America’s hyper-violent history of generational slavery based on African ancestry, of genocide, ethnic cleansing and land theft rolls seamlessly into the ongoing crisis of white supremacy, militarism and militarized police forces, the massive prison-industrial complex, and more. Bullets and bombs aren’t the only ways to kill people—bad hospitals and a predatory health care system kill people; government sponsored enclosures kill people; decomposing schools and brainwashing curriculums kill people. In this episode Bill Ayers and Malik Alim meditate on the word “violence,” and pay attention, not only to the violence that’s visible and overt, but also to the violence that’s cloaked and hidden, and the accompanying feigned innocence—the hypocrisy—which can compound and intensify the original crimes.
Free write
If I were asked to describe Slavery in a single word, and I said, Murder, you might agree. If I were asked to describe Wage Slavery in a word, and I responded, Manslaughter, would you hesitate? Why? And what if I were asked to describe Property in a word, and my answer was: Theft. What would you say?
Under the Tree Podcast 