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 Radio for Week of May 15, 2017
16 May 2017
🖨️ Print Article

UNAC and Black Alliance for Peace Blast U.S. Subversion of Venezuela

The newly founded Black Alliance for Peace (BAP) and the United National Anti-War Coalition (UNAC) issued a joint statement denouncing U.S. “destabilization” and “attempts to cause regime change” in Venezuela. “We share the objective to revive the anti-war movement -- the anti-imperialist movement in the U.S.,” said BAP organizer Ajamu Baraka, the veteran human rights activist and 2016 Green Party vice presidential candidate. “We are, of course, committed to peace, but we understand that there can be no peace without justice, and that means people have to be prepared for struggle,” said Baraka.

Bizarro World: Faux “Leftists” Shill for the FBI

Purported “progressives,” apparently driven mad by Donald Trump, demonstrated this month in support of former FBI director James Comey. “It was disheartening to see left forces so anxious to combat Trump, they were actually supporting Comey,” said UNAC activist Sara Flounders. This strange strain of “leftists” seem to have forgotten the oppressive history and practice of U.S. spy outfits. “We have to be clear,” said Flounders. “All of these agencies are about absolute repression, subversion and assassination.”

U.S. Prisons: Geriatric Injustice

One out of every 7 of the nation’s prison inmates is serving a life sentence, according to a report by The Sentencing Project. For Blacks, the proportion of lifers is in 1 in 5. Despite a growing consensus for prison reform, “We see life sentences continue to accumulate,” said senior research analyst, Ashley Nellis. Most people “age out of bad behavior” in their 20s and 30s, “so incarcerating them for decades past that point serves no public safety benefit,” she said.

Mumia on Neoliberal Barbarism

Noting that Pennsylvania has locked up more juveniles for life than any other state, political prisoner Mumia Abu Jamal excoriated Bill Clinton for pushing through his draconian anti-crime bill of 1994. “Children were cast into the hells of adult prison while the newly rich neoliberal class drank champagne and enjoyed the good life,” said Abu Jamal.

Don’t You Dare Call Malcolm X a “Civil Rights” Leader

What Malcolm X “was saying 50 years ago is just as relevant today as it was then,” said Imam Talib Abdur-Rashid, an advisory board member of New York City’s Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz Educational and Memorial Center, where the martyred leader’s 92nd birthday will be celebrated on May 19th. A “homogenized version” of his life and work depicts Malcolm X as a “civil rights leader of the 1960s,” said Imam Rashid, but Malcolm “used to make it clear that he was not a civil rights leader, but rather, a human rights leader.”

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.

 


More Stories


  • Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    Censorship, War Propaganda and Fascism
    16 Oct 2024
    The U.S. edges closer to hot war and continues aiding and abetting a genocide. Censorship and war propaganda are necessary tools when a rogue state chooses to silence its opponents.
  • Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    ESSAY: United We Stand! Joint Struggles of Native Americans and African Americans in the Columbian Era, Jan Carew, 1995
    16 Oct 2024
    “The Seminoles had set a dangerous example, for if Blacks and Native Americans united everywhere in the Americas, then a genuine racial democracy might emerge.”
  • Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    Understanding Hamas and Why That Matters
    16 Oct 2024
    The West’s dominant media tell us little about Hamas' history or ideology, relying instead on “terrorist” clichés. This new book cuts through them to explain.
  • Abayomi Azikiwe, Black Agenda Report Contributor
    Martinique Masses Continue Rebellion Against French Colonial System
    16 Oct 2024
    Rising prices and state repression prompt strikes and demonstrations.
  • Anthony Karefa Rogers-Wright
    Why All Hurricanes Should Be Named “Jim”
    16 Oct 2024
    Hurricanes Helene and Milton are the result of a long legacy of segregation, environmental racism, and extraction. This white supremacist capitalist system has brought us to this point in our climate…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us