The Black Myths Podcast

Continuing with themes related to the new book, Laundering Black Rage: The Washing of Black Death, People, Property, and Profits, we explore the myth that the State is reducible to government with our guest Rasul Mowatt, Department Head of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Management in the College of Natural Resources and Affiliate Professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at North Carolina State University. We explore the origins of the State, theorists of the State, and how it informs anti-colonial movements. If the State is not simply the government, then how are we to understand it? We explore this question and more. Laundering Black Rage is now available on pre-order and will be available worldwide on April 11th. To purchase it at a discounted rate please follow the instructions below. Type Discount code at checkout: EFLY01 https://www.routledge.com/Laundering-of-Black-Rage-The-Washing-of-Black-Death-People-Property/Black-Mowatt/p/book/9781032573779 Discounted Ebook https://play.google.com/store/books/details?pcampaignid=books_read_action&id=cY_2EAAAQBAJ Original Essays Pt. 1 http://www.blackagendareport.com/laundering-black-rage Pt. 2 http://www.blackagendareport.com/laundering-black-rage-part-2 Patreon https://www.patreon.com/blackmyths

In this episode, department head and North Carolina State University professor, Rasul Mowatt joins as a guest host to interview our host, Too Black regarding their joint coauthored book Laundering Black Rage: The Washing of Black Death, People, Property, and Profits. We use the analytic framework of the book to explore the myth of a Racial Reckoning in 2020—the idea that after the murder of George Floyd by Derek Chauvin in 2020, the US began a reckoning with its racial history of oppression and brutalization towards Black people. We discuss the pitfalls of reckoning with empire, the laundering of Black Rage historically, and offer reflections on writing the texts. Laundering Black Rage is now available on pre-order and will be available worldwide on April 11th. To purchase it at a discounted rate please follow the instructions below. Type Discount code at checkout: EFLY01 https://www.routledge.com/Laundering-of-Black-Rage-The-Washing-of-Black-Death-People-Property/Black-Mowatt/p/book/9781032573779 Discounted Ebook https://play.google.com/store/books/details?pcampaignid=books_read_action&id=cY_2EAAAQBAJ Original Essays Pt. 1 http://www.blackagendareport.com/laundering-black-rage Pt. 2 http://www.blackagendareport.com/laundering-black-rage-part-2 Patreon https://www.patreon.com/blackmyths

In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Joy James, political philosopher and Ebenezer Fitch Professor of Humanities at Williams College, about the idea of the 'lesser evil' in relation to her new book--New Bones Abolition. We reflect on police violence, movement capture, Black feminism, Erica Garner, political prisoners, caretakers and more in a wide-ranging conversation. NEW BONES ABOLITION: CAPTIVE MATERNAL AGENCY AND THE AFTERLIFE OF ERICA GARNER https://www.commonnotions.org/new-bones-abolition Patreon https://www.patreon.com/blackmyths

For part 3 we explore the role of counterinsurgency in mass incarceration. We interview Dr. Orisanmi Burton--Assistant Professor of Anthropology at American University--about his book Tip of the Spear Black Radicalism, Prison Repression, and the Long Attica Revolt. We analyze the four types of counterinsurgency named by Burton: Expansion, Humanization, Diversification, and Programification. Tip of the Spear Black Radicalism, Prison Repression, and the Long Attica Revolt https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520396326/tip-of-the-spear Patreon https://www.patreon.com/blackmyths

In part 2, we explore the factors that drive mass incarceration. Per usual the truth is more complicated than the myth. We begin with the early history of prisons in the United States. Then we delve into the work (Golden Gulag and Abolition Geography) of geographer and abolitionist Ruth Wilson Gilmore to analyze how prisons became a fix all for social problems. We offer California as a case study to understanding prison expansion on state level. In part 3, we will explore the role counterinsurgency played in prison expansion. Golden Gulag: Prisons, Surplus, Crisis, and Opposition in Globalizing California https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520242012/golden-gulag Abolition Geography: Essays Towards Liberation https://www.versobooks.com/products/2615-abolition-geography https://www.patreon.com/blackmyths

