| Black Agenda Report

by BAR poet-in-residence Raymond Nat Turner
Riddle of National Sovreignity
30 Jan 2019
Brown body writhing in orange flames; scents of burning hair and flesh—so, how do you say Lynching in Spanish? Torched clinics were hollowed out shells without medicines and Hoarders warehouses stay stuffed like piñatas while shelves and bellies stay stuck on empty—so, how do you say sabotage in…
Eric Blanc
Never Trust a Billionaire’s Antiracism
30 Jan 2019
The LA teachers strike was a tale of two competing antiracist visions — one upheld by privatizing billionaires and another pushed by working people. “To fight racism in the city’s schools, they turned to their union and mass strike action.”
Julian Vigo
Humanitarian Aid is Broken: Haiti, a Look Back
30 Jan 2019
Much of the money sent to help Haiti ended up being spent on western citizens at the expense of Haitian suffering. “These organizations were merely there to colonize anew.”
Kimberley Richards
Angela Davis Reoffered Award By Birmingham Civil Rights Institute
30 Jan 2019
An embarrassed and shamed Institute reinstates award “in keeping with its commitment to learning from its mistakes.” “Reversal based on ‘new input from the community.’” Angela Davis has been reoffered an award from an Alabama civil rights museum after it sparked controversy for rescinding the honor…
Mark P. Fancher
The Diary of a Trumpy Kid
30 Jan 2019
The formative years of the future Commander-in-Thief. “Hail, Comandante Idiota!” While rummaging through a bin of old journals in a used book store, I stumbled upon a 1959 camp diary authored by a kid named “Donnie.” As I read the entries I began to wonder whether this might be the literary product…
Teodrose Fikre
When Politicians Use Marginalized People as Human Shields
30 Jan 2019
Republicans advertise their institutional bigotry, but Democrats obscure their malicious actions with identity politics. “Democrats trot out a diverse army of mannequins as proof that they can’t possibly be racists.” There are few things as reprehensible as opportunists who use the pains of…
Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
“BAR Book Forum: Tavia Nyong’o’s Afro-Fabulations”
30 Jan 2019
Nyong’o’s book seeks to “articulate the power of the critical and creative fabulation” of black social life. “Blackness refuses to conform to the dominant imprint of gender and sexuality.”
Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
“BAR Book Forum: Tisa Wenger’s Religious Freedom”
30 Jan 2019
“Religious freedom” has always been partial, aspirational, and constituted by the systems of power that shape the society as a whole. “I wanted to know how religious freedom has intersected with the histories of race and empire in the United States.”
Jahan Chowdhry, BAR Comments Editor
Letters from Our Readers
30 Jan 2019
This week readers decided to comment on the 2020 Democratic Party primary, the US role in the recent Congolese presidential election, and the correct understanding of the role sexuality in shaping politics.
Jamiles Lartey
Marzieh Hashemi Says She Was Mistreated During US Detention
30 Jan 2019
Hashemi was denied halal food and had her hijab removed while held as “material witness.” “The warrants are issued in secret so we don’t know what they are based on.” An American newscaster for the Iranian government’s Press TV network, who was detained by the US government without being charged,…