”Great in the Sack”: When Misogyny Leads to Mayhem

Was the 20-year U.S. occupation a humanitarian rescue mission for women, or was it just a lie to push an agenda of military interventionIn? Hint: Embedded Feminism.  In part 3, we look at the 2001 US invasion up through the 2021 fall of Kabul...contrasting the lives of rural women surviving drone strikes in Helmand and Wardak with urban women fighting for education and aid in Kabul. We also examine the reality of "ghost soldiers," NGO failures, and the story of Rukhshana.
In this episode:
The urban vs. rural divide under U.S. occupation
The hypocrisy of “Operation Enduring Freedom”
ANA (Afghan National Army) & warlord factions
Taliban resurgence
The collapse of Western-backed NGOs post-2021
 
SHOW NOTES:
Links to the 2 different petitions to recognize gender arpartheid in Afghanistan:
https://secure.avaaz.org/community_petitions/en/united_nations_human_rights_council_united_nations_un_human_rights_council_recognize_gender_apartheid_in_afghanistan/?utm_source=ig&utm_medium=social&utm_content=link_in_bio&fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQPNTY3MDY3MzQzMzU 
 
https://c.org/xYVpXB5b6c
 
Afghan Women's Mission:
Donate | Afghan Women's Mission 
 
Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan:
https://www.rawa.org/rawa/2025/12/10/human-rights-are-attainable-through-dismantling-the-chains-of-imperialism-and-fundamentalism.html 
 
 
Socials~
greatinthesackpod@protonmail.me
www.instagram.com/g.i.t.s.podcast
www.tiktok/@greatinthesackpodcast 
https://bsky.app/profile/greatinthesackpod 
 
Sources:  
 
The Afghan Women Left Behind | The New Yorker https://share.google/5xUh0LPs1nE8okhZR 
 
The Other Afghan Women 
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/09/13/the-other-Afghan-women 
 
The New Afghanistan, Through The Eyes of Three Women https://open.spotify.com/episode/6pmLsep15NRgxPy7XMp9VO?si=PMA23Uh0RDSvX7_zbGGjQQ&utm_source=copy-link&sci=spotify%3Acard-config%3A6OlxRDhuxQhnah8XIpLaOB 
 
‘The Decision of my Life’ https://open.spotify.com/episode/4T3gtrC9o8oNFu8N9hmOIB?si=SqLUOpHcTeWP0aigoR4NUw&utm_source=copy-link&sci=spotify%3Acard-config%3A0QIUOED5yunfLxGdtINccm 
 
Afghanistan Unveiled 
https://share.google/oaGGdV15jjjPYHscf 
 
RAWA article http://www.rawa.org/rawa/2021/10/07/afghan-women-s-fight-for-freedom-and-democracy-will-never-fail.html 
 
Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving
https://www.jstor.org/stable/3567256 
 
The US War in Afghanistan
https://www.cfr.org/articles/us-war-afghanistan 

In this episode, we take a look at the reality of life in Afghanistan under the Taliban's first reign from 1996 to 2001, through a historical and feminist lens. Moving past the savioristic and imperial themes, we look at human cost through the archives of the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA) and investigative reporting like Beneath the Veil, and Unholy War. The rise of the Taliban is discussed, along with their war crimes and alliance with al-Qaeda, the devastating scorched-earth campaigns across the north, and the super- risky acts of everyday resistance by women fighting to survive. Finally, we examine the immediate, grim fallout of Ahmad Shah Massoud’s assassination and the chilling warnings RAWA issued right as the world changed on September 11, 2001. Tune in as we break down what daily life looked like under a totalitarian theocracy.
 
SHOW NOTES:
Links to the 2 different petitions:
https://secure.avaaz.org/community_petitions/en/united_nations_human_rights_council_united_nations_un_human_rights_council_recognize_gender_apartheid_in_afghanistan/?utm_source=ig&utm_medium=social&utm_content=link_in_bio&fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQPNTY3MDY3MzQzMzU  
https://c.org/xYVpXB5b6c
 
Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan:
https://www.rawa.org/rawa/2025/12/10/human-rights-are-attainable-through-dismantling-the-chains-of-imperialism-and-fundamentalism.html 
 
Afghan Women's Mission
 
 
Socials~
greatinthesackpod@protonmail.me
www.instagram.com/g.i.t.s.podcast
www.tiktok/@greatinthesackpodcast 
https://bsky.app/profile/greatinthesackpod 
 
Sources:  
 
