This is an interview Olufemi Taiwo gave in June 2020, as the United States was experiencing both the pandemic and the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd (note: I would like his name to be searchable on this website, both with and without the diacritics)

This talk was + Q&A was hosted by the Berman Institute of Bioethics at John Hopkins, and it's honestly surreal to hear his incredible analysis in that environment (albeit, "remote").

Anyway, it's a very nice talk. I've heard him on several podcasts lately (Last Dope Intellectual from Feb 2 2022, as well as Millennials Are Killing Capitalism from Mar 7 2022 (yesterday, at the time of writing).

I've just found his primarily pragmatic but uncompromising analysis to be really powerful, and think it's very much worth sharing, for anyone who has the time to listen to him.

I found different aspects of each of these three interviews/presentations to be very interesting. This talk was, I think, aimed at refining the thinking of (largely white, relatively well-off) people who've just been reminded in a big way about the idea of anti-racism, and making them think about how one achieves it. That's not exactly right, but a good enough jumping off point.

NOTE: I think there is another, slightly older person with the exact same name, who is somehow also a Marxist. Not sure what the deal is there.

    • Multihedra [he/him]
      hexagon
      ·
      3 years ago

      I completely agree!

      It was so refreshing to see non-centrist pragmatism; someone acknowledging the complete fuckedness (and say that we’ll forever be fucked if we ignore the history of actually-existing capitalism), but at the same time keep us focused on what actually matters in the here and now—neither collecting data, building an airtight “case” against the system, nor waiting until we figure out exactly the right actions

      It’s such a tight rope to walk, and it makes me hopeful when I hear him walk it