| Black Agenda Report

Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
BAR Book Forum: Charlene Carruthers’ “Unapologetic”
29 Aug 2018
Unapologetic lays out a case for the abolition of the prison industrial complex and a pathway towards transformation that is paired with accountability. “I use a mixture of history, theory and my own experiences to weave together a vision of what our movements for collective liberation should…
Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
BAR Book Forum: Omise’eke Tinsley’s “Ezili’s Mirrors”
29 Aug 2018
This book asks readers ‘to follow Ezili’s lead by imagining worlds in which black women, black queer folk, masisi…ev’ry body has value—ev’ry black body is a divine gift.’” “The myth of excessive black homophobia is redolent of racist understandings of blackness as primitive and pre-modern.”
Jessica Corbett
Demanding an End to 'Modern Day Slavery,' Prisoners Launch Multi-Day Nationwide Strike
29 Aug 2018
At root, striking prisoners demand they be treated as human beings; the rest of their demands flow logically from recognition of their humanity. “For some of us it's as if we are already dead."
Jamiles Lartey
Memphis Cops Spy on Black Activists -- and Dare Anybody to Try and Stop Them
29 Aug 2018
Memphis cops blatantly flaunt their targeting of Black activists, despite a judge’s ruling that the cops have violated a federal consent decree by continuing political surveillance. “’It's Definitely Intimidation': Police Accused over Raids on Activist's Family.” The peace and quiet of a south…
Boots Riley
Spike Lee’s Film Makes Cop That Spied on Blacks Into Hero
29 Aug 2018
Boots Riley says Spike Lee’s new movie is propaganda designed to make police look like allies in the fight against racial oppression. “For Spike Lee to come out with a movie where story points are fabricated in order to make a Black cop and his counterparts look like allies in the fight against…
by BAR contributor Ann Garrison Ann Garrison
In the Year of the Pig: The Real Vietnam War Heroes
29 Aug 2018
John McCain’s death triggered mass media regurgitations of Vietnam-era imperial racism and just plain idiocy, but also reminded us of those who risked everything to stop the war. “There’s no doubt that the pig in the film is the US in Vietnam.”
by BAR editor and senior columnist Margaret Kimberley
Freedom Rider: Prison Strike 2018
29 Aug 2018
Inmates in states across the nation are on strike against the world’s largest and most racist prison system. Hopefully, they won’[t be betrayed by quisling civil rights misleaders, as in 2010. “The prison strike is a means of bringing attention to a system that is rotten and must be abolished.”
by BAR poet-in-residence Raymond Nat Turner
War Criminal Straw Spun to Fools Gold Hero
29 Aug 2018
Looking up at stars and stripes flapping half staff over City College my spirit sang, “Oh, me oh my…” They’re honoring natural
by BAR executive editor Glen Ford
Rocky Road for the Corporate Duopoly if Blacks Back Bernie in 2020
30 Aug 2018
The biggest obstacle to Bernie Sanders winning the Democratic nomination in 2020 is Kamala Harris, the corporate, anti-Black prosecutor. But Black voters are now in Bernie’s camp. “Having provided the first Black presidential success story, the Democratic Party now serves up an excess of anti-Black…
by BAR poet-in-residence Raymond Nat Turner
Deliver us from lesser evil…
04 Sep 2018
Star-struck, in childlike awe of celestial Voices, silver tongues; I spent seven hours glued to the screen— back in the Baptist Church, Celebrating, honoring the humanitarian, North Star Shero—genius in her field! What a day, imbibing Mighty Black Music! Joyful noise, Lake Michigan- sized magnet,…