by Mansa Musa | Nov 2, 2026 | cuba, Economy and Inequality, Latin America, Politics and Movements: International, Politics and Movements: US, Rattling the Bars, video
In this episode of Rattling the Bars, Mansa Musa speaks with Dr. Kimberly Dawn Miller, Co-Coordinator of the Haiti/Americas Team for the Black Alliance for Peace. They examine geopolitical relations and the unfiltered history of U.S. imperialism in the Caribbean—including economic warfare against Cuba, the state of Florida’s recent arrest warrant for former Cuban leader Raúl Castro, Trump and JD Vance’s racist criminalization of Haitians, and over a century of capitalist resource extraction and regime change in Haiti.
The Black Alliance for Peace in Miami, organizing alongside the Miami Coalition, seeks to end the blockade against Cuba. October 24–31 marks the Cuba Week of Action against the U.S. chokehold on Cuba, leading up to the International and National Day of Action on October 28. This aligns with the United Nations’ annual vote, where the international community will once again vote on the U.S. embargo on Cuba.
Credits:
Production/Post-production: Cameron Granadino
Transcript
The following is a rushed transcript and may contain errors. It will be updated.
Mansa Musa:
Welcome to Rattling the Bars. I’m your host, Mansa Musa. At Rattling the Bars, we examine the prison industrial complex, both domestically and internationally. Miami floor sits at the direct intersection of US imperialism across the Caribbean and Latin America. Joining me today is Dr. Kim Miller, an organizer in Miami fighting to end sanctions and the embargo on Cuba opposing termination of TPS for Haiti and building solidarity with nations targeted for their socialist or abolitionist revolutions. Welcome, Kim.
Dr. Kimberly Dawn Miller:
Thank you. I’m really excited to be here for this conversation.
Mansa Musa:
All right, so first introduce yourself to our audience and tell them about your work with Black
by Taya Graham and Stephen Janis | Nov 2, 2026 | AI, Economy, Economy and Inequality, Inequality Watch, Politics and Movements: US, video
Is the AI bubble finally showing signs of popping? As technology companies pour ENORMOUS sums into artificial intelligence, troubling financial indicators are raising questions about whether the industry can generate enough revenue to justify its investments.Economist Dean Baker, co-founder of the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR), joins Taya Graham and Stephen Janis on Inequality Watch to examine the growing financial risks behind the AI boom and what could happen if the money stops flowing.From rising borrowing costs at AI infrastructure company CoreWeave to concerns about massive data-center investments, Baker examines the growing divide between the extraordinary promises of artificial intelligence and the economic realities of financing it.But the biggest question may not be whether the AI bubble bursts. It’s who will pay if it does.Could a financial collapse threaten workers, retirement savings, and the broader economy? Could struggling AI companies seek taxpayer-funded bailouts after years of extraordinary private investment? And why should ordinary Americans bear the consequences of financial decisions they had no role in making? And what about the power grid and our limited potable water?!In this episode, Taya Graham, Stephen Janis, and Dean Baker explore the economics of the AI industry, the risks of speculative investment, and the consequences for working people if the boom fails to deliver its promised returns.As the debate over AI increasingly focuses on the technology’s potential dangers, Inequality Watch asks another question: What happens when an industry promising to transform humanity can’t make the numbers add up? And what if humanity doesn’t want the promised transformation?
Credits:
Producers: Taya Graham and Stephen Janis
Writer: Stephen Janis
Editing/Post-Production: Stephen Janis/Cameron Granadino
Transcript
The following is a rushed transcript
by Maximillian Alvarez | Nov 2, 2026 | Capitalism, Economy, Economy and Inequality, labor, Opinion, Politics and Movements: International, Politics and Movements: US, Socialism, video
With a global capitalist system that is wreaking havoc on the planet, pushing most of humanity into poverty, and enabling a small number of billionaire and trillionaire oligarchs to accumulate more money and power than nation-states, more people around the US and beyond are asking: “Could socialism be the solution?” But can socialism actually work in the real world? Can it actually help create a better world than the one capitalism has created?
In this live-event discussion, hosted at Red Emma’s Cooperative Bookstore and Coffeehouse in Baltimore, Maryland, TRNN Editor-in-Chief Maximillian Alvarez speaks with Ben Burgis and Mike Beggs about their new book, co-authored with Bhaskar Sankara, The Blueprint: How Socialism Can Work in the Real World.
Credits:
Production/Post-production: Cameron Granadino
Transcript
The following is a rushed transcript and may contain errors. It will be updated.
Maximillian Alvarez:
So we’re here at Red Emma’s Cooperative Bookstore and Coffee House in Baltimore, and I am really excited to be sitting with two of the three co-authors of the vital new book, The Blueprint: How Socialism Can Work in the Real World. Ben Burgis and Mike Beggs. Give it up, everyone. Hell yeah. Welcome to Baltimore, guys. So let’s talk about the S word, right? I mean, we’re here. The world’s on fire. Life continues to get harder and scarier year after year for working people everywhere. The masked jackbooted thugs that we were warned about are in our streets, hunting and disappearing our neighbors. Endless war and genocide and profiteering are ripping our world and our people apart. And everything is being run or taken over by these psychopathic, self-serving, greedy, society destroying, profit seeking, oligarchs, end times,
by Mansa Musa | Oct 6, 2026 | Black Panthers, Politics and Movements: US, Prisons and Policing, Racial Justice, Rattling the Bars, video
In this episode of Rattling the Bars, host Mansa Musa interviews archivist, photographer, and veteran Black Panther Party member Billy X Jennings.
