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


  • Black Agenda Radio
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Radio November 1, 2024
    01 Nov 2024
    In this week’s segment, we hear about the U.S. government's censorship of the news and the end of Radio Sputnik. We also hear Margaret Kimberley at a Julian Assange freedom celebration and the…
  • Green Party of NY logo
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Green Party of New York Wages Write-In Campaign for Voter Choice and Ballot Status
    01 Nov 2024
    We’re joined by Peter Lavenia, co-chair of the Green Party of New York. He explains why there is this lack of choice in the New York elections and how voters can choose the Green Party presidential…
  • The Critical Hour
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    US Censorship and the End of Radio Sputnik
    01 Nov 2024
    Garland Nixon is a veteran journalist and the former co-host of the program The Critical Hour, once heard on Radio Sputnik before that outlet disappeared from the airwaves. Garland Nixon joins us to…
  • Assange Defense
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Julian Assange Freedom Celebration
    01 Nov 2024
    Margaret Kimberley, Black Agenda Report Executive Editor, spoke at an event in Berkeley, California celebrating the release of political prisoner Julian Assange. She connected his case with that of…
  • Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    Trump Rally, Washington Post and Michelle Obama Generate Fake Outrage
    30 Oct 2024
    Liberals love to indulge in performative virtue signaling rather than serious political conviction. Recent events proved that their highest priority is maintaining alliances with the Democratic Party…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us