Episodes
Monday Mar 29, 2021
Black Agenda Radio 03.29.21
Monday Mar 29, 2021
Monday Mar 29, 2021
Welcome to the radio magazine that brings you news, commentary and
analysis from a Black Left perspective. I’m Margaret Kimberley, along with my co-host
Glen Ford. Coming up: There are many obstacles to Black American liberation. We’ll
speak with a young writer and activist who says one of the primary impediments to a
more powerful liberation movement is the Black elite, whose main goal is to prosper
under capitalism. And, we’ll take a look at the life and work of Audre Lorde, the poet and
Black feminist thinker.
But first – Transgender people attempting to migrate to the United States have a difficult
time, especially if they’re Black. A young woman who goes by the name Deborah “A” is
a national organizer for the Black LGBTQIA+ Migrant Project – or, “BLMP,” for short.
Deborah “A” says the BLMP works through regional networks across the country.
That was Deborah “A”, of the Black LGBTQIA+ Migrant Project.
It’s bad enough that Black liberation movements have always encountered massive
white American hostility, but elite sectors of Black America have often opposed mass
Black street action. Kandist Mallett is a columnist for Teen Vogue magazine. She’s
author of a recent column titled, “The Black Elite Are an Obstacle Toward Black
Liberation.”
That was writer and activist Kandist Mallet.
Jack Turner is a professor of political science at the University of Washington, and co-
editor of the book, “African American Political Thought: A Collected History.” Turner’s
contribution to that collection is a chapter titled, “Audre Lorde’s Politics of Difference.”
It’s a rich subject. Audre Lorde was an important Black poetic and feminist luminary who
was New York State Poet Laureate in the last years of her life. Professor Turner says Lorde clashed directly with President Reagan when the U.S. invaded the Caribbean
nation of Grenada, in 1983.
Professor Jack Turner, speaking from the University of Washington.
With U.S. media describing the past 12 months as the “worst year ever,” imagine if you
were locked up in even closer confines, with no defense against Covid-19 for a solid
year. Long term Pennsylvania prison inmate Segio Hyland filed this report for Prison
Radio.
And, here’s another report from a Prison Radio correspondent – Tabitha
Maynerd, incarcerated in Michigan.
Monday Mar 22, 2021
Black Agenda Radio 03.22.21
Monday Mar 22, 2021
Monday Mar 22, 2021
Welcome to the radio magazine that brings you news, commentary and
analysis from a Black Left perspective. I’m Margaret Kimberley, along with my co-host
Glen Ford. Coming up: the prolific radical professor Joy James speaks out on
decolonizing the Black movement in the United States. Dr. James urges activists to
condemn the militarization of US African policy, as well as militarized policing in Black
communities in this country. And, Great Britain, which grew rich through centuries of
global looting and mass enslavement, is now eager to deport thousands of Black
residents as morally unfit to reside in the United Kingdom.
But first – the United States and Europe are the wealthiest nations in the world, but
have done very poorly in coping with the year-long Covid-19 epidemic. So have most of
the former white settler colonies of Latin America. Layla Brown-Vincent is a professor of
Africana Studies at the University of Massachusetts, at Boston, and author of a recent
article titled, “The Pandemic of Racial Capitalism: Another World is Possible.” She says
that Cuba showed, early in the epidemic, that its practice of socialist internationalist
medicine is the global gold standard.
That was Dr. Layla Brown-Vincent, speaking from the University of
Massachusetts, at Boston.
In celebration of International Women’s Day, the Decolonial Feminist Collective recently
hosted an online interview with Dr. Joy James, the prolific author and Professor of
Humanities at Williams College. The talk was entitled, “Radicalizing and Decolonizing
Feminism.” Dr. James says the subject has revolutionary roots.
Dr. Joy James was interviewed by Jalessah T. Jackson, and Salome
Ayuak, of the Decolonial Feminist Collective.
Around the turn of the 21 st century, Great Britain began a wave of deportations of Black
residence with roots in Jamacia and other former colonies in the Caribbean. Luke De
Noronha, a writer who teaches at the University of Manchester, is author of the book,
“Deporting Black Britons: Portraits of Deportation to Jamaica.” According to De
Noronha, the British government claims it is only ridding itself of “foreign criminals.”
Monday Mar 15, 2021
Black Agenda Radio 03.15.21
Monday Mar 15, 2021
Monday Mar 15, 2021
Welcome to the radio magazine that brings you news, commentary and analysis from a Black Left perspective. I’m Margaret Kimberley, along with my co-host Glen Ford. Coming up: The Black Is Back Coalition is made up of 15 organizations that work together on issues of mutual concern. We’ll hear from two activists who spoke at a recent Black Is Back Coalition webinar. And, if colonialism is dead, then why are European nations effectively doing border patrol thousands of miles deep inside the African continent? We’ll explore why so many African migrants are drowning at sea, while Europeans and Americans establish military bases all over the continent. But first – at least 25 organizations around the country are fighting to establish community control over the police. One of them is Pan-African Community Action, or PACA, in the Washington DC area. But PACA organizer Netfa Freeman says some activists mistakenly think that community control over the cops means keeping the blue “army of occupation” in place. In reality, says Freeman, community control is the best – and most democratic -- way to achieve both defunding and total abolition of the police.
