Black Agenda Radio

Black Agenda Radio - 03.25.19

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: the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to look at the constitutionality of a Jim Crow era law, in Louisiana; the Black Alliance for Peace joins demonstrations in Washington against U.S. war policies; and, Muslim and Jewish activists say white supremacy is behind the campaign to silence Rep. Ilhan Omar.

The Ujima People’s Progress Party is gearing up for a statewide conference, in Baltimore, Maryland. Nnamdi Lumumba is one of the organizers of Ujima, which has chapters throughout the state of Maryland. The theme of the conference is, “Elections and Beyond: Building Independent Solutions for the Black Community.”

Activists from around the nation traveled to New Orleans to join protests against Louisiana’s Jim Crow-era law that allows defendants to be convicted when only 10 of 12 jurors turn in a guilty verdict. The U.S. Supreme Court last week agreed to decide on the constitutionality of the law. We spoke with Belinda Parker Brown, of Louisiana United International, one of the groups demanding that the thousands of people now imprisoned under the 10-2 law be set free.

Anti-war activists from around the country are getting reading to converge on Washington, DC, for a week of protests against U.S. wars. Actions will begin on March 30 and continue to April 4. That’s the anniversary of the 1968 assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, but instead, official Washington is throwing a big party to celebrate the formation of NATO, the U.S. military alliance with Europe, Netfa Freeman is with the Black Alliance for Peace.

The arrival of two Muslim women in the U.S. Congress has focused unprecedented attention on Israel’s policies towards Palestinians. A recent congressional resolution claimed to denounce all forms of religious and racial bias, but was widely seen as being directed against Muslim congresswoman Ilhan Omar. Suad Abdul Khabeer is an anthropologist, artist and activist who teaches at the University of Michigan. She teamed up with other Muslim and Jewish women to write an article titled, “How Targeting Ilhan Omar Instead of White Supremacy Furthered Both Anti-Semitism and Islamophobia.”

One of Khabeer’s co-writers is Asha Noor, a racial justice and human rights activist of Somali descent. Noor emphasizes that white supremacy is the grandfather of all the other religious and racial evils.

The nation’s best known political prisoner, Mumia Abu Jamal, has some thoughts on the massacre of Muslims at prayer in New Zealand.

 

 

Black Agenda Radio - 03.18.19

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: Congresswoman Ilhan Omar has gone heads up with the Israel lobby, but what kind of dirty tricks do supporters of the apartheid state have in store for her;  We’ll tell the story of the rise and demise of a reform school for Black girls in the Jim Crow-era South; and, a Black social worker and activist explains her plans to Ramp Up the struggle for Black disabled people’s rights.

The arrest of seven heavily armed mercenaries outside the Central Bank in the capital of Haiti, during civil unrest in that country last month, has raised questions about the stability of the U.S.-backed regime. The soldiers-for-hire were quickly plucked from confinement by the U.S embassy and flown out of the country, and then released when they landed back in the United States. Haitians of all political stripes have a whole range of theories about what the mercenaries were up to. Jake Johnston, of the Washington-based Center for Economic and Policy Research, traveled to Haiti to investigate the case, and filed an extensive report.

A recent congressional resolution aimed at freshman Representative Ilhan Omar, one of only two Muslims in the U.S. House, has focused national attention on Israel’s unrivaled influence on American government policies. Omar declared that members of Congress should not be compelled to pledge loyalty to a foreign government. She had earlier said that the Israel lobby’s power was “all about the Benjamins” – meaning, the vast amounts of money at its disposal. We spoke with Chris Hedges, the political analyst and former New York Times foreign correspondent.

There was a time, no so long ago, when young Black girls Down South were locked away if they didn’t conform to white people’s wishes, or the codes of behavior favored by upper class Blacks. Lauren Henley is a doctoral student in history at the University of Texas, at Austin. She’s doing a study of Black female criminality in the U.S. south from the Reconstruction Era to World War Two. Henley found an illuminating case study in the poignant history of the founding and demise of a reformatory for Black girls in Jim Crow-era North Carolina. It was called the North Carolina Industrial School for Negro Girls, also referred to as the Efland Home.

When folks say Black Lives Matter, Villisa Thompson wants to make sure they mean Black disabled people’s lives matter, too. Thompson is an activist social worker and writer, and a recognized leader in the struggle for rights of the Black disabled community. She’s the creator of Ramp Your Voice and the hashtag “DisabilityTooWhite.” We asked Thompson how her politics impacts her profession.

