Black Agenda Radio for Week of June 5, 2017
ACLU Sues “Constitution-Free Zone” Mississippi County
The sheriff in Madison County, Mississippi, runs the jurisdiction like a “Constitution-free zone,” stopping people “on the streets, asking them for IDs, searching them, asking them to take off their shoes, cuffing them,” based solely on the color of their skin, according to a suit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union. Staff attorney Joshua Tom said the ACLU hopes the suit will lead to establishment of “national standards” for police behavior.
National Black Leadership is Largely Absent or Incoherent
In the current political climate, Black and progressive activists should focus on locally-based efforts, said author and veteran organizer Kevin Alexander Gray. “We don’t have anybody on the national scene that’s saying anything coherent,” said Gray, speaking from his hometown of Columbia, South Carolina. “They’re saying those sound bites to stay on TV, and smiling and skinnin’ and grinnin’,” but “they’re disconnected from the struggle, disconnected from their history. People see them as frauds, and that’s a good thing, as we organize at the local level.”
Media Interest in Police Brutality Waning
“In terms of the front pages of major newspapers in this country, police brutality has not been covered to the degree it was in the aftermath of the killing of Michael Brown and Eric Garner and others,” said Larry Hamm, chairman of the People’s Organization for Progress (POP), in Newark, New Jersey. POP, which was founded 37 years ago, last week held its 70th weekly protest against police brutality. “We have to keep demonstrating, we have to keep fighting, in order to keep public attention on the issue,” said Hamm.
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.
Yurij Rudensky joins us to discuss a lawsuit against Galveston County, Texas, brought by Black and Latino residents over its racially discriminatory district map.
Melanie Dominguez joins us to discuss the conditions in New York State jails and prisons and explain why new legislation to expand and strengthen the State Commission of Correction is needed.
Giving Juneteenth the imprimatur of a state stamp of approval makes it problematic, and no longer the people’s holiday it has been for nearly 100 years.
The Biden administration and congress work together in their efforts to secure what they think is U.S. domination. They are playing a dangerous game and now try to bring back a draft through sleight…
Zora Neale Hurston’s sermon on the “Pet Negro” system provides devastating and timely insight into the psychology of Black folk working in the service of white power. Preach, Sister Zora!
