5 chapters across the catalog
The hosts discuss the "bad optics" of Nicole Hannah-Jones accepting sponsorship from Shell Oil for a lecture series in Houston. They highlight the contradiction of a racial justice advocate partnering with a corporation accused of massive human rights abuses and environmental devastation in Nigeria. This partnership is framed as a "problematic fave" situation where corporate interests use social justice figures to "whitewash" their reputations.
The World Socialist Web Site, representing the Trotskyist Fourth International, published a scathing critique of Nicole Hannah-Jones' collaboration with Shell Oil. A reading by "Dame Jennifer" details how Hannah-Jones promotes a "racialist" interpretation of history while ignoring Shell's complicity in the murder of thousands in Nigeria. The hosts praise the high production value of the reading, which was provided by a listener through the "value for value" model.
The hosts suggest Shell Oil uses philanthropic donations to social justice causes as a distraction from ongoing lawsuits regarding oil spills in the Niger Delta. They note that while Shell pays for clean energy initiatives and racial justice lectures, it continues to fight legal battles against Ogoni villagers whose land and groundwater have been contaminated with carcinogens.
During a 1619 Project event in Houston, moderator Melanie Lawson led the audience in an ovation for the presenting sponsor, Shell Oil. The hosts identify this as a "public relations operation" designed to counteract Shell's negative international reputation. A dramatic reading recreates the moment Lawson asked Shell representatives to stand and be recognized for their "generous donation" to the Emancipation Park Conservancy.
The hosts summarize the moral failings of Nicole Hannah-Jones, accusing her of "staggering hypocrisy" for profiting from Shell Oil while condemning historical figures for their moral failings. They argue that her "racialist" interpretation of history serves her own self-interest and the needs of a "petty bourgeois" social stratum. The segment concludes by questioning how she can reconcile her feminist and environmentalist rhetoric with Shell's record of violence against women and the earth.
