New Attacks in Struggle for Democratic Rights in The US

By Any Means Necessary

In this episode of By Any Means Necessary, hosts Sean Blackmon and Jacquie Luqman are joined by Natalia Marques, writer and organizer from New York City to discuss a potential strike by workers at General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis organized under the UAW, how the UAW has developed to this point and how its leadership is different from leadership of the past, and the context of this potential strike in the surge of union and labor activism and ongoing strikes by writers and actors in Hollywood.

In the second segment, Sean and Jacquie discuss the recent Socialist Horizon conference which took place in Atlanta and the importance of joy and celebration in organizing and why that joy is found in community and struggle.

In the third segment, Sean and Jacquie are joined by technologist Chris Garaffa, co-host of the CovertAction Bulletin podcast to discuss the NYPD’s announcement that it would use drones to surveil backyard parties should neighbors make noise complaints and how this may violate existing surveillance law in New York, how IBM has reneged on its promise to stop offering facial recognition software with a contract to provide the UK government with a national biometrics platform that will include facial recognition, a planned Senate forum on artificial intelligence and why the dominance of tech CEOs on the forum’s guest list demonstrates what is likely to come out of it, and how loose content moderation on X, formerly known as Twitter, has allowed a false story about an Ebola outbreak at Burning Man to proliferate.

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 Studies to discuss the indictment of more than 60 activists involved in opposing the “Cop City” facility in Atlanta in a RICO case, a federal judge striking down the redrawn Congressional district map in Alabama and what it demonstrates about democracy for Black Americans, and how political crises unfolding in Colombia and Guatemala reflect broader regional and global political trends.

The views and opinions expressed in this program are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the position of Sputnik.

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