March was a very good month for killer cops: they racked up at least 111 bodies, the majority of them unarmed Black and brown men. “Any genuine movement for criminal justice ‘reform’ must aim to abolish the Mass Black Incarceration State, root and branch, by removing the ‘occupation’ army from Black areas and replacing it with a force of Black people’s own choosing.”

by BAR managing editor Bruce A. Dixon

Rahm Emanuel’s victory wasn’t a battle for the soul of the Democratic party, and it wasn’t just about big money and big media.  It was the victory of the black misleadership class, just about all Democrats in Chicago, who followed President Obama, Bobby Rush, the banksters, the privatizers and the rest to endorse Rahm over Chuy Garcia.  Garcia could not explain why practically no black Democrat from the president down endorsed him, and Emanuel narrowly carried every majority black ward in Chicago.

by BAR editor and senior columnist Margaret Kimberley

The whole world knows of the horrors inflicted on Kenyan civilians by Somalia’s Al-Shabaab. But, the “corporate media tells Americans little if anything about Somalia’s road to ruin,” paved by the United States and its Ethiopian and Kenyan allies. “If there were true justice in this world the United States and its puppets would not only have to leave that country but make restitution as well.”

A Black Agenda Radio commentary by executive editor Glen Ford

The nationwide mobilization against police oppression will soon enter its first full summer season. Aside from LA’s Rodney King rebellion, there hasn’t been a “long hot summer” in Black America for nearly half a century. The vocabulary of mass movements needs replenishing, too.

by the Real News Network

Chicago mayoral candidate Jesus “Chuy” Garcia rode a wave of public outrage against Mayor Rahm Emanuel, but fell short in Tuesday’s election. BAR managing editor Bruce A. Dixon explains that the black political class, Democrats all from the president down lined up with Emanuel for privatization, austerity and worse.

by Netfa Freeman

Cuba opened discussions with the U.S. on human rights, last week, with a reminder that the United States is no model for other nations. The Cubans cited “discrimination and racism patterns in U.S. society, the worsening of police brutality, torture acts and extrajudicial executions in the fight on terror and the legal limbo of prisoners at the US prison camp in Guantanamo.”

A review by Dr. T. P. Wilkinson

By its own admission, the Obama administration’s new stance towards Cuba is not a change in policy. It still favors regime change. U.S. obsession with the island to the south is historically rooted in race; Cuba’s blackness made it impossible for the white supremacist United States to absorb, but also required that the island be prevented from providing a “good example” to the world – and to Blacks in the U.S.

by Walter Smolarek

White privilege “has existed as long as there have been white people,” but the material basis for it is declining in the U.S. “Large sections of white youth are undergoing a process of proletarianization.” Although this slow process “does not instantly enlighten those stricken with white chauvinism,” polling data seems to show that “white supremacist ideology has significantly weakened its hold on the consciousness of about 2 in 5 white youth.”

by Veli Mbele

This article previously appeared in Pambazuka News.

Cecil Rhodes is back in the news, following Black student protests to have his statue removed from the University of Cape Town. Rhodes’s unparalled evil legacy is still palpable across Africa. By splashing Rhodes’s statue with human excrement, the brave Black students have hit a raw nerve in the “sensitive,” “innocent” and “pure” white body.

Attempted Murder of Mumia Through Medical Malpractice

Pennsylvania prison officials allowed the political prisoner’s condition to worsen until he was in horrific pain and on the brink of a diabetic coma, said Pam Africa, of International Family and Friends of Mumia Abu Jamal. His supporters are demanding that “specialists be allowed to go in and see Mumia,” who is back in prison after being released from a hospital that had no specialists in diabetes. The State of Pennsylvania is trying to torture and kill the world renowned former death row inmate, said Ms. Africa. “Can you imagine your body burning from head to toe, your skin erupting, and you’ve blown up to the point that your skin starts bursting open?” Supporters of Mumia should telephone their concerns to prison officials listed at FreeMumia.com.

Democrats Gang up on Seattle Socialist

Kshama Sawant, the Socialist Alternative Party leader whose campaign for a $15 an hour minimum wage won her a seat on the Seattle city council, now faces three Democratic challengers, including the head of the local Urban League. Sawant has earned broad support, but must still contend with the popular mindset that Democrats are the “lesser evils” of politics. “The problem with the logic of ‘lesser evil-ism’ is that it’s ad infinitum,” she said. If we accept that logic, “there’s never going to be a point when we can say: ‘At this moment we have to make a clean break to make sure that we build a movement independent of the two business parties.’”

Obama’s TPP Trade Pact Empowers Global Corporations

Documents recently released by Wikileaks reveal that the Trans Pacific Partnership trade treaty would rig international law to the decisive advantage of multinational corporations. “It confirms the worst of our fears,” said Patrick Woodall, research director of Food and Water Watch. “It includes language that grants powerful new avenues for corporations to attack common sense public health, environmental and consumer protections” – all to protect anticipated corporate profits. Other language would keep the contents of the treaty secret for four years, even if it is rejected by the U.S. Congress. President Obama wants Congress to pass TPP with no amendments or effective debate.

Charter Schools are for Black and Brown Kids, Only

Union County, New Jersey, has 21 municipalities, but all five of its charter schools are located in the majority Black city of Plainfield. “There’s a pattern in New Jersey, and in the country, of taking local control away from majority Black and brown cities, said David Rutherford, a member of the Plainfield board of education. State officials constantly override Black and brown school boards and encourage charter school companies to set up shop. “As a board of education, we have no say on whether there will be charter schools in our city, how many there will be, or who will run them,” said Rutherford. “Our only obligation is to pay these charter schools, per student.” If charter schools are so beneficial, he asks, why don’t white communities want them?

UNAC to Hold National Conference May 8 – 10

The United National Anti-War Coalition will hold a national conference in Secaucus, New Jersey – just outside New York City – under the banner “Stop the Wars at Home and Abroad.” UNAC used the same slogan at its founding conference, said spokesman Joe Lombardo. “It’s become more and more clear as time went on that there’s been militarization of the police, more heavy-handed intervention into the Black and brown communities, more people deported, more austerity, more assaults on civil liberties. So, these wars have had a real impact on the people of the United States.”

Black Agenda Radio on the Progressive Radio Network is hosted by Glen Ford and Nellie Bailey. A new edition of the program airs every Monday at 11:00am ET on PRN. Length: One hour.