Black Agenda Radio

Black Agenda Radio 05.24.21

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: When millions marched for justice for George Floyd, corporate
philanthropy put millions of dollars in the hands of Black Live Matter founders. We’ll
explore the effect all that money had on the Movement. It’s not your grandmother’s
capitalism anymore. People now examine the role that race plays in the class conflict.
And, Blacks in the US are less likely to battle the cops, these days, than two
generations ago? We’ll explore how that happened.
But first – the movement for community control of the police is strongest in Chicago,
where the board of Alderman is poised to put the cops under the tightest leash in the
nation. Frank Chapman is executive director of the National Alliance Against Racist and
Political Repression, which leads a strong community control coalition.

That was Frank Chapman, of the National Alliance Against Racist and
Political Repression, speaking from Chicago.

The racial nature of capitalism is now better understood, largely thanks to a rejuvenated
Black liberation movement. Justin Leroy is a professor of History at the University of
California, at Davis, and has co-authored a book titled “Histories of Racial Capitalism.”
Dr. Leroy says the US electoral system leaves the money classes, the capitalists, in
power after every election.

That was Justin Leroy, speaking from the University of California, Davis.

After more than 20 million people protested the killing of George Floyd and other victims
of police repression, last summer, corporate foundations poured millions of dollars into

the accounts of Black Lives Matter founders. Has all that money eroded the
revolutionary character of the Movement? We put that question to Imani Wadud, an
activist and doctoral student in American Studies at the University of Kansas.

That was Imani Wadud, at the University of Kansas.

Author, activist and researcher Elizabeth Hinton’s new book, “America on Fire: The
Untold History of Police Violence and Black Rebellion,” shows that Black urban revolts
have dropped off dramatically since their peak in the early 1970s. Hinton explained why,
in an interview with fellow activist and author Keeanga Taylor.

Black Agenda Radio - 05.17.21

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: Much of the radical activist sector of Black America is gearing up for an international tribunal in October, that will indict the United States for its many crimes against humanity. The US puppet states Uganda and Rwanda have caused the deaths of at least six million Congolese in recent decades, but Washington blames Congo’s troubles on Islamic extremists. The problem with that rational is, very few Muslims live in the Congo. And, we’ll have a report on the systematic poisoning of a small Black town in Florida.

 

But first – The lop-sided war between Palestinians and their Zionist occupiers has spread to the streets of Israel, where Arab citizens have taken to the streets. For an overview of the fighting in Israel and the occupied territories, we spoke with Sara Flounders, a longtime activist with the International Action Center, in New York City.

In October, a commission of jurists from =around the world will convene in the United States for an International Tribunal on US Human Rights Abuses.  The organizing campaign leading up to October is called “In the Spirit of Mandela,” and was kicked off with a Webinar featuring Jihad Abdulmumit, a former Black Panther political prisoner and current co-chair of the Jericho Movement.

The United States is trying to blame the ongoing slaughter in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Islamic fundamentalist jihadists – despite the fact that hardly any Muslims live in that country. Kambale Musavuli spent years organizing in the United States. He’s now back in his native Congo, and working as an analyst for the Illinois-based Center for Research on Congo-Kinshasa. Musavuli says its not Muslims, but the US-backed governments of Rwanda and Uganda, that are to blame for the death of six million Congolese. 

The mostly Black town of Tallevast, Florida, was a poor but hard-working community where most of the families owned their homes and found ways to educate their children. But the water, land and people of Tallevast were poisoned by industrial polluters, including some of the biggest names in the military-industrial complex. James Manigault-Bryant is a descendant of one of Tallevast’s founding families. Dr. Manigault-Bryant is now a professor of Africana Studies at Williams College. He wrote a recent article for the Boston Review, titled “Poisoning Tallevast.”

