Finding the Warmth of Our Sun: Recent Episodes
Matthew Braunginn
The implication and action of leaving "high risk" populations to fend for themselves is a policy of eugenics. We are disposable, and with 40% of the country having at least one chronic illness, that makes 40% of us disposable as a "drag on the nation" to some, and a sacrifice to capitalism for others.
Matthew is joined by co-author David M. Perry of the Bright Ages where they discuss the book, how it peels back the layers of Medieval Europe to expose not a dark or backward age, but one with diversity, culture, and more. They explore how we can see our modern age within it, with all the mess that comes with being human- the highs and lows.
The mentality of those who believe putting cops in schools will end the fights at East High school, is a mentality that using a stick is how you keep order, especially among Black and Brown populations. It is a colonial mentality. It also is one that doesn't understand the dynamics of our society, of behavior, the threat of violence through police may create order but it won't create safety; many times not the former either. What does this tell us about these people? How can we understand our social dynamics and what can be done?
In the face of fights at Madison schools, it seems white parents are calling for cops in schools. But another district, which at the surface level seems to have had a worse fighting problem, solved this through community and community alternatives. Affluent white parents should do the same, or at least commit the resources to do so. What are they scared of? And then to wrap up, a couple of high profile examples of police lying, again, and one of them is within Madison.
"Searching for Black Confederates: The Civil War's Most Persistent Myth" by Historian Kevin Levin, is a thorough documentation and presentation of how Black, camp slaves, served as a central part of the army of Southern succession. But did not serve as soldiers, were not seen as soldiers, and the debate to allow them to be soldiers or not betrayed the project of the Confederacy- that the subjection of Black people to slavery, with White masters, was the God ordained order of things.
White genocide and the Great Replacement Theory, are conspiracy theories with Nazi and anti-Semitic roots. GOP reps, conservative news, and more have fully embraced these ideas, ideas that argue for genocide for all non-white people. It is becoming a normal idea for the GOP voting population too. What are these ideas and theories and where did they come from?
This week, Matthew highlights a few stories about police and corrupt behavior around the country and Lt. Governor Mandela Barnes was just the target of dog-whistle journalism.
"They Came Before Columbus" is a popular enough book that claims Africans came to the Americas and played a significant role in shaping Indigenous Histories. The book, and research, uses a bad process of sorting through history, misaligned times, leaps of faith, misquotes, and more than what I actually cover. For those of us who have lost a lot of our history, it can be easy to fall into more fantastical views of the past, oversized importance. But this is bad history, and it is also a duplication of a process that has erased the histories of people across the globe, especially in the Americas.
As the US continues with withdrawal from its latest colonial project in Afghanistan, Matthew talks about what history can tell us about crumbling empires, especially in the face of climate change.
Tying together the Global War on Terror, the Afghanistan withdrawl, and the Proud Boys causing violence in LA.
Police reform isn't a new idea or concept, and for many reasons, it will fall short. Reform will never get at the roots of the problems- which extend beyond law enforcement itself.
In this episode, Matthew looks at President Obama as an example of how Democrats at every level fail to wield power effectively, and how a change in the perception of these failures is important to progress.
Defund the police has become a rallying cry, while "very smart people" have said and reported that people don't support defund, that it is a bad slogan, and that it hurts Democrats. Some of this is wrong, some of this is the wrong way to think about it. And most of it isn't engaging in police, defund, and our justice system in good faith. Let's talk this stuff through, and follow the evidence, especially on how polling can give us the wrong information depending upon how we ask the questions.
We're stuck in a cycle of how we engage and talk about police and crime. Our news media plays a key component of this. Manufactured consent is where the media presents information in a way that upholds the social order. This impacts how we think and talk about police, crime, and what public safety actually is.
Reviewing before a deeper dive, the complications with police reform, the problems with police, and how reform falls short of getting to root issues.
Matthew's taking the week off, and has chosen this episode to revisit.
