Jared A. Ball on Black Agenda Report
Latest BA Radio from Dr. Jared Ball
Political Prisoners: Lessons for Occupationists and Us All
A Black Agenda Radio commentary by BAR editor and columnist Jared Ball
Mumia Abu Jamal’s life and work is testament to the need to put political prisoners at the top of the agendas of movements for change. “Political prisoners have much experience with the legal system, the police, the entire apparatus of...You are missing some Flash content that should appear here! Perhaps your browser cannot display it, or maybe it did not initialise correctly.
J. Edgar and the Terrorism of Film
A Black Agenda Radio commentary by editor and columnist Jared Ball
Clint Eastwood’s new movie is an attempt to sanitize J. Edgar Hoover’s dirty war to keep white men “atop the social pyramid.” It is also an apartheid film. “We get nothing of his concern over The Black Panther Party, or...You are missing some Flash content that should appear here! Perhaps your browser cannot display it, or maybe it did not initialise correctly.
Decolonizing Our Occupations
A Black Agenda Radio commentary by editor and columnist Jared Ball
White privilege, the legacy of 500 years of European military and economic suppression of the rest of the planet, is manifest even in movements that purport to be transformational, like Occupy Wall Street. Beneath the politics of economic reordering...You are missing some Flash content that should appear here! Perhaps your browser cannot display it, or maybe it did not initialise correctly.
Hip-Hop Against the World!
A Black Agenda Radio commentary by editor and columnist Jared Ball
Propaganda agencies operate on the principle that everything can be turned to advantage, even the cultural properties of the oppressed. Like jazzman Louis Armstrong’s “good will” tours for the U.S. State Department in the Fifties,...You are missing some Flash content that should appear here! Perhaps your browser cannot display it, or maybe it did not initialise correctly.
Redefining Veteran’s Day
A Black Agenda Radio commentary by Jared Ball
Wars produce veterans on both sides. Thus, opponents of the wars the U.S. government has waged since its inception against “enemies” within its territory are also veterans. “Nat Turner and his compatriots were once described as “insurgent[s]”...You are missing some Flash content that should appear here! Perhaps your browser cannot display it, or maybe it did not initialise correctly.
Jared Ball
Dr. Jared A. Ball is the father of two brilliant and adorable daughters, Maisi (5) and Marley (3), and the fortunate husband of Nelisbeth Y. Ball. After that he is an assistant professor of communication studies at Morgan State University where his research interests include the interaction between colonialism, mass media theory and history, as well as, the development of alternative/underground journalism and cultural expression as mechanisms of social movements and political organization. Ball is a columnist with, and produces a weekly radio column for, BlackAgendaReport.com. He is producer and host of the “Legacy Edition of We Ourselves” which airs Fridays 10a-11a (EST) on Washington, DC’s WPFW 89.3 FM Pacifica Radio and is also the founder and producer of FreeMix Radio: The Original Mixtape Radio Show, an emancipatory journalistic political mixtape. He is a former editor of and current peer reviewer for the first academic journal dedicated to hip-hop, The Global Journal of Hip-Hop Culture from Words, Beats and Life, Inc., has been a board member of the International Association for Hip-Hop Education, and has served as a Communications Fellow for the Green Institute. Ball is also the author of the forthcoming book I Mix What I Like: A Mixtape Manifesto (Spring 2011/AK Press). He can be found online at voxunion.com.
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Most Read BA Radio Commentaries by Dr. Jared Ball
The Academic Hit Man: Henry Louis Gates and Reparations
A Black Agenda Radio commentary by BAR columnist Dr. Jared A. Ball
Harvard's pet Black professor, Henry Gates, blames Africans for the slave trade "so as to silence calls for reparations or the cancellation of African debt." His latest Op-Ed piece "is designed to...You are missing some Flash content that should appear here! Perhaps your browser cannot display it, or maybe it did not initialise correctly.
Dyson's Message to Black Youth: You Are Cowards to Be Blamed, Beaten and Jailed!
A Black Agenda Radio commentary by BAR columnist Jared A. Ball
Michael Eric Dyson, who claims to have recovered from Obama-ism, blames Black youth for failure to save the Democrats from themselves in the past election. Perhaps Dyson and his ilk should consider that non-stop police...You are missing some Flash content that should appear here! Perhaps your browser cannot display it, or maybe it did not initialise correctly.
The US Social Forum Must Become a US Social Movement
by BAR columnist Jared A. Ball, Ph.D.
