Black Agenda Radio

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The effort to end qualified immunity in New York, rezoning and housing in Harlem, and the National Day Laborers Organinizing Network at the People's Summit.

Dr. Marsha Coleman-Adebayo advocates for Julian Assange
Book promotion for The Black Agenda, the late Glen Ford's anthology
Questions about NYPD fatal shooting of Rameek Smith

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 President of South Africa maintains that the recent riots that
followed the arrest former president Jacob Zuma were actually part of an insurrection
against the state. And, some things seldom change when the two parties switch places
in the United States. President Joe Biden is just as hostile to China and Cuba as Donald
Trump was.
But first -- Broward County College in south Florida recently hosted a discussion about
the turmoil in Haiti, where the president was assassinated by a mercenary force from
Colombia. All the participants in the Browder College talk were Haitian Americans –
among them, professor Reginald Darbonne and author and activist Pascal Robert, who
emphasizes that class is an important part of Haiti’s historical dynamic.

That was author and activist Pascal Robert, speaking at Broward College,
in South Florida.

The continuity of US foreign policy, even as the Democrats and Republicans trade
places in the White House, is quite amazing. Although Democrats portrayed President
Donald Trump as representing everything they opposed, when Joe Biden took control of
the Oval Office he left Trump’s moves against China and Cuba intact, virtually
unchanged. That subject was explored by Sean Blackmon, of Sputnik Radio, in an
interview with Netfa Freeman, of the Black Alliance for Peace.

That was Netfa Freeman, of the Black Alliance for Peace, on Sputnik
Radio with Sean Blackmon and  Jacqueline Luqman.

When former South African President Jacob Zuma was arrested on corruption charges,
housands of his followers rioted and looted in two African Provinces, last week.
President Cyril Ramaphosa claimed the disturbances amounted to an attempted
insurrection against the state. To dig deeper into this story, VAV Radio called o
Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Detroit-based Pan African News Wire.

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 Haitian president Jovenel Moise was assassinated,,
purportedly by a mostly Colombian band of mercenaries, the regime in Port-Au-Prince
promptly begged the United States to send troops to Haiti. President Biden initially said
“No,” but that could change any time, since invasions of Haiti have become a habit for
the U.S. over the past century. We’ll hear from Gerald Horne, the prolific author and
University of Houston professor, on the long and brutal history of U.S. and European
aggression against Haiti, the world’s first republic liberated by enslaved people.
But first – across the length and breadth of the US, states are passing or debating
Critical Race Theory. Or rather, white Republicans are busy making up their own
fantastic versions of what Critical Race Theory is, so that they can outlaw those who
dare to discuss issues of race in the United States. Here to explain the historical roots of
the madness, are Paul Macomb, a Haitian American philosopher and socioist currently
teaching at the University of West Virginia, and writer and political analyst Pascal
Robert, also a Haitian American. Pascal Robert:

That was Pascal Robert, the activist and writer, along with Dr. Paul
Macomb, of the University of West Virginia, at a webinar on Critical Race Theory as it
actually exists in the United States – as opposed to the fantasies in the minds of millions
of white Republicans.

The poor and oppressed majority in Haiti had been mobilized for many months,
demanding that president Jovenel Moise step down for a long list of crimes. And then
last week, Moise was cut down in his residence by a dozen bullets, purported at the
hands of Colombian mercenaries. Dr. Gerald Horne and Dr. Jemima Pierre spoke at a
webinar on “Haiti vs Imperialism and Necolonialism” a day before the assassination.
Their talk on Haiti’s history is especially valuable, because it provides a background to
understand today’s events on the island nation. Pierre is a Haitian American who
teaches anthropology at UCLA. Horne is a professor of History at the University of

Houston, and the author of over 30 books – many of which put HAITI front and center in
hstory.

 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: Whatever is wrong with the Democratic Republic of Congo, you can blame it on the United States, which has been running things ever since Washington helped kill Congo’s first elected leader, Patrice Lumumba, six decades ago. We’ll hear from the director of Friends of Congo. And, there will be one less King in Africa if a social movement in Swaziland is successful.

Dr. Yannick Marshall is a professor of Africana Studies at Knox College. The title of his latest article in Black Agenda Report delivers a blunt message: “Black Liberal, Your Time is Up.” We asked Marshall, who are these Black liberals that have called the shots in Black politics for so many years?

The strategic center of Africa is the Congo River basin – an area that has also been ground zero for massive genocides and half a century of U.S. imperial dominance. Maurice Carney is a director and co-founder of Friends of Congo, which advocates tirelessly for African liberation. Carney was interviewed by Tierney Sheree, of African Esquire TV.

In southern Africa, a broad social movement  is determined to oust the King of Swaziland, one of the continent’s few remaining monarchs. Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan African News Wire, reports that Swaziland’s people are saying it’s past time for the King to vacate the throne.

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: Which way is the reparations struggle going?
There is still no consensus among Black Americans on what the United States
must pay for centuries of slavery and oppression. And, Chicago is the city where
community control of the police is closest to becoming a reality. We’ll get an
update from a local activist.
But first – The United States government last week seized the website of the
Iranian news service Press TV and three dozen of that country’s other internet
outlets, claiming the sites were spreading “disinformation.” What gives
Washington the right to roam the planet, shutting down other nations’ information
services? We posed that question to Ajamu Baraka, national organizer for the
Black Alliance for Peace.

That was Ajamu Baraka, national organizer wth the Black Alliance
for Peace.

