By Any Means Necessary

In this segment of By Any Means Necessary, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Amir Khafagy, an award-winning journalist based out of New York City who you can follow on Twitter @AmirKhafagy91 to discuss the emergence of massive container ships in the global logistics industry and how it affected the global economy, how the containerization phenomenon contributed to monopolization of the shipping industry and the current crises of inflation and the supply chain, the extreme exploitation of workers on the ships and how the pandemic and supply chain issues have intensified their exploitation, and the environmental impact of these massive ships on the planet and on the communities that surround ports.

In this segment of By Any Means Necessary, hosts Sean Blackmon and Jacquie Luqman are joined by Gloria La Riva, coordinator of the Cuba and Venezuela Solidarity Committee to discuss political prisoner Leonard Peltier’s diagnosis with COVID-19 and the danger he is in because of his unjust imprisonment, the calls from multiple legal and political officials to release Leonard Peltier, the dubious circumstances surrounding the incident for which Peltier was prosecuted and the FBI’s railroading of him, and how to get involved in the growing movement to free Peltier.

In this episode of By Any Means Necessary, hosts Sean Blackmon and Jacquie Luqman are joined by John Ross, the senior fellow at the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at the Renmin University of China and author of the book, “China's Great Road: Lessons for Marxist Theory and Socialist Practices” to discuss US lawmakers’ passage of the America COMPETES Act, which is meant to challenge China’s Belt and Road Initiative, the meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping and the growing alliance between the countries as both face military threats from the US, and how the current economic crises in the US highlight the differences between the US and Chinese economic models.


In the second segment, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Brandon Soderberg, reporter on Baltimore for the Real News Network and coauthor of the book, "I Got A Monster: The Rise and Fall of America's Most Corrupt Police Squad" to discuss Baltimore’s issues with vacant properties that both contribute to gentrification and pose danger to the communities they are in, the refusal of Baltimore officials to address the issue despite solutions being proposed in the past, and the city’s pursuit of evictions and eminent domain on working and poor communities, its refusal to enforce housing codes or practice eminent domain on properties owned by housing developers, and how this situation exposes who local government actually works for.


In the third segment, Sean and Jacquie are joined by technologist Chris Garaffa, the editor of TechforthePeople.org to discuss the IRS canceling its use of third-party facial recognition technology, the troubling EARN IT Act which would make all web platforms scan all uploaded content under the guise of stopping child sexual abuse, and the Department of Homeland Security’s deployment of robot dogs on the southern border and the questions surrounding how they will be used.


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 the Supreme Court upholding a GOP-drawn Congressional map that diluted the electoral power of Black voters and the failure of Democrats to take meaningful action to stop the erosion of voting rights, the killing of Amir Locke by Minneapolis police and the challenges that have been faced by the movement against police terror in the aftermath of the 2020 uprisings against racism, the cooptation of people with little community connection into the capitalist propaganda machine to sap energy from movements, and the controversy surrounding Israel’s admission into the African Union as an observer and how that relates to the broader ideological struggle on the African continent.

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 IRS canceling its use of third-party facial recognition technology, the troubling EARN IT Act which would make all web platforms scan all uploaded content under the guise of stopping child sexual abuse, and the Department of Homeland Security’s deployment of robot dogs on the southern border and the questions surrounding how they will be used.

In this segment of By Any Means Necessary, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Brandon Soderberg, reporter on Baltimore for the Real News Network and coauthor of the book, "I Got A Monster: The Rise and Fall of America's Most Corrupt Police Squad" to discuss Baltimore’s issues with vacant properties that both contribute to gentrification and pose danger to the communities they are in, the refusal of Baltimore officials to address the issue despite solutions being proposed in the past, and the city’s pursuit of evictions and eminent domain on working and poor communities, its refusal to enforce housing codes or practice eminent domain on properties owned by housing developers, and how this situation exposes who local government actually works for.

In this segment of By Any Means Necessary, hosts Sean Blackmon and Jacquie Luqman are joined by John Ross, the senior fellow at the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at the Renmin University of China and author of the book, “China's Great Road: Lessons for Marxist Theory and Socialist Practices” to discuss US lawmakers’ passage of the America COMPETES Act, which is meant to challenge China’s Belt and Road Initiative, the meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping and the growing alliance between the countries as both face military threats from the US, and how the current economic crises in the US highlight the differences between the US and Chinese economic models.