Black Agenda Radio - 03.11.19

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: A supporter of Muslim Congresswoman Ilhan Omar says Democratic leadership is on a collision course with the party’s voter base; a supporter of sex workers in South Africa talks about the priorities of African feminists; and, we’ll hear from a political activist organizing in the bowels of the U.S. prison gulag.

Advocates for community control of the police in Chicago took the battle to the electoral arena, last month, fielding candidates in each of the city’s 50 city council districts. Before the February 26th election, only one city councilman could be counted on to support C-PAC, the proposed Civilian Police Accoutability Commission. But Frank Chapman, of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, says community control advocates are now a force to be reckoned with.

Ilhan Omar has only represented Minneapolis in the U.S. Congress since January, but Democratic Party leadership has already targeted her with two congressional Resolutions, indirectly charging Omar with anti-Semitism because of her criticism of the Israel lobby. Shahid Buttar is a lawyer and human rights activist, and a former director of the Bill of Rights Defense Committee. Buttar plans to run against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in the upcoming Democratic primary, in San Francisco. He says Democratic leadership is trying to show leftish members of the party who’s boss.

Women in Africa are reshaping what it means to be a feminist. Nkozo Yingwana is a doctoral student and researcher for the African SexWorker Alliance. Yingwana identifies as an African feminist scholar-activist. She wrote a recent essay on sex work and feminism in Africa, titled, “We Fit in the Society by Force.”

Last month, hundreds of inmates froze for days in their cells when power went out at the infamous Metropolitan Detention Center, or MDC, in Brooklyn, New York. Black Agenda Radio producer Kyle Fraser spoke with a federal prisoner who is organizing behind the bars with IWOC, the Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee, and who spent time at MDC and wrote an essay on the power failure. He calls himself John Brown 912.

Black Agenda Radio - 03.04.19

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: Both Republicans and Democrats in the US claim it’s alright to threaten Venezuela with invasion, because its not a democracy. But we’ll talk with a veteran Black activist who was an official observer of democracy in action in Venezuela. And, a call for the abolition of poverty, by getting rid of the class that is hoarding all the wealth.

Angela Davis, the human rights activist, was initially disinvited from an event of the Civil Rights Institute in Birmingham, Alabama, Davis’s home town, apparently because of her support for Palestinian rights. The month before, CNN fired Mark Lamont Hill for supporting Palestinians in a speech at the United Nations. We spoke with Michael Fischbach, a professor of history at Randolph-Macon College and author of a new book titled “Black Power and Palestine.” Fischbach says Black American empathy with Palestinians and Arabs is nothing new.

The South American nation of Venezuela has held more elections in the past 20 years than any other nation in the western hemisphere, and maybe the entire world. But the corporate media and both political parties in the United States insist that Venezuela’s socialist government is a dictatorship. President Trump has seized billions in Venezuelan assets, and is threatening military action. In Greenville, South Carolina, Efia Nwangaza is a people’s lawyer and director of the Malcolm X Center for Self-Determination. Nwangaza was among the international observers that have verified all of Venezuela’s elections as free and fair.

The popular backlash against deepening economic inequality gets more intense by the day. William Anderson is co-author of a book titled, “As Black as Resistance: Finding Conditions for Liberation.” In an article in Truthout, Anderson said it’s time to heed Dr. Martin Luther King’s call for the abolition of poverty.

Black Agenda Radio - 02.25.19

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: A new book lays out the real relationship between the police and Black America. It’s titled “Your Enemy in Blue”; a new and deeper look at Eleanor Bumpers, the Black grandmother killed by New York City police 34 years ago; and, a grandfather with a radio show speaks up for the common people in Zambia, southern Africa.

Much of the world is appalled at the U.S. attempt to provoke a coup in Venezuela, and to put opposition politician Juan Guaido in the presidency. In New York City, the December 12th Movement demanded that the United Nations condemn Washington’s violations of international law. Roger Wareham is a human rights attorney and a member of D-12.

The Black Alliance for Peace also condemns the Trump administration’s regime change policy in Venezuela as a white supremacist assault disguised as a humanitarian intervention.The police are no friend to the Black community in the United States, says author Kristian Williams, who’s written a new book. It’s titled “Our Enemies in Blue: Police and Power in America.”

