Wednesday, 9 November 2022 — Black Agenda Report

For African/Black Working Class and Colonized Peoples, Midterm Elections in the U.S. Offer No Relief from War, Repression and Capitalist Misery
Ajamu Baraka
The 50-year old neo-liberal agenda explains why political choices in this country provide little change that benefits the masses of people. The recent midterm election results will not bring about any improvement in the lives of the Black working class.

Why Democrats Don’t Win The Way They Should
Margaret Kimberley
The people prefer the initiatives which democrtatic party leadership claim to support. But their interests are those of the oligarchy and not of the voters. Slim margins of legislative victory bring compromise and gridlock which the leadershiop don’t really oppose.

DAKAR MANIFESTO: Africa: from Resistance to Alternatives, 2001
Editors, The Black Agenda Review
The 2001 Dakar Manifesto had a simple but unassailable claim: the total and unconditional cancellation of the odious African debt.

Africa Confronts the Food, Fertilizer, and Climate Crisis
Ann Garrison
Food production in Africa is complicated by climate change and the use of fertilizers which increase food production but which also create green house gases and create other environmental harm.

A Football Fan’s Lord Prayer
Raymond Nat Turner
The latest from BAR’s poet in residence.

“We Can Save Ourselves”: An Interview with Onyesonwu Chatoyer
Onyesonwu Chatoyer, Roberto Sirvent
Onyesonwu Chatoyer of the All-African People’s Revolutionary Party and BAR Book Forum Editor Roberto Sirvent discuss how “We Can Save Ourselves.”

BAR Book Forum: Interview with Ayodeji Ogunnaike
Roberto Sirvent
As part of the Black Agenda Report Book Forum, we interview scholars about a recent article they’ve written for either an academic journal or popular publication. We ask these scholars to discuss their article, as well as some of the books that have most influenced them. This week’s featured scholar is Ayodeji Ogunnaike.

A Revolutionary Lens on U.S. Elections
Netfa Freeman
The electoral system isn’t meant to bring about change that benefits the people. Revolutionary and Pan-Africanist political goals can only be achieved through people-centered political formations.

The ‘Collective West’ Declares War on the World
Black Alliance for Peace
The U.S. remains committed to its efforts at securing hegemonic control of the world, but as always there is resistance domestically and internationally. The Black Alliance for Peace explains in its latest newsletter.

Don’t Greenwash Your Climate Crimes by Greenwashing Egypt’s Military Dictatorship
Y.Y.H. Al-Askar
As Egypt plays host to COP27, Y.Y.H. Al-Askar – writing under a pseudonym – draws attention to the plight of the tens of thousands of political prisoners in Egypt. Al-Askar points to the hypocrisy of Sisi, presenting himself on the international stage as a fighter for the oppressed while brutally repressing any Egyptian who dares to speak out against his military regime. Al-Askar argues that through its uncritical engagement with Sisi’s Egypt, COP27 threatens to derail the struggle for climate reparations while greenwashing Egypt’s military dictatorship.

Colombia’s New President Reverses US Coup, Visits Venezuela, Pledges Unity in ‘Spirit of Bolívar’
Ben Norton
Colombia’s first-ever left-wing leader Gustavo Petro took a historic trip to Venezuela, pledging regional unity following the anti-imperialist model of Simón Bolívar. Meeting with President Nicolás Maduro, Petro said it is “suicidal” to divide the countries, “because we are the same people,” in “historically one single Bolivarian nation, reunited.”

NATO in the Amazon: Petro Plays with Fire
Roger D. Harris
The US military will operate in the Amazon region of Colombia under the guise of protecting the environment. Gustavo Petro, the newly elected president of Colombia, agreed to this questionable arrangement which gives the US undue influence.

Briefing: NATO Claims Africa as Its ‘Southern Neighbourhood’
No Cold War
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization claims the African continent as its “neighborhood.” NATO is certainly not the defensive organization that it claims to be. Expanding imperialism is always its goal.