That was Netfa Freeman, of Pan-African Community Action, speaking from Washington DC.
The Black Is Back Coalition for Social Justice, Peace and Reparations has been around since 2009 and is now made up of 15 organizations, all of which are united around a 19 point National Black Political Agenda for Self-Determination. The Coalition held a webinar, last week, on the subject: “Fascism, Neoliberalism, and the Way Forward.” We’ll hear from two of the speakers. Jihad Abdulmumit is chairman of the Jericho Movement, which fights to free political prisoners. And, Ajamu Baraka is national organizer for the Black Alliance for Peace. We begin with Abdulmumit, followed by Baraka.
That was Ajamu Baraka, of the Black Alliance for Peace.
Ever since Barack Obama’s administration, the African continent has once again been crawling with European and American soldiers and foreign military bases. We spoke with Ampson Hagan, a PhD candidate in anthropology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He’s been doing research on how Europeans, in partnership with the United States, have essentially extended their borders deep into Africa in order to keep Black migrants from getting anywhere near Europe. Hagan says the focus of this containment policy is the former French colony of Niger.
Monday Mar 08, 2021
Black Agenda Radio - 03.08.21
Monday Mar 08, 2021
Monday Mar 08, 2021
Welcome to the radio magazine that brings you news, commentary and
analysis from a Black Left perspective. I’m Margaret Kimberley, along with my co-host, Glen Ford. Coming up: Calls are mounting to abolish the cops on US college campuses. And, where does the US get the right to dictate who governs Haiti? We’ll speak with a longtime fighter for Haitian sovereignty.
But first – It’s been confirmed that the nation’s best known political prisoner, Mumia Abu Jamal, has been infected with Covid-19. Abu Jamal is a senior citizen prisoner, having spent the last 39 years in the Pennsylvania prison gulag. Longtime Mumia supporter Dr. Johanna Fernandez held a press conference to demand that Abu Jamal and all elderly inmates and political prisoners be set free. Fernandez was joined by Mumia’s movement doctor, Ricardo Alvarez, and Rev. Kieth Collins, who has known Abu Jamal since they were both youngsters in Philadelphia. Dr. Fernandez said setting Mumia freeis good medicine, as well as justice.
That was Rev. Keith Collins, speaking from Philadelphia.
The modern Free Speech Movement began on California college campuses in the
Sixties, and soon led to demands that campuses be free of police. But instead, cops have become even more deeply entrenched and militarized at US colleges, just as in the larger society. Dylan Rodriquez is a professor of Media and Cultural Studies at the University of California at Riverside, and he has plenty of experience combating the cops. Dr. Rodriguez says both the university system and its campus police are undergoing a crisis of legitimacy.
That was Professor Dylan Rodriguez, speaking from the University of
California, at Riverside.
The Haitian people have made it plain that they want to be rid of Jovenel Moise, the incredibly corrupt president imposed on Haiti by the United States. Thousands of Haitians have been in the streets for weeks, demanding that Moise step down. But the regime refuses to budge, and has responded with gunfire that has left dozens dead. Dr. Jemima Pierre is an anthropologist in the Department of African American Studies at UCLA, and an activist with the Black Alliance for Peace. Pierre was interviewed by Dr. Jared Ball on his influential podcast, “I Mix What I Like.” She says Washington is the source of Haiti’s misery.
Monday Mar 01, 2021
Black Agenda Radio 03.01.21
Monday Mar 01, 2021
Monday Mar 01, 2021
Welcome to the radio magazine that brings you news, commentary and
analysis from a Black Left perspective. I’m Margaret Kimberley, along with my co-host
Glen Ford. Coming up: Some say the term fascism was born when Europeans started
treating each other the way they’d been treating the colonized people of the world for
centuries. We’ll discuss the subject with Omali Yeshitela, of the Black Is Back Coalition.
And, Ajamu Baraka, of the Black Alliance for Peace, warns that you can’t effectively
fight police repression at home while condoning the U.S. acting like the policeman of the
planet.
But first – a new newspaper has hit the streets in Philadelphia, dedicated to the
liberation of the nation’s best known political prisoner, Mumia Abu Jamal. Pam Africa is
coordinator of International Concerned Family & Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal. She
wants folks to sign a petition, in the newspaper, demanding that Philadelphia’s district
attorney stop standing in the way of Abu Jamal’s freedom.
That was Pam Africa, of International Concerned Family & Friends of
Mumia Abu-Jamal.
Mumia has been confined to the Pennsylvania prison system for the past 39 years. He
filed this report for Prison Radio, in memory of Cicely Tyson.
At noon on Saturday, March 6, the Black Is Back Coalition for Social
Justice, Peace and Reparations will hold a webinar on “Fascism, Neoliberalism, and the
Way Forward.” The Democratic Party claims that it is a bastion of resistance to
Republican fascism – but it is the Democrats that are most eager to put limits on free
speech and access to the Internet. Black Is Back Coalition chairman Omali Yeshitela
offers this analysis.
That was Omali Yeshitela, of the Black Is Back Coalition, speaking from
St. Petersburg, Florida.
The U.S. Peace Council recently held a joint webinar with the Venezuelan section of the
Committee for International Solidarity and Struggle for Peace. The event’s lead speaker
was Ajamu Baraka, national organizer of the Black Alliance for Peace.