| Black Agenda Report

by BAR editor and senior columnist Margaret Kimberley
Freedom Rider: The World Says Yes to Snowden, No to Obama
26 Jun 2013
by BAR editor and senior columnist Margaret Kimberley The United States is pitching an international fit, a super-tantrum over much of the refusal of much of the world to let Washington have its way with Edward Snowden. However, America’s “harangues and threats had the opposite effect of making…
by BAR executive editor Glen Ford
Diversity Survives (Barely), But Affirmative Action is Long Dead
26 Jun 2013
by BAR executive editor Glen Ford “Diversity” has been given a tentative reprieve by the U.S. Supreme Court, but affirmative action died 35 years ago. “The journey from affirmative action to ‘diversity’ has largely negated African American history as a legal basis for redress. What’s left is the…
by BAR managing editor Bruce A. Dixon
How Complacency, Complicity of Black Misleadership Class Led to Supreme Court Evisceration of the Voting Rights Act
27 Jun 2013
The Supreme Court kneecapping of the Voting Rights Act didn't have to happen? Democrats, especially the black leadership class had more than a generation to exploit their moral and political high ground and consolidate the victory of voting rights. They didn't, and now we will reap the…
Sikivu Hutchinson
Walking on the "Wild Side"? 20 Feet From Stardom & the Black Female Gaze
26 Jun 2013
by Sikivu Hutchinson Who will tell the story of the Black female back-up singers that shaped generations of Black and cross-over music? A new documentary titled 20 Feet From Stardom makes the attempt. “20 Feet” captures the deep travesty of obscurity, marginalization and, often, poverty, that these…
Wilmer J. Leon III
VP Cheney, the Pot Calling the Kettle Black?
26 Jun 2013
by Dr. Wilmer J. Leon, III U.S. corporate media routinely invite documented criminals and liars to share their opinions on national policy and comparative morality. Former vice president Dick Cheney, a champion prevaricator, is invited to judge whistleblower Edward Snowden, a man who, unlike Cheney…
by BAR poet-in-residence Raymond Nat Turner
My Wise Country Cousin on Unca Jim
03 Jul 2013
by Raymond Nat Turner Black South Carolina Congressman James Clyburn is angry about the NSA mass spying revelations – but not at the government. Clyburn thinks it’s all a conspiracy to “embarrass” the First Black President. “Baysicklee, he jus’ anotha white house hoe…”
Ezili Danto
Haiti: US to Re-Write Haiti Constitution to Better Service the One Percent
03 Jul 2013
by Ezili Dantò When the U.S. overthrew Haiti’s government in 2004, Washington proclaimed the invasion a “humanitarian” enterprise. Now it turns out that Haiti’s earth and waters are filled with gold and oil. The U.S.-controlled World Bank has volunteered to help rewrite the Haitian constitution, to…
by BAR editor and senior columnist Margaret Kimberley
Freedom Rider: Obama, Mandela and Dangerous Mythology
03 Jul 2013
By BAR Editor & Senior Columnist Margaret Kimberley The Obamas' visit to South Africa, for people of color on both sides of the Atlantic, is heavy on symbolism and photo-ops, but devoid of any substance for those who hunger and thirst for justice. The ANC won the flag at the end of apartheid,…
Courtenay Barnett
Reparations: The Case For Settlement
03 Jul 2013
by Courtenay Barnett The recent British monetary settlement with elderly Kenyan survivors of British colonial repression sets a precedent for reparations to all of the Empire’s victims. “The Caribbean has a very strong case to be brought for reparations for the Atlantic African Slave Trade.”
by BAR managing editor Bruce A. Dixon
Black Mass Incarceration ---- Is It New? Is It Jim Crow? Is the Prison-Industrial Complex Real? And What Difference Does It Make
28 Mar 2013
By BAR managing editor Bruce A. Dixon Michelle Alexander's 2010 book “New Jim Crow” provided a language to talk about the prison state that we never had before. But is it entirely accurate? Is the prison industrial complex real? What's the difference between fighting against racism or a “new jim…