George Floyd Protests Were Result of Years of Organizing
There was nothing spontaneous about the breadth and scope of the protests that rocked the nation last month, said veteran activist Monifa Bandele, a member of the policy table of the Movement for Black Lives. âIt really came off of six years of tough, exciting and inspiring mass organizing,â said Bandele. The unprecedented level of white participation was the result of âhalf a decade of telling non-white activists, âThis is what it looks like, so follow the lead of Black organizations.ââ
AFRICOM Enforces US Colonial Project
âWe see AFRICOM as the colonization of Africa by the US,â said Tunde Osazua, of the Bllack Alliance for Peace. âInstead of working to end terrorism and stabilizing the African continent, âsaid Osazua, the US Military Command in Africa âactually destabilizes the continent.â
Celebrating the âFather of Black Liberation Theologyâ
Theologian James Cone, who died two years ago, âsent shock waves throughout the Christian worldâ in 1969 when he published his book on Black liberation theology, said Matt Harris, a doctoral candidate at UCLA who co-authored an article titled, âIn the Hope That They Make Their Own Future: James H. Cone and the Third World.â âConeâs critique of capitalism was always coupled with a critique of American imperialism,â said Harris.
âKwaitoâ Music Moves South African Youth
Xavier Livermon, professor of African Diaspora Studies at the University of Texas at Austin, sees âmany parallelsâ between the US-based Hip Hop phenomenon and the Kwaito music beloved by young South Africans. LIvermon is author of the book, âKwaito Bodies: Remastering Space and Subjectivity in Post-Apartheid South Africa.â Livermon doesnât see Kwaito as purely commercial and self-commodification. âSouth African youth play with and engage the system,â he said, âbut also push back against it.â
Black Agenda Radio on the Progressive Radio Network is hosted by Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford. A new edition of the program airs every Monday at 11:am ET on PRN. Length: one hour.
There is nothing mysterious about Trumpâs effort to curb legal immigration. White supremacy is the explanation.
âCuba ... a free and sovereign state with no chains binding it to anyone...with no proconsuls directing its policy, can speak with its head held high.â
Minnesota pushed back against ICE until its visible presence seemed cut in half, but Trump does not forgive or forget, and itâs a time to be organized.
The party that installed its presidential candidate without a primary vote now blames its 2024 loss on everything except its own contempt for its base and allegiance to neo-liberal policies.
"SONNY" is the latest from BAR's Poet-in-Residence.