In this episode, we examine the myth that prison is built for profit. That is, the myth that mass incarceration is driven by private profit above all else. Although there are certainly profiteers within the prison industrial complex, prisons operate at a loss. Therefore, in part 1 of this series, we explore what does not drive mass incarceration. In part two we will explore what actually drives mass incarceration. In part three we will interview, Orisanmi Burton, Assistant Professor of Anthropology and author of the book Tip of the Spear: Black Radicalism, Prison Repression, and the Long Attica Revolt. Monologue- 00:09:40 Prison For Profit Myths - 00:14:12 Private Prisons - 00:37:24 Prison Labor - 00:45:35 Prison Fees - 00:57:24 Cost of Prison & Slavery - 01:02:54 Closing Thoughts - 01:22:57 Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie 2023 https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/pie2023.html#myths Captive Labor: Stories of Involuntary Servitude https://www.aclu.org/news/human-rights/captive-labor-stories-of-involuntary-servitude Are private prisons driving mass incarceration? https://www.prisonpolicy.org/blog/2015/10/07/private_prisons_parasite/ "Prisons Make Us Safer": And 20 Other Myths about Mass Incarceration Book by Victoria Law https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/659473/prisons-make-us-safer-by-victoria-law/ The Unlucky 13th: Liberalizing the Extreme https://imixwhatilike.org/2016/10/25/the-unlucky-13th-liberalizing-the-extreme/ patreon.com/blackmyths

Black Myths Pod crew reviews the myths we covered over the last year of 2023 including Patrisse Lumumba, Pan-Africanism, Political Prisoners, the Black dollar, Third World, Israel/Hamas, and Anti-Communism. Patreon https://www.patreon.com/blackmyths

In part 2, we draw the connections between Dr. CBS's Black Scare/Red Scare Theory with the contemporary issues of today: Israel-Palestine, Stop Cop City, "Wokeism", Critical Race Theory, and the distraction that these discourses cause. Black Scare / Red Scare Theorizing Capitalist Racism in the United States https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/B/bo207945104.html Sign up for Patreon https://www.patreon.com/blackmyths

In this episode, we cover the myth "Communism Made Me Do It." 'Communism Made Me Do It' is a tongue-in-cheek way of how the US blames radicalism for radicalism, instead of the US capitalist-led conditions that produce it. Since the Bolshevik Revolution, Communism, more than any other political ideology, is the boogeyman that allows radicalisms of different kinds, both anticapitalist and not, to be targeted by the US capitalist racist society. To help us debunk this myth we draw on the work of Wayne State University associate professor, Dr. Charisse Burden-Stelly in her first single-author book Black Scare / Red Scare: Theorizing Capitalist Racism in the United States. She is a critical Black Studies scholar of political theory, political economy, and intellectual history. We discuss the foundational elements that make the United States an anti-communist anti-Black society including widespread repression and propaganda. As a comrade of the show, we celebrate the publication of her book. Book https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/B/bo207945104.html Related Episodes https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/myth-marxism-is-eurocentric/id1504205689?i=1000580405583 https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/myth-marxism-is-eurocentric-pt-2-w-dr-charisse-burden/id1504205689?i=1000581118416 Patreon https://www.patreon.com/blackmyths

We continue our conversation with our guests Rana Nazzal Hamadeh and Musa Springer. In this episode we delve into "Operation Al Aqsa" flood of October 7th and ways to understand the attack grounded in the broader historical context discussed in Pt. 1. We also discuss the anti-solidarity myths about Palestinians being homophobic and anti-black. https://www.patreon.com/blackmyths

In this episode, we explore the myth of the Israel-Hamas War with guests Rana Nazzal Hamadeh and Musa Springer beginning with the history of Israeli conquest of Palestine and the history of apart that followed. Rana is a Palestinian artist and filmmaker living between Ramallah and Ottawa on unceded Anishinaabe territory. Her photography, film, and installation works look at issues related to time, space, land, and movement, offering interventions rooted in a decolonial framework. My practice is deeply informed by the knowledge emerging from the grassroots movements for justice around me, both in Palestine and across Turtle Island. Musa Springer is a cultural worker, community organizer, and independent researcher. They are a member of the Walter Rodney Foundation, Hood Communist editor, and host of the Groundings podcast. Join the Patreon https://www.patreon.com/blackmyths

On this episode, Dr. Jared Ball joins us to debate the resolution — Pooling Black Resources is Imperative to Liberation— inspired by his recently released book The Myth and Propaganda of Black Buying Power. Our host Too Black debates the affirmative while Dr. Ball debates the negative. We want to engage principled disagreements throughout the Black Left and the sociopolitical Black world. The Black Myths podcast is predicated upon debunking quantifiable myths. Our debates expand beyond fact and fiction to create a discourse around the philosophies, strategies, and ethics that govern our lives. Thus, we are more interested in you learning than anyone "winning" the debate. https://www.patreon.com/blackmyths

In this episode, we explore the relationship between Atlanta and Cop City in our interview with Kamau Franklin. We explore the events that precluded cop City, how the Black elite helps shield the project, and what the realities are of organizing against it. Kamau Franklin is the founder of Community Movement Builders, Inc. Kamau has been a dedicated community organizer for over thirty years, beginning in New York City and now based in Atlanta. For 18 of those years, Kamau was a leading member of a national grassroots organization dedicated to the ideas of self-determination and the teachings of Malcolm X. Join our Patreon https://www.patreon.com/blackmyths

