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After Kenosha: will Trump’s efforts to mobilize white backlash voters succeed, the way Nixon did in 1968? “No,” says Harold Meyerson.  Trump is the incumbent, not the challenger; the Democrats don’t have a war to defend; and whites are a smaller proportion of the electorate than they were in 1968.
Also: Radically Changing our broken criminal justice system- –Jody Armour’s visionary radicalism. He teaches law at USC and he’s a prominent defender of Black Lives Matter – and his new book has just been published: it’s called “N*gger Theory: Race, Language, Unequal Justice, and the Law.”
Plus: Ella Taylor recommends “Epicentro,” sort of a documentary about Cuba—it’s streaming now on KinoMarquee.com. 9-3-2020

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Tump’s visit to Kenosha on Tuesday was part of a backlash strategy, with right wing militias and their allies encouraged to provoke violence with Black Lives Matter demonstrators, followed by Trump claiming he alone can bring an end to “chaos and looting.” John Nichols was in Kenosha for Trump’s visit – he reports on what happened there, and why a backlash strategy won’t work in Wisconsin.
Also: There’s a huge movement in Europe supporting Black Lives Matter. Gary Younge describes some key examples and comments on the effort to address racism in Britain, France, and elsewhere in Europe – and on the English falling back on the argument that racism there is “better” than in the US. Gary lives in London, teaches at the University of Manchester, and is a member of the editorial board of The Nation.  9-3-2020

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Rick Perlstein talks about the rise of Reagan, from what seemed like a career-ending defeat in the 1976 GOP primary, to his narrow victory in the popular vote in 1980–and how the darkness of the culture war has shaped the Republican Party that Trump came to dominate.  Rick’s long-awaited book, 1100 pages long, is “Reaganland: America’s Right Turn, 1976-1980.”
Also, Pramila Jayapal, co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus–she represents Seattle in the House–talks about how she went from being an investment banker as a young immigrant to a lifelong organizer.  Her new book is “Use the Power You Have: A Brown Woman’s Guide to Politics and Political Change.” 6-26-2020

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The Democratic National Convention featured several Republicans but almost no Bernie supporters: Harold Meyerson comments.
Plus: A Black Lives Matter leader in LA confronts the LAPD—outside her house. Melina Abdullah is a co-founder of Black Lives Matter-Los Angeles; she’s also professor of Pan-African studies at Cal State Los Angeles—and last week she was on the front page of the paper in LA. We asked her what happened.
Also: Virus-time TV with Ella Taylor – today Ella recommends “the 24th” – a new feature film about an all-black army regiment sent to Texas in 1917, and the violent confrontation with local racists that followed –it’s a true story about the only racial insurrection in American history where more whites were killed than blacks–16 whites died, including 5 policemen, and 4 of the Black soldiers. over a hundred Black soldiers were courmartialed – for mutiny. Thirteen were hanged immediately, and six more later.  8-20-2020

Listen HERE
A Black Lives Matter leader in LA confronts the LAPD—outside her house. Melina Abdullah is a co-founder of Black Lives Matter-Los Angeles; she’s also professor of Pan-African studies at Cal State Los Angeles—and last week she was on the front page of the paper in LA. We asked her what happened.
Plus: Katie Porter, the new member of Congress who flipped a longtime Republican district in California’s Orange County, talks about defending the postal service and about ending student loan debt. (Watch her full conversation with Katrina vanden Heuvel.)
Also: Changing our broken criminal justice system—radically. Jody Armour, who teaches law at USC and is a prominent defender of Black Lives Matter has a new book out, with the provocative title N*gga Theory: Race, Language, Unequal Justice, and the Law.  8-20-2020