Divide & Conquer—How Imperialism Pits The Oppressed Against Each Other

In this episode of By Any Means Necessary, host Sean Blackmon is joined by award-winning New York City–based journalist Amir Khafagy to discuss his recent article in The American Prospect, “Public Housing Is Going Private—and Residents Are Fighting Back,” how a minor government housing program ended up a huge, unaccountable federal project, and what the privatization wave means for those seeking government housing assistance.


In the second segment, Sean is joined by Chris Garaffa, editor of Tech for the People.org, for another edition of our weekly segment “Tech For The People.” They discuss a new exposé of the ways Amazon’s exploitative warehouse conditions worsened under the pandemic, growing anxiety over Microsoft’s facial recognition technology, and how Los Angeles police officers have been incentivized to sell Ring doorbell cameras.


In the third segment, Sean is joined by Mikaela Nondo Erskog, Educator and Researcher at Tricontinental Institute for Social Research, to discuss the internationalist legacy of Zambia’s first post-colonial president, Kenneth Kaunda, the pivotal role Zambia came to play as a focal point for African liberation under his leadership, and how Kaunda’s love for working people and his concern for their well-being manifested on the ground.


Later in the show, Sean is joined by Brandon Sutton, host of The Discourse podcast, to discuss the US Department of Justice’s seizure of the PressTV website, New York City Mayoral race, how capitulation by the Democratic Party on crucial issues like voting rights leads to disillusionment, the historic roots of tensions between Black and Asian communities in the US, whether Jay-Z deserves the title of "greatest rapper alive" and why T-Pain is a national treasure.