In this episode of By Any Means Necessary, hosts Sean Blackmon and Jacquie Luqman are joined by Dr. Gerald Horne, Moores Professor of History and African American Studies at the University of Houston, and author of the new book “The Bittersweet Science: Racism, Racketeering, and the Political Economy of Boxing,” to discuss projected President-elect Joe Biden's reported pick of Retired Gen. Lloyd Austin as secretary of defense, the significance of Austin's seat on the Board of Directors of Raytheon, and where Biden's selection of the man who would be the first Black Pentagon chief fits into the broader trend of weaponizing identity in service of neoliberalism and imperialism.
In the second segment, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Abayomi Azikiwe, the editor of the Pan-African News Wire, to discuss new reports that outgoing US President Donald Trump plans to withdraw around 2,000 troops from Somalia, why many observers may be exaggerating the importance of the move, and why the incoming Biden administration is unlikely to shift the US government's imperialist orientation within Africa and across the globe.
In the third segment, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Chris Garaffa, editor of Tech for the People, for another edition of our new weekly segment “Tech for the People." They discuss the reasons tech surveillance company Babel Street has so many privacy advocates worried, how their "Locate X" service could be used to criminalize those at the wrong place at the wrong time, and the new automated drones being rolled out by police departments across the country.
Later in the show, Sean and Jacquie are joined by James Early, Former Director of Cultural Heritage Policy at the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage at the Smithsonian Institution and board member of the Institute for Policy Studie, to discuss why Washington is seemingly prioritizing a massive defense spending bill over coronavirus relief, why it's no surprise that hawkish US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is condemning Venezuela's recent legislative elections as a "political farce," and why increasing racial and gender diversity among the ruling class is no substitute for real material gains by the working class.
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