The media and moderate pushback against accusations of the resurrection of Jim Crow have begun. As soon as people, mostly Black, started to say the GOP was pushing Jim Crow laws, mostly white men decided to climb their self-built pedestal of the only "objective" truth-tellers to say this was an overreaction. In response, Black writer and thinker Jamelle Bouie said, "Jim Crow wasn't Jim Crow, until it was." We must look at these laws in the context of intent, and the larger conversations of voting, and whose votes "count" coming from the anti-democratic party of the GOP.
There has been a national rise in gun violence across the United States, and some blame police reform efforts with no supporting data. In fact, the data tells a different story, with an increase before "Defund" calls, an increase before tepid defund efforts, and an increase in cities that have increased police budgets. Instead, the data points to the proliferation of gun ownership, unemployment, a breaking social fabric, and an unresponsive government. Let's explore this complex subject a bit more.
American myth-making often paints its victims as passive entities, not central players to the world around them. But those enslaved constantly resisted, creating the conditions for recognition of emancipation.
Too often we're not having the right conversations; the panic around CRT is one of those. While education is good, the conversation about why it is happening, and the exactly what, is how we understand these moments.
Not a specific dive, but a conversation of ugly realities of race, democracy, and the United States, creating anxiousness about the present and near future.
On this episode, originally released in September of 2021, Matthew explores the role of police in society, their effectiveness, and why the idea of defunding them isn't actually scary.
Assistant UW-Madison Professor Kevin Lawrence Henry Jr joins to dig deeper into critical race theory and how it is applied, exploring some of the more challenging tenets and examples of it out in the real world.
Critical Race Theory (CRT) has been used as a catch-all for "diversity" and confrontation of racism in the United States. Most people rejecting it have no idea what CRT is and isn't, have spent no time actually reading about it from people who actually know what it is. In this episode, we'll explore, at a high level, what CRT is and isn't, and how this framework, well, functions in ID'ing and assessing functional racism in American society.
Madison's failure to purchase a permanent homeless shelter for men was the fault of a small, yet an unsurprising group of Alders. Their rationals were rooted in anti-Black racism, and classism, but also fully developer supported, and it continues a cycle of Madison's failure to invest in justice initiatives that make structural changes. It's a shame such a small group has held up issues of justice, but this seems to be a habit for them.
America is racist: It's a simple answer to a bad question. There are some more revealing questions to ask, such as when did institutional racism end
Matthew's off this week. But he wanted to revisit this episode from December, 2020.
On this episode, Matthew talks with Nada Elmikashfi talk about climate change, the failure of the US to lead, how the future world-leading nations will be the ones leading on climate, and what race and capitalism have to do with it all.
Abolish the police, re-imagine public safety. This is a must, we must dismantle law enforcement as we know it, re-imagine public safety in investing in people, communities, mental health, housing, education, healthcare, and more. Their history is intertwined with racial and class oppression, protecting the ruling class and their property over justice. This is beyond them being bad at the job they alleged they do. Ill-tempered, lack of accountability, not solving the social ills they respond to, not solving most crimes, and can kill with almost zero accountability with increasing militarization. Let yourself engage with the idea of abolition.
The media and moderate pushback against accusations of the resurrection of Jim Crow have begun. As soon as people, mostly Black, started to say the GOP was pushing Jim Crow laws, mostly white men decided to climb their self-built pedestal of the only "objective" truth-tellers to say this was an overreaction. In response, Black writer and thinker Jamelle Bouie said, "Jim Crow wasn't Jim Crow, until it was." We must look at these laws in the context of intent, and the larger conversations of voting, and whose votes "count" coming from the anti-democratic party of the GOP.
School Board member Savion Castro joins Matthew to talk about new reassignment and layoff policies for MMSD, and explore why cultural competency is important.
The GOP is rolling out voter suppression laws across the United States, pushing Jim Crow in the 21st century. But their broader goal is to roll back the civil rights movement entirely, and the media and moderates are giving cover to their undemocratic behavior by taking up their talking points about those who fight for social justice.
