The Capitalist Class’ Complicity in the Rise of Right-Wing Politics

Building a Labor Movement, Justice for Thomas Sankara, Tech and the Cold War Drive Against China

In this episode of By Any Means Necessary, hosts Sean Blackmon and Jacquie Luqman discuss the many ongoing labor struggles in various industries, how the social, political, and economic conditions created by the COVID-19 pandemic have exacerbated the already-existing issues that have contributed to this strike wave, the next steps in building a broader movement, and the need to join questions of race, labor, and class in organizing that broad labor movement.

In the second segment, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Dr. Gnaka Lagoke, Assistant Professor of History and Pan-Africana Studies at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania and a founding member of the Convention for Pan-Africanism and Progress to discuss the long past-due trial into the murder of Burkina Faso revolutionary Thomas Sankara, Sankara’s significant contributions to Burkina Faso during his short time in power, and the counter-revolution which placed Burkina Faso back in the hands of France, led by Blaise Compaoré, former president and defendant in absentia.

In the third segment, Sean and Jacquie are joined by technologist Chris Garaffa, the editor of TechforthePeople.org to discuss Facebook’s smear and minimization campaign against whistleblower Frances Haugen, the European Parliament’s call for a ban on facial recognition technology and how it signals public opposition to weaponizing AI against people, the impact of the US targeting of Huawei and how it fits into the cold war drive against China.

Later in the show, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Dr. Gabriel Rockhill, an organizer, Founding Director of the Critical Theory Workshop and Professor of Philosophy at Villanova University to discuss the financial backing of the right-wing disinformation One America News Network by AT&T and the dark money behind the rise of right-wing politics in the United States, the ties between the media and the national security state, the similarities between the fascist 1934 “Business Plot” to overthrow the US government and the Capitol insurrection, and how movement and alternative media can connect the dots between the stories that dominate the headlines and the broader system of capitalism.

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