4 chapters across the catalog
Adama Ba, who was raided by the NYPD Terrorism Task Force at age 16 in Harlem, argues against labeling the January 6 Capitol rioters as terrorists. She suggests that expanding domestic terrorism laws and labels often backfires on innocent black and brown communities. The discussion touches on the specific legal definitions of terrorism, which require a motive for political gain, and draws parallels to the security climate following the September 11 attacks.
The hosts play a clip from the autobiography of Malcolm X regarding a Harlem street rally and the "human combustion" of frustrated youth. They draw parallels between the demonization of Black youth in the 1960s and the current demonization of Trump supporters. They discuss the death of Ashley Babbitt and the need for empathy across racial lines when facing a common oppressive system.
Leonard Patterson recounts his personal participation in inciting a 1935 race riot in New York following the reported death of a black youth. He compares the use of handbills in the 1930s to modern social media posts used to mobilize masses. The hosts argue that identity politics is a contemporary code for Marxism, designed to splinter society into competing factions.
A vintage clip from the John Birch Society discusses the 1964 riots in Harlem and other cities, suggesting they were orchestrated by an "unseen hand" of communist influence. The hosts use this to show the repetitive nature of these social disruptions across decades.
