Crossing the border of acceptable thought

July 25

GUEST: Omali Yeshitela, Chairman of the African People’s Socialist Party USA and the African Socialist International, the leading force to unify Africa and African people everywhere, talks about the intersection of racism and imperialism.

Chairman Omali Yeshitela

Chairman Yeshitela was never dependent on leftist rhetoric. He know the facts about Apartheid South Africa as well as he know the life of Blacks under America's Jim Crow. His gift is not being afraid of pointing out links between racism, violence and our current version of neoliberal capitalism.

That's one of the advantages Activist Radio has. We don't have to rely on some advertiser somewhere thinking our ideas are off the wall, or worse bad for business. Most of our nation's media is filled with journalists who have internalized the barriers to free thought. They know when to stop exploring if they want to be successful as a writer or reporter. There are things one can't say.

To link imperialism to our nation's racism is clearly beyond that acceptable barrier. Even to talk about US militarism is unacceptable. You don't love America?

Having Chairman Yeshitela on the air feels like we are in foreign territory, expressing thoughts that our society has warned us about time and time again. These are radical thoughts to have, much less say over the air.

Are we a free society, or only a society that has been taught that we are free? Are we a country that spreads democracy in the rest of the world, or are we a country that uses the concept of democracy to invade and conquer other lands for our own advantage?

Thank you, Chairman Yeshitela, for helping us cross the border of acceptable thought.

The devil's bargain

July 18

GUEST: Jessicah Pierre, founder of Queens Company (dedicated to empowering women of color), and Media Specialist for the Program on Inequality and the Common Good at the Institute for Policy Studies, talks about what must happen next to give Blacks in America an equal share in our nation's prosperity.Institute for Policy Studies

I am torn about what needs to happen if we are ever to achieve racial and social justice. Is it our military empire and economic system of exploitation that has to be changed? Or should a progressive movement bring us incrementally closer to our goal of justice for Blacks and other oppressed minorities?

The interview with Jessicah Pierre was in some ways influenced by my own search for a way out of militarism, colonialism and "savage" capitalism. The closest other societies have come to a perfect system can be seen in the Scandinavian democracies. Not perfect, but these countries do offer a tolerable mix of economic freedom and social responsibility.

Or maybe the perfect system can be seen in countries that our gigantic military machine tries to destroy, like Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. Maybe capitalism itself is the enemy, since it encourages selfishness, ruthlessness and exploitation.

Jessicah Pierre wanted to talk about concrete steps to diminish the gross unfairness of our economic system, especially when it comes to minorities. Part of this effort involves creating an awareness of white history in the "land of the free." Maybe we can't really go anywhere unless we understand the history of slavery and Jim Crow. Or the ethnic cleansing of native Americans and the slow genocide of their reservations. Maybe we are still on the first step, understanding how we got here. The racist brew that Trump stirs up for his own political power has been there for the last several centuries. It is in our DNA as much as it is in his. Perhaps a new world can only begin when we acknowledge the devil's bargain that has always been part of America's Manifest Destiny.  

Not ready to jump ship just yet

July 11

GUESTS: Maria and Michael Quackenbush, activists and cofounders of the Dutchess County Progressive Action Alliance, talk about the origin and present day goals for this grassroots progressive organization.

Dutchess County Progressive Action Alliance -Facebook

I welcomed the chance to look at some local progressive activism that emerged after the last presidential campaign. Maria and Michael were part of the Bernie campaign, and they wanted to bring his ideas as well as organizing techniques to the Hudson Valley.

The Dutchess County Progressive Action Alliance was only one of many such organizations that sprung up to resist Trump. But the group has not only lasted but prospered. The DCPAA has action committees that meet regularly on women's rights, on climate activism, on gun control, and universal healthcare. As the marching chant says, "This is what democracy looks like."

Can grassroots activism be effective in wresting back our democracy form corporate ownership? That is the real question. Can people get together in the inner cities and the suburbs and create change? All by themselves?

We will soon see if the Democratic Party can be taken back. Pelosi, that corporate hack, is more fearful of her own party's new leftist representatives than she is of Trump. Will the people stand up and demand an end to corporatism, militarism and racism?

As a member of the Green Party, I am happy to see so many of our priorities adapted by the Dems. I am not ready to jump ship just yet. It would take the overthrow of Pelosi to get me to change my registration.

Exceptionalism must be rejected

July 4

GUEST: Rabab Abdulhadi, founding Director/Senior Scholar in Arab and Muslim Ethnicities and Diasporas Studies and Associate Professor of Ethnic Studies at San Francisco State University, talks about her widely published anthologies and how the Israel Lobby has attempted to destroy her freedom of speech on Palestinian rights. 

“Do not be silent,” says professor Rabab Abdulhadi

In the decades long fight for Palestinian rights, there are those who have never given up. In fact, giving up is not an option for them, since doing so would weaken the whole. Palestinian rights is based on the hope that one day Israel will end its imperialist theocracy and replace it by a democratic system that transcends racism and violence. Those working for a just peace have to believe it is possible.

Dr. Abdulhadi has sacrificed so much to keep focusing on Palestine. She could have explored human rights violations in other parts of the world. She could have made peace with the Israeli Lobby by talking about enemies coming together to understand each other. She could have given up on equality in the Holy Land.

Dr. Abdulhadi describes the fascist mechanisms of the Israeli Lobby, as well as its tendency to use distortions and threats of violence. We must understand that Zionism is a threat to our Constitutional rights. Laws criminalizing the boycott of Israel are no different than what went on during the McCarthy Era. Careers were destroyed and people were put in jail, all for expressing a political point of view not favored by the state. Dr. Abdulhadi knows her U.S. history, and makes the connections between Jim Crow America and apartheid Israel. The fight for human rights is universal, and any exceptionalism must be rejected.

We can't in good conscience be for Black Lives Matter and not for Palestinian rights. There is no chosen people when it comes to human rights.