Beneath the veil https://youtu.be/FNfpi91RVaw?is=kBx_D0Cr_XsyoVOd 
 
Unholy War https://youtu.be/AgHd9i6UEO0?is=8CCjT6-a8QX_7wcI 
 
rawa.org 
 
Gall, Sandy (7 September 2021). Afghan Napoleon: The Life of Ahmad Shah Massoud. London: Haus Publishing. ISBN 9781913368234  
 
https://share.google/grfSYIxLLcQfTzvUG 
 
https://share.google/MpzAnQxl2x0Xo9ezV 
 
“500 Days: Secrets and Lies in the Terror Wars” by Kurt Eichenwald | Democracy Now! https://share.google/du7PRbPQvnvWRcczI 
 
https://share.google/5vMuZCMrYeUYl20rC
 
https://www.britannica.com/topic/mujahideen-Afghani-rebels  
 
CESifo-Forum-2022-1-albrecht-et-al-afghan-women-january.pdf https://share.google/mcrcasm8nfuxeh5Vn 
 
​Kandiyoti, Deniz. (1988). Bargaining with Patriarchy. Gender & Society, 2(3), 274–290. https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/190357.pdf?refreqid=fastly-default%3A5cb00a81af83422be947f680c9b318b5&ab_segments=&initiator=&acceptTC=1  
 
https://share.google/C7hItrCfAuDhGyTIu
 
https://share.google/jtPGkz20W6tiGbKwh 
 
https://www.hrw.org/report/2005/07/06/blood-stained-hands/past-atrocities-kabul-and-afghanistans-legacy-impunity 

We’ve all seen those viral internet photos from the 1960s and ’70s, amiright? Afghan women in mini-skirts…walking freely in the streets. But what do those photos actually say…who actually got to experience that level of freedom?
​In Part 1 of our deep dive into Afghanistan, we are going back into history. We track who holds power at what time periods, and which way the pendulum swings according to those two things: more towards freedom…or rural uprising? From the rise of ancient tribal codes all the way through to the very beginning of the Taliban’s rise, we talk about what all this meant for women all over Afghanistan. 
​Along the way, we discuss the different groups of people living in Afghanistan, Islam & Sharia Law, and the ways women have shown resistance throughout different time periods. 
Both episodes, part 1 and 2, will take a look at how misogyny, class divides, and anti-intellectual populism at the hands of the Taliban has affected Afghanistan, and the women living there. 
 
SHOW NOTES:
 
Links to the 2 different petitions:
https://secure.avaaz.org/community_petitions/en/united_nations_human_rights_council_united_nations_un_human_rights_council_recognize_gender_apartheid_in_afghanistan/?utm_source=ig&utm_medium=social&utm_content=link_in_bio&fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQPNTY3MDY3MzQzMzU  
https://c.org/xYVpXB5b6c
 
Afghan Women's Mission:
Donate | Afghan Women's Mission
 
Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan:
www.rawa.org 
 
Socials~
greatinthesackpod@protonmail.me
www.instagram.com/g.i.t.s.podcast
www.tiktok/@greatinthesackpodcast 
https://bsky.app/profile/greatinthesackpod 
 
Sources: 
https://share.google/CKipRDj87O15lmxJV 
https://share.google/xyh9RbvJedSlD3Q0Z 
 
https://www.radiuslit.org/2011/05/16/afghan-womens-poetry-collected-by-sayd-bahodine-majrouh/#:~:text=Majrouh%20had%20collected%20these%20verses,these%20landays%20in%20English%20translation. 
 
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/articles/70007/landays 
 
https://www.afintl.com/en/202606068472 
 
https://unama.unmissions.org/en/press-releases/unama-alarmed-by-arrests-of-women-in-herat-afghanistan-and-excessive-use-of#:~:text=UNAMA%20is%20also%20alarmed%20by,to%20protest%20the%20arbitrary%20detentions. 
 
https://www.genocidewatch.com/single-post/afghan-girls-accuse-taliban-of-sexual-assault-after-arrests-for-bad-hijab#:~:text=The%20UN%20say%20that%20many,toe%2C%20revealing%20only%20their%20eyes. 
 
https://zantimes.com/2026/06/18/taliban-order-ban-on-smartphones-as-officials-shown-destroying-devices/#:~:text=What%20happened%20in%20Herat%3F,girls%20for%20%E2%80%9Cimproper%20hijab%E2%80%9D. 
 
