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This week on Black Diplomats, where everyone can be a diplomat, I breakdown Russian President Vladimir Putin’s no-so-certain in-person attendance at this year’s BRICS Summit in South Africa’s, GOP House Leader Kevin McCarthy’s brave reassurance of the Republican support for Ukraine and the bullshit “journalism” claiming Vice President Kamala Harris is a liability for Joe Biden in 2024. 

And we have very special guest Rula Jebreal, who will talk about all things Palestine and Israel.

Read this New Voice of Ukraine report about South Africa’s anxiousness about Putin attending BRICS in person. 

Also read this Washington Post analysis about House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s strong support for Ukraine. 

Watch Roy Wood Jr’s White House Correspondents Dinner stand up in full. It was great. His words about VP Harris start at 17:00. 

Show Outline:

01:36: Putin’s South Africa BRICS Problem And Ukraine’s Africa Diplomacy Challenges 

14:24: House Speaker McCarthy Speaks Up For Ukraine

19:24: What Is VP Harris Up To?

29:09: Feature Interview with Rula  Jabreal 

Intro, intermission and outro music by Detroit independent artist Ink Prod.

About Rula Jebreal 

Rula Jebreal is a Visiting Professor at The University of Miami, where she teaches Communications. Jebreal served on the G7 Gender Equality Advisory Council, a body  relaunched by French President Emmanuel Macron. She is an award-winning Journalist, author and foreign policy expert who has received accolades for her groundbreaking work in Italy, the United States and across the Middle East.

In May 2017, Jebreal was enlisted to introduce former President Barak Obama at his first European public appearance since leaving office, at which he gave the keynote speech on food security and climate change, at the Global Innovation Summit. Jebreal is an on-air foreign policy expert she appears frequently on CNN, MSNBC Bloomberg, HBO and NBC, she has written many op-eds for the New York Times and The Washington Post and Foreign Policy, NewsWeek and Time.

Jebreal Wrote extensively about authoritarian regimes and predicted Trump’s victory in an article for the Washington post in 2015 called Trump is America’s Berlusconi.

Today’s show is a great one!

I had the pleasure of discussing what it means for Black Lives Matter organizers and Ukrainian activists to fight systems of oppression together. LaTosha Brown, co-founder of Black Voters Matter, and Maryna Prykhodko, a board member at Razom, one of the biggest Ukrainian-American organizations in the United States, helped me have that discussion. We also talked about Russia’s chairmanship of the U.N. security council and if they should be tossed from the body altogether. We also talk about the “Tennessee Three" and how it reveals the cracks in U.S. democracy. 

Read about Russia’s chairmanship of the U.N. Security Council at The New York Times and the backlash from other member states. 

And here is a good explainer about what went down in Tennessee with the three lawmakers—two of whom were expelled but later voted to their positions—that got national attention.

Black Diplomats is back, baby! 

We have a new show format that’ll make the episode easier to follow, so let us know what you think about it. Today, my special guests, Nola Haynes and Earl Carr, will discuss the worsening Chinese-U.S. relationship, with a focus on the Chinese nationals arrested in Manhattan for running police outposts without proper jurisdiction and the GOP’s attack on TikTok. Then we discuss Andrew Tate and how the manosphere is taking misogyny global. From there, we ask how the hell did a 21-year-old gamer with a Discord account get access to war secrets about the invasion of Ukraine? 

We also have a new segment called, Trap House Foreign Policy, where me and my guests discuss what inspired us to get into foreign policy. The segment is inspired by my late uncles Randy and Cricket, who sold drugs for a living and how I grew to view them as the first diplomats I met. 

And if you’re like me, you’re likely getting tired of people talking about what VP Kamala Harris ain’t doing. One report after another seems to complain that no one knows what she does. Well, I have a new weekly segment that will highlight what she is up to, as well as what me and my guests think of the media coverage of her performance.

Recommended reading

Read The New York Times article about the two Chinese nationals who were arrested for conspiring to act as agents for the Chinese government and for illegally running a Chinese police outpost to intimidate Chinese dissidents living in the U.S. 

Check out this very detailed Washington Post report about the Discord leaker who leaked top secret files connected to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. 

Watch this VICE NEWS feature on Andrew Tate and the global impact of his misogyny. 

And for those who want to know what VP Kamala Harris is up to this week, she will be in Miami Friday, April 21 to discuss climate change. She was also in Reno, Nevada Tuesday, April 18 talking about reproductive health. She was also in Los Angeles discussing “clean energy economies.” 

Also, please read Errin Haines reflections of Kamala’s trip to Africa.

This week Russia was pushed out of the regional capital of Kherson, bringing Ukraine another dramatic step closer to ending the war on their terms. Much of the oblast is still under Russian control, but capturing the city and surrounding territories is a major victory for Ukraine. This is only the latest in a string of victories and there is no indication Russia will be able to go back on the offensive.