The U.S. Social Forum is now underway in Detroit, with thousands in attendance. “Black America must work in solidarity with other people’s struggles, as has always been the case,” says the author. “However, in our current...You are missing some Flash content that should appear here! Perhaps your browser cannot display it, or maybe it did not initialise correctly.
The Boondocks as Black Public Sphere
A Black Agenda Radio commentary by BAR columnist Jared A. Ball Ph.D.
Some folks are too dense even for cartoons – when they’re produced by Aaron McGruder. The Boondocks author’s political take on President Obama is too heavy for at least a portion of the audience,...You are missing some Flash content that should appear here! Perhaps your browser cannot display it, or maybe it did not initialise correctly.
Consensus Politics Are No Politics: A US Social Forum Diary
by BAR columnist Jared A. Ball, Ph.D.
There was both déjà vu and surprise at the U.S. Social Forum. Déjà vu, in the feeling of being caught up in a stultifying search for meaningless “consensus politics” with “no clear goals and no clear...You are missing some Flash content that should appear here! Perhaps your browser cannot display it, or maybe it did not initialise correctly.
For Colored Antagonisms: Tyler Perry and the Propaganda of Film
by BAR editor and columnist Jared A. Ball
Much of mass popular culture in the United States is genocidal in intent. Worse, the manufacturers of racist films and other media products have enlisted the perverted talents of greedy and shameless Black operatives such as Tyler Perry....You are missing some Flash content that should appear here! Perhaps your browser cannot display it, or maybe it did not initialise correctly.
The Most Visible Mulattoes: Drake and Obama Match Hip-Hop and Politics
A Black Agenda Radio commentary by BAR columnist Jared Ball
Mulattoes are all the rage in some circles, for obvious presidential reasons. Deep political and social meaning is invested in the proliferation of luminaries of the 'two-worlds" kind - although little in the...You are missing some Flash content that should appear here! Perhaps your browser cannot display it, or maybe it did not initialise correctly.
Troy Anthony Davis and Useless Leadership
A Black Agenda Radio commentary by editor and columnist Jared Ball
The grotesque spectacle of Georgia’s final execution of Troy Davis may have been politically useful to the pretenders to the mantel of Black leadership, but in the end the misleadership class proved useless to...You are missing some Flash content that should appear here! Perhaps your browser cannot display it, or maybe it did not initialise correctly.
Malcolm X and the “Pan-African Pantheon”
Malcolm X and the “Pan-African Pantheon”
It is a mistake to ask, What would Malcolm do if he were here, because if Malcolm had lived we would not be in the situation that confronts us, today. “What exists today is in part the willful result of his assassination....You are missing some Flash content that should appear here! Perhaps your browser cannot display it, or maybe it did not initialise correctly.
Ishmael Reed, Amiri Baraka and the Black Radical Dilemma
A Black Agenda Radio commentary by BAR editor and columnist Jared A. Ball
The Obama Phenomenon creates strange effects. Among the most peculiar involve Blacks who have long been identified as “radical,” yet are staunch supporters of the center-right First Black President....You are missing some Flash content that should appear here! Perhaps your browser cannot display it, or maybe it did not initialise correctly.
Samuel Yette and The Choice: Black Survival in the United States
A Black Agenda Radio commentary by BAR editor and columnist Jared A. Ball
Sam Yette chose to speak and write as a Black man and a professional, thus making himself no longer employable at Newsweek magazine during the Black Freedom Movement. In his book, Yette concluded that “...You are missing some Flash content that should appear here! Perhaps your browser cannot display it, or maybe it did not initialise correctly.
One Nation, Under A Grip, Not A Groove
by BAR editor and columnist Jared A. Ball The political exercise at the Washington Mall on October 2 “held out no real challenge to power” and was, therefore, of no use to the powerless. “What is being heralded as a largely successful mobilization of a young, energetic,...You are missing some Flash content that should appear here! Perhaps your browser cannot display it, or maybe it did not initialise correctly.
Critical Race Theory and Whiteness as Property
A Black Agenda Radio commentary by BAR editor and columnist Jared A. Ball
If you don’t understand race, you know nothing about the United States. The catastrophes that descend on Black America must be seen “as a violent result of an ideology which results in...You are missing some Flash content that should appear here! Perhaps your browser cannot display it, or maybe it did not initialise correctly.
Her Name Was Aiyana Jones
A Black Agenda Radio commentary by Jared A. Ball, Ph.D.
Rev. Al Sharpton preached that her death was a "breaking point" - but he's said that too many times before. Even the police execution of a child fails as a catalyst for change. "These issues are the result of a...You are missing some Flash content that should appear here! Perhaps your browser cannot display it, or maybe it did not initialise correctly.
