By Any Means Necessary

In this episode of By Any Means Necessary, hosts Sean Blackmon and Jacquie Luqman are joined by Robert Dunham, the Executive Director of the Death Penalty Information Center to discuss the controversy surrounding the execution of Ernest Lee Johnson, an intellectually disabled man who was convicted of murder in Missouri, how this case further exposes the brutality of the death penalty and states’ wielding of it, the growing shift in attitudes against the death penalty among the public and politicians alike, and the disproportionate use of the death penalty against working and poor people of color and the most vulnerable in our society.


In the second segment, Sean and Jacquie are joined by K.J. Noh, a geopolitical analyst, a member of Veterans for Peace, and senior correspondent with Flashpoints on KPFA to discuss tensions between the US and China over military activities concerning Taiwan, how the new orientation of the US toward Taiwan plays into the cold war drive against China, Taiwan’s historical use as a pawn against the People’s Republic of China, and how China’s actions are leveraged to attack China and defend the neoliberal world order.


In the third segment, Sean and Jacquie discuss Dave Chappelle’s unfunny Netflix comedy special “The Closer,” his bizarre, victim-blaming comments on the #MeToo movement, how his humor aimed at the LGBTQ community compares to racist jokes, and how the discourse of acrimony between the LGBTQ and Black communities is flawed.


Later in the show, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Netfa Freeman, Coordinating Committee member with the Black Alliance for Peace, organizer with Pan-African Community Action, and host of Voices with Vision on WPFW 89.3 FM to discuss efforts to end the use of the qualified immunity defense to protect police officers from civil suits, how the militarization of police is the consequence of imperialism abroad, especially in Africa, the connections between policing in capital exposed in the corporate financing of police foundations, and the incessant American decline.

In this segment of By Any Means Necessary, Sean and Jacquie are joined by K.J. Noh, a geopolitical analyst, a member of Veterans for Peace, and senior correspondent with Flashpoints on KPFA to discuss tensions between the US and China over military activities concerning Taiwan, how the new orientation of the US toward Taiwan plays into the cold war drive against China, Taiwan’s historical use as a pawn against the People’s Republic of China, and how China’s actions are leveraged to attack China and defend the neoliberal world order.

In this segment of By Any Means Necessary, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Robert Dunham, the Executive Director of the Death Penalty Information Center to discuss the controversy surrounding the execution of Ernest Lee Johnson, an intellectually disabled man who was convicted of murder in Missouri, how this case further exposes the brutality of the death penalty and states’ wielding of it, the growing shift in attitudes against the death penalty among the public and politicians alike, and the disproportionate use of the death penalty against working and poor people of color and the most vulnerable in our society.

In this episode of By Any Means Necessary, hosts Sean Blackmon and Jacquie Luqman discuss the legacy of Fannie Lou Hamer and the fundamentally racist institution of the Democratic Party, the value of political education in movements, and the need for confidence in the poor and working class to build and lead its own movements.


In the second segment, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Arnold August, a Montreal-based writer, journalist, lecturer, and author of several books including "Cuba U.S. Relations: Obama and Beyond," to discuss planned protests in Cuba and potential US involvement in planning them, the historical significance of the dates of the proposed national strike and protests, and the clues that hint at this being another attempt at a color revolution.


In the third segment, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Dr. Taminisha John, professor at Clark Atlanta University and Caribbean regional analyst to discuss the unveiling of sculptures meant to honor the Windrush generation in the UK in the context of recent violent deportations of the people in this generation, the racist and xenophobic immigration policies that migrants from Caribbean and African countries face in the UK, and the exploitation of migrant workers in the UK.


Later in the show, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Jon Jeter, award-winning journalist and foreign correspondent, radio and television producer, Bluesologist and Decolonizer, and author of the book “Flat Broke in the Free Market: How Globalization Fleeced Working People” to discuss the Drug Enforcement Administration’s surveillance of protests against the killing of George Floyd in the summer of 2020 and the lack of confidence in the state, the conversation around reparations and how they should be paid, and how historical and contemporary trauma contributes to cynicism about system change and Black liberation.

In this segment of By Any Means Necessary, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Arnold August, a Montreal-based writer, journalist, lecturer, and author of several books including "Cuba U.S. Relations: Obama and Beyond," to discuss planned protests in Cuba and potential US involvement in planning them, the historical significance of the dates of the proposed national strike and protests, and the clues that hint at this being another attempt at a color revolution.

