text: RAZA: Exactly. There have been calls for that. I think that is required at this juncture with so many localized movements, you know, working at the same time. And perhaps it’s the right time to bring all these forces together.
  FLETCHER: Absolutely, we’ve got to. We need to do this, and it needs to be broad. I am not just talking about the usual suspects, people on the left. I think it needs to involve trade unions, human rights groups, some of the new organizations rising among youth. They need to be brought together and it needs to be broad and comfortable. Demands need to reflect the moment and connect with masses of people. So, demands can’t be so far ahead that regular people look and say, “Man, these people are nuts.” It’s gotta be something that people see and say, “Yup. I may not agree with all of the formulations, but these folks get it.”
  RAZA: The task ahead is rather complex and long-term in many ways, given how the capitalist structures, as you mentioned at the start of our conversation, influence the perpetuation of inequalities and structures. There have been people predicting shocks to the capitalist system and the demise of the neoliberal order. But at the same time, we see corporations are profiteering from the pandemic. The stimuli packages in the U.S. and globally are directed to the already advantaged or rich sectors. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought these issues into sharp relief: who has health insurance, who has a home, who has a livelihood, and this notion of essential labor being sacrificed for the greater good of the capitalist order. Do you see the current mobilization moving towards that direction as well, I mean beyond its immediate goal?
  FLETCHER: Elements of it. I think this mobilization is really challenging the state and capitalism. The demands against the police really need to be understood as demands against the repressive apparatus of the capitalist state. It’s not that the police behavior is unusual or without precedent; it is consistent with policing in a racial settler capitalist state. That doesn’t mean there shouldn’t be demands, it doesn’t mean that things can’t change. But what police are doing is consistent with the past. And the racial disparity in policing is completely consistent with the way that a racial settler state is going to operate. You are going to have differential treatment. So, these things are raising people’s consciousness. However, in the absence of organization, and I mean in this case, left organization, people will fall backwards. And so, this is a moment when we need a broad united front of something like a people’s anti-oppression coalition, while at the same time leading a nationwide left organization advocating for socialism and consistent democracy.
  RAZA: I think that is very well put. I guess we can continue our discussion in the next session as things evolve. Thank you so much, Bill, for your time. This has really helped us make sense of this mobilization, where sometimes I get lost in the detail and various messages. But certainly, we will pick up from there next week. Once again, thank you so much.