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

Black Agenda Report for Week of August 8, 2016
08 Aug 2016
🖨️ Print Article

Voters Have Choices Outside the Duopoly

Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are both “evil” people, but U.S. voters do have choices this election season, said South Carolina activist and author Kevin Alexander Gray. “It’s good that people are running on various third parties, to give Americans a little bit of education,” as opposed to watching them make one or the other bad choice,” said Gray, author of Waiting on Lighting to Strike. “One of the good things about Barack Obama leaving office, particularly for Black people, is that perhaps they’ll pick up their signs, pick up their feet, and follow behind the youth that are out here in the streets challenging the system.”

Low Wage Workers to Converge on Richmond

The U.S. labor movement made an historic error in the post-World War Two era in failing to commit sufficient resources to organizing in the heavily Black South. But activists in the current movement to unionize low-paid workers and raise the national minimum wage to $15 an hour vow not to repeat that mistake. “We will highlight that low wages and racial inequality is not only hurting Black and brown people, it’s hurting the working poor white people, as well,” said Terrance Wise, a leader of Fight for 15, which will hold a national conference of low-wage workers in Richmond, Virginia, the former capital of the Confederacy, August 12 and 13. “Until we can build our movement and bring all workers together to demand economic justice and racial equality, we won’t gain any ground,” said Wise, a Burger King employee from Kansas City.

Russell “Maroon” Shoatz Wins Solitary Confinement Settlement

Pennsylvania prison officials have agreed to pay a monetary settlement to political prisoner Russell “Maroon” Shoatz, and to never again place the former Black Panther in solitary confinement, where he spent 22 of the past 44 years. His daughter, Theresa Shoatz, is “elated because it opens the door to other prisoners who are still in solitary confinement in Pennsylvania.” The legal action was spearheaded by the Pittsburg-based Abolitionist Law Center, with virtually no assistance from Black elected officials. “Our state representatives are useless,” said Ms. Shoatz.

Afro-Colombian Rights Recognized in Peace Talks

FARC guerillas and the government of Colombia have agreed in principle to “make sure the rights and interests of Afro-descended and indigenous peoples will be respected” in the resolution of the South American country’s two generations-long civil war, said Charo Mina-Rojas, of the National Afro-Colombian Peace Council. Representatives of the Colombian government and demobilizing guerillas agreed to include such assurances in the peace document being hammered out at negotiations in Havana, Cuba. However, Mina-Rojas said some elements of FARC have not agreed to lay down their arms and “do not fully recognize” Afro-Colombians’ collective land rights.

Black Agenda Radio on the Progressive Radio Network is hosted by Glen Ford and Nellie Bailey. A new edition of the program airs every Monday at 11:00am ET on PRN. Length: one hour.



Your browser does not support the audio element.

listen
http://traffic.libsyn.com/blackagendareport/BlackAgendaRadio_20160808.mp3

More Stories


  • Black Alliance For Peace
    Responsibility for the Kenya Crisis Lies At the Feet of US Neo-Colonialism
    10 Jul 2024
    The current uprising in Kenya is a result of the imperialist economic policy enabled and maintained by its comprador leader, William Ruto.
  • Maryam Qarehgozlou
    Al-Shifa Hospital Head and Other Freed Prisoners Speak of Horror Inside Israeli Jails
    10 Jul 2024
    Dr. Muhammad Abu Salmiya, director of Gaza City’s al-Shifa Hospital, who was freed from an Israeli prison after being held without charge for months, has recounted harrowing and horrifying experience.
  • Internationalist 360
    AES 1st Summit: Burkina Faso President Captain Ibrahim Traoré Delivers Historic Speech
    10 Jul 2024
    The consolidation of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger into a confederation marks the next steps toward sovereignty and self-determination for the people of those nations. This achievement has become a…
  • Black Alliance For Peace
    What is INDOPACOM?
    10 Jul 2024
    The Indo-Pacific Command recently began its Rim of the Pacific exercises - a reminder of the continuing US militarization of the world and its flagrant violation of national sovereignty.
  • Traore
    AES Debout
    Burkina Faso President Captain Ibrahim Traoré historical speech at AES 1st Summit
    10 Jul 2024
    On 6th July 2024, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger have officially created the Alliance of Sahel States Confederation. Ibrahim Traore, President of the Transition of Burkina Faso, delivers this speech…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us