https://feminist.org/our-work/afghan-women-and-girls/afghanistan-since-the-taliban-takeover/?hl=en-Us 
 
https://zantimes.com/2026/06/15/what-happened-in-herat-2/ 
 
https://zantimes.com/2026/06/17/we-have-been-buried-alive-herat-woman-describes-talibans-hijab-crackdown/ 
 
https://open.spotify.com/episode/2VWlykFguJExRLpaNtsNZo?si=a8b3d11ed349415e 
 
https://open.spotify.com/episode/1Kfr74zc6HFwVDOrtv27bU?si=a30da6086d5d48ce 
 
https://grokipedia.com/page/Amanullah_Khan#:~:text=In%20May%201919%2C%20Amanullah%20launched,territories%20and%20assert%20full%20sovereignty. 
 
https://share.google/RiImKXMssnvJ9pr16 
 
https://share.google/lJmri7e0AmphwHwbo 

     Human trafficking has a long history. It began with what we know as slavery, but as the world changed, the structure of exploitation evolved to fit that environment. When most people think of modern sex trafficking, they might pictture the movie Taken, where a victim is physically snatched off a public street by strangers...and in real life, it can look exactly like that. But thanks to the things like social media, it has also adapted. Decades ago, the internet existed, but it wasn't literally in our pockets, and the predatory behaviors of social media apps hadn't yet been born.         
     In this episode, we look at 2 distinct  eras and 2 cases from those eras to compare and contrast the traditional and modern faces of sex trafficking. First, we examine the traditional method, through the lens of adult sex trafficking in Argentina, where Marita Verón was kidnapped in broad daylight by a powerful, mafia-run syndicate. Then, we pivot to the adapted, digital version of child sex trafficking in Texas, exploring how fifteen-year-old Kristen Galvan was  targeted and coerced through her Instagram feed.
​     While the entry points are completely different - one a physical car on a street, the other a smartphone screen - the internal realities are terrifyingly identical. We discuss the techniques of sex-trafficking, from drugging and isolation to physical, psychological, and emotional abuse.
 
Show notes:
 
​Resources & Global Directives: Safe, confidential support is available worldwide.
​Global Directory (190+ Countries): GlobalModernSlavery.org
​European Network & Safe Housing: La Strada International (lastradainternational.org)
​US National Hotline: 1-888-373-7888 (Text "HELP" to 233733)
 
Sources:
 
https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdtx/pr/documented-gang-member-sent-prison-sex-trafficking 
https://gahtmo.org/unseen-bonds-the-link-between-past-slavery-and-modern-human-trafficking/ 
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/mar/24/meta-new-mexico-jury 
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2026/apr/06/investigation-exposed-child-sex-trafficking-on-facebook-and-instagram-meta 
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07sjgr1 
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Pablo-Escobar
https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/argentina-jewish-white-slavery 
https://www.bbc.com/mundo/noticias/2012/04/120402_argentina_caso_marita_veron_una_decada_vh 
https://charleyproject.org/case/kristen-marie-galvan 
https://www.unidiversidad.com.ar/la-periodista-sibila-camps-repasa-la-trama-oculta-del-caso-marita-veron 
https://www.fiscales.gob.ar/criminalidad-economica/caso-marita-veron-declaro-la-chancha-ale-en-la-causa-por-lavado-y-asociacion-ilicita/#:~:text=Caso%20Marita%20Ver%C3%B3n%3A%20declar%C3%B3%20%E2%80%9Cla,por%20lavado%20y%20asociaci%C3%B3n%20il%C3%ADcita 
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/crime/article/houston-rapper-aryion-jackson-sex-trafficking-17786263.php

In this episode, we investigate the wild intersection of systemic  violence against women & girls, and modern technology.
We begin with the landmark Gisele Pelicot case in France, breaking down the court proceedings involving the 50 co-defendants and analyzing the digital hunting ground & website used to facilitate mass abuse.
From there, we make the connections of just how these patterns repeat across emerging tech frontiers. We examine the weaponization of everyday consumer tech like smart glasses, the alarming rise of AI-generated non-consensual deepfakes, and the targeted global mechanics of online grooming & sextortion.
Finally, we zoom out to a sociological perspective to talk about how the pop culture of the last few generations primed society for this current digital age of misogyny.
 