The Multiracial Sheep IS the White Supremacist Fox
by Jared A. Ball, Ph.D.
A government and society that is ever ready to restrict the freedoms of Black folks now offers “freedom” from Blackness. This census and social “opt-out” for the progeny of interracial couples allows them to hope to be considered “as...You are missing some Flash content that should appear here! Perhaps your browser cannot display it, or maybe it did not initialise correctly.
Hip-Hop and the “Anti-Blackness Antagonism”
by BAR columnist Jared A Ball, Ph.D.
The world created by half a millennium of European conquest requires that Blacks be portrayed as non-human – which is why “we must begin to destroy the world.” That world works 24-7 to destroy Black people through the pervasive...You are missing some Flash content that should appear here! Perhaps your browser cannot display it, or maybe it did not initialise correctly.
Bend It Like Imperialism! The World Cup 1, African Liberation Nil
A Black Agenda Radio commentary by BAR columnist Jared A. Ball, Ph.D.
So many Black American entertainers and luminaries flocked to the World Cup opening ceremonies in South Africa, one veteran activist was prompted to remark that "these folks are crossing the picket line."...You are missing some Flash content that should appear here! Perhaps your browser cannot display it, or maybe it did not initialise correctly.
Beware of Invisible Negroes!
A Black Agenda Radio commentary by Jared A. Ball, Ph.D.
Black people are no longer newsworthy. That's the result of a Pew study, which found "stories defined as significantly focused on Black Americans accounted for only 1.9% of all news coverage." And a majority of that coverage was...You are missing some Flash content that should appear here! Perhaps your browser cannot display it, or maybe it did not initialise correctly.
Love and Struggle: The On-Going Scandal of Political Imprisonment
A Black Agenda Radio commentary by Dr. Jared Ball
From President Obama on down, powerful forces maintain that the Black Freedom Movement is not only over, but ended in complete success. Yet decades later, scores of veterans of that movement still languish in prison. If we won, how...You are missing some Flash content that should appear here! Perhaps your browser cannot display it, or maybe it did not initialise correctly.
Tavis Smiley’s Annual Black “Radical” All-Star Game
by BAR editor and columnist Jared A. Ball, Ph.D.
Event Meister extraordinaire Tavis Smiley gathered his hand-picked Black All Stars for a “Black Agenda” conference, in Chicago, over the weekend. The usual suspects were in attendance, shining and rhyming luminously and...You are missing some Flash content that should appear here! Perhaps your browser cannot display it, or maybe it did not initialise correctly.
The "Predatory Buccaneer" and the Overpopulation Lie
A Black Agenda Radio commentary by BAR columnist Jared A. Ball, Ph.D.
The logic of the world-stealers leads inexorably to genocide. Thus, the vast miseries that are the inevitable result of imperial mega-theft must be blamed on the victims who insist on continuing to breathe. There...You are missing some Flash content that should appear here! Perhaps your browser cannot display it, or maybe it did not initialise correctly.
The Professional Left Versus The Left of Us
by BAR editor and columnist Jared A. Ball
Those purported liberals and progressives that urge pragmatism and caution in the face of raging imperial warfare and Wall Street’s predations, must not feel their own lives are at stake. “If they did really believe that...You are missing some Flash content that should appear here! Perhaps your browser cannot display it, or maybe it did not initialise correctly.
Burn Hollywood Burn!
A Black Agenda Radio commentary by BAR Editor & Columnist Jared A. Ball, Ph.D.
Hollywood distorts – and whitens – everything it touches. Now, the city of cinematic Euro-fantasies has grabbed onto the story of Winnie Mandela, first lady of the South African liberation...You are missing some Flash content that should appear here! Perhaps your browser cannot display it, or maybe it did not initialise correctly.
The Evangelists of Social Media
by BAR editor and columnist Jared A. Ball
Just because millions of people can interact at the speed of light, does not mean they are going anywhere. Indeed, by providing the illusion of common action, social media tend to suppress the kind of methodical organizing necessary to sustain...You are missing some Flash content that should appear here! Perhaps your browser cannot display it, or maybe it did not initialise correctly.
Black History Month and The Unspoken Nature of Internal Colonialism
A Black Agenda Radio commentary by editor and columnist Jared A. Ball
Some of the leading lights of Black political thought have concluded that African Americans are an internally colonized people. This analysis allows us to place African America “within an...You are missing some Flash content that should appear here! Perhaps your browser cannot display it, or maybe it did not initialise correctly.
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BA Morning Shots by Dr. Jared Ball
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