This killing of Asian women in Atlanta (misspoken as Alabama in episode) didn't just derive from hate but from policies and decisions of our past and present. This is a larger problem of seeing "hate" as the only form of racism, or one must hate to perpetuate race-based crimes. It both shows the short-comings of labeling something a "hate crime," as it misses out how race-based violence oftentimes isn't born out of ignorance or hate, but larger issues of power and self-interest. We need a better way to take about racialized violence, and racism, while focusing on the larger picture of the policies and decisions that make these horrible events possible.
Des Moines Register reporter Andrea Sahouri was acquitted last week after being arrested and charged covering one of this summers Black Lives Matter protests. While many on the left spoke out, many who decry cancel culture stayed silent. This behavior of those who oppose so-called cancel culture, being silent in the face of government suppression and oppression, is common. But, so-called cancel culture doesn't exist, at least not the way it is publicly discussed. It is a tool of those in relative privilege used to silence oppressed populations they disagree with, just as accusations of "PC police" before it, as they ignore actual suppression of speech while finding ways to defend racists, sexists, homophobic people from consequences.
The Dane County Board decided to approve paying Mead & Hunt for work not requested on a jail that shouldn't move forward. White supervisors approved in the face of all the supervisors of color. Plus a deeper dive into women in prisons, and why more research needs to be done.
It was recently revealed California is still forcing sterilizations upon women in their prisons. And just on the numbers alone, the state of women and our criminal justice system is alarming, with many in prison for petty offenses or defending themselves from abuse and face longer sentencing than men.
COVID has reduced Black and Brown life expectancy by 3 and 2 years respectively. But this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Black health disparities and racism in medicine.
In this episode, Matthew talks about how we have multiple justice systems, one serving Black & Brown people, one serving white people, one for poor people, and one for the wealthy. He also talks about how things are so broken, reform will fall short, and jails do nothing but take away our own humanity- abolition and investing in people and humanity over human pens is our only way through this.
On this episode, Matthew talks about his experience being white-passing, and insight into what whiteness is and isn't.
In this episode, Matthew talks about what our future might hold, what we can learn from the past, and why accountability is a must for this nation to survive.
Stacey Abrams, Amanda Gorman, and Michelle Obama are among a group of Black women that have been portrayed as "superwomen" (most of the time by white liberals) to an unsettling degree, that approaches fetishization. While many of these same white liberals go on to dismiss and ignore Black women in their own workplaces and lives.
In this episode, Matthew brings an update on where the talk of body-cams are here in Madison, and what the latest information on body cams tell us - they don't do what people think they do. And because of that, they are not a cost-effective way to decrease use of force, improve transparency, or improve accountability (as they don't do those things).
A mob of terrorists attempted a coup one week ago. Today, Matthew talks about that insurrection, what went wrong with the capitol police (or was this to be expected?), and how this is what happens in the United States when white people are threatened with a multi-cultural democracy. Oh, and yes, these people are fascist traitors, and any government official that aided this attempt should lose their office and be tried for treason. Correction: At 25:00, the correct date is 1898 for the North Carolina coup, called the "Wilmington Insurrection of 1898"
Sources (in order): https://twitter.com/ariehkovler/status/1341016471795843080 https://twitter.com/willjennings80/status/1346946815422320641) NBC News: Republican AGs group sent robocalls urging march to the Capitol FiveThirtyEight: The Police’s Tepid Response To The Capitol Breach Wasn’t An Aberration https://twitter.com/cevansavenger/status/13469209243108679680 Vice: Storm the capitol as a white man and you’ll get a selfie with a cop New york Magazine: What the MAGA Mob at the Capitol Had to Say for Itself) https://twitter.com/jordannovet/status/1346974454040158209 New York Times: These Are the Rioters Who Stormed the Nation’s Capitol https://twitter.com/McCormackJohn/status/1347304394128322577 WEBZ: Chicago Police Union President Defends Those Who Stormed The U.S. Capitol Buzzfeed News: These Black Capitol Police Officers Describe Fighting Off "Racist Ass Terrorists” https://twitter.com/jsrailton/status/1347213255509422081 SIRIUS XM: https://www.siriusxm.com/clips/clip/0469a9b1-fd7d-4257-ab28-f76acc8fa2aa/58377517-3602-40f9-822a-81dd774d84fb Feds: Police found pickup truck full of bombs, guns near Capitol insurrection WashPost: All 10 living former defense secretaries: Involving the military in election disputes would cross into dangerous territory) Daily Beast: Trump Officials Rush to Keep Him From Sparking Another Conflict—at Home or Abroad LA Mag: ‘An Absolutely Incredible Occurrence’: Rep. Maxine Waters Speaks Amid Today’s Attack on the Capitol https://twitter.com/jimbourg/status/1347559078831284227 The Atlantic: It Was Supposed to Be So Much Worse washPost: The far-right Trump insurgency just scored a huge propaganda coup https://twitter.com/AdamSerwer/status/1347226818248585217
This week, Matthew revisits this episode about former mayor Dave Ciezslewicz, his problematic columns, Madison, and why you’re probably thinking about racism wrong.
