by Glen Ford with Patrice Johnson for CBC Monitor
The 41 full-voting Black Democratic members of the U.S. House scored higher than last year on the new CBC Monitor Report Card, but that’s mostly because there were far fewer controversial bills crossing their desks in a presidential election season. However, some Caucus members’ names seem to forever live in infamy: Terri Sewell, Marc Veasey, Sanford Bishop and David Scott. None of the Caucus is excellent, but there’s plenty of good, bad and ugly.

by BAR editor and senior columnist Margaret Kimberley
How low the icon has fallen. Angela Davis diminished herself and denounced her own history when she endorsed Barack Obama in 2008 and in 2012, claiming the corporate imperial Democrat was part of the “black radical tradition.” Davis now signals she’s in Clinton’s corner, and smears independent voters as “narcissists.” Who will “Free Angela” from her shameful servitude to the Democratic Party?

by Danny Haiphong
It’s not a pretty picture: Michelle Obama hugging George Bush. But her husband has been politically intimate with Republicans all along – and now we learn that he knew about Hillary Clinton’s illegal email system, too. Lesson: the Repubs and Dems “are unified in their service to the ruling class.” The duopoly system is rotting from within, providing an “opportunity to build a movement based on principles rather than corporate party affiliations.”

by Anealla Safdar
The NYPD did not forgive Ramsey Orta for showing the world how cops choked the life out of Eric Garner. “After filming Garner’s death, he was increasingly harassed and targeted by police and was arrested at least eight times in fewer than two years.” The cops finally got their revenge, sending Orta to prison for four years on drug and weapons charges. “I’m praying that I can come right out and continue my life as an activist,” he says.

by Bill Quigley
How may we imprison you? Let us count the ways. The U.S. criminal justice system seems designed primarily for one purpose: “to incarcerate as many black and brown people as possible.” The author lists 18 ways America makes prison a much more likely destination for Blacks and browns than for whites.

by Ann Garrison
Police in El Cajon, California, answered Alfred Olongo’s sister’s call for help for her disturbed, but unarmed, brother — and promptly shot him dead. Learning that Olongo was a Ugandan immigrant, U.S. media immediately spun background tales revolving around the guerilla leader, Joseph Kony. But, the Olongos hadn’t fled from Kony; his family left Uganda because President Yoweri Museveni, a U.S. ally, “threatened to kill the whole family.”

by Yash Tandon
Clinton is part of the Establishment. “It is part of her inheritance to provoke wars and control the world in league with global corporations.” Nobody knows what lies behind Trump’s mask. Maybe he wants to “knock the shit” out of the Establishment. Maybe he is a “narcissist character” seeking reward in the short run. But no one who seriously cares about Africa’s liberation from Empire would support Clinton.

by Dr. Fikrejesus Amahazion
Under U.S. pressure, the United Nations refuses to lift an embargo against the tiny nation of Eritrea, while ignoring constant aggressions by its huge neighbor, Ethiopia. The pretexts for the sanctions “are nonexistent,” yet “Eritrea is doubly punished since the sanctions effectively mean it is restricted in defending itself.” The UN has abrogated its responsibility to uphold international law – and, instead, coddles Washington’s military ally.

by Emily Williams and William Minter
The violence plaguing Africa remains far too invisible to most Americans and the world. Unlike the pillage of Africa in earlier periods of the slave trade and colonial rule, illicit financial transactions are most often hidden from public view. They happen through fraudulent invoicing of trade, “creative accounting” by multinational corporations, tax giveaways by African governments, and the use of shell companies based in tax havens around the world.

Clinton is Far More Anti-Crime Than Pro-Justice
When Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton clashed over stop-and-frisk at their first televised debate, Clinton only weakly addressed “the idea of racial justice,” but instead “went immediately to the idea of effectiveness” of stop-and-frisk as a crime-fighting tool. “If a program infringes on civil liberties and violates the Constitution, it doesn’t matter at all if it’s effective or ineffective,” said Chip Gibbons, policy and legislative counsel for the Bill of Rights Defense Committee. If, however, the purpose of a policy is “to terrorize people of color, then I supposed you can make an argument that stop-and-frisk is effective in doing that,” said Gibbons.

Trump Not the Only Neo-Fascist Running for President
Hillary Clinton’s “worldview and her policies are just as dangerous as Donald Trump’s,” said Ajamu Baraka, the Green Party’s vice presidential candidate. Lots of folks “talk about the coming of neo-fascism under Donald Trump, but don’t understand that the foundation for neo-fascism has already been created under the Obama administration — and for some of us, in our communities, we have already been subjected to neo-fascist repression.” In Syria, both Clinton and Trump “are committed to the use of military force to advance the interests of the U.S,” said Baraka.

Candidates “Tone-Deaf” to Inner City Demands
“Our big concern was that the presidential candidates were tone-deaf to the avalanche of organizing and fightback against corporate education interventions that are targeting Black and brown neighborhoods all over the United States,” said Jitu Brown, of the Journey for Justice Alliance, representing 40,000 activists in community organizations in 24 cities. The Alliance demands “real, comprehensive equality in education” and a national moratorium on school charters. “We will not give folks the pass that President Obama got,” said Brown.

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.