Joining the Party at age 17 after relocating from Hobson City, Alabama, to Oakland, Jennings managed BPP offices and served as bodyguard to Huey P. Newton. During Bobby Seale’s 1973 Oakland mayoral run, Jennings helped spearhead an unprecedented electoral effort: “…an organizing event on the highest level the parties had ever been. I mean, the party is known for organizing, but to go into electoral politics and do what we did for a first time basis, it changed over. Even though Bobby lost that election, it changed openly because it opened up so many doors. Part of his job was to kick down doors because we were the Vanguard.”
Today, Jennings operates the official Black Panther Party Alumni website and leads political education initiatives across the Bay Area for the Party’s 60th Anniversary.
Related links:
Celebrating 60th Anniversary of the Black Panther Party
Billy X Jennings Facebook
Credits:
Production/Post-production: Cameron Granadino
Transcript
The following is a rushed transcript and may contain errors. It will be updated.
Mansa Musa:
Welcome to the edition of Rattling the Bars. I’m your host, Mansa Musa. This year marks the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Black Panther Party, which started in Oakland in 1966. Today, I’m honored to be joined by Billy Jennings, AKA Billy X, well-known archivist in Oakland, member of the Black Panther Party, a photographer who runs the official Black Panther Party alumni website called It’s About Time. Thank you for joining me, Billy.
Billy X Jennings:
Hey, thanks for having me again. Good morning to everyone.
Mansa Musa:
And as
by Maximillian Alvarez | Oct 1, 2026 | AI, Capitalism, Economy, Economy and Inequality, Epstein, Politics and Movements: US, video
From the heinous crimes of the Epstein class to the Cornell 7, from the toxic cultures of the “manosphere” to the increase of antisocial relationships with online pornography and AI bots, we need to talk about what is going on with men in our society. We speak with renowned scholar, author, and commentator Dr. Mark Anthony Neal about his new book Save a Seat for Me: Notes on American Fatherhood, and about the ways American capitalism damages everyone and trains boys to become monstrous men.
Credits:
Post-Production: Cameron Granadino
Transcript
The following is a rushed transcript and may contain errors. It will be updated.
Maximillian Alvarez:
I’m here at Red Emmas at the Baltimore Book Festival, and I’m sitting with Dr. Mark Anthony Neal. Brother Mark, it’s so great to have you back here in Baltimore, man. I know I only got you for a second, and we’re talking about your incredible new book, Save a Seat for Me, Notes on American Fatherhood. And I was thinking as another father in America in 2026, I wanted to ask you, it doesn’t take PhDs like we have to know that we’ve got a real fricking crisis in this country with men and masculinity and masculine culture and fatherhood, or we have a whole lot of crises that men are experiencing but aren’t dealing with well. So what do you make of all this? What do we do about it? And how can your book help us get there?
Dr. Mark Anthony Neal:
I think we have tried, America has tried to raise generations of warriors, if you will, to be on the front lines of American imperialism. And you
by Mansa Musa | Sep 29, 2026 | elections, midterms, Politics and Movements: US, prison reform, Prisons and Policing, Rattling the Bars, video
In this episode of Rattling the Bars, the midterms edition, we take you to the Commonwealth, where Andrea James—abolitionist, author, and organizer—is currently running for governor of Massachusetts. The countdown to November 3 is officially underway. Debates are scheduled for October, but independent and third-party candidates are being excluded from participating.
Andrea James has led national campaigns to reunite families by demanding clemency from high-level officials for incarcerated women and men. Now, she is running for governor with a platform focused on rent stabilization, lower energy costs, free childcare and stopping the construction of a new $360M women’s prison.
As a 501(c)(3) organization, The Real News Network does not endorse candidates. However, as an independent news network, TRNN understands how corporate media gives disproportionate airtime to the DNC and GOP compared to independent and third-party candidates.
Related Links:
Andrea James’ Facebook, X, Instagram, TikTok, Bluesky
Credits:
Production/Post-production: Cameron Granadino
Transcript
The following is a rushed transcript and may contain errors. It will be updated.
Mansa Musa:
Welcome to this edition of Rattling the Bars. I’m your host, Mansa Musa. Joining me today is Andrea James, activist in every sense of the word. I want to say abolitionist, but she’s an activist in every sense of the word, organizing and is currently running for the governor of Massachusetts. Thank you for joining me, Andrea.
Andrea James:
Thank you for having me. It’s really great to be back in your studio and just to have the privilege of being a part of how you disseminate information. It’s really an honor to be here and I thank you for this opportunity.
Mansa Musa:
And we want to go on record right now saying that here at Rattling
