Racism Is Profitable

How do tech giants like Amazon, Google, and Apple shape and exploit racial dynamics for profit? Our guest, Julia Rhodes Davis, joins hosts Solana Rice and Jeremie Greer to uncover the hidden ways tech giants influence our society and exploit black and brown communities. From the invisibilized labor in warehouses and data centers to the detrimental impact on climate, big tech's exponential growth comes at a great cost. 

Jeremie and Solana chop it up about the manufactured chaos in Congress and looming shutdowns. Representative Bonnie Watson Coleman, the first Black woman to represent New Jersey in Congress, joins to share her vision for the re-introduced Guaranteed Income Pilot Program Act of 2023 and its potential to change lives and end poverty in America.

Show Notes:

LibGen Action Communications Director Devin Barrington-Ward joins Co-Executive Director Solana Rice to discuss the impact artificial intelligence and algorithms are already having on Black and brown communities – and what comes next.

Why do rich white people and the financial institutions they run get to be wildly irresponsible while Black and brown folks are considered "too risky" small-dollar loans? Is our money safe in banks? Jeremie and Solana break down the Silicon Valley Bank collapse, the broader context of our dual financial system, and what it all means for everyday people of color.

In ultra-conservative Florida governor Ron DeSantis's war against Disney, there are no heroes. Jeremie and Solana discuss why DeSantis AND Disney are both still villains – and how real co-governance can help POC defend against them both.

It's safe to say the U.S. government doesn't really trust Black folks, and a lot of Black folks distrust it right back. LibGen Action's new Communications Director, Devin Barrington-Ward, joins the pod to discuss recent exposure of anti-Blackness at the IRS, Black (dis)trust of government, and how we move forward.

Homes Guarantee campaign director and KC Tenants organizer Tara Raghuveer discusses how to bring *everyone* home in the richest country in the world.

Maurice Mitchell of the Working Families Party joins the pod to break down the results of the 2022 midterm elections – and how to build durable power well beyond them.

Victoria Ruiz and Jordan Haedtler join LibGen Grassroots Relationships Director Rubén Lucio to talk about inflation and why the Fed's response hasn't worked for poor communities of color. This special bonus episode was originally recorded live on Twitter Spaces.

Jennifer Epps-Addison of Synergy Power Consulting stops by the pod to talk about building POC political power – both within and beyond elections and nonprofits.