Still Laundering Black Rage: DEI as Counterinsurgency

Revolutionary Left Radio

Breht O'Shea

Communism, Politics, Liberalism, Society & Culture, Philosophy, News, History, Leftwing, Socialism, Marxism

4.8 • 3.4K Ratings

🗓️ 19 June 2025

⏱️ 138 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this incisive conversation, Breht welcomes poet, scholar, and organizer, filmmaker, and host of the Black Myths Podcast Too Black back to the podcast to critically examine the recent attacks on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives. Anchored by the penetrating analysis in Too Black and Rasul Mowatt’s article, "Bootleg Rehab: Still Laundering Black Rage," this episode dissects DEI as a capitalist pacification strategy, historically rooted in reaction to radical Black movements and inherently limited in delivering meaningful change.

Too Black articulates how DEI serves capitalist interests by redirecting genuine Black rage into symbolic, surface-level victories that do little to alter the underlying structures of oppression. Together, they explore DEI’s historical development, its market-friendly evolution under Nixon, and its role in creating internal class contradictions within oppressed communities.

Through the powerful analogy of a "bootleg rehab," Too Black vividly illustrates how superficial reforms pacify demands for revolutionary change without addressing systemic injustices like police violence, economic deprivation, and racialized exploitation. They also unpack the dialectical relationship between DEI initiatives and reactionary anti-DEI backlash, showing how both reinforce capitalist stability and deepen racial and class divides.

Finally, Too Black outlines practical approaches for organizers to bypass capitalist traps, emphasizing the need for movements grounded in materialist analysis and authentic community needs. This essential discussion equips listeners with critical insights to recognize, resist, and transcend the limitations of DEI, advancing a revolutionary politics that refuses to settle for symbolic concessions in the face of real suffering.

Check out Black Myths Podcast HERE

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello everybody and welcome back to Rev Left Radio.
0:08.3	On today's episode, we have back on the show for the third time, I believe, to Black,
0:14.3	a poet, author, activist, organizer, thinker to discuss a new article that he wrote with
0:20.5	Razul Mawat entitled Bootleg Rehab, Still Laundering Black Rage.
0:26.2	He's been on the episode before to talk about the broader book that advanced that concept of laundering black rage called Laundering Black Rage, The Washing of Black Death, People, Property, and Prophets.
0:37.1	And he's also engaged in organizing around the Pendleton, too.
0:40.8	So he's been on Rev Left in the past to discuss that as well.
0:44.0	I'll link to those episodes in the show notes if you're interested.
0:46.9	But this is a really deep dive and a principled historical and dialectical materialist analysis of racial capitalism through the lens of DEI and affirmative action before that.
1:00.6	We dive into how this is a good example of the functioning of the process of conversion that is laundering black rage.
1:10.2	And in the process, we touch on imperialism black rage and in the process we touch on
1:11.5	imperialism colonialism capitalism capitalism of the political moment the two the two party system
1:18.7	and so so so much more this is a really in-depth and i think incredibly engaging as well as
1:24.5	informative conversation i think a lot of you will appreciate.
1:33.3	So without further ado, here's my discussion with Too Black on his recent article with Razul Moat entitled Bootleg Rehab, Still Laund the name too Black.
1:53.1	I'm a poet, organizer, filmmaker, podcast, the host of the Black Miss podcast.
1:59.2	That is the Black Miss podcast. I'm here to talk about the piece I co Black Miss podcast. That is the Black Myths podcast.
2:01.9	I'm here to talk about the piece I co-wrote with,
2:06.2	with Rasul Mawat entitled Bootleg Rehab, Still Laundering Black Rage.
2:11.2	And I'm also the co-author of the book
2:13.5	with the same author, Rasul Mouatt, Laundering Black Rage.
2:18.5	Well, awesome. It's great to have you back. I think this is the third time you've been on.
	...

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