In this episode of By Any Means Necessary, hosts Sean Blackmon and Jacquie Luqman are joined by Dr. Vijay Prashad, Executive Director of Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research and co-author of the book, Viviremos: Venezuela vs. Hybrid War to discuss the 60th anniversary of the US blockade on Cuba imposed as a punishment on Cuba for daring to stand up to the US, the alternative model that Cuba and other nations present as a challenge to the US drive for hegemony and unipolarity, the anniversary of the 1992 uprising against neoliberalism in Venezuela led by Hugo Chavez, the challenges the nations of the Global South have posed to US hegemony, and the forms of apartheid that are contributing to the climate crisis and the way out through a peoples-centered movement.


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 US soft power tactics and use of aid programs as cover in the creation of South Sudan and how it has contributed to the issues that the country faces now, AFRICOM’s role in filling some of the gaps left by the US abandonment of the country following the outbreak of civil war, and the connections this situation could have with the current uprisings in Sudan


Later in the show, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Esther Iverem, artist, author and independent journalist, and host and producer of On The Ground: Voices of Resistance from the Nation’s Capital on Pacifica Radio to discuss the killing of Amir Locke by Minneapolis police in a pre-dawn no-knock raid, the death of Sandra Bland, and the continuing struggle against police terror, the biased coverage of the Beijing winter olympics that have helped beat the drums of the cold war drive on China, the demonization of resistance to state violence from victims of police terror and victims of imperialism alike, and the importance of political education in connecting the racist violence of police terror and imperialist violence.

In this segment of By Any Means Necessary, hosts Sean Blackmon and Jacquie Luqman are joined by Dr. Vijay Prashad, Executive Director of Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research and co-author of the book, Viviremos: Venezuela vs. Hybrid War to discuss the 60th anniversary of the US blockade on Cuba imposed as a punishment on Cuba for daring to stand up to the US, the alternative model that Cuba and other nations present as a challenge to the US drive for hegemony and unipolarity, the anniversary of the 1992 uprising against neoliberalism in Venezuela led by Hugo Chavez, the challenges the nations of the Global South have posed to US hegemony, and the forms of apartheid that are contributing to the climate crisis and the way out through a peoples-centered movement.

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 US soft power tactics and use of aid programs as cover in the creation of South Sudan and how it has contributed to the issues that the country faces now, AFRICOM’s role in filling some of the gaps left by the US abandonment of the country following the outbreak of civil war, and the connections this situation could have with the current uprisings in Sudan.

In this episode of By Any Means Necessary, hosts Sean Blackmon and Jacquie Luqman are joined by Phil Wilayto, Editor of the Virginia Defender newspaper and co-founder of the Virginia Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality to discuss efforts by Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin’s efforts to push charter schools onto Virginia communities and ban so-called divisive topics from the classroom, how the charter school effort is a backdoor attempt at defunding public education, and how the fear-mongering over critical race theory fits into the broader trend of the right-wing in the United States.


In the second segment, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Asa Winstanley, investigative journalist and Associate editor with The Electronic Intifada to discuss Amnesty International’s naming of Israel as an apartheid state and why Amnesty has come out with this position now, how Israel practices apartheid against the Palestinian people, and Israel’s arming of the neo-Nazi Azov Battallion militia in Ukraine and how it plays into the current tensions over the country.


In the third segment, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Miguel Garcia, host and creator of the Sports as a Weapon podcast to discuss the lawsuit filed by former NFL coach Brian Flores alleging racist hiring practices among the NFL’s teams and locking Black coaches out from head coaching positions, how this lawsuit poses a new challenge to the white supremacist power structure in the league years after Colin Kaeprnick’s initial protests against the national anthem, the racist backlash against Olympic skier Eileen Gu and her choice to compete for China on the international stage, and how it fits into the broader demonization campaign against China as the Winter Olympics open.


Later in the show, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Maximillian Alvarez, Editor in Chief of the Real News Network and and host of the podcast “Working People" to discuss the struggle of rail workers against a draconian attendance policy which punishes workers for taking time off and mandates constant availability, the hidden workers who keep the supply chain running, how the pandemic has revealed how those workers literally make our society run and motivated a boost in labor struggles, Mexican workers fighting for legitimate and democratic union representation at a General Motors plant in Mexico, and how the global interconnectedness of labor and capital requires international solidarity among workers.