Thirty-four years ago, Eleanor Bumpers was killed by police in her public housing apartment in The Bronx, New York. The cops that shot-gunned the grandmother to death claimed she threatened them with a kitchen knife. Bumpers became a symbol of police disregard for Black lives. LaShawn Harris was a child in that Bronx neighborhood when Bumpers was cut down, in 1984. Harris is now an Associate Professor of History at Michigan State University. She recently published a comprehensive study of the life and times of Eleanor Bumpers, in the political journal “Souls.” The article is titled, “Beyond the Shooting: Eleanor Gray Bumpurs, Identity Erasure, and Family Activism Against Police Violence.”

Deep in the countryside of Zambia, in southern Africa, a man in his sixties called “GoGo Breeze” holds forth on one of the country’s most popular radio shows. Harri Englund is a Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Cambridge. He’s written a book titled “Gogo Breeze: Zambia’s Radio Elder and the Voices of Free Speech.” We asked Professor Englund why an African elder with a radio show rates scholarly attention.

Black Agenda Radio - 02.18.19

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: A fellow immigrant comes to the defense of Ilhan Omar, the Black congresswoman who stood up to both the Zionist lobby and former death squad organizer, Elliot Abrams; and, we’ll discuss the Restorative Justice doctrine of the prison abolition movement.

the United States has declared economic war on the socialist government of Venezuela, and seems on the verge of military action. The Trump administration blatantly seized billions of dollars in Venezuelan assets, and has declared its intention to replace Venezuela’s government with a president of Washington’s own choosing. We spoke with Ajamu Baraka, of the Black Alliance for Peace.

The U.S. government, both corporate political parties and the corporate media routinely lie about Venezuela, claiming the Socialist government is a dictatorship. Ron Kovalik is a lawyer and author, who has served as an official observer of Venezuela’s elections process.

Ilhan Omar, the new Black congresswoman from Minnesota, was last week chastised by the top Democrat in Congress, Nancy Pelosi, for saying that congressional support for Israel is “all about the Benjamins, baby” – meaning, it’s all about the huge amounts of money that Zionists wield in the U.S. political process. Congresswoman Omar, who was born in Somalia,  also confronted President Trump’s Hit Man on Venezuela, Elliot Abrams, who 40 years ago managed death squads in Latin American for the Regan Administration, and was convicted of lying to Congress. We spoke with Sha-hid Boo-TAR, a lawyer and former head of the Bill of Rights Defense Committee. Boo-TAR was born in Pakistan. Last primary season, he ran against Nancy Pelosi, for Congress. Boo-TAR says Congresswoman Omar is a brave and righteous woman.

President Trump surprised lots of people with his support of a recently passed prison reform bill. Trump loudly and proudly campaigned as a law and order candidate. Vincent Lloyd is a professor of Theology and Religious Studies at Villanova University. Lloyd is author, along with Joshua Dubler, of a recent article on “restorative justice” – a philosophy to replace and abolish mass incarceration. We asked Lloyd how prison abolition is faring in the Age of Trump.

Black Agenda Radio - 02.11.19

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: Rich people try to make us like them by giving money away, but their philanthropy is all about staying in power; and, feminism looks and sounds different to a landless African women in Uganda than it does to a rich white woman in the United States.

President Donald Trump used his State of the Union address to proclaim that there will never be a socialist government in the United States. We spoke with Dr. Anthony Monteiro, the Philadelphia-based Duboisian scholar.

A handful of rich people own more wealth than half of the world’s population, and just three billionaires own more wealth than half the people in the United States. But rich people claim that society is better off because of their wealth. Carl Rhodes disagrees. Rhodes is a professor of Organization Studies at the University of Technology, in Sydney, Australia. He’s co-author of a recent article on the ways that rich people justify their status in society by giving some of their money away.

Lots of people call themselves feminists, but the feminist project looks different, based on history, race and geography. Dr. Alicia Decker is a professor of Women’s Gender and Sexuality Studies and African Studies at Pennsylvania State University. She’s also co-director of the African Feminist Initiative, which is currently publishing a new issue of its journal, Meridians.

Dr. Maha Marouan is also part of the African Feminist Initiative, and a professor at Penn State. Dr. Marouan teaches African American Studies and Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies. She was born in Morocco. Marouan says Muslim women in the U.S. are especially vulnerable to discrimination and attacks.

Black Agenda Radio - 02.04.19

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: The U.S. goes all-out for regime change in Venezuela; A new book challenges the dominant discourse on AIDS; And, what’s taking Bernie Sanders so long to declare himself a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination?

