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Millennials Are Killing Capitalism


Oct 4, 2017

In our first episode of Millennials Are Killing Capitalism we caught up with Alexis McKenney and Jason Ajiake from HU Resist to discuss the shutting down of James Comey's speech at Howard's convocation in September. This event was widely misunderstood by liberals who have given James Comey a bewildering "hero status."
 
This support of Comey has come about despite his history of anti-blackness and racism as the former FBI Director, where he targeted the Black Lives Matter Movement, created the term "the Ferguson Effect," and laid the ground work for fascistic Blue Lives Matter legislation that has since been adopted in multiple states.
 
McKenney and Ajiake discuss the history of Howard, the history of the FBI, their rationale for shutting down Comey, and their struggles to develop a culture of activism on Howard's campus. They talk about the foundations of HU Resist and some of the challenges they've faced due to Howard University's close relationship with the Federal Government and its role in developing a Black bourgeoisie.
 
They also discuss Kwame Ture's (f/k/a Stokely Carmichael) history at Howard and the university's coordination with the FBI during the bureau's surveillance of Ture. We discuss when it is appropriate to deny a platform to a speaker and they interrogate the true meaning of "dialogue."
 
It's a powerful conversation that provides critical context to their decision to protest a convocation speech from a speaker their administration, many alumni, and some current students really wanted to give a platform, despite over 400 students who signed a formal denouncement of his presence on campus.
 
We'd like to thank Jason Ajiake, Alexis McKenney, and all the comrades at @HUResist for their work and for joining us on this inaugural episode of Millennials Are Killing Capitalism to discuss it.