Show notes:
greatinthesackpod@protonmail.me
www.tiktok/@greatinthesackpodcast 
www.instagram.com/g.i.t.s.podcast 
https://bsky.app/profile/greatinthesackpod 
 
SOURCES:
#341: Korea’s Nth Room: 260k Men Paying to Violate, R*pe, and Torture Middle School Girls On Telegram - Rotten Mango | Podcast on Spotify
#342: Korean College Student Forces 100 Girls To Mutilate Themselves On Camera LIVE For His Chatrooms - Rotten Mango | Podcast on Spotify
#386: New Nth Room: Middle Schoolers Deepfake Videos Of Mom, Sister, Classmates In "Humiliation Room" - Rotten Mango | Podcast on Spotify
'A rapist can be in the family': how Dominique Pelicot became one of the worst sexual predators in history | Gisèle Pelicot rape trial | The Guardian
'Girl on Girl' explores pop culture's impact on women | PBS News Weekend" (URL: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/girl-on-girl-explores-pop-cultures-impact-on-women 
'Meta glasses are being used to secretly film women and girls – my app is fighting back' | The Independent
How's Life for Children in the Digital Age?, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/0854b900-en 
"90s Bitch: The Paradox of Progress and Bitchification" (Book Excerpt: 90s Bitch: Media, Culture, and the Failed Promise of Gender Equality by Allison Yarrow, Harper Perennial, 2018)
"A French woman whose husband is accused of inviting men to rape her testifies in court | KPBS Public Media" https://www.kpbs.org/news/international/2024/09/06/a-french-woman-whose-husband-is-accused-of-inviting-men-to-rape-her-testifies-in-court 
"AI-GeneratedDeepfakesandGender-BasedViolenceExploringtheTechno-FeministChallenges.pdf" (Citation: Benjamin, Matthew. AI-Generated Deepfakes and Gender-Based Violence Exploring the Techno-Feminist Challenges, 2025)
"Amouranth Goes After Companies Supporting Abusive Deepfake Sites"  https://www.thegamer.com/amouranth-calls-out-deepfake-abuse-sites/ 
"Cho Ju-bin: South Korea chatroom sex abuse suspect named after outcry" (BBC News)
Deepfake Porn Empire | E1: The Dawn of Fake Porn - Understood: Artificial Intimacy | Podcast on Spotify
Deepfake Porn Empire | E2: So You’ve Been Deepfaked - Understood: Artificial Intimacy | Podcast on Spotify
Deepfake Porn Empire | E3: The Notorious D.P.F.K.S. - Understood: Artificial Intimacy | Podcast on Spotify
Deepfake Porn Empire | E4: The Fake Porn Pharmacist - Understood: Artificial Intimacy | Podcast on Spotify
Digital Misogyny: From Grok Producing CSAM to Meta Glasses as Spyware | Redbrick Slider (Life&Style)
"Digital Rights as Human Rights: The Fight Against Cybersexism" (OHCHR)
Dominique Pelicot tells French trial: 'I am a rapist,' as he returns to dock | France | The Guardian
France launches probe into website that enabled mass rape of Gisèle Pelicot | Gisèle Pelicot | The Guardian
"Gisèle Pelicot lifts her sunglasses and chooses to fight back" (BBC News)
"How_do_we_study_misogyny_in_the_digital_age_A_syst.pdf" (Citation: Fontanella, L., Chulvi, B., Ignazzi, E. et al. How do we study misogyny in the digital age? A systematic literature review using a computational linguistic approach. Humanit Soc Sci Commun, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-024-02978-7) 
"Jag blev groomad online som 13-åring" – Gäst: Myra Petersdotter - Spöktimmen | Podcast on Spotify"
"Le Monde The Fall of Coco.fr: Justice for an Online Predator’s Den"  https://www.lemonde.fr/en/france/article/2025/01/10/france-charges-founder-of-adult-website-linked-to-mass-rape-trial_6736899_7.html) 
"Meta's 'pervert glasses' fuel trend of creeps filming women, posting videos online" (New York Post)
"Online misogyny and its impact on girls" | Plan International UK
"STOPPING THE SURGE OF DIGITAL MISOGYNY" | EESC
"Sleeping with the Enemy: A W5 investigation" [Youtube]
"Smart glasses: 'I was secretly filmed and trolled online'" (BBC News)
"Taking Down the Dark Web Killer | The Case of Amanda Todd | UNSEEN - Unseen | Podcast on Spotify
Article Title: 4 Ways Men Are Taught to Objectify Women From Birth - Everyday Feminism
Article Titles: Popular Female Twitch Streamers Targeted In Deepfake Pornography Scandal / Deepfake Porn Creator Deletes Internet Presence After Tearful ‘Atrioc’ Apology - Kotaku / Vice)
"The Gisèle Pelicot rape trial shines a new spotlight on consent" | Courthouse News Service
"The New Age of Sexism!, with Laura Bates - YouTube (The Conduit)
"The Retro Backlash: 90s Nostalgia and the Anti-Feminist Resurgence"  https://theconversation.com/the-return-of-90s-culture-echoes-a-backlash-to-feminism-that-weve-seen-throughout-history-238162) 
"UK schools blackmailed with sexualised AI deepfakes of pupils, experts warn" | The Independent
"When Misogyny Goes Viral: The Digital Roots of Modern Sexism! – UAB Institute for Human Rights Blog
"Women filmed in secret for social media content - then harassed online" (BBC News)
En hyllning till livet : skammen måste byta sida av Gisèle Pelicot and Judith Perrignon, Albert Bonniers Förlag, 2026
https://etheses.bham.ac.uk/id/eprint/10412/7/Whiteman2020PhD.pdf  Whiteman, Julie. ENDURING NOTIONS OF HETEROSEXUALITY: A STUDY IN CONTEMPORARY SEX AND RELATIONSHIPS, University of Birmingham, 2020 
"music-and-misogyny-a-content-analysis-of-misogynistic-antifeminist-forums.pdf" (Citation: de Boise, Sam. Music and misogyny: a content analysis of misogynistic, antifeminist forums, Cambridge University Press. 10.1017/S0261143020000410)
"pelicot case" (Text excerpt: France charges founder of adult website linked to mass rape trial - Le Monde)
"‘I’ll never call him dad again:’ Gisèle Pelicot’s daughter says she suspects her father also drugged her for sexual abuse" (CNN)

