Resurgent Labor Movement Must Turn Toward Internationalist Solidarity

FEMA Provides Climate Relief For Some, Lithuania’s Dangerous Blockade of Kaliningrad, Right-Wing Uses Title IX To Attack Trans Athletes

In this episode of By Any Means Necessary, hosts Sean Blackmon and Jacquie Luqman are joined by Anthony Rogers Wright, Director of Environmental Justice with New York Lawyers for the Public Interest to discuss a recent investigative report that found that FEMA’s flood program meant to raise homes above flood waters favored homeowners who lived in wealthy and white communities, how this demonstrates the shortcomings of so-called attempts at equity under capitalism, FEMA’s weak response to this investigation and claim that it cannot discriminate against Black and Brown working class communities because it does not collect that data, and FEMA’s track record of ignoring of working class Black and Brown communities as demonstrated by its response to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico and its role in advancing the ravages of disaster capitalism.

In the second segment, Sean and Jacquie are joined by international affairs and security analyst Mark Sleboda to discuss escalating tension between the EU and Russia over Lithuania’s blocking the passage of some goods to the Kaliningrad exclave under the premise of compliance with EU sanctions on Russia, how this fits into the already dire relations between the EU, NATO, and Russia as the conflict in Ukraine continues, what risk for direct conflict between NATO and Russia that this provocation carries as Russia vows to respond to this blockade, and how this demonstrates the brutal effects of sanctions imposed on Russia that the world must suffer.

In the third segment, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Nate Wallace, co-host of Red Spin Sports to discuss the anniversary of the signing of Title IX and how right-wing politicians like Ted Cruz are pretending to care about women’s sports to continue their attacks on transgender women athletes, the very real issues of men dominating women’s sports by denying opportunities to play sports to women and girls of color and the paucity of women coaches in sports, and how a recent streaming deal between Major League Soccer and Apple reveals a growing issue of corporate profit squeezing and how that will impact the ability of working people to follow sports.

Later in the show, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Maximillian Alvarez, Editor in Chief of the Real News Network and and host of the podcast “Working People" to discuss the rising tide of energy in the labor movement as reflected in the recent Labor Notes conference and who is driving this resurgence in labor organizing, how longtime labor organizers have reacted to the young people who have led some of the most high profile unionization drives such as those at Amazon and Starbucks, the state of internationalist consciousness in the labor movement and why international solidarity among workers all over the world is important to challenging capitalism, and why building an anti-imperialist solidarity among workers is critical to building a broad-based labor movement in the US.

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