In this episode we cover the myth of the Black Mecca in relationship to the city of atlanta. We track the genealogy of the term and how Atlanta developed as a Black city. We cover the creation of the "new south," the rise of Maynard Jackson, the Atlanta child murders and the 1996 Olympics. We utilize "Legend of Black Mecca: Politics and Class in the Making of Modern Atlanta" by Maurice J. Hobson. Join our Patreon https://www.patreon.com/blackmyths

In part 2, we explore the history of the Third World with the Soviet Union, the different characters of a one party state post-national liberation, and the activity in the Sahel region of Africa including the most recent coup in Niger. Vijay lays out the historical context that has led to the current coups in the region. He also clarifies how the Third World became known as an impoverished, backward place for missionary-like charity. "Niger is the fourth country in the Sahel to experience an anti-Western coup" https://peoplesdispatch.org/2023/08/01/niger-is-the-fourth-country-in-the-sahel-to-experience-an-anti-western-coup/ Join Patreon https://www.patreon.com/blackmyths

We interview journalist, historian, and Marxist intellectual Vijay Prashad. We discuss the myth of the third world as a site of poverty and degradation instead of the global anti-colonial movement it once was. To gain a better understanding of the history and how it became co-opted we analyze Prashad's book "The Darker Nations: A People's History of the Third World." Bio Vijay is an Indian historian and journalist. He is the author of forty books, including Washington Bullets, Red Star Over the Third World, The Darker Nations: A People's History of the Third World, The Poorer Nations: A Possible History of the Global South, and The Withdrawal: Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, and the Fragility of U.S. Power (2022), written with Noam Chomsky. Vijay is the executive director of Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research, the chief correspondent for Globetrotter, and the chief editor of LeftWord Books (New Delhi). He also appeared in the films Shadow World (2016) and Two Meetings (2017). Join our patreon https://www.patreon.com/blackmyths

For Pt. 2, we speak with former entrepreneur and current writer Joshua McCoy. We use his experience as a business owner for over 10 years to show the limitations of black business, how the (myth of the) circulating Black dollar does little to impact the day-to-day operations of Black business, and some socialist alternatives to the traditional aspects of Black business. https://www.patreon.com/blackmyths

In this episode, we debunk the myth circulating Black Dollar at DePaul University in Chicago. We track the original claim stating "the lifespan of the dollar in the African-American community is approximately six hours." We show its questionable origins, deconstruct the concept of community, and most importantly we explore the concept of circulation. Sign up for patreon https://www.patreon.com/blackmyths

Myth: Prisons Rehabilitate (Reacting to the Pendleton 2 In this episode, we discuss the documentary The Pendleton 2: They Stood Up directed by our co-host Too Black and TheKingTrill. The film chronicles the story of Indiana political prisoners Christopher "Naeem" Trotter and John "Balagoon" Cole who got 200 plus years for intervening to save the life of a fellow prisoner who was being brutally beaten to death by the prison guards at Pendleton prison. Our frequent listeners will be familiar with this story. We use this film as a case study to demonstrate how prisons fail to rehabilitate the people they lock up and how the Pendleton two are examples demonstrating that community rehabilitates people, not the state. We strongly encourage listeners to watch the film and if you have the capacity schedule a screening in your local area at pendleton2.com. Film https://youtu.be/aQ6c4iE88Uk Patreon https://www.patreon.com/blackmyths

In this episode, we re-explore the Pendleton 2—Indiana political prisoners Christopher "Naeem" Trotter and John "Balagoon" Cole. Recently, a documentary film entitled The Pendleton 2: They Stood Up (directed and produced by TheKingTrill and our very own BMP host Too Black) debuted on Breakthrough News. In this film, the Pendleton 2 and witnesses who were present for the '85 uprising discuss the events that led to their imprisonment and their subsequent time in solitary confinement. However, only a portion of their interviews about solitary confinement aired in the documentary. So we are sharing the full interviews of Naeem and Balagoon on solitary. Originally, we were going to call this episode part two of our myth "Tough On Crime" but it felt more apropos to intertwine this with the myth that "torture works." Torture is an extension of counter-insurgency both domestically and internationally. Solitary confinement for political prisoners is a clear expression of such. Please view the documentary The Pendleton 2: They Stood Up and book a screening at Pendleton2.com Film https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQ6c4iE88Uk&t=3029s&ab_channel=BreakThroughNews Donate https://chuffed.org/project/free-pendleton-2 Sign Petition https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfAsx4u1g_Z38gZ3a70AAbwuFTpSJB_ipf2_qtepwbBz2iL7A/viewform