"As the state has been hollowed out as a result of neoliberalization - who is going to suffer the most? Blacks who work for the postal service, Blacks who had public sector jobs and HAVE seen their pensions raided along with everybody else, Blacks who are public school teachers... It's easy to see how the condition of Black people is connected to the resurgent power of the capitalist class. It's not separate, it's deeply connected.
Political scientist Cedric Johnson examines the realities of class in Black political life - from the limits of electoralism and a solely race-driven analysis in challenging the slow decline of a people (and nation) under de-industrialization and neoliberal austerity, to the power of a Marxist, materialist lens in understanding the power dynamics in capitalist society.
Cedric wrote the article Coming to Terms with Actually-Existing Black Life for New Politics, reposted as What Black Life Actually Looks Like for Jacobin.
Despite the messaging from politicians, the new Maryland "Juvenile Justice" bill is another attack on African (Black) youth and, by extension, the whole of the African masses.
Louisiana is one of several states passing punitive measures in response to fears stoked by orchestrated crime panics.
Half of the projects funded through the law have been allocated to expanding highways.
From the era of Malcolm X to the present, progressive forces have supported the Palestinian and Arab struggles against Zionism and imperialism.
Gus Griffin joins us to discuss Maryland's new legislation which allegedly reforms juvenile justice, but is in fact an expansion of the carceral state to include young children.
