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

Letters from BAR Readers, Week of Oct 20, 2018
Jahan Choudhry BAR Comments Editor
21 Oct 2018
🖨️ Print Article
more of the same
Email and other feedback from our readers. Join the conversation at comments@blackagendareport.com.

This week readers wanted to talk about "MLK Disrupted for Justice” and " The Long Night Has Fallen on Supreme Court”. Readers engaged with the historical legacy of Dr. King and the Democratic Party’s complicity in the regressive direction of the Supreme Court.

In the radio segment "MLK Disrupted for Justice” Glen Ford interviewed political scientist Jeanne Theoharis, author of A More Beautiful and Terrible History: The Uses and Misuses of Civil Rights History, on the sanitization of Dr. King by opponents of today’s black resistance movements and the reality of King’s disruptive politics deeply offending the powerful in his era.

Paul Cianfrocca comments:

“Could it be that the reason the deep state killed Dr. King is so that they could rewrite his history and co-opt it for their own use? In his last years, he was speaking out more against the Vietnam aggression and other U.S. violence. They couldn't allow that to be the thing he became best known for.”

In "The Long Night Has Fallen on Supreme Court" Glen Ford gives an overview of the decades long Democratic Party cave-in to GOP Supreme Court appointments because of the two parties’ shared allegiance to oligarchy.

Wallace Nixon tells us:

“Ever since the formation of the Democratic Leadership Council by the Clintons the Democrats have become cross-dressing Republicans. They abandoned New Deal policies, abandoned minorities and have made every effort to win back the Reagan Democrats who were white working class voters. They have no principles or consistent message. They are just competing for votes with the other party. Booker T. Washington didn´t have much use for them and neither did W.E.B. DuBois. Marcus Garvey had no use for them, neither did Elijah Muhammad, Malcom X or Huey Newton. What we didn´t learn from the experience of Fannie Lou Hamer we should have learned from how they treated Cynthia McKinney. Democrats are active and almost open collaborators with the other party. It is a game of three-card Monte where all the players but the public know what is going on.”

Ron Williams says:

“I agree with everything in this article, however to save all your criticism for the Democrats and 100% ignore the Freight Train heading one way driven by the Republicans is a very bad thing. The American system is designed to have a Strong Right/Republican party and a Weak Left/Democratic party. That is the setup.”

Glen Ford responds:

“We all know that the GOP, the White Man's Party, is the enemy. The problem is, too many Black folks forget what Malcolm said about foxes and wolves both being canines and think the Democrats are our friends.”

It’s great to see engagement with the history of King, Malcolm and other elders of the Black freedom struggle this week. Expect another set of letters and responses next week. Remember your letters make BAR a forum for new ideas on the Black Left.

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

 

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 July 8, 2022
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    Black Agenda Radio July 8, 2022
    08 Jul 2022
    U.S. involvement in Cuban protests on July 11, 2021, Black community in Atlantic City, NJ fights for justice, and Democrats' political pressure and voter intimidation remove Green Party from North…
  • U.S. Interference in Cuba on July 11, 2021
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    U.S. Interference in Cuba on July 11, 2021
    08 Jul 2022
    The U.S. played a role in orchestrating what were described as anti-government protests in Cuba on July 11, 2021. Isaac Saney is a history professor and Cuba specialist at Dalhousie University in…
  • Atlantic City's Black Community Fights for Justice
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    Atlantic City's Black Community Fights for Justice
    08 Jul 2022
    On July 4, 2020, seven Black men were arrested while protesting the police killing of George Floyd. But Atlantic City’s black community also suffers from ineffective political leadership, corporate…
  •  Democrats Remove Green Party from North Carolina Ballot
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    Democrats Remove Green Party from North Carolina Ballot
    08 Jul 2022
    The Democratic Party succeeded in using voter intimidation and political pressure to remove the Green Party from ballot access in North Carolina. Tony Ndege is an organizer and co-Chair of the North…
  • Protesting for Jayland Walker
    Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    Protesting for Jayland Walker
    06 Jul 2022
    The number of bullets used to kill Jayland Walker have sparked an outcry, but police kill one Black person every day in this country. If systemic change is not the demand all protest is for…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us