Dismantling the System
Is it starry-eyed to think about not just regime change but something much larger: system change? The systemic failures of the current crisis and the calamitous fissures it has exposed has raised the question of the efficacy of reform, half-measures and tinkering around the edges. When under duress, the system is agile enough to make some concessions while crucially leaving the fundamental structures of power intact. From the outside systems can look invincible and impregnable. Just tell that to Louis the XVI in 1789 or the Czar in 1917 or the Shah of Iran in 1979 or Hosni Mubarak in 2011. The noted writer, Ursula LeGuin reminds us, “We live in capitalism. Its power seems inescapable. So did the divine right of kings. Any human power can be resisted and changed by human beings.”
Speakers
Marc Lamont Hill
Marc Lamont Hill is a professor of Media Studies and Urban Education at Temple University in Philadelphia. Ebony named him one of America’s 100 most influential Black leaders. He is the author of Nobody: Casualties of America’s War on the Vulnerable from Ferguson to Flint and Beyond.
Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor
Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor writes and speaks on Black politics, social movements, and racial inequality. She is a professor of African American Studies at Princeton. Her articles appear in The New Yorker, The Nation, The Guardian and Jacobin. She is the author of Race for Profit, How We Get Free and the award-winning From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation.
Andrew in Denver –
I just listened to the most recent podcast episode of AR with the James Earl Jones reading of Frederick Douglas speech. Very powerful. Thanks for all you do.
Nusrat in NY –
In this world of chaos and negativism we need these words of wisdom.
Emile Powe –
The program was illustrative and provided a much needed perspective on ending white supremacy within a broader concept of ending the global system of economic oppression. I learned a lot and I’m motivated to “spread the word” in my current role as an African American physician.