This week we revisit Matthew's exploration of the role of police in society, their effectiveness, and why the idea of defunding them isn't actually scary.
On this episode, Matthew talks with Nada Elmikashfi talk about climate change, the failure of the US to lead, how the future world-leading nations will be the ones leading on climate, and what race and capitalism have to do with it all.
Two intersecting behaviors of the GOP are on full display: the idea that only a GOP win is legitimate and their cruelty.
In this episode, Matthew looks at President Obama as an example of how Democrats at every level fail to wield power effectively, and how a change in the perception of these failures is important to progress.
In this episode, Matthew talks through the pragmatic, economic, political, and moral reasons that defunding the military and reshaping US foreign policy is a must going forward.
On this episode, Matthew talks about how Trump is quite clearly attempting a coup, backed up or enabled by the GOP, how the GOP and its voters embrace authoritarianism and reject the notion of a multicultural democracy, and to what extent America and its people are fundamentally broken, making a hard road forward. There is no going back to the normal before 2016, for better or for worse.
On this episode, Matthew discusses how the Common Council voted to not cut more from MPD's budget and some alders told the county not to match funds for a mental health community response unit, showing the little ways even progressives can help uphold a racial caste system and white supremacy.
On this episode, Matthew talks about some very too soon lessons we can glean from the election. How Black, Latino, and Indigenous organizers won the election for Biden, how Democrats need to do more to empower these organizers, how BLM didn't hurt Dems and in fact helped, and how the GOP continues down a dangerous path.
On this episode, Matthew talks about how the ideological battle (and at times real violence) of the Civil War continues to this day.
On this episode, Matthew tackles the state of the democracy within the United States, but first handles the bad-faith argument "we're a republic not a democracy."
On this episode, Matthew talks about the myth of linear racial progress, and why we also need to think about class.
On this episode, Matthew talks about how the United States meets the criteria of a failed state, how this goes beyond partisan politics, and why far-reaching action must take place.
In this episode, Matthew talks about how some people decide to give Trump sympathy (while he would give you none) and how that relies upon an American lie - whiteness.
On this episode, Matthew talks about how President Trump is just a symptom of a much deeper rot that made a Trump-like figure inevitable.
This week, Matthew talks about former mayor Dave Ciezslewicz, his problematic columns, Madison, and why you’re probably thinking about racism wrong.
In this episode, Matthew explores the failures of Trump and the GOP during our ongoing coronavirus epidemic, and how these failures can be framed as genocide.
Today, Matthew explores the role of police in society, their effectiveness, and why the idea of defunding them isn't actually scary.
Today, impacted by the past week and a half of uprisings, white supremacist shooting, and the death of Chadwick Boseman, Matthew touches on the weight of this time on Black America.
On this episode, Matthew recounts an incomplete history of racial violence towards Black Americans, helping put into context current police shootings, including that of Jacob Blake. He explores how many find it easier to see themselves as someone inflicting this violence than enduring it, and the long historical pattern of those who inflict racial violence rarely seeing justice for their violent actions.
Police violence, "looting" in response, gun violence in our communities ... they're all related. In the premiere episode of our new video show and podcast, join host Matthew Braunginn for an honest look at how centuries-long systems of oppression inevitably lead to violence.