The War on Drugs didn’t start in the streets; it started in the shadows of the offices of the CIA. This episode traces the timeline from the late 70s up through the late 90s, connecting the dots between anti-communist funding in Central America, the Middle East, & the sudden influx of crack cocaine into black communities in America. We’re also peepin' the exact moment the Second Boland Amendment went into effect..and how, as the CIA searched for alternative funding for the Contras, the streets began to change.
We are discussing the crimes of Oliver North, Gary Webb's brave af reporting, and the biological warfare of "pseudoscience". We also talk about the extremely damaging articles that manufactured the "bio-underclass" myth to justify the lack of resources and the systemic abandonment of the very communities the state helped destabilize.
By the time we get to the late 90s, the trap was already set, and waiting to be triggered. When you look at the outcomes of the crack epidemic, it becomes clear who was at fault, who was targeted, and who won.
 
This is the final episode to the witch-hunt series...for now ; )
 
**SHOW NOTES**
 
Socials: 
https://www.tiktok.com/@greatinthesackpodcast 
https://www.instagram.com/g.i.t.s.podcast 
https://www.bsky.app/profile/greatinthesackpod.bsky.social 
 
Sources:
Behind the Bastards Cracktoberfest episodes: 
https://youtu.be/MT6lnjIVWOE?si=-psWolEJFyTZib2H 
https://youtu.be/UoqC9av2DcA?si=yN9uFQIDQuFm9pRo 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DKko0WCOgI&t=18s 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjOnWFLq_Os
https://youtu.be/4F3IwLDZ1ss?si=vI5T9UopMoCf41x8 
 
https://webhelper.brown.edu/cheit/Understanding_the_Iran_Contra_Affair/ 
 
https://allthatsinteresting.com/gary-webb 
 
https://www.britannica.com/topic/intersectionality 
 
https://www.britannica.com/event/Iran-Contra-Affair 
 
https://fair.org/extra/the-myth-of-the-crack-baby/ 
 
https://www.jstor.org/stable/48750576?seq=1 
 
https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19920114/1470264/new-research-explodes-crack-babies-myth 
 
https://embryo.asu.edu/pages/ferguson-v-city-charleston-2001 
 
https://www.splcenter.org/about/ 
 
https://www.aclu.org/news/reproductive-freedom/victory-regina-mcknight-case 
 
https://scienceinsights.org/what-is-a-crack-baby-the-term-the-myth-and-the-truth/ 
 
https://feminist.org/news/woman-convicted-of-stillbirth-remains-in-jail/#:~:text=On%20Monday%2C%20the%20United%20States,to%2020%20years%20in%20prison. 
 
https://www.britannica.com/topic/crack-epidemic 
https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/Issues/Women/WG/DeprivedLiberty/Others/Human_Rights_and_Gender_Justice_Clinic_at_CUNY_School_of_Law_and_others-3.pdf
 

So, how did COINTELPRO finally come undone? In this episode, we trace the program’s collapse through the interconnected movements of the late 1960s and early 1970s...from the New Left and anti–Vietnam War protests, all the way to women’s liberation, the Catholic Left, and the American Indian Movement. By examining all that went into the FBI's cointelpro operations, such as surveillance, infiltration, and internal fractures, the episode shows how state appointed crimes created lasting harm both externally and within activist spaces themselves, culminating in the Media, Pennsylvania burglary and later, the Church Committee’s revelations.
 
