“You’re Not Allowed to Talk About Israel or Ukraine” — Cynthia McKinney Calls Out Cancel Culture
At the 2025 World Youth Festival in Nizhny Novgorod, CPI East Coast Regional Captain Noah Shenk sat down with former U.S. Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney — a long-time truth-teller, human rights advocate, and a hero to many around the world.
McKinney, now teaching in Bangladesh, spoke about her experiences in Donbass and the shocking parallels she witnessed between Ukraine’s war on Russian-speakers and Israel’s war on Gaza. “I didn’t realize they were targeting children, targeting civilians… Then they took us to the memorial with the dead children… thousands of young people were targeted, hurt, maimed, and live with those injuries. The civilians were targeted and it was exactly the same situation. So it appears to me that Zelensky equals Netanyahu. They’re very, very similar.”
She denounced the Western “cancel culture” that silences any criticism of U.S. allies’ war crimes: “You’re not allowed to talk about Ukraine. You’re not allowed to talk about Israel and the crimes they commit against those people. But we have to expose those crimes.”
McKinney reflected on her decades of struggle against globalism/imperialism, noting that even some who once mocked her are now recognizing she was right: “The truth wears well. It never is bad to tell the truth. Telling the truth incurs a cost, because the powers that be don’t want their crimes exposed. But we have to expose those crimes.”
Today, McKinney carries forward her work through teaching and mentoring new generations: “My students are the ones now coming to tell me, ‘You changed the way I see politics.’ If we can have more people who will speak their truth no matter the consequences, then we can have more authentic leaders, true to the populations they are supposed to serve.”
The Center for Political Innovation applauds Cynthia McKinney’s courage in telling the truth and standing with the oppressed, whether in Donbass, Gaza, or anywhere people suffer under imperialist war. CPI will continue to elevate such voices and fight for a future built on peace, sovereignty, and justice.
Noah Shenk interviewing former US Congresswoman Cynthia Mckinney at the 2025 World Youth Festival in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia.
Alley of Angels Monument in Donestk Peoples Republic, to all the children killed by the US-backed regime in Kiev since the 2014 Euromaiden Coup.