The White Supremacist Insurrection
On today’s episode of Black Diplomats, host Terrell Starr is joined by two military vets, Arti Walker-Peddakotla and Shaniyat Chowdhury, to talk about the violent white supremacist insurrection on January 6th, where supporters of disgraced ex-president Donald Trump brutalized Federal employees and vandalized the Capitol. At this point we’ve seen there were a lot of ex-military in the crowd, so Terrell wants to know - did Arti or Shan serve with anyone who supports this movement, and what can the rest of us do to protect ourselves from them?
Intro:
00:00 Terell, Arti and Shan talk about the white supremacist insurrection on January 6th, and what they make of the presence of so many military vets in the crowd.
20:00 Serving an administration that doesn’t serve you.
32:00 The problem with politicians (hint: they’re distracted and lazy).
37:00 Running for and serving elected office. Both guests have been through political campaigns, what did that experience teach them about moving policy?
How has 2020 prepared you for 2021?
47:00 Defunding neo-liberalism!
Closeout:
64:00 What’s everyone looking forward to in 2021?
Thank you for listening!
Arti Walker-Peddakotla
Arti Walker-Peddakotla is an Oak Park Village Trustee, Director of Engineering for a non-profit tech company, a first generation Indian American, U.S. Army veteran, community organizer, law student, and microbiologist. Arti advocates for racial justice and reimagining community safety with Freedom to Thrive Oak Park and Vets for the People, a project of the Working Families Party. In addition to co-founding Freedom to Thrive Oak Park, Arti is the co-founder of Activate Oak Park, a PAC with a mission to elect progressive candidates to local office in Oak Park, IL.
Shaniyat Chowdhury
Shaniyat Chowdhury is a former Congressional candidate in NY5. He is an educator, organizer, and marine corps veteran from South Jamaica, Queens. As an international relations graduate student at New York University. Shan is an advocate for immigrant and human rights for the international community.