| Black Agenda Report

by BAR editor and columnist Ajamu Baraka
The Descent: From Dr. King to Barack Obama
23 Jan 2013
by Ajamu Baraka Two Nobel prizes, two different eras, awarded to Black men of near-polar opposite politics. The clash between the historically progressive African American worldview and allegiance to the corporate militarist in the White House puts great strains on the Black polity. “…
Denis Rancourt
Calculating Reparations: $1.5 Million for Each Slave Descendant in the U.S
23 Jan 2013
by Denis Rancourt For some descendants of persons held in U.S. chattel bondage, no monetary sum can compensate for the enslavement of their ancestors. However, for those looking for a number, there are various ways to calculate the value of involuntary servitude. Here’s one of them.
by BAR poet-in-residence Raymond Nat Turner
Church of the NFL
29 Jan 2013
by Raymond Nat Turner “Illegal forward Pass: $16 trillion plus and spiraling to Wall Street wideouts from the offal office's drop back pocket-passing quarterback”
Sundiata Acoli
Political Prisoners, Mass Incarceration and What's Possible for Social Movements
29 Jan 2013
by Sundiata Acoli What can social justice movements do to resist and, ultimately, topple a state that is built on mass incarceration? The author, a political prisoner, says “at this moment it seems very possible for social movements to succeed in reducing prison populations. But any reductions…
Kwasi Anokye
Mutulu’s Call: Securing the Release of Our Captured Fighters
29 Jan 2013
by Kwasi Anokye How does a fractured movement fight for release of activists facing false charges, while simultaneously defending the rights of other imprisoned freedom fighters to resist oppression by any means necessary? “Standard leftist language would have us defend our freedom fighters merely…
Pepe Escobar
Zero Dark Mali
29 Jan 2013
by Pepe Escobar The imperialial juggernaut is once again on a roll in North Africa, with France in the lead. Secular-run Algeria had “better get its US$50 billion in reserves out of Western banks as soon as possible.” But overwhelming arms do not guarantee victory. “The French are on their way…
A. Akbar Muhammad
Africa: The New Focus of Western Domination
29 Jan 2013
by A. Akbar Muhammad “Western actions in Mali indicates a new phase of imperialism, domination and plundering.” France has taken the point position in the armed intervention. However, “because of what African raw material wealth means to their futures, Britain and America couldn’t be left out…
by BAR editor and senior columnist Margaret Kimberley
Freedom Rider: Job Discrimination Lives On
30 Jan 2013
by BAR editor and senior columnist Margaret Kimberley For the masses of Black people, progress against job discrimination ground to halt decades ago. Even at the supervisory level, apartheid is the order of the day. “Black men and women are rarely hired to supervise white people. Black men…
Omali Yeshitela
Django Unchained, Or, “Killing Whitey While Protecting White Power”: A Review
30 Jan 2013
by Omali Yeshitela At last: a revolutionary African analysis of Django, a movie that “does not have the ability to criticize the institution of slavery.” Jamie Foxx’s character “does not enlist his captive brothers and sisters in the enterprise of ending slavery or their own enslavement.” And,…
Wilmer J. Leon III
Connecting the Dots to a Frightening Future
23 Jan 2013
by Dr. Wilmer J. Leon III Austerity, perpetually high unemployment and other aspects of the New Domestic Order are creating a new “precariat” – a class condemned to permanent precariousness and insecurity.