Infrastructure Bill Signed; Biden & Xi Meeting; Homicide Spike; Migrant Stories

Biden and Xi discuss future negotiations in a virtual meeting. Will the two countries go beyond the competition framework?

Joel Segal, National Campaign Director for Bring America Home Now at the National Coalition for the Homeless, joins us to talk about Joe Biden signing a $1 trillion dollar bipartisan infrastructure bill into law and how little substance was on display in the media debate over the bill, insteadof focusing on the red vs. blue fight. We also talk about homelessness rising in the US, with a 2.2% increase during the pandemic, the rash of reporting on Democrats and how they are losing racial minority voters in this country, and how a leftward turn beyond the overblown culture wars may benefit the country.

K.J. Noh, a global justice activist, writer, teacher, and a member of Veterans for Peace, tells us about the virtual meeting between Joe Biden and Xi Jinping that took place November 15, and what the conversation managing the US and China’s competition responsibly may actually mean, and how this could be achieved considering both countries are still pursuing the idea of unlimited growth. We also talk about Washington and Beijing’s joint climate pledge from last week at the COP26 conference, and whether we will see any real cooperation between the two nations.

Chris Empas, community mentor and violence interrupter, and Afeni, member of Freedom Fighters DC and abolitionist-in-training, join us to talk about the Blackburn Building takeover reaching its end, with students’ demands being met by the Howard University administration, and how direct action can yield real results. We also talk about the homicide spike in Washington, DC, whose rate stands at 198 deaths so far this year, how the pandemic and economic anxieties may have contributed to this, and the way forward to tackle these structural issues in an encompassing manner.

Theodros Teshome, film producer and actor, talks to us about the migrant experience of Ethiopians and Eritreans and their journey to and in the United States through his film “Triangle 1” and “Triangle 2”, how these amplify our shared humanity, and the broader impact of his art right now in Ethiopia, which is facing a national crisis during its tensions with the TPLF.

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