleviate the impact that their detention has had on their lives, and the obscene cost of maintaining the prison.


In the second segment, Sean and Jacquie are joined by international affairs and security analyst Mark Sleboda to discuss discussions between the US and Russia over NATO aggression in Ukraine and Eastern Europe, attempts to pull Ukraine into NATO since the overthrow of Ukraine’s democratically-elected government in 2014, the misleading statements about Russian troop movements near the Ukrainian-Russian border, and the reality of the attempted coup in Kazakhstan.


In the third segment, Sean and Jacquie are joined by technologist Chris Garaffa, the editor of TechforthePeople.org to discuss Google’s secret anti-union campaign and its profiting from human rights violations, the millions Google spent on anti-worker consultant firms, John Deere’s new self-driving tractors and its role in the potential growth of agribusiness and threats they pose to the right to repair and ownership of data.


Later in the show, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Ajamu Baraka, National Organizer of the Black Alliance for Peace to discuss ongoing tension over Ukraine and what it means to Black people in the US, the extraordinary impact that aggression from NATO and the US over Ukraine could have on the entire world, how the Ukraine issue is conveniently acting as a diversion from the rampant spread of COVID-19 in the US, the commitment of alternative media to have conversations excluded from the mainstream media, especially on issues of imperialism.

In this segment of By Any Means Necessary, Sean and Jacquie are joined by technologist Chris Garaffa, the editor of TechforthePeople.org to discuss Google’s secret anti-union campaign and its profiting from human rights violations, the millions Google spent on anti-worker consultant firms, John Deere’s new self-driving tractors and its role in the potential growth of agribusiness and threats they pose to the right to repair and ownership of data.

In this segment of By Any Means Necessary, Sean and Jacquie are joined by international affairs and security analyst Mark Sleboda to discuss discussions between the US and Russia over NATO aggression in Ukraine and Eastern Europe, attempts to pull Ukraine into NATO since the overthrow of Ukraine’s democratically-elected government in 2014, the misleading statements about Russian troop movements near the Ukrainian-Russian border, and the reality of the attempted coup in Kazakhstan.

In this episode of By Any Means Necessary, hosts Sean Blackmon and Jacquie Luqman discuss the racist terror attack against voting rights activist Vernon Dahmer and why the vote has historically been kept away from Black and poor people, the mythology of access to equality under the vote in the era of monopoly capitalism, and the need for organizing outside of the political mainstream to fight for their communities.


In the second segment, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Helen Yaffe, Visiting Fellow at the Latin America and Caribbean Centre and a Lecturer in Economic and Social History in the University of Glasgow and author of the new book We Are Cuba! How a Revolutionary People Have Survived in a Post-Soviet World to discuss the online premiere of Cuba's Life Task, Combating Climate Change covering Cuba’s state plan for climate change mitigation, the threat climate change poses to Cuba, how the Cuban government engages local communities to find the best solutions to problems posed by climate change, and how Cuba’s climate change mitigation strategies pose an important lesson for its neighbors in the Caribbean and the global south.


In the third segment, Sean and Jacquie are joined by T.J. Coles, a postdoctoral researcher at Plymouth University in the UK, a regular contributor to CounterPunch, and the author of We'll Tell You What to Think: Wikipedia, Propaganda, and the Making of Liberal Consensus to discuss Washington’s military presence in Djibouti and how it fits into US imperialism, how US propaganda efforts against China focus on China’s sole overseas military base in Djibouti and exclude the reasons for the base and the extraordinary number of overseas US bases, and the public relations stunts that US forces in Djibouti use to paint a veneer of benevolence on the colonial exploitation of the country.


Later in the show, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Chuck Modiano, justice journalist and Sports writer for Deadspin to discuss the firings of NFL coaches and general managers and the racism and nepotism in the NFL, the right-wing nature of the league as demonstrated by the black-balling of Colin Kaepernick and outsized economic power owners have over players, the valorization of police in media coverage of the anniversary of the Capitol insurrection despite their passivity in the face of right-wing violence, and the evasion of responsibility demonstrated by Eric Adams in his response to the tragic apartment fire in the Bronx.

In this segment of By Any Means Necessary, Sean and Jacquie are joined by T.J. Coles, a postdoctoral researcher at Plymouth University in the UK, a regular contributor to CounterPunch, and the author of We'll Tell You What to Think: Wikipedia, Propaganda, and the Making of Liberal Consensus to discuss Washington’s military presence in Djibouti and how it fits into US imperialism, how US propaganda efforts against China focus on China’s sole overseas military base in Djibouti and exclude the reasons for the base and the extraordinary number of overseas US bases, and the public relations stunts that US forces in Djibouti use to paint a veneer of benevolence on the colonial exploitation of the country.

In this segment of By Any Means Necessary, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Helen Yaffe, Visiting Fellow at the Latin America and Caribbean Centre and a Lecturer in Economic and Social History in the University of Glasgow and author of the new book We Are Cuba! How a Revolutionary People Have Survived in a Post-Soviet World to discuss the online premiere of Cuba's Life Task, Combating Climate Change covering Cuba’s state plan for climate change mitigation, the threat climate change poses to Cuba, how the Cuban government engages local communities to find the best solutions to problems posed by climate change, and how Cuba’s climate change mitigation strategies pose an important lesson for its neighbors in the Caribbean and the global south.

In this episode of By Any Means Necessary, hosts Sean Blackmon and Jacquie Luqman are joined by Benjamin Zinevich, organizer with the Party for Socialism and Liberation and journalist for Liberation News to discuss how China managed to have only two deaths from COVID-19 in 2021 through its zero-COVID strategy, the stark comparisons between the Chinese and American responses to COVID and the failures of the American response, and the people-centered and educated response from China to the pandemic.


In the second segment, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Will Merrifield, housing attorney in Washington, DC to discuss the end of a long struggle for housing in the Congress Heights neighborhood in Washington, DC, the intentional and active neglect by housing developers that left tenants in deplorable conditions, the developer’s plans to build luxury apartments by pushing tenants out of affordable housing, and institutional actors pouring money into housing and keeping people unhoused and in unaffordable housing.


In the third segment, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Justin Williams, co-host of Red Spin Sports to discuss the demonization of Antonio Brown after his outburst on Sunday and sports media’s prioritization of team officials in crafting its narratives over that of players, the weaponization of mental health from Antonio Brown to Simone Biles and Naomi Osaka, and Ohio State football player Marcus Williamson claiming that Urban Meyer used a photo of Trayvon Martin to demonstrate its “no hoods” policy.


Later in the show, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Dr. Richard Wolff, Economist and Professor at the New School University and author of the new book “The Sickness Is the System: When Capitalism Fails to Save Us from Pandemics Or Itself” to discuss the cruelty of the capitalist system and inflation as prices rapidly outpace wage growth, the flawed capitalist logic that’s behind supply chain issues and how that exposes capitalism’s inability to cope with problems like pandemics, and Joe Biden’s myths about job creation in the aftermath of the aftermath of the market crash of 2020.