In this episode, historian Rudolph “Butch” Ware joins us for a conversation about the global system slavery built — and how its legacy still shapes the modern world.
He breaks down the myths we’ve been taught about abolition, the spiritual legacy of resistance, and how white supremacy was not just a byproduct of history, but an architecture that still defines our institutions.
We also talk about Gaza, the erasure of truth in public life, and how protest and free speech are being crushed in the U.S.
Butch is running for governor of California, so we ask him if this is the best way to make change, considering that he is operating in a political system that often rewards self-promotion and aggrandizement over fundamental reform.
UNAPOLOGETIC is Hosted by Ashfaaq Carim
Chapters
UNAPOLOGETIC is Hosted by Ashfaaq Carim
Chapters
00:00 The hidden hands behind the slave trade
03:00 The scale of the Euro-American trade
06:15 Slavery and modern capitalism
09:05 Africa’s stagnation, Europe’s rise
11:50 Early African resistance: King Afonso
14:00 Commodifying African bodies as currency
16:15 How European slavery was different
19:00 Sexual violence and trauma under slavery
22:00 Destroyed families, lost spiritual legacies
24:40 Guns, warlords, and destabilized Africa
27:15 The myth of British abolition
30:05 African Muslims fought slavery first
33:30 Gaza and the legacy of colonial brutality
36:40 White supremacy: These aren’t people
39:30 End of empire: The extinction burst
42:00 Campus repression and the imperial boomerang
45:00 Malcolm X and the betrayal of liberalism
48:00 Why Butch joined the Green Party
52:15 From mobilizing to organizing
55:00 California 2026: Breaking the duopoly
60:00 A revolutionary political strategy
65:00 Truth-telling in political theater
70:00 Student resistance and corporate campuses
74:00 A generation that’s built different
77:00 The urgency of third-party power
80:00 A final word on faith and freedom