Happy Monday! Emma speaks with Abdul Alkalimat, professor of African American Studies & library and information science at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, to discuss his book The History of Black Studies. First, Emma runs through updates on the rising Gaza death count, the crippling of Nasser Hospital, the expansion of Israel’s ground offensive, Biden issuing another ceasefire veto, another ICJ case, Russia’s recent offensive in Ukraine, Trump’s abortion ban, EV sales, forever chemicals, Wisconsin’s gerrymandering, and Pakistan’s election, before diving into Fox’s coverage of Trump’s recent massive fine from the state of New York. Professor Abdul Alkalimat then joins, diving right into the founding of Black studies in the US over the 1960s and 70s, serving as a professionalization and a manifestation of a long history of Black intellectual tradition and social movements that US higher education and academia all but ignored. Expanding on this, Professor Alkalimat dives into the convergence of disciplines in the creation of Black studies, picking up on the tradition of black intellectual history, and taking advantage of a wide range of subjects in their attempt to best understand and interpret the Black experience. Next, Emma and Abdul tackle the rediscovery of Black intellectual history in the academic context through the creation of Black studies, bringing to light the incredible educational power of social movements – from Black Power and Civil Rights to New Communism and the Women’s Movement – to raise new questions about society and redefine how we thought about race, both domestically and internationally. After walking through his concepts of deficit, difference, and dependency that undergird racism in the US, Professor Alkalimat touches once again on how Black studies works to redefine, recontextualize, and challenge mainstream notions of US and global society, as well as the Black experience itself, before wrapping up the interview with the primary challenges facing the current era in the struggle for Black self-determination. Emma also watches recent statements from Lula da Silva on Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza with the West’s support.

And in the Fun Half: Emma talks with Mitch from Houston about the liberal fatigue seen in response to both the COVID-19 Pandemic and Israel’s ethnic cleansing of Gaza, Hannah from San Diego discusses her experiences with discrimination as a Jewish college student, and NPR and NBC join hands to present Trump’s new, incredibly rational 16-week abortion ban. Tucker Carlson and Ben Shapiro beef over who’s the better fascist when it comes to US support for Israel, plus, your calls and IMs!

Check out Abdul’s book here: https://www.plutobooks.com/9780745344225/the-history-of-black-studies/

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