Cinder Bloc. is a project developed out of Red May in Seattle, Washington. Episode 1 is the first of a two-part discussion we shared with Phillip Neel, Jarrod Shanahan, and Zhandarka Kurti. Recorded in the first week of December 2020, we wanted to reflect on the apparently increasing stakes of 2020, from the pandemic to the George Floyd Rebellions and, most presciently,  looking to the *then* recent 2020 US presidential election. Whether Trump or Biden took the chair, the coming November election had every source from Fox and MSNBC to your favorite Signal thread buzzing with anticipation of political crisis and civil unrest. Would the election push the summer heatwave into the winter or would it bring a cold front? 

We of Cinder Bloc. thought we had an answer at the beginning of December. But Zhana, Jarrod, and Phil suggested otherwise, albeit from different positions : to varying degrees, they told us, wait and see. 

Almost a month later to the day, the Capitol riots shocked the US as neo-nazis, white-supremacists, and the fascist right-wave protests swept the Capitol and pockets around North America. Now on the cusp of J20 and warnings of armed right taking to the streets, what unrest is on the horizon? What are the real divides polarizing the U.S. today? And can the Left do about it?

show notes :

Jarrod Shanahan (Chicago) and Zhandarka Kurti (Knoxville) are, among other things, organizers, scholars, and members of the editorial board for Hard Crackers. 

Prelude to a Hot Summer 

The Shifting Ground: a Conversation on the George Floyd Rebellions 

Thankful for President Trump: Thanksgiving with Stop the Steal 

The Show Must Go On 

Phillip Neel (Seattle) is, among other things, a communist geographer and the author of Hinterland.  

Crowned Plague 

The Spiral 

Why Riot? 

Counting Riots 

New Ghettos Burning