Episodes
Monday Apr 19, 2021
Black Agenda Radio 04.19.21
Monday Apr 19, 2021
Monday Apr 19, 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 nation’s best known political prisoner will celebrate his 67 th
birthday later this month, if Mumia Abu Jamal survives his latest health crisis. And, most
people think of maroons as enslaved people that escaped to hideouts in the mountains.
However, history shows that maroons often found freedom at sea.
But first – George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police set off the largest
protests in US history. The trial of the cop charged in Floyd’s murder was still in
progress when police in a nearby town killed another unarmed Black man. In
Washington, Sputnik Radio host Garland Nixon spoke with Dr. Gerald Horne, the prolific
writer and professor of African American Studies and History at the University of
Houston. Dr. Horne says Blacks have always been in conflict with the U.S. State and its
police.
That was Dr. Gerald Horne, speaking on Sputnik Radio, in Washington.
Justin Dunnavant is a post-doctoral student with a deep interest in Maroons, the
enslaved people that escaped captivity and established relatively free settlements in the
Americas. Dunnavant has researched enslaved and maroon communities in the
Caribbean, Central America and Africa. He’s written an article titled, “Have Confidence
in the Sea: Maritime Maroons and Fugitive Geographies.” Dunnavant says people that
escaped from slavery lived in lots of places besides up in the mountains, thanks to their
seagoing skills.
That was Justin Dunnavant, an expert of seagoing maroon communities.
Supporters of Mumia Abu Jamal, the nation’s best known political prisoner, expected
that he would undergo heart surgery for blocked arteries last week. But the
Pennsylvania prison system won’t even tell Mumia’s family what medical plans they
have for responding to Abu Jamal’s health crisis. A number of his supporters gathered
for a press conference last Thursday, in Philadelphia, hosted by educator Marc Lamont
Hill. First up, was Mumia’s grandson, Jamal, who said the people’s movement – not
supposedly progressive district attorney Larry Krassner – would ultimately free Mumia.
Tuesday Apr 13, 2021
Black Agenda Radio 04.12.21
Tuesday Apr 13, 2021
Tuesday Apr 13, 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: Gentrification is shrinking Black populations in cities across the
country. We’ll speak with a Black trans anarchist organizer who says poor folks need to
stop gentrification in its tracks, by taking over every vacant building. And, despite all the
high hopes among Black voters, President Joe Biden is already deporting huge
numbers of Black immigrants.
But first – David Stovall is a professor of African American Studies at the University of
Illinois at Chicago, and an organizer with the Peoples Education Movement. Dr. Stovall
is deeply involved in the fight to slow down and reverse the ongoing Black exodus from
Chicago. He’s author of an article titled, “Engineered Conflict: School Closings, Public
Housing, Law Enforcement and the Future of Black Life.” Dr. Stovall explained why he
thinks the conflicts affecting Blacks in the cities are “engineered.”
That was Dr. David Stovall, speaking from Chicago.
No big city has seen more gentrification and Black push-out than San Francisco.
Nevertheless, black trans anarchist organizer Jemma DeCristo is still there, in the city
by the bay. DeCristo is in full agreement with a recent Truthout article on the mostly
white and affluent folks that call themselves “YIMBYs.” These YIMBYs say “Yes” to the
proliferation of high cost housing in their own backyards and throughout the city. But
Jemma DeCristo says what the rich gentrifiers are actually saying when they call
themselves YIMBYs is, “Yes to white supremacy in my backyard.”
That was Jemma DeCristo, speaking from San Francisco.
SEE-ON Gurmu is Legal Director of the Black Alliance for Just Immigration, or BAJI,
which advocates for the rights of Black immigrants to the United States. BAJI is part of
the Black Immigration Network. SEE-On Gurmu says the new Biden administration
immediately showed its hostility to Black immigrants
Monday Apr 05, 2021
Black Agenda Radio 04.05.21
Monday Apr 05, 2021
Monday Apr 05, 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: Corporate Democrats and Republicans have long had a near-
monopoly on electoral politics. But the Black Is Back Coalition wants to put Black
Liberation in the U.S. electoral mix. And, the term fascism looks quite different from a
Black historical perspective. Ajamu Baraka takes an in-depth look at the subject.
But first – We’ll hear from Samaria Rice, mother of Tamir Rice, the 12 year-old Black
youth who was shot to death by Cleveland police in 2014. She’s joined with Lisa
Simpson, mother of Richard Risher, the 18 year-old shot dead by Los Angeles police in
2016, to demand accountability from the small group of people that control millions of
dollars in Black Lives Matter donations. The mothers are demanding a meeting with
Patrisse Cullors, Sean King and Tamika D. Mallory to address a whole range of
proposals on the future of the Black liberation movement. Ms. Rice is advised by activist
and academic Dr. Joy James and Fred Hampton Jr., son of the assassinated Chicago
Black Panther Leader. Rice says it’s time that the Black Lives Matter hashtag folks
answer to the Black community.
That was Samaria Rice, mother of Tamir Rice, speaking from Cleveland.
On April 10 and 11, the Black Is Back Coalition for Social Justice, Peace and
Reparations will hold its yearly Electoral Campaign School – digitally, of course. Black Is
Back chairman Omali Yeshitela tells us how the electoral school became a yearly
feature of the Coalition’s schedule.
That was Omali Yeshitela, chairman of the Black Is Back Coalition.
The Black Alliance for Peace is one of the member organizations of the Black Is Back
Coalition. Alliance National Organizer Ajamu Baraka recently addressed the subject of
fascism. We think Baraka’s remarks are a useful addition to Omali Yeshitela’s position
on fascism.