In recent years, increasing numbers of white people have come to favor some
form of reparations for the harm Black Americans suffered under centuries of
slavery and discrimination. But there is still no consensus among Black people
on what kind of reparations should be demanded from the United States. Efia
Nwangaza is director of the Malcolm X Center for Self-Determination, in
Greenville, South Carolina, and a longtime reparations advocate. Nwangaza is
trying to pull reparations supporters together in her state.

That was Efia Nwangaza, at the Malcolm X Center for Self-
Determination, in Greenville, South Carolina.

In Chicago, a majority of the board of aldermen now support community control
of the police. Jasman Salas is co-chair of the Chicago chapter of the National
Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, the organization that is
spearheading the effort. Salas says women and trans people would greatly
benefit from community control of the cops

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: Joe Biden made his international presidential debut at the G7
meeting, proclaiming that “America is Back,” and meeting the Queen of England. But
what does that mean for the future of the world? Journalist Richard Medhurst provides a
political analysis. And, New York State Assemblyman and former Black Panther Charles
Barron has mixed feelings on legalization of marijuana.

But first -- What’s the ultimate cost when Black social movements accept corporate
funding? This month, Dr. Joy James, professor of humanities at Williams College,
moderated a summit meeting of activists and organizers on Accountability in Social Justice
Movements. The founders of Black Lives Matter report they amassed $90 million, much of it last
year from corporate philanthropists following the George Floyd protests. What does the donor
class hope to get in return? Dr. James put the issue in historical perspective.

That was Dr. Joy James, speaking from Williams College.
The G7 nations held their annual meeting this month, to much fanfare. A gaggle of European
nations, plus the US, Canada and Japan, consider themselves to be world leaders. But another
way of looking at the G7, is a collection of white settler regimes and former and present colonial
powers. We spoke with Richard Medhurst, an independent journalist and political commentator
who was born in Damascus, Syria. Here’s how he views the G7.

That was Journalist Richard Medhurst, speaking from Vienna, Austria.
Charles Barron, the former Black Panther and current New York State Assemblyman
from the neighborhood of East New York, took part in a webinar on legalization of
marijuana, organized by the Black Is Back Coalition for Social Justice, Peace and
Reparations. The session was called “Reefer Madness” – which kind of sums up
Charles Barron’s view of the matter.

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: US universities like to think of themselves as forces for the
public good. But we’ll speak with a Black professor who says American higher
education is a relentless gentrifyer that spreads police terror and low wages. And, a
Black Alliance for Peace activist says the United States is trying to isolate China
because Washington cannot compete with the Asian economic juggernaut.
But first – Too Black is a poet, writer and podcaster based in Indianapolis, who recently
authored an article in Black Agenda Report titled "From Black Wall Street to Black
Capitalism." Too Black says the business district of the Black neighborhood of Tulsa,
Oklahoma that was destroyed by whites in 1921, was actually more like a Black Main
Street than Wall Street, and employed very few Black residents at the time of the
massacre.

That was Too Black, a poet and writer speaking from Indianapolis.

Universities in the United States have become capitalist engines of extraction and
destruction in Black communities. So says Davarian Baldwin, a professor of American
Studies and founding director of the Smart Cities Lab at Trinity College, in Hartford,
Connecticut. Dr. Baldwin wrote an article in Black Agenda Report titled “In the Shadow
of the Ivory Tower.”

That was Professor Davarian Baldwin, speaking from Trinity College in
Hartford, Connecticut.

The Green Party recently took a look at Joe Biden’s First 100 Days in office, with a
focus on the new president’s war policies. One of the speakers was Julie Varaghese, of
the Black Alliance for Peace. Varaghese said the US is waging a Cold War with China
because Washington is losing the global economic competition.

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: Performance art used to be a sideshow of movements for social
change, but nowadays art has become central to political organizing. We’ll explore the
artistic side of mass mobilizing. And, the George Floyd protests of last summer, when
tens of millions of people marched under the Black Lives Matter banner, have had
profound and sometimes strange effects on the ruling class and the institutions that
keep the rich in power. Now, even the CIA claims to be a benign, multi-cultural force for
good in the world.

But first – the Black Lives Matter movement has been enormously reinforced by
activists from the widest range of ethnic and racial backgrounds. But how can
organizers keep this multi-ethnic, multi-cultural army on the march for social change?
Kovie Biakolo is a widely published writer, editor, and scholar specializing in culture and
identity. We asked Biokolo what needs to be done to keep a mullti-cultural army on the
move.

That was writer and scholar Kovie Biokolo, speaking from New York City.

Performance art is an important part of modern political organizing. Troizel Carr is a
doctoral candidate in performance studies at New York University, and holds a teaching
fellowship at the New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York City. We asked Carr
about the role art plays in abolitionist organizing since the murder of George Floyd.

That was Troizel Carr, a doctoral candidate specializing in performance
studies.

The CIA – the guys that specialize in political assassination, overthrowing governments
the US doesn’t like, and lying to the public about EVERYTHING – is now trying to
package itself as a politically benign institution, staffed by “woke”young Black and Latino
intelligence agents. But anti-imperial activist Ramiro Sebastion Funez is using his
podcasting skills to strip away the CIA’s new camouflage. Funez calls it “Unmasking
Imperialism.” He interviewed Erica Caines, of the Black Alliance for Peace, who said
Joe Biden is also trying to act like he’s always been a friend of Black and brown folks.