Episode 43: The Struggle for Black Lives After the Minneapolis Verdict

Brendan and Andrew welcome Gabriel Donnelly, author of “Minneapolis After the Third Precinct,” and Anne Jaclard and Aaron Williams, main authors of Marxist-Humanist Initiative’s (MHI’s) editorial, “On the Conviction of George Floyd’s Murderer.” They discuss the implications of the verdict in Minneapolis––was it justice, a victory for Black Lives Matter, a breakthrough in the struggle for police accountability?––as well as Justice Department investigations of police departments, police-reform legislation, and how the struggle for Black lives can move forward now. Donnelly discusses why the Minneapolis police department wasn’t dismantled, even though a veto-proof majority of the city council voted to dismantle it. And Williams, author of “Death by Cop (Again) in Columbus, Ohio,” provides detailed commentary on the recent upsurge in police violence in Columbus and its vicinity.

MHI’s recent addition to its Perspectives, “‘Black Lives Matter’ and the Vanguard Role of Black Masses Today,” provides the foundation and a reference point for the discussion, which was recorded on May 10.

In the episode’s current-events segment, the co-hosts discuss a May 2 Platypus-sponsored panel discussion that largely normalized the fascistic January 6 Capitol insurrection in the name of “free speech.”

Radio Free Humanity is a podcast covering news, politics and philosophy from a Marxist-Humanist perspective. It is co-hosted by Brendan Cooney and Andrew Kliman. We intend to release new episodes every two weeks. Radio Free Humanity is sponsored by MHI, but the views expressed by the co-hosts and guests of Radio Free Humanity are their own. They do not necessarily reflect the views and positions of MHI.

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