Ep. 34: Local MI GOP Leader Pals Around With Proud Boys, Congress, Chicago Elections, Racist Miseducation, and More

In our rather packed show we start by talking about a recent piece from NowKalamazoo detailing the activities of a Kalamazoo-based leader in the Michigan GOP Jamie Swafford- who was apparently around D.C. during the January 6th insurrection and was photographed with Proud Boys before their insurrection in Kalamazoo during the summer of 2020.

 

We talk about the recent goings-on in congress, from the de-seating of Ilhan Omar on the foreign affairs committee, to congress making a point to vote on affirming the old red-baiting standby about "the evils of Socialism."

 

Norah discusses the upcoming Chicago elections and the politics going on with our windy neighbors to the west, and we examine a piece from LeftVoice detailing gentrification in Detroit.

 

We spend most of the rest of the show talking about the College Board's revisions to their AP African-American History class, excising many important authors and effectively 'de-radicalizing' the curriculum. We talk about how this relates to the larger story of an education system under fire from reactionaries who seek to take any and all criticism or harsh truths about the U.S. out of schools, and why this plays so critically into their proto-fascist strategies.

 

We close with some important updates on the ongoing repression of trans people in the U.S.

 

03:00- 15:00 Local MI GOP Leader in D.C. on J6, Mingles with Proud Boys

15:00- 28:00 Cop City in Atlanta

28:00- 45:00 Congress: Ilhan Omar Unseated, and "There is a Specter Haunting Congress"

45:00- 50:30 Microsoft Layoffs

51:00- 1:02:25 Chicago Elections w/ Norah

1:02:25- 1:09:00 Gentrification in Detroit

1:09:30- 1:32:20 College Board De-radicalizes AP African-American History Course

1:32:30- 1:38:00 The Ongoing Repression of Trans People in the U.S.

 

SOURCES AND FURTHER READING/ LISTENING

 

UPDATE: Portage police employee, Michigan Republican Party leader in D.C. on January 6

https://nowkalamazoo.com/2021/01/kalamazoo-sheriffs-deputy-gop-leader-in-d-c-on-january-6

 

The specter of socialism haunts US Congress

https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/02/04/pomo-f04.html

 

Movement Memos

The Death of a Forest Defender at “Stop Cop City”

https://truthout.org/audio/the-death-of-a-forest-defender-at-stop-cop-city/

 

Massive Looting of Public Resources at Stake in District Detroit Redevelopment Scheme

https://www.leftvoice.org/massive-looting-of-public-resources-at-stake-in-district-detroit-redevelopment-scheme

 

Ron DeSantis’s Attack on Black Studies Is Textbook Proto-Fascism

https://truthout.org/articles/ron-desantiss-attack-on-black-studies-is-textbook-proto-fascism

 

Democracy Now!

The Fight Over Black History:

Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, Khalil Gibran Muhammad & E. Patrick Johnson

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWssUQoph4k