Letters from Our Readers

Jahan Chowdhry, BAR Comments Editor

06 Nov 2019

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This week our readers discussed black feminism and the alleged killing of Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi. We print your letters for “Unpacking the Super Exploitation of Black Women” and “Freedom Rider: The Baghdadi Scam.”

In “Unpacking the Super Exploitation of Black Women” Erica Caines critiques the form of black feminism proposed by petit bourgeois academics and calls for a renewed version emphasizing the black working class.

Marc TerBeek writes:

“I struggled to discern Ms. Caines's central view of Black Feminism in her analysis of Black Feminism critiques by neoliberals, and then came upon this: ‘Liberating Black women from the triple axis of oppression (class, race, gender) brought on by capitalism would liberate all Black people.’ It is this sort of theme -- liberation of the larger mass starting with the most oppressed within that group -- that has infused BAR contributors' analysis on several occasions. I posit that it is even broader than Ms. Cain's essay suggests. The liberation arising from liberated black women, extending to black men, is the liberation of the great majority that is the working class of all stripes, because a black liberation grounded in black feminist theory extends broadly and would necessarily come to include those working class whites for whom the interrelated systems of Patriarchy & White Supremacy are thin gruel indeed. The sistas aint just innit for themselves.

“Put simply: Black liberation is the liberation of us all. Black feminist theory is a key approach to that end. Its neoliberal critics are either laboring under a false consciousness or cynically seeking to preserve their privilege by trying to discredit that unifying approach. I, for one, am not taken in by the critiques, and Ms. Caines's analysis adds to a body of work that desconstructs reactionary attacks on Marxist (Black Feminist) theory.”

In “Freedom Rider: The Baghdadi Scam” Margaret Kimberley examines the politics behind the dubious narrative about the ISIS leader’s killing.

Colin Smith writes:

“It occurred to me immediately this was announced that the intent was to mask newsreel clips of US troops being pelted with potatoes and rotten fruit as they fled from Northern Syria. When l saw it on YouTube l immediately concluded that the American population would blame the Trump government, not the Kurds. I imagine they have a number of these distractions in reserve awaiting the time when the government risks humiliation.”

James Pitts writes:

“Not to worry, there will probably never be another declared war in the history of this country, even if it needed to be. Bush and Cheney made sure of that. So the slicksters have been forced to create, a secretive funding process, divided between their districts, with a need to know only basis.”

Quentin Poulson writes:

“Baghdadi is not the issue, any more than Tipu was in British India. America's wars in the region are the issue. That is what has led to several million deaths.”

Imperialist diversion and fake news are an old tactic. We will continue to challenge them with your help.

Jahan Choudhry is Comments Editor for Black Agenda Report. He is an organizer with the Saturday Free School based in Philadelphia, PA.

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