Ukraine, Navalny, and other people Putin is trying to kill

Explicit content warning

04/24/21 • 58 min

This week on Black Diplomats we’ve got a new format and new guests, but have faith - we’re still taking aim at white supremacist imperialism, and there’s nothing new about that.

We’re all about giving platform to people who don’t get invited into mainstream media, and we’ve done a great job of it. We also want to broaden the foreign policy conversation by bringing in new audiences. One of the barriers for a lot of folks is basic context and geography, so we’re going to start filling in some blanks.

Host Terrell Starr will be opening the show with news highlights and a little context for the interview, including his personal stories, racial analysis, policy expertise, and historical information. These bite-sized segments help make sense out of the news and cut through the propaganda.

Our guests segments will be a little shorter, but we still won’t be talking to any Ukrainian ‘elites’!

Journalist and filmmaker Olga Tokariuk brings us the perspective from Kyiv, where there isn’t any evidence of panic, or any surprise at Putin’s bluster. Eilish Hart is a journalist and researcher who writes about the former Soviet Union. She’s been keeping a keen eye on Alexei Navalny, and joins us to explain his recent hunger strike that ended on April 23.

We hope you enjoy the new format!

Thank you for listening!

This week on Black Diplomats we’ve got a new format and new guests, but have faith - we’re still taking aim at white supremacist imperialism, and there’s nothing new about that.

Our guests segments will be a little shorter, but we still won’t be talking to any Ukrainian ‘elites’!

We hope you enjoy the new format!

Thank you for listening!

Previous Episode

Vets Want U.S. Out of Afghanistan

President Biden announced that he wants all US troops out of Afghanistan by 9/11/21, two decades after the attack that ostensibly launched our global war on terror. As usual, we’re hearing plenty of opinions from people who’ve never been there and don’t know what they’re talking about.

This week on Black Diplomats host Terrell Starr is talking to three vets who have multiple tours in Afghanistan and Iraq. Isiah James was a “door kicker” as he calls it, a frontline grunt who saw the horrors of war firsthand. Richard Brookshire was an Army medic who dealt with the aftermath of battle, and Brittany Ramos DeBarros interacted with Afghan citizens as part of the ‘hearts and minds’ campaign.

Three different experiences, three different perspectives, but they all agree - we should have been out of Afghanistan years ago.

Our guests talk about their time in country, and point out that leaving Afghanistan doesn’t mean US imperialism has slowed down one bit - anyone ever heard of Africom?

Thank you for listening!

Next Episode

Jewel of the Caucasus

The Republic of Georgia has a storied history in the heart of the Caucasus mountains.

Host Terrell Starr first went there after the fall of the Soviet Union when they were still struggling to figure out a new way of life. In today’s episode of Black Diplomats he talks about that critical time, for him and for the nation of Georgia. He talks about living in the region as a Black man, and how he found ways to connect with his neighbors.

Then Terrell talks to Eka Gigauri, a native Georgian who serves on the board of Transparency International and has been watching the political crisis in Tblisi with a close eye.

Terrell wrote an article for Foreign Policy magazine on the situation last week and was eager to get up to speed with someone on the ground.

These two old friends reminisce on the past, give us a tour of what Georgians have built in their country, and talk about what they’re looking forward to.

Music by Tall Black Guy and Quintet Urmuli.

Thank you for listening!