In this episode, I speak with political activists and commentators Shemon and Arturo, authors of several articles published at Ill Will Editions, including Theses on the George Floyd Rebellion, The Rise of Black Counter-Insurgency, and The Return of John Brown: White Race-Traitors in the 2020 Uprising.
Since late May of this year, cities across the United States have been rocked by numerous riots and demonstrations in response to the highly publicized police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis. What makes this national movement unique, particularly in comparison to the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s, is not only the scope of these uprisings, but also the mass participation of the white proletariat. While still remaining a BIPOC-led movement, countless white people have engaged in militant anti-racism direct action in the streets, openly breaking with the social and institutional construct of whiteness that “continues to be the glue that holds bourgeois society together in the U.S.” Shemon and Arturo examine the conditions that have led to this historic moment of unrest in this country, and draw on several historical comparisons of class solidarity that have extended across racial lines. We also address the “Black counter-insurgency” that has emerged in the weeks and months since the initial uprisings in May, as addressed in Shemon’s article The Rise of Black Counter-Insurgency.
// Episode notes: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/shemon-arturo
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