Black Agenda Report
Black Agenda Report
News, commentary and analysis from the black left.

  • Home
  • Africa
  • African America
  • Education
  • Environment
  • International
  • Media and Culture
  • Political Economy
  • Radio
  • US Politics
  • War and Empire

Anthony Monteiro in Harlem, May 31, 2009, When Obama Won, Did We?
Bill Quigley
10 Jun 2009
🖨️ Print Article

If no video is visible above, click here.  Was the election of the nation's First Black President a victory for our people in the long struggle against racism and empire? Or does it simply mark a change in establishment tactics that will make it even more difficult to press the case for economic justice, and an end to militarism and racism? Professor Anthnoy Monteiro, Distinguished Lecturer in African-American Studies and Associate Director of the Institute for the Study of Race and Social Thought at Temple University tells us the answer is easy to see, but hard to swallow.

 

In this brief talk at a Harlem event commemorating the life of Hubert Harrison, one of the pre-eminent black activists of the early 20th century, Monteiro expertly discerns the wreckage of our political landscape, and divines the difference between popular myth and facts on the ground. “

Obama's victory, he suggests, was the transient and temporary victory of marketing, symbolizing neither a new acceptance of black America's strivings on behalf of white America and her establishment, nor of rising black power. Go to the prisons in this country and tell us we have transcended race...” Monteiro demands. And while the black turnout in last November's presidential election was unprecedentedly high, turnout in the mayoral elections of Detroit and Philly, majority black cities for the better part of two generations, was well under 20%. So while black people were sold on Barack Obama, they have yet to be sold on the overall legitimacy of the American political system.

Do you need and appreciate Black Agenda Report articles? Please click on the DONATE icon, and help us out, if you can.


More Stories


  • Frank Chapman
    How the Enemies of Our Movement Are Using the Kirk Assassination
    24 Sep 2025
    Charlie Kirk's assassination has become the pretext to accelerate a pre-existing fascist agenda, targeting a broad spectrum of forces, from leftist organizers to mainstream institutions.
  • The Cradle News Desk
    Italy Paralyzed as Anti-Genocide Protesters Take the Streets
    24 Sep 2025
    Walkouts in over 60 cities disrupted trains, ports, and schools to protest Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
  • Mafa Kwanisai Mafa
    Venezuela, Imperialism, and the Global Struggle for Sovereignty
    24 Sep 2025
    The ongoing hybrid war against Venezuela exemplifies imperialism’s evolving tactics for regime change used against Global South nations.
  • Abayomi Azikiwe
    Lawsuit Exposes White House Secret Agreement to Deport Migrants to Ghana
    24 Sep 2025
    A fifth African state, the Republic of Ghana, has been subjected to widespread criticism and legal actions for its participation in illegal deportations from the United States.
  • BAR Radio Logo
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Radio September 19, 2025
    20 Sep 2025
    In this week’s segment, we discuss a new book that analyzes the latest iteration of fascism currently emerging in the United States. But first, we are joined by a journalist and activist who has…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us