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Barack Obama and Langston Hughes on “Grumblers” and “Merry Christmas”

Posted Wed, 12/23/2009 - 17:24 by Bruce A. Dixon

When US presidents offer us their holiday greeting messages, do we know what are they really saying?  How hard can it be to figure that out?  Langston Hughes died in 1967, but he knew what every US president, including Barack Obama is really saying, underneath and behind the mask.  

 

Happy Holidays. BAR Needs Your Help

Posted Wed, 12/02/2009 - 02:56

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Freedom Rider: Guantanamo, Illinois

Posted Tue, 12/22/2009 - 19:04 by Margaret Kimberley
guantanamo illinoisby BAR editor and senior columnist Margaret Kimberley
In many respects, a year of President Barack Obama feels much the same as...a year of George Bush. Wars metastasize, prisons migrate from Cuba to Illinois, bankers get richer – 2009 has many elements of deja vu. “Barack Obama has firmly established the continuation of Bush regime domestic, foreign and economic policy.”

What Part of “We Need Jobs” Does Obama Not Get?

Posted Tue, 12/22/2009 - 19:00
cbc membersA Black Agenda Radio commentary by Glen Ford

It is as if Americans have lost the very language of social justice. The Congressional Black Caucus, finally in a mood to confront the White House on the jobs issue, find themselves having to explain that legislators have a “moral obligation” to fight for their constituents' interests. Meanwhile, “President Obama treats every appeal for attention to Black unemployment as if it is an unreasonable, or even illegal, demand.”

Obama, US Continue To Reap Trillions and Condemn Africa To Climate Catastrophe

Posted Tue, 12/22/2009 - 18:57
africa boyA Black Agenda Radio commentary by Glen Ford

With humanity at risk and Africa facing “incineration,” the United States opted for “disaster capitalism” at the global climate conference, last week. “President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton went to Copenhagen to end any possibility of a global agreement on greenhouse gasses that the rich nations would be bound to respect.”

Obama Continues to Privatize America's Imperial Wars

Posted Tue, 12/22/2009 - 18:54
mercsA Black Agenda Radio commentary by Glen Ford

The Pentagon has methodically insulated its wars from most of U.S. civil society. “For the United States, war has devolved to a matter of contracts, a multi-trillion dollar cash cow for corporations, a self-perpetuating financial bubble that feeds the planet’s most dangerous and nonproductive, useless classes.” The mercenary is the ideal corporate warrior.

Reverse Images: The Acrimonious Debate on Race in Cuba

Posted Tue, 12/22/2009 - 18:51
by Jean Damu
Cuba is racist, says a letter signed by 60 African American and Afro-Latin notables. Undoubtedly, “racism exists in Cuba, just as it does in every other country on the planet, especially the United States.” And just as surely, those who signed the letter have put their reputations in service of the same U.S. government and Miami (white) Cuban exile crowd that has always plotted against the Cuban revolution. The author poses the question: “Is there really a civil rights movement in Cuba or is the petition merely a grandiloquent expression of Afrogringoism?”

“You Can’t Be President”: Race, Class, and Memories of Obama

Posted Tue, 12/22/2009 - 18:51
by Paul Street
No one should claim they were fooled by candidate Barack Obama – least of all, Black people. “Obama’s political team has always taken an official position of cowardice on race.” His avoidance of racial realities is long-standing. The president's supporters simply ignored the evidence of their own eyes and ears, and let their imaginations do the thinking.

Universal Health Care? We Keep the Candy, But You Can Have the Wrapper. No. Wait. Give Us the Wrapper Too.

Posted Wed, 12/16/2009 - 10:57 by Bruce A. Dixon

by BAR managing editor Bruce A. Dixon

It's half past December, and the White House is hell-bent on passing its version of “health insurance reform” out of Congress before the holiday recess. It's not universal. It's not even about delivering health care, it's about bailing out health insurance companies. The legislation will force millions of Americans to buy skimpy private insurance, often with hundreds of dollars a month of their own money under penalty of law. Billions more in government subsidies will be added to the giveaway to help purchase health insurance policies for the bottom half or more of the insurance market.

Freedom Rider: “War is Peace” Prize

Posted Tue, 12/15/2009 - 18:00 by Margaret Kimberley
Your New War Presidentby BAR editor and senior columnist Margaret Kimberley
Barack Obama is nothing if not a man of “firsts.” America’s first Black president has earned the dubious honor of possibly having delivered the first resoundingly pro-war speech to the Nobel Peace Prize Committee. “The new peace prize winner told the world that peace isn’t worth working for and is off the table for his consideration.”
 
 

"Progressives For Obama" Change Name To Omit Their President

Posted Tue, 12/15/2009 - 17:56
Honest ObeA Black Agenda Radio commentary by Glen Ford

It has taken almost a year for “Progressives for Obama” to make a partial break with their former object of adulation, proof that groupie-love is a powerful emotion. “Two of the founding members, Bill Fletcher and Tom Hayden, are making uncharacteristically loud anti-Obama noises and acting as if they played no role in convincing Obama that he could make war and serve corporate interests to his heart’s content, without fear of any trouble from the Left.”

Wealthy Nations To Poor Ones: There Will Be No Reparations For Killing the Planet

Posted Tue, 12/15/2009 - 17:56
Let them eat dirtA Black Agenda Radio commentary by Glen Ford

Even as the world approaches “the end-game of human existence,” brought on by centuries of exploitation of nature and man, the chief polluters and oppressors demand impunity from past and current crimes. The U.S. categorically rejects the “notion” of payback for global warming.

Paul Krugman's Blind Spot for Corporations and Obama

Posted Tue, 12/15/2009 - 17:50
Paul KrigmanA Black Agenda Radio commentary by Glen Ford

At times of acute crisis, the oppressed and exploited find out who their real friends are. Old political labels become useless, as do former allies. Paul Krugman is the resident “liberal” on the New York Times op-ed page. But what use are his analyses if the economic and political predations of corporations aren't even part of the equation.

Why ACORN Won

Posted Tue, 12/15/2009 - 17:44
ACORNby Bill Quigley
A federal court has affirmed that the U.S. Congress acted illegally in barring the grass roots organization ACORN from access to government contracts. Although the federal legislature is forbidden to mete out political punishment, don’t expect that to deter the Republican vendetta against ACORN, which “has been a target of right-wing politicians for years.”

Call Me Barry: Obama’s Tough Love

Posted Tue, 12/15/2009 - 17:40 by Sikivu Hutchinson
Huxtablesby Sikivu Hutchinson
The days of “Say it loud, I’m Black and I’m proud” are no more. Young African Americans in search of work find their heritage a hopeless drag on upward mobility. “Obama’s Talented Tenth magic,” it appears, does not rub off. “In some instances, graduates of historically black colleges and universities have deleted all reference to their tenure and omitted mentions of involvement in ethnically suspect groups” – especially their own.