Police Focus on Ruling Class Targets Doesn’t Change Their Purpose

Lead-in: Free Mumia Abu Jamal, Antony Blinken Denounces Rwanda’s Support of M23 Rebels, Roe v. Wade and Bodily Autonomy

In this episode of By Any Means Necessary, hosts Sean Blackmon and Jacquie Luqman are joined by Abayomi Azikiwe, the editor of the Pan-African News Wire to discuss the life and political activism of political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal, how Mumia came to become involved in the Black Liberation Movement and how he became a political prisoner, and the importance of fighting to free political prisoners as we continue to commemorate Black August.

In the second segment, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Kambale Musavuli, activist, writer, & analyst with the Center for Research on the Congo-Kinshasa to discuss US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s recent trip to Rwanda and condemnation of Rwanda’s support of the M23 rebels responsible for attacking the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the motivation of the rebels to steal the resources of the Congo and why Rwanda is supporting them, broader efforts by the US to counter the influence of China and Russia on the African continent and how the DRC is involved, and the history of the US intervention in and neglect of the Congo.

In the third segment, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Mahnker Dahnweih who studied Geography at Illinois State University and has spent most of her career in electoral politics, and Chai Moua who holds a BS Degree in Human Services Management and a Family Development Specialist Certification from the National Resource Center for Family-Centered Practice at the University of Iowa to discuss how to continue the struggle to protect abortion rights and the broader issue of the right to privacy and bodily autonomy, how the right to privacy preceded the ruling in Roe v. Wade and how the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe threatens other rights that have legal basis in the broader right to privacy, the historical use of the denial of the rights to bodily autonomy and privacy in colonization and slavery, and how understanding the threat to bodily autonomy and privacy informs organizing around reproductive justice and other issues.

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 the breaking of a promise made by Atlanta officials to close and repurpose a city jail and other issues of policing in Atlanta, the legacy of Marcus Garvey and how his targeting by the FBI compares to the recent raids by the FBI at Mar a Lago and at the Uhuru movement offices, and how organizers can foster a socialist consciousness and combat capitalist ideology.

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