13 May 2020 — Black Agenda Report
Leftists Jump the Corporate Democratic Ship, Leaving Sanders Behind
Glen Ford, BAR Executive Editor
History may record that the corporate duopoly dike was finally broken in the Time of Plague, with the defection of Bernie’s former sheep from the Democratic Party.
History may record that the corporate duopoly dike was finally broken in the Time of Plague, with the defection of Bernie’s former sheep from the Democratic Party.
Freedom Rider: New Attacks on Venezuela
Margaret Kimberley, BAR senior columnist
The Democratic Party’s “left” wing is mute on the latest US aggression against the people and government of Venezuela, thus giving assent to Trump by their silence.
The Democratic Party’s “left” wing is mute on the latest US aggression against the people and government of Venezuela, thus giving assent to Trump by their silence.
Trump wins! Completing Obama’s Pivot to Asia and the Confrontation with China
Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist
The Trump administration is determined to “put China in its place,” a white supremacist mindset that will inevitably lead to monumental errors of judgement.
The Trump administration is determined to “put China in its place,” a white supremacist mindset that will inevitably lead to monumental errors of judgement.
Joe Biden, Kim Jong-Un, and the Dialectics of White Supremacy
Danny Haiphong, BAR Contributing Editor
White supremacy shapes every aspect of imperialism and must be understood from a dialectical perspective if socialism is to ever become a possibility in the United States.
White supremacy shapes every aspect of imperialism and must be understood from a dialectical perspective if socialism is to ever become a possibility in the United States.
Things Don’t Get No Better
Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
The current season of sickness – biological and political – is, indeed, strange, with no hint of a better day any time soon.
The current season of sickness – biological and political – is, indeed, strange, with no hint of a better day any time soon.
Black Agenda Radio for Week of May 11, 2020
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford
Biden’s “Lift Every Voice” Proposal Appeals to Black Misleaders / US Systemic Collapse is “Total” / “Scent of Africa” Marketed to “Afropolitans”
Archaic capitalism’s COVID cops?
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
What if COVID-19 came and
drove down crime by 40%?
What if capitalism’s cops be-
came useless
What if COVID-19 came and
drove down crime by 40%?
What if capitalism’s cops be-
came useless
The Sheepdog Caucus and So-Called “Democratic” Socialists
Quetzal Cáceres
The “democratic” socialist worldview supports socialism except in places where people are actually trying to build it.
The “democratic” socialist worldview supports socialism except in places where people are actually trying to build it.
US Blocks Vote on UN’s Bid for Global Ceasefire Amid COVID-19
Telesur
The US veto trashes the UN’s efforts to convince armed factions in more than a dozen countries to call for temporary truces as the world battles the pandemic.
The US veto trashes the UN’s efforts to convince armed factions in more than a dozen countries to call for temporary truces as the world battles the pandemic.
BAR Book Forum: Symposium on Sarah Haley’s “No Mercy Here”
Jennifer S. Leath
Georgia’s convict leasing system was created to devour Black people of both genders.
Georgia’s convict leasing system was created to devour Black people of both genders.
BAR Abolition & Mutual Aid Spotlight: Alisa Bierria
Dean Spade and Roberto Sirvent, BAR Contributors
In light of the pandemic, we have seen an extraordinary emergence of mutual aid strategies around the world.
In light of the pandemic, we have seen an extraordinary emergence of mutual aid strategies around the world.
“Scent of Africa” Marketed to “Afropolitans”
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford
Fifty years after most African nations won nominal independence, ad agencies are marketing upscale products like the perfume “Scent of Africa” to so-called “Afropolitans,” a cohort defined by Dr Grace Adeniyi-Ogunyankin, of Canada’s Queens University, as “mobile and relatively well-off” Africans. Adeniyi-Ogunyankin said Afropolitans are criticized for “trying to envision these same capitalist ways of consumption that continue to produce such inequalities.” However, she prefers to think of Afropolitans as Africans that are “aware of the world,” and part of it.
Fifty years after most African nations won nominal independence, ad agencies are marketing upscale products like the perfume “Scent of Africa” to so-called “Afropolitans,” a cohort defined by Dr Grace Adeniyi-Ogunyankin, of Canada’s Queens University, as “mobile and relatively well-off” Africans. Adeniyi-Ogunyankin said Afropolitans are criticized for “trying to envision these same capitalist ways of consumption that continue to produce such inequalities.” However, she prefers to think of Afropolitans as Africans that are “aware of the world,” and part of it.
