Black Agenda Radio - 08.19.19

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: We’ll take a look at the state of racism in Hollywood, and find out if Atlanta really is the Mecca for Black film-makers. And, When liberals call Donald Trump “un-American,” aren’t they playing the same chauvenist game as he is?

The Black Is Back Coalition for Social Justice, Peace and Reparations held its national conference in St. Louis, this month. The Coalition was formed ten years ago, during Barack Obama’s first year in the White House. Black Agenda Report executive editor Glen Ford is a co-founder of Black Is Back.

That was BAR executive editor Glen Ford. Omali Yeshitela is chairman of the Black Is Back Coalition, which is made up of a diverse group of radical Black organizations. Yeshitela is also the leader of the African People’s Socialist Party, which has long been intimately involved with the African liberation movement.

President Trump’s rhetoric gets raunchier by the day, as the 2020 election draws near. Some of Trump’s critics seem to think that calling him “un-American” is an effective argument. But political analyst William C. Anderson doesn’t think so. Anderson recently wrote an article for TruthOut titled, “Using Patriotism to Deflect Racism is a Deadly Mistake.”

Hollywood is a lot Blacker than it used to be, but that’s not saying much. Most Hollywood studios still work on the assumption that movies geared to Black audiences don’t make much money. Maryann Erigha is a Professor of Sociology and African American Studies at the University of Georgia. She’s got a new book out, titled “Hollywood Jim Crow: The Racial Politics of the Movie Industry.”