To help us understand what’s happening on the ground we have Maria Zolkina, Head of Regional Security and Conflict Studies at Democratic Initiatives Foundation in Kyiv. She talks about the liberation of Kherson, some of the potential dangers remaining in the area, the potential for a push into Crimea and how the West can continue to help Ukraine in the fight.

Thank you for listening!

The effective borders of Ukraine are in constant motion, with Russian forces in retreat. The massive Kerch Bridge connecting Russian and Crimea was severely damaged by a truck bomb this week, and there have been several missile strikes in civilian neighborhoods in Ukraine.

While war is raging on the ground, Ukrainian officials are trying to get more support from Europe and the US. They have officially applied for NATO membership, and while no one is expecting it to happen anytime soon, the declaration of intent has been heard on both sides of the front line.

On this week’s episode of Black Diplomats host Terrell Starr talks to Solomiia Bobrovska. She is a member of the Parliament of Ukraine, Secretary of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and Deputy Head of the Ukrainian Delegation to NATO. She is a powerful spokesperson for Ukrainian civilians who are now the targets of bombing campaigns.

Bobrovska is also a savvy political actor who understands the implications of the application better than most. It’s important to understand the logic of the decision, and consider the unpredictable outcomes with a cool head, but that’s hard to do with Russia bombing apartment buildings.

Follow Solomiia Bobrovska on Twitter for more:

https://twitter.com/bobrovska

Thank you for listening!

Russia is losing their war in Ukraine. They’ve been pushed back on the ground, and Ukraine is re-arming with Western help. Even Russia’s global allies are voicing concern. With losses piling up, the Kremlin decided to start calling on their national reserve - trained soldiers who are not on active duty. But the conscription effort has been poorly managed and many Russians are worried it’s cover for a general draft.

All of this has led to an exodus of fighting-age men from Russia, and long lines at the border. Several European countries have closed their doors to Russians fleeing military service but Georgia remains open. With a long history of colonization by their Eastern neighbor, many people in Georgia are on edge.

On this weeks episode of Black Diplomats host Terrell Starr talks to Khatia Dekanoidze, the head of opposition parties in Georgia, and Nodar Rukhadze, activist and co-founder of the Shame Movement, a civil society organization. They are leading the call for heavier surveillance of Russian visitors and a new visa policy to enforce restrictions on travel.

Thanks for listening!

In this episode of Black Diplomats host Terrell Starr talks to Andriy Kononenko, a close personal friend and fighter in Ukraine’s Territorial Defense Force. Andriy is a language professional and co-founder of NovaMova, a language school with outposts in Kyiv and all over Eastern Europe. He is an example of how the Russian invasion has forced average Ukrainians to call on their resources and reserves in ways they never expected.

Terrell and Andriy discuss the hectic first days of the invasion, and how the war has developed for Andriy. With his parents trapped behind enemy lines and his wife and kids in the United States, Andriy’s life is nothing like it was. But as long as Ukrainian sovereignty is under threat he is determined to keep up the fight.

Thank you for listening.

On today’s episode of Black Diplomats host Terrell Starr talks to three people who are dealing with the war in Ukraine on very personal terms. Most of the news about the war is concentrated on borders, troop losses, and the nuclear threat. Our guests in this episode are focused on protecting loved ones and rebuilding their communities.

After spending many years in Ukraine, Starr has deep relationships in the country. These stories are not academic. These are the personal stories of war that remind us of the real stakes.

This episode is the first in a new series, and a new style for us that presents long-form journalism in a crafted audio environment. Welcome back to Black Diplomats, thank you for listening!

Inna Sovsun is a member of Parliament in Ukraine and a university professor.

Sovsun is in an opposition party so she’s usually working against the established leadership in her country. But one thing she’s very clear on: politics can wait until they’ve kicked Putin’s troops off their land.

From a NATO no-fly zone, to the history of anarchism and mutual aid in Ukraine, and what she thinks when she hears about Russian culture, this conversation covers the hottest buttons in the war. Terrell has been on the ground in Ukraine from the beginning of the invasion so he’s tuned in to the important conversations among average people and leaders like Sovsun.

The war is not going to plan for the Russian army. No one knows what will happen next, but we’ll be there to cover it.

For more information go to our website at blackdiplomats.net.

Thank you for listening.

Black Diplomats host Terrell Starr is in Ukraine covering the Russian invasion.

This week he spoke with Oleg Volsky, the mayor of Zhovkva, a town about 40 minutes north of Lviv. Volsky was in the town square talking to constituents when he sat with Terrell for a short interview.

As mayor of the town Volsky has several concerns, including helping the vulnerable members of his community, and preparing to defend it with those who are able. They've also got refugees from other parts of Ukraine to care for. Zhovkva is in western Ukraine so the fighting hasn't come to their town yet, but Volsky believes it's possible.

"I have two guns and I am preparing for this war," Volsky says. "Today we are very proud for our country."

For more information follow Terrell on Twitter @Russian_Starr or check out our website at blackdiplomats.net.

Thank you for listening!