US Systemic Collapse is “Total”
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford
The current meltdown is “a total crisis of the system” in all its economic, social and political aspects, said Duboisian scholar Dr Anthony Monteiro. The Covid-19 pathogen “triggered the crisis-points that were already in existence.” The system’s “inability to contain the contagion deepened the economic crisis” and exacerbated the previously existing crisis of legitimacy of the US ruling circles. “We have to look at this as a total crisis,” said Monteiro, an organizer with the Philadelphia Saturday Free School.
The current meltdown is “a total crisis of the system” in all its economic, social and political aspects, said Duboisian scholar Dr Anthony Monteiro. The Covid-19 pathogen “triggered the crisis-points that were already in existence.” The system’s “inability to contain the contagion deepened the economic crisis” and exacerbated the previously existing crisis of legitimacy of the US ruling circles. “We have to look at this as a total crisis,” said Monteiro, an organizer with the Philadelphia Saturday Free School.
Biden’s “Lift Every Voice” Proposal Appeals to Black Misleaders
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford
Black Alliance for Peace national organizer Ajamu Baraka said de facto Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden’s “Lift Every Voice” plan for Black America “assumes that all you have to do is provide a few little tweeks to the system and everything will be just fine.” But, “the US economy has collapsed and the impact on Black workers is profound.” Baraka, the 2016 Green Party vice presidential candidate, said only the Black Misleadership Class will sing the praises of Biden’s “symbolic, paternalistic crumbs.”
Black Alliance for Peace national organizer Ajamu Baraka said de facto Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden’s “Lift Every Voice” plan for Black America “assumes that all you have to do is provide a few little tweeks to the system and everything will be just fine.” But, “the US economy has collapsed and the impact on Black workers is profound.” Baraka, the 2016 Green Party vice presidential candidate, said only the Black Misleadership Class will sing the praises of Biden’s “symbolic, paternalistic crumbs.”
BAR editor and columnist Marsha Coleman-Adebayo and most of the Black Agenda Report team spoke at the publication’s 13th anniversary celebration, Oct 26, at the People’s Forum in New York City. The event was dedicated to the memory of BAR co-founder Bruce Dixon, who died in June.
First Somali Congressperson Legitimizes AFRICOM and US Drone War
Tunde Osazua and Netfa Freeman
Rep. Omar recently commended the US war machine for increasing the “transparency” and “accountability” of its bombing of her native country.
Rep. Omar recently commended the US war machine for increasing the “transparency” and “accountability” of its bombing of her native country.
New York Tried to Get Rid of Bail. Then the Backlash Came
Jamiles Lartey
The no-bail movement was on a roll from Vermont and New Jersey to Alaska and Georgia – and then the lock ‘em up mob struck back.
The no-bail movement was on a roll from Vermont and New Jersey to Alaska and Georgia – and then the lock ‘em up mob struck back.
Coronavirus is Making the Case for Black Reparations Clearer Than Ever
William A. Darity Jr. and A. Kirsten Mullen
The COVID-19 crisis only heightens the urgency of black reparations, which is now more essential than ever.
The COVID-19 crisis only heightens the urgency of black reparations, which is now more essential than ever.
On George Jackson and Julian Assange
Patrick D. Anderson
Both see the United States as the Empire, and they agree that it must be opposed.
Both see the United States as the Empire, and they agree that it must be opposed.
Can We Simultaneously Oppose Bayer/Monsanto’s Biotechnology and Support Cuba’s Interferon Alpha 2B?
Don Fitz
It is necessary to compare the use of biotechnology by food corporations with that of Cuba to decide if they are the same or fundamentally different.
It is necessary to compare the use of biotechnology by food corporations with that of Cuba to decide if they are the same or fundamentally different.
Chicago Mayor Lightfoot’s Coronavirus Threats and Government Incapacity to Handle a Pandemic
Stansfield Smith
The city’s Black mayor threatened Black house partyers with arrest, but ignored 500 un-masked white people protesting the Covid-19 lock-down.
The city’s Black mayor threatened Black house partyers with arrest, but ignored 500 un-masked white people protesting the Covid-19 lock-down.
The New Dark Age 