Boots Riley is best known as the screenwriter and director of hit film Sorry to Bother You, and co-founder of radical Oakland hip-hop group The Coup, but he’s also a communist organizer who has been fighting for a more equal world since he became engaged with efforts to organize a local farm workers union at age 14.

We spoke to Boots about what the radical tradition of activism can teach us about where the American left should go from here, his feelings on Jim Clyburn’s claims to progressivism, the “defund the police” slogan, the power of withholding one’s labor, and more.

Part two of the interview is available to subscribers on our Patreon. It includes our conversation about fellow Oakland native Kamala Harris and the role identity politics plays in rehabilitating the records of corporate Democrats, more on Sorry to Bother You and the role of art in activism, and Boots’ thoughts on Ice Cube’s recent political efforts: In short, the juicy juicy stuff. Subscribe to hear: www.patreon.com/badfaithpodcast

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Produced by Ben Dalton (@wbend).

Theme by Nick Thorburn (@nickfromislands).

This post was originally published on Bad Faith.