Black Agenda Radio for Week of May 1, 2017
Mumia Challenges His Conviction, Charging Judicial Bias
A judge that rejected Mumia Abu Jamalâs appeal of his 1982 conviction in the killing of a Philadelphia cop accepted funding from the Pennsylvania Fraternal Order of Police, which named the jurist their âMan of the Year.â Lawyers for the nationâs best known political prisoner went to court, last week, charging that former judge Ron Castille should have recused himself, in line with later court decisions. The case is of intense interest âto hundreds, if not thousands, of Pennsylvania prisoners,â said Dr. Johanna Fernandez, a professor of history and African American studies at Baruch College and founder of the Campaign to Bring Mumia Home. If Mumia wins, âthis would be a game changer,â she said. âIt would really expose the rotten, corrupt nature of the criminal justice system, and it would give confidence to the movement to end the gulag that is mass incarceration.â
The Vanishing U.S. Left
Much of what passes for the âleftâ in this country has rendered itself useless through support of U.S. wars, said Danny Haiphong, a Boston-based social worker and weekly contributor to Black Agenda Report. What remains is a âleftâ that is âbasically falling into the whole racist and dehumanizing rhetoric that helps to justify war against the peopleâ of places like Syria and North Korea, he said. Both U.S. corporate parties are ârisking nuclear conflagration, but there is little resistance to any of itâ from those that call themselves leftists. âThe Democrats,â he said, âhave been driven to the right of the Republicans on a lot of questions, including the Sanders folks.â Haiphongâs recent BAR article is titled âThe Leftâs State of Purgatory.â
Putting Black Self-Determination on the Ballot
The National Black Political Agenda for Self-Determination, a 19-point document produced last year by the Black Is Back Coalition for Social Justice, Peace and Reparations, is being put to use in the electoral political arena. One candidate for mayor of Detroit has incorporated the 19 points into his campaign, and âthere are two candidates in St. Petersburg, Florida, running on that same platform,â said Coalition chairman Omali Yeshitela. The agenda âtackles the question of mass incarceration, this colonial terror thatâs been waged against our people,â he said. âIt deals with the question of gentrification -- population removal -- and all of the contradictions that contribute to the relentless war that we experience in this country.â
Single Payer Makes a Breakthrough on Capitol Hill
For the first time ever, a majority of U.S. House Democrats have signed on to Medicare for All bill, sponsored by Detroit Congressman John Conyers. The milestone for single payer health care âis a testament to the work of activists, because the Democrats told us, early on, that this year was all going to be about resisting Trump and not putting anything positive forward,â said Dr. Margaret Flowers, of Popular Resistance. âNeither the Republicans nor the Democrats haveâ a single payer bill âin their platforms, so this is going to be a battle thatâs waged by the grassroots activists, to push whoeverâs in power to take this approach.â
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.
Like the first Covd-19 relief package, the pending bill will have been written by âsleep-deprived staff and inattentive lawmakers who are making this all up on the fly.â
a man âmadeâ $13 billion in a dayâwhile Stomachs of millions of men, women and children are symphony orchestras tuning to âLast Days of PompeoâŚâ
A Black artist looks at the role of White Feminism in neutralizing the Progressive and Socialist Left in America, and its consequences.
The US waged unprovoked war against Libya and has militarily occupied Africa, but is still singing its old song that Russia is the aggressor on the continent.
âFreedom Rider: Let the Movement Be Radicalâ by Margaret Ki
