What It Means To Be A Radical Organizer

Sputnik

In this episode of By Any Means Necessary, hosts Sean Blackmon and Jacquie Luqman are joined by Michelle Smith, Co-Director of Missourians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty to discuss the upcoming execution of Kevin “KJ” Johnson in Missouri, how the struggles Kevin faced in his life contributed to the circumstances which ultimately led to his death sentence, and the racism involved in Kevin's conviction and sentencing and the racist bias of prosecuting attorney Robert P. McCulloch.

In the second segment, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Ju-Hyun Park, member of Nodutdol for Korean Community Development to discuss recent tensions on the Korean peninsula over US and south Korean military exercises and north Korean missile tests which were conducted in response, how the US occupation of Korea has led to these tensions and why the US has largely refused to engage in diplomacy with north Korea, how US and south Korean military exercises motivate the north Korean nuclear deterrence policy and how it differs from US nuclear policy, and what the prospects are for deescalation and diplomacy on the Korean peninsula.

In the third segment, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Miguel Garcia of the ANTICONQUISTA Collective, also the host and creator of the Sports as a Weapon podcast to discuss the upcoming World Cup in Qatar, how coverage of the controversy caused by Qatar's hosting of the tournament highlights corporate media's history of orientalism, and Iranian players facing questions about the protests over the death of Mahsa Amini and why athletes from western countries aren't asked about political issues in their countries.

Later in the show, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Kamau Franklin, organizer with Community Movement Builders in Atlanta and co-founder of Black Power Media to discuss what it means to be a Black radical organizer and what it means to fight for real structural change , how organizers are made through struggle and not born with their skills, and the struggle against gentrification and police terror in Atlanta.