Workers Take Power Into Their Own Hands as Biden Dawdles on Build Back Better

Biden Passes On Easy Political Wins, How The NYT Obscures Its Role In The Exploitation of Haiti, NFL Continues To Ignore Rampant CTE Diagnoses

In this episode of By Any Means Necessary, hosts Sean Blackmon and Jacquie Luqman are joined by David Schultz, Professor of Political Science at Hamline University to discuss the ending of the expanded child tax credit, the looming student loan repayment continuation deadline, and the continued stalling of the Build Back Better bill, Joe Biden’s weakness or refusal in pushing stalwart senators Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin on the bill and the impending slaughter of Democrats in the 2022 midterms, the ridiculously easy political gains that could be made by addressing needs like student loan debt relief and childcare that Democrats are not addressing, and the dire circumstances working and poor people may find themselves in if programs like the expanded child tax credit and student loan freeze are allowed to pass.

In the second segment, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Dr. Jemima Pierre, Haiti/Americas Coordinator for the Black Alliance for Peace to discuss reports that the assassins of Haitian president Jovenel Moise searched for a list of drug traffickers and corrupt officials that Moise was allegedly preparing to turn over to the United States, how this report conveniently exonerates the US of its imperialist role in Haiti and the dubious claims it makes, former president Michel Martelly’s role in choosing Moise as his successor and how the colorist stratification in Haiti that led Martelly to choose Moise is a product of US imperialism, and the devastating explosion of a fuel tanker in the context of crippling fuel shortages.

In the third segment, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Justin Williams, co-host of Red Spin Sports to discuss the diagnosis of two former NFL players with the degenerative brain disease CTE and the NFL’s attempt to sweep these cases under the rug, how the push to hide CTE relates to player access to healthcare, the widespread COVID-19 outbreaks in the NBA, NFL, and the NHL caused by the push to return to normalcy, and the distraction from the systemic refusal of capitalism to contain the pandemic that sports provide.

Later in the show, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Monica Cruz, labor reporter with BreakThrough News to discuss the struggle of home care workers in New York City to secure fair pay for the 24-hour shifts they put in and the exploitation of workers amid the heroization of essential workers, the US Navy’s negligent role in the poisoning of the water supply of Oahu with jet fuel and its long history of fuel leaks and warnings, the renewed struggle to unionize Amazon workers in Bessemer, Alabama, and the impending restart of student loan payment and other broken promises from the Biden-Harris administration.

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