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

When Movements Embrace Police Abolition, the Rich Resurrect “Reform”
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford
09 Mar 2021
🖨️ Print Article

Margaret Kimberley · When Movements Embrace Police Abolition, the Rich Resurrect “Reform”

“As soon as movements emerge that identify the normal operations of the police” and other capitalist institutions as the problem, the regime directs the language of the debate towards reform, said Dylan Rodriguez, professor of medica culture at the University of California at Riverside. “People are no longer tolerating anti-Black police terror,” said Rodriguez. To change the subject from police and prison abolition, the system’s defenders pretend the debate is centered on preservation of these institutions, through reform.

Police Repression

Related Podcasts

BAR Radio Logo
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
Black Agenda Radio January 23, 2026
23 January 2026
In this week’s segment, we cover state repression and regime change efforts.
ICE Protest
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
ICE Domestic Repression in Minnesota
23 January 2026
Mnar Adley is the founder and director of MintPress News, an independent media outlet.
Ilyasah Shabazz
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
Shabazz Family Lawsuit Against the FBI and NYPD
03 October 2025
The investigation of the 1965 assassination of El Hajj Malik El Shabazz, Malcolm X, was compromised by the NYPD and the FBI from the very beginning

More Stories


  • Demilitarizing the NFL
    Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    Demilitarizing the NFL
    23 Sep 2020
    Nation Magazine sportswriter Dave Zirin, speaking to Ann Garrison, says that militarism is a founding feature of American football, not just a bug, but we don’t have to accept it in f
  • OK to say the F-word?
    Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    OK to say the F-word?
    23 Sep 2020
    P.O.E.T. are the only letters behind my name— So you scowl; scold; spank my hands with rulers and switches worn smooth from serial beatdowns, dare I use the F-word…
  • Isabel Wilkerson’s Book "Caste" and the Discontent of a Ruling Class in Crisis
    Anthony Monteiro
    Isabel Wilkerson’s Book "Caste" and the Discontent of a Ruling Class in Crisis
    23 Sep 2020
    Oprah gushes that this book by the latest darling of the ruling classes might “save us,” but all it’s really trying to save is capitalism.
  • Still Missing and Murdered: Atlanta’s Lost Children Address Today’s Plague of Police Violence
    Tryon P. Woods
    Still Missing and Murdered: Atlanta’s Lost Children Address Today’s Plague of Police Violence
    23 Sep 2020
    The docu-series reveals not only the ongoing predation against the Black community, but that policing is about social control, not crime control.  
  • Letters from Our Readers
    Jahan Choudhry, BAR Comments Editor
    Letters from Our Readers
    23 Sep 2020
    This week climate change, US foreign policy, and Mexico’s new government were on your minds.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us