Black Agenda Radio

Black Agenda Radio - 02.26.18

Welcome to the radio magazine that brings you news, commentary and analysis from a Black Left perspective. I’m Glen Ford, along with my co-host Nellie Bailey. Coming up: A leading scholar and activist predicts that U.S. imperialism is on a course towards chaos and collapse, and that imperialism’s main currency, the dollar, will precipitate that decline. And, we’ll hear a reading of Assata Shakur’s poem, “Affirmation,” by Black political prisoner Sundiata Acoli.

the City of Philadelphia declared 2018 the Year of W.E.B. Dubois, marking the 150 th anniversary of the birth of the great Black political activist, scholar and social scientist. In 1899, Dubois published his famous sociological study of the Black people in Philadelphia. It was not only the first such study of Black people in the United States, but many consider it to be the first example of sociology based on hard scientific data. The first of many symposium’s on Dubois’s life and work was held last weekend at the historic Church of the Advocate. The crowd heard a special tribute to Dubois from Philadelphia’s most internationally famous son, political prisoner Mumia Abu Jamal.

The Church of the Advocate symposium on W.E.B. Dubois was organized by Philadelphia’s Saturday Free School. One of the panel members was Ismael Jimenez, a public school teacher.

That was Ismael Jimenez, speaking at the W.E. B. Dubois symposium at the Church of the Advocate, in Philadelphia. Black Agenda Report executive editor Glen Ford was also on that panel. Ford focused on the political and historical importance of DuBois’ book, “Black Reconstruction.”

The symposium was presented by activists at the Saturday Free School, one of whose organizers is Dr. Anthony Monteiro, the Duboisian scholar and political activist. Dr. Monteiro says U.S. imperialism is bound to fall, and its currency, the dollar, will precipitate imperial decline.

Prison Radio brings the voices of the incarcerated to the outside world, including Mumia Abu Jamal’s essays and commentaries. Prison Nation organized a reading by prisoners of poem, “Affirmation,” by exiled Black Panther and former political prisoner Assata Shakur, who lives in Cuba. One of those that took part in reading the poem was Sundiata Acoli, who was with Assata Shakur when they had a fatal encounter with New Jersey police, in 1973. Acoli remains in prison, and will not be available for parole until the year 2032, when he will be 94 years old.

 

Black Agenda Radio - 02.19.18

Welcome to the radio magazine that brings you news, commentary and analysis from a Black Left perspective. I’m Glen Ford, along with my co-host Nellie Bailey. Coming up: A glimmer of hope for some modest reform in the Mass Black Incarceration regime; Mumia Abu Jamal explains why White Supremacy actually means White MALE Supremacy; New York City activists take the fight against police repression underground, into the subways; and, Why do so many liberals, and even some supposed Leftists, seem to be in love with the FBI.

The United States has backed regime change in Venezuela for most of this century. But now Washington appears to be escalating hostilities, threatening military action against the socialist-led country. Ajamu Baraka is lead organizer of the Black Alliance for Peace.

The Senate Judiciary Committee easily passed a bill to give judges more latitude in sentencing, bypassing some mandatory-minimum guidelines and providing a way out of prison for some of those convicted under the old, racist 100-to- 1 crack cocaine laws. The Washington-based Sentencing Project works constantly for criminal justice system reform. Kara Gotsch, the Sentencing Project’s director of Strategic Initiatives, says the Senate Committee action is… a very Big Deal.

Mumia Abu Jamal, the nation’s best known political prisoner, has long been broadcasting essays and commentaries for Prison Radio. He explains why White Supremacy actually means White MALE Supremacy.

Shannon Jones is a veteran organizer with Bronxites for NYPD Accountability. She and her comrades spend lots of time underground, in the New York City subway system, fighting police racism and repression. Jones explained to Black Agenda Radio producer Kyle Fraser what the Swipe It Forward campaign is all about.

Ever since Hillary Clinton’s campaign blamed her defeat on the Russians, folks that claim to be people of the left have been having a love affair with the FBI and the CIA. Professor Ward Churchill has some ideas on how that happened. Churchill is co-author of the book, “Agents of Repression,” a study of the FBI’s campaign to destroy Black and Left organizations. He was interviewed by veteran broadcaster Don DeBar, of Community Public Radio News.

Black Agenda Radio - 02.12.18

Welcome to the radio magazine that brings you news, commentary and analysis from a Black Left perspective. I’m Glen Ford, along with my co-host Nellie Bailey. Coming up: a professor of international law says the U.S. acts like a rogue nation in the world, invading, assassinating and launching unjust wars at will; and, that includes the ultimate threat of nuclear war. We’ll speak with an activist who says the Trump administration is making human extinction more likely.

Public school teachers in cities across the country took part in a Black Lives Matter Week of Action, last week. In Washington, DC, the activities were organized by the DC Area educators for Social Justice, a project of Teaching for Change. We spoke with organizer Deborah Menkart.

U.S. forces attacked and claimed to have killed about 100 Syrian soldiers. Syria and Russia are warning that the U.S. is playing with fire, and has no right to station soldiers on another country’s territory. But the fine points of international law don’t seem to matter to Washington. We called Dr. Francis Boyle, the esteemed professor of international law at the University of Illinois, at Champaign.

The Trump Administration is moving forward with former President Obama’s plans for a trillion-dollar makeover of the U.S. nuclear arsenal. The administration’s views on nuclear war can be discerned in the recently released “Nuclear Posture Review.” Greg Mello, executive director of the anti-nuclear weapons Los Alamos Study Group, has read the document, and he finds it very scary. But Mello notes that it was President Obama who was determined to create an adversarial relationship with the Russians.

Historian Peter Hudson, a professor of African American Studies at the University of California, in Los Angeles, has a new book that explores how U.S. banks destabilized the economies and governments of the Caribbean and Latin America. It’s titled “Bankers and Empire: How Wall Street Colonized the Caribbean.” Dr. Deborah Thomas is a professor of Anthropology and Africana Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. She was on hand for a coming out event at UCLA for Dr. Hudson’s book.

Black Agenda Radio - 02.05.18

Welcome to the radio magazine that brings you news, commentary and analysis from a Black Left perspective. I’m Glen Ford, along with my co-host Nellie Bailey. Coming up: For the 22 nd year in a row, community activists vow never to stop fighting for the freedom of Black political prisoners, and to reunited their families. And, a noted scholar and activist explains how white supremacy shapes U.S. domestic and foreign policy.

Black Agenda Report Managing Editor Bruce Dixon has caused a big stir in left political circles with his latest article, titled “Intersectionality is a Hole. Afro-Pessimism is a Shovel – We Need to Stop Digging.” Dixon says the term “Intersectionality” has become a tool to pull people away from class-based struggle against the capitalist rulers. Dixon appeared on the long-running and highly influential Chicago radio program, “This is Hell,” hosted by Chuck Mertz.

In his interview with “This is Hell” host Chuck Mertz, Bruce Dixon made reference to Jeffrey B. Perry, the esteemed activist and scholar. Perry has spent decades studying and popularizing the works of Hubert Harrison, the early 20 th century Black socialist, and Theodore Allen, author of “The Invention of the White Race.” Glen Ford spoke with Jeff Perry.

In New York City, last week, the Malcolm X Commemoration Committee held its 22 nd annual dinner in Tribute to Black Political Prisoners and Their Families. Dayqui Kioni Sadiki chairs the committee.