Adolph Reed on Black Lives Matter, Kshama Sawant On Vaccine Imperialism & Kate Willett

The Katie Halper Show

Extended Reed interview here (https://www.patreon.com/posts/51203261) Seattle City Council woman Kshama Sawant (https://www.kshamasolidarity.org/​) talks about her resolution calling on the Biden administration to support patent waivers for U.S.-produced vaccines that would allow facilities in other countries to begin manufacturing generic vaccines based on Pfizer and Moderna's formulas. Sawant also discusses the Right Wing recall campaign being launched against her. Dr. Adolph Reed, professor emeritus at the University of Pennsylvania, political scientist, and editor of Nonsite (https://nonsite.org/​​), talks about identity politics, the NGO-ization of Black Lives Matter, and the state of The Left. Reed is the author of "Class Notes: Posing As Politics and Other Thoughts on the American Scene," "W. E. B. Du Bois and American Political Thought: Fabianism and the Color Line," "The Jesse Jackson Phenomenon: The Crisis of Purpose in Afro-American Politics," "Stirrings in the Jug: Black Politics in the Post-Segregation Era." Sawant has served on the Seattle City Council since 2014. She is a member of the political party Socialist Alternative. Her most recent re-election campaign was in 2019 in which Amazon spent an unprecedented $1.5m to defeat her. She has been a consistent advocate of raising taxes on the wealthy, expanding city services for the city’s workers and for environmental rights and Palestinian human rights. She is facing a right wing recall in retaliation for spearheading victories like $15 minimum wage and the Amazon Tax and supporting Black Lives Matter.