Socials:
www.instagram.com/@g.i.t.s.podcast.com
https://bsky.app/profile/greatinthesackpod.bsky.social
www.tiktok/greatinthesackpodcast.com 
 
Sources:
 
Medsger, Betty. The Burglary: The Discovery of J. Edgar Hoover’s Secret F.B.I. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2014. 
 
https://www.aclu.org/ 
 
https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/history/democratic-national-convention-1968 
 
https://www.goethe.de/prj/geg/en/sni/27039550.html#:~:text=International%20Solidarity:%20Comparing%20Germany%20and,point%20for%20today's%20sociopolitical%20movements. 
 
https://vault.fbi.gov/cointel-pro/hoodwink/COINTELPRO%20Hoodwink%20Part%2001%20%28Final%29/view 
 
https://archives.nd.edu/CPF/CPF_1967-12.pdf 
 
https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-cool-people-who-did-cool-96003360/episode/part-one-burglars-vs-the-fbi-112088184/ 
 
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/part-two-burglars-vs-the-fbi-how-the-catholic-left/id1620562792?i=1000607460184 
 
https://www.jstor.org/stable/20459215?read-now=1&seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents 
https://tribalcollegejournal.org/survival-schools-the-american-indian-movement-and-community-education-in-the-twin-cities/ 
 
 
 

*Content warning** political violence, racism, and brief mention of suicide.
 
*A FEW VERBAL MISTAKES*: at 2 occasions I referred to the BPP's early name as the "Black Panther Party OF Self Defense" & "Black Panther Party of Defense" which is incorrect. It should have been said, "Black Panther Party for Self Defense"...sorry-sometimes my mouth has its own plan  -_-
 
Hi there,  listeners! This episode examines the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s campaign against the Black Panther Party under the secret so-called "counter-intelligence program" known as COINTELPRO. Through different people's accounts, we trace how a community-based organization that provided free breakfast for children, health clinics, and sickle-cell testing became one of the government’s most hated, highest-priority targets.
     The discussion follows the founding of the Party, its social programs & the FBI’s tactics of infiltration, surveillance & what is referred to as “snitch-jacketing,” which culminated in the raid that killed Illinois chairman Fred Hampton in 1969. We weigh out why the Party’s vision of independence: feeding, educating, and protecting their communities, was perceived as a danger to the political establishment...spoiler: when marginalized groups begin to see the system as unnecessary, the patriarchy doubles down.
     This installment also marks the near conclusion of the Witch Hunt series’ exploration of COINTELPRO. After the conclusion of COINTELPRO, there will be one last episode (i think!) of the witch hunt series regarding a few '90s tropes and demonizations. Then my usual case-per-episode will resume...cases that reveal how power-imbalances and patriarchy can have devestating consequences. MMByyyeeeeee!
 
Show notes:
Feeding America's link for donating and seeking help:
https://www.feedingamerica.org/ 
 
SOURCES:
 
https://blackpast.org/african-american-history/black-panther-partys-free-breakfast-program-1969-1980/ 
 
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Black-Panther-Party 
 
https://chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/2025/10/01/massive-immigration-raid-on-chicago-apartment-building-leaves-residents-reeling-i-feel-defeated?fbclid=IwY2xjawNLbpRleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFLZFZ5SG9TSEJLMDczWThlAR5Nw5TCvTppZeDbAkIWG6B5QZVk2AAblKWL5gB8etZPL-U-gKpxv0eX_S_40A_aem_cZbI2ZmbmOj0jtZit4-NAg 
 
https://digitalchicagohistory.org/exhibits/show/fred-hampton-50th/the-assassination?utm_source=chatgpt.com 
 
https://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/disp_textbook.cfm?smtID=3&psid=3632 
 
https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/law/mulford-act 
 
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/immigration-agents-become-increasingly-aggressive-in-chicago 
 
https://scholarsarchive.library.albany.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1017&context=lacs_fac_scholar 
https://eu.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/movies/2021/02/13/judas-and-black-messiah-fact-check-was-fred-hampton-drugged/4390689001/