Four Black nationalists [14] affiliated with the Uhuru Movement [15], an arm of the African People's Socialist Party (APSP [16]), are on trial [17] for acting as agents of a Russian propaganda network [18], in what they are calling "the free speech trial of the century." Regardless of whether their activities were protected by the First Amendment, the case reveals the very strangest of political bedfellows. Tucker Carlson, who similarly serves as a conduit [19] for Russian propaganda, is also mentioned [20] (although not charged) in a new federal indictment [21]. Carlson is scheduled [22] to appear onstage with JD Vance later this month, and recently hosted [23] an uncloseted Nazi-nostalgist [24] on his Twitter program. The absurd irony of the APSP platforming [25] Kremlin demonization of Ukraine as a "Nazi" state is heightened by Russia's serial massacres [26] of Black Africans [27] in its new military adventures [28] on the continent. The Anti-Globalization Movement of Russia (AGMR), which seemingly cultivated Uhuru/APSP, is similarly cultivating white supremacists [40], who are overtly Trump-aligned [30] and marched at the Charlottesville hate-fest [31] in 2017. The ultimate stateside beneficiary of this Kremlin-orchestrated propaganda effort is of course Donald Trump—who as president in 2020 sought to unleash the military [32] against that year's Black Lives Matter uprising. Yet while too many "radicals" take the Kremlin bait, once-reviled "liberals" like the National Urban League [33] actually take a more progressive position on Russia and Ukraine. In Episode 243 [34] of the CounterVortex podcast [35], Bill Weinberg explores how the American radical left went through the proverbial looking glass, including with analogies from the (last) Cold War.
Listen on SoundCloud [34] or via Patreon [36].
Sources:
Profiles of Paul Robeson at Black Perspectives [41], Picturing Black History [42], Collaborative History [43], Smithsonian [44], American Masters [45], The Progressive [46], RosaLux [47] and MR Online [48]
Profiles of Lovett Fort-Whiteman at Black Past [49], Amsterdam News [50], ROAR Magazine [51] and Jacobin [52].
Production by Chris Rywalt [53]
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