Black Agenda Radio 05.10.21

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 US Census Bureau caused a big stir when it predicted that
Anglo Whites would become a minority of the US population by either the year 2042 or
2045. But, what impact will the huge Latino immigrant influx have on racial attitudes
deep into the 21 st century? We’ll explore that question. And, the South American nation
of Colombia is gripped by protest, as the US backed government attempts to impose a
harsh austerity regime. We’ll hear from a Black Colombian activist.
But first – the Covid-19 pandemic has worked vast changes in US life, but some things
remain the same -- such as the fact that women still do most of the housework, and
immigrants assume much of the burden of cleaning up the country. We spoke with
Nicole FROI-Oh, a Colombian-Brazilian journalist and researcher who authored an
article titled, “The Pandemic Housework Dilemma Whitewashed.”

That was journalist and researcher Nicole FROI-Oh.

Census Bureau data seem to show that white majorities will become a thing of the past
in the United States before the mid-point of the 21 st century, largely because of
continued immigration. However, what happens to that calculation if many of those
immigrants from Latin America insist on claiming to be white? Could that prolong the
existence of white majorities in this country? We posed that question to Professor
Shantee Rosado, of the Africana Studies and Latino and Caribbean Studies
departments at Rutgers University. Professor Rosado’s current book project is titled,
“Latinxs and the Emotional Politics of Race and Blackness in the U.S.”

That was Dr. Shantee Rosado, speaking from Rutgers University.

The South American nation of Colombia, where millions of Black people have been
driven from their homes in recent decades, is in the midst of a general strike against the
US backed regime. President Ivan DOO-Kay’s police and military have killed scores of
protesters. We spoke with Sharo Mina-Rojas, a leader of the Black Communities
Process organization in Colombia, which is manning blockades of the roads near the
largely Black city of Cali.

Black Agenda Radio 05.03.21

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: Haiti, a country whose popularly elected president was
overthrown by the United States in 2004, suffers under yet another leader imposed by
the US, who wants to change the constitution to make himself even more powerful. And,
the death of the dictator of the African nation of Chad has France and the United States
worried about how they’ll keep control of the volatile Sahel region.
But first – the corporate media would have you believe that President Joe Biden is the
spitting political image of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. But veteran activist Margaret
Flowers, of Popular Resistance, rejects that comparison. Flowers says the Biden
presidency is as corporate as they get.

That was Margaret Flowers, of Popular Resistance, speaking from
Baltimore.

The Haitian people have been protesting almost non-stop ever since Jovenel Moise was
named president after winning only a small fraction of the nation’s voters in an election
fraught with irregularities, in 2016. Moise now proposes to change Haiti’s constitution,
so that he can rule with immunity from prosecution for crimes. We spoke with Daoud
Andre, a Brooklyn-based radio host and an organizer with the Committee to Mobilize
Against Dictatorship in Haiti. Andre says Washington calls the shots in Haiti.

That was Daoud Andre, of the Committee to Mobilize Against Dictatorship
in Haiti, speaking from Brooklyn, New York.

For the past 30 years, the oil-rich, but dirt-poor, nation of Chad, in Africa’s Sahel region,
was run by Idris DAY-bee, a dictator backed by both France and the United States. But
DAY-bee was reported killed in combat with rebels, last week, and his son is now in
charge. Dr. Gerald Horne, a professor of history and African American Studies at the
University of Houston, is adept at interpreting political events around the world. Horne
was interviewed by Willmer Leon and Garland Nixon on Sputnik Radio.

Black politics is a vibrant force in the United States, including behind
bars. Bilal Abdul Salem Bey is incarcerated in Hutchinson, Kansas. He’s a member of
the New Afrikan Black Panther Party, and filed this report for Prison Radio.

Black Agenda Radio 04.19.21

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.

Black Agenda Radio 04.12.21

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

 

Black Agenda Radio 04.05.21

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.

Black Agenda Radio 03.29.21

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.

 

 

Black Agenda Radio 03.22.21

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.”

Black Agenda Radio 03.15.21

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.