Thursday, 15 June 2022 — Black Agenda Report

The Problem with Juneteenth
Margaret Kimberley
Juneteenth was a people’s holiday with deep meaning for the descendants of enslaved people. But the declaration of an official federal holiday has turned it into an opportunity for corporate exploiters and cynical politicians to show pretend concern for Black  people. At best Juneteenth provides a history lesson and an opportunity for much needed political education.

EXCERPT: On the Pan-American Congress, José Martí, 1889
Editors, The Black Agenda Review
José Martí’s account of the 1889 Pan-American Congress offers lessons for last week’s failed Summit of the Americas.

The Trend Toward a Multipolar World is Defined by Class Struggle
Danny Haiphong
The emerging multipolar world is the result of struggles for national sovereignty and self-determination, which are connected with the world wide class struggle.

Democrats Aren’t the Only Game in Town for Ethiopian American Voters
Ann Garrison
Teddy Fikre is an Ethiopian-American independent candidate for Congress in Virginia. He discusses the challenges that his community faces in advocating for their homeland through U.S. electoral politics.

Flashbacks of wild Boers storming Capitalist Hill
Raymond Nat Turner
The latest from BAR’s poet in residence.

A Quarter Century of a Western-backed War of Aggression Against the Congolese People
Maurice Carney
Rwanda and Uganda have carried out attacks against the Democratic Republic of Congo for the past 25 years. Their aggressions are carried out with the backing of the U.S. and European nations who aid their theft of Congo’s resources.

BAR Book Forum: Habiba Ibrahim’s “Black Age”
Roberto Sirvent
In this series, we ask acclaimed authors to answer five questions about their book. This week’s featured author is Habiba Ibrahim . Ibrahim is Associate Professor of English at the University of Washington. Her book is Black Age: Oceanic Lifespans and the Time of Black Life.

No COINTELPRO in DC
Pan- African Community Action (PACA)
April Goggans is an organizer with Black Lives Matter in Washington DC. After years of FOIA requests she has been granted a hearing to determine if the Metropolitan Police Department are required to reveal the extent of surveillance conducted against her. COINTELPRO is not just a program of the distant past, but of present-day policing as well.

The Soweto Uprising’s Unfinished Business
Mark P. Fancher
International outrage over the killing of Soweto youth protesting on June 16, 1976 was a turning point in South African history. But the end of apartheid was not the end of racist oppression or corporate domination. What should have been a revolution was betrayed by corruption and the cynical politics of representation.

Leaders of the Americas and the Caribbean Miss Historical Opportunity to Deal Blow to US Imperialism
Gerald A. Perreira
The U.S. excluded Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela from the recent Summit of the Americas held in Los Angeles. While there was widespread condemnation against the U.S., only six heads of state had the courage to decline the invitation. An opportunity to strike a blow against U.S. imperialism was lost.

AFRICOM Watch Bulletin #40
Black Alliance for Peace
The latest Black Alliance for Peace AFRICOM Watch Bulletin  provides analysis of the U.S. Southern Command and includes an interview with Ahjamu Uni, organizer with the All African People’s Revolutionary Party (A-APRP).

New Bill That Passed House Reinvokes Old Russian Bogeyman as Pretext For More U.S. Intervention in Africa
Richard Dunn
Democrats and republicans alike supported a bil to “counter malign Russian influence in Africa.” Such legislation is reminiscent of the worst days of the cold war. Now a member of the Congressional Black Caucus is leading the retrograde action.

Empire’s Fleeting Leadership in Its Yard
Farooque Chowdhury
The U.S. effort to control the narrative at the Summit of the Americas ended as a diplomatic and foreign policy disaster. The imperative to dominate blew up in the collective faces of the Biden foreign policy team.

Israel Lobby’s Black Allies Aim to Unseat Rashida Tlaib
Michael F. Brown
Bakari Sellers is the most prominent supporter of a new PAC dedicated to defeating Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib. The Urban Empowerment PAC has a goal of “electing pro-Israel Black democrats” and supports a Detroit politician in their effort to defeat Tlaib.

Hubert Harrison, Tribune of the People: Part Two The Voice of Harlem Radicalism
Sean I. Ahern
Hubert Henry Harrison was one of the foremost Black socialist and nationalist thinkers of the early 20th century. He was known as “the father of Harlem radicalism.” This is the second of of a three-part commentary on works about Harrison.

War on Palestine: The Battle for Masafer Yatta
Chelli Stanley
A twenty year battle in Israeli courts ended with a decision to evict more than 1,000 Palestinians from Masafer Yatta. Settler attacks on Palestinians escalated even before the ruling, which allows a firing range to be built where ancient villages now stand.