Black activists in Chicago are determined to defeat many members of that city’s  50-person Board of Aldermen, only one of whom supports community control of the police. Last month, Frank Chapman, co-chair of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, predicted that by the end of January the movement would recruit at least 70 candidates who are pledged to support creation of a Civilian Police Accountability Commission. We spoke with Chapman again, this week.

The Trump administration has seized billions of dollars in Venezuela’s holdings in the United States, and signed the money over to a Venezuelan opposition politician named Juan Guaido, who named himself president of the country, last week. The U.S. is attempting to cripple Venezuela’s economy in order to overthrow the socialist government that has repeatedly won free and fair elections over the past twenty years. Joe Emersberger has written frequently on the U.S. campaign for regime in Venezuela.

The Democrats already have a sizeable number of declared presidential candidates. However, Bernie Sanders, the man who almost beat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 primaries, and who polls show is the most popular politician in the country, has yet to declare his candidacy. We spoke with Danny Haiphong, who writes a weekly column for Black Agenda Report.

Darius Bost is a professor of Ethic Studies at the School for Cultural and Social Transformation at the University of Utah. His most recent book was featured in the BAR Books Forum. It’s titled  “Evidence of Being: The Black Gay Cultural Renaissance and the Politics of Violence.” Professor Bost says he wants to challenge the dominant queer theoretical discourse, that says the AIDS crisis is over.

Black Agenda Radio - 01.28.19

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: Women in business and politics are being praised for acting like cutthroat capitalists and war-mongering men. But, is that feminism? And, a leader of South Africa’s newly-formed Socialist Revolutionary Workers Party explains why workers must take political power in that country.

Dr. Martin Luther King is popularly known as a civil rights leader, but he was also deeply committed to the labor movement. Peter Cole teaches African American history at the University of Western Illinois. Cole is author of the book, "Dockworker Power: Race and Activism in Durban and the San Francisco Bay Area.” He says labor issues were a top priority for Dr. King, who early on saw himself as a kind of socialist.

Women are engaged in all kinds of activities these days, including war, torture and cut-throat corporate business. But, is that progress? Dean Spade is a professor at the Seattle University School of Law, and co-author of a recent article titled, “There’s Nothing Feminist About Imperialism.”

South Africa has been under Black political rule for the past 25 years, since the end of apartheid. But the African National Congress government left control of the economy in the hands of white business interests. The gap between rich and poor has gotten even bigger. After decades of frustration, activists centered in the nation’s largest labor union, NUMSA, the National Union of Metalworkers, last year formed a new political party to fight against white monopoly capitalist rule. Irvin Jim is the leader of NUMSA and a key architect of the new Socialist Revolutionary Workers Party. Last week, he traveled to New York City to speak with American activists at the People’s Forum.

Also on hand at the People’s Forum was Dr. Cosmas Musumali, the General Secretary of the Socialist Party of the southern African nation of Zambia. The ruling party of Zambia has declared the Socialist Party to be a danger to national security, and party members are under constant danger of imprisonment. Dr. Musumali told his New York audience that the imperialist powers have enlisted African governments as collaborators in neocolonialism.

 

Black Agenda Radio - 01.21.19

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: South Africa has been under Black political rule for a quarter century, but remains the most unequal society in the world. We’ll speak with the author of a book on South Africa’s poor people’s movement. And, the investigation into alleged collusion between Wikileaks, the Trump campaign and the Russian government is going into its third year, but there is still no hard evidence of so-called “collusion.” So, what’s behind all the anti-Russia hysteria?

The celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King’s birthday is both a national holiday and a political institution. But, Larry Hamm, chairman of the People’s Organization for Progress, headquartered in Newark, New Jersey, points out that Dr. King’s writings have not been incorporated into the nation’s public school curriculums.

South Africa remains the world’s most unequal nation, despite the overthrow of white rule and racial apartheid,  25 years ago. Kerry Chance is an anthropologist at the University of Bergen, in Norway. She’s author of a new book on the millions of poor South Africans that struggle to find homes to raise their families. Dr. Chance’s book is titled, “Living Politics in South Africa’s Urban Shackland.”

Since before the votes were counted in November, 2016, the Democrats and elements of the national security state have charged that Hillary Clinton lost the election because of collusion between the Russians, Wikileaks and the Trump campaign. But, more than two years later, there is still no hard evidence of collusion. We spoke with Ray McGovern, a former CIA analyst and one of the founders of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity.