Build an Army? | By Any Means

In this episode of By Any Means, James talks with Atlanta organizer, student, and propagandist Chainslayer about what it actually takes to build political power where you live. Chainslayer traces his path from growing up around journalism and liberal politics, through poverty, violence, jail, Bernie Sanders, the Black Panthers, Fanon, Marxism, and eventually organized socialist politics. They get into the difference between being smart and becoming knowledgeable, why theory matters, and what happens when revolutionary ideas finally leave the book and run into real organizations full of actual people. The conversation moves through the DSA, PSL, electoral politics, mutual aid, tenant organizing, direct action, and the campaign to free Rodney Taylor from ICE detention. Chainslayer breaks down how organizing really works: sitting in churches, knocking on doors, building relationships, connecting struggles, identifying where power comes from, and applying pressure until the people in charge can no longer ignore you. This is a conversation about how you turn scattered anger into organization, organization into power, and a handful of people into an army. Watch more By Any Means By Any Means is a production of Means TV, the world's only worker-owned streaming service.