In this episode of By Any Means Necessary, hosts Sean Blackmon and Jacquie Luqman are joined by technologist Chris Garaffa, the editor of TechforthePeople.org to discuss the Facebook outage and its widespread impacts, the impact of the revelations concerning human trafficking and eating disorders revealed by whistleblower Frances Haugen, the reliance of society on social media and the need for community control over Facebook, and Google complying with dragnet police data requests for accounts that search names, addresses, or telephone numbers.


In the second segment, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Afeni, an organizer with Freedom Fighters DC to discuss the clearing out of a homeless encampment in Washington, DC, the absurd obstacles that perpetuate the problem of homelessness and the failure of the District government to implement its pilot housing program, and the rapidly intensifying crisis of gentrification in DC.


In the third segment, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Mikaela Nhondo Erskog, an educator and researcher for the Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research, also a part of the secretariat of Pan Africanism Today and a coordinating committee member for No Cold War to discuss a strike of engineering workers in South Africa, the severe exploitation of engineers in the country, and the significance of this challenge in putting the ideas of a living wage, benefits, and organizing into public consciousness.


Later in the show, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Kamau Franklin, Founder and Board President of Community Movement Builders in Atlanta and Co-host of the Renegade Culture podcast to discuss Facebook’s outage and how it highlights the broader issue of monopoly capitalism, Netflix’s representation of Malcolm X in the film “Blood Brothers” and the sanitization and cooptation of revolutionaries, the importance of arts and culture in organizing, and the proliferation of and misunderstandings about important political terms like decolonization.

In this segment of By Any Means Necessary, Sean and Jacquie are joined by technologist Chris Garaffa, the editor of TechforthePeople.org to discuss the Facebook outage and its widespread impacts, the impact of the revelations concerning human trafficking and eating disorders revealed by whistleblower Frances Haugen, the reliance of society on social media and the need for community control over Facebook, and Google complying with dragnet police data requests for accounts that search names, addresses, or telephone numbers.

In this segment of By Any Means Necessary, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Afeni, an organizer with Freedom Fighters DC to discuss the clearing out of a homeless encampment in Washington, DC, the absurd obstacles that perpetuate the problem of homelessness and the failure of the District government to implement its pilot housing program, and the rapidly intensifying crisis of gentrification in DC.

In this segment of By Any Means Necessary, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Mikaela Nhondo Erskog, an educator and researcher for the Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research, also a part of the secretariat of Pan Africanism Today and a coordinating committee member for No Cold War to discuss a strike of engineering workers in South Africa, the severe exploitation of engineers in the country, and the significance of this challenge in putting the ideas of a living wage, benefits, and organizing into public consciousness.

In this episode of By Any Means Necessary, hosts Sean Blackmon and Jacquie Luqman are joined by international affairs and security analyst Mark Sleboda to discuss the revelations of the recently released Pandora papers and the curious absence of the US elite and politicians, the Guardian’s misleading implication of Vladimir Putin’s involvement, and the US participation in hiding wealth, particularly in Joe Biden’s home state of Delaware.


In the second segment, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Dr. Mike Pappas, a family medicine physician, activist, and frequent contributor to LeftVoice.org to discuss the superprofits that the pharmaceutical industry makes off of necessary, life-saving drugs used for common illnesses, the moral bankruptcy of a system that rakes in billions of dollars from people being sick, and how the corporate political duopoly upholds such cruelty.


In the third segment, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Bob Schlehuber, co-host of Political Misfits, on from 12-2 PM EST to discuss The Many Saints of Newark, a prequel film to The Sopranos television series, the themes of the rot in American society that the Sopranos series and the Many Saints of Newark reflects, how the show has aged well in representations of mental health and prescription drugs, and the hollow representations of Black people in the prequel film.


Later in the show, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Walter Smolarek, a journalist and activist editor of Liberation newspaper, and managing editor of LiberationNews.org to discuss Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema’s stonewalling of the budget bill and the Democrats’ refusal to push for reforms that will provide much needed benefits to working and poor people, the US continued economic and propaganda war on China, and how capitalism contributed to the now 700,000 dead from COVID-19.