Black Agenda Radio

Welcome to the radio magazine that brings you news, commentary and analysis from a Black Left perspective. I’m Margaret Kimberley, along with my co-host Glen Ford. Coming up: The nation’s best known political prisoner will celebrate his 67 th birthday later this month, if Mumia Abu Jamal survives his latest health crisis. And, most people think of maroons as enslaved people that escaped to hideouts in the mountains. However, history shows that maroons often found freedom at sea. But first – George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police set off the largest protests in US history. The trial of the cop charged in Floyd’s murder was still in progress when police in a nearby town killed another unarmed Black man. In Washington, Sputnik Radio host Garland Nixon spoke with Dr. Gerald Horne, the prolific writer and professor of African American Studies and History at the University of Houston. Dr. Horne says Blacks have always been in conflict with the U.S. State and its police. That was Dr. Gerald Horne, speaking on Sputnik Radio, in Washington. Justin Dunnavant is a post-doctoral student with a deep interest in Maroons, the enslaved people that escaped captivity and established relatively free settlements in the Americas. Dunnavant has researched enslaved and maroon communities in the Caribbean, Central America and Africa. He’s written an article titled, “Have Confidence in the Sea: Maritime Maroons and Fugitive Geographies.” Dunnavant says people that escaped from slavery lived in lots of places besides up in the mountains, thanks to their seagoing skills. That was Justin Dunnavant, an expert of seagoing maroon communities. Supporters of Mumia Abu Jamal, the nation’s best known political prisoner, expected that he would undergo heart surgery for blocked arteries last week. But the Pennsylvania prison system won’t even tell Mumia’s family what medical plans they have for responding to Abu Jamal’s health crisis. A number of his supporters gathered for a press conference last Thursday, in Philadelphia, hosted by educator Marc Lamont Hill. First up, was Mumia’s grandson, Jamal, who said the people’s movement – not supposedly progressive district attorney Larry Krassner – would ultimately free Mumia.

Welcome to the radio magazine that brings you news, commentary and analysis from a Black Left perspective. I’m Margaret Kimberley, along with my co-host Glen Ford. Coming up: Gentrification is shrinking Black populations in cities across the country. We’ll speak with a Black trans anarchist organizer who says poor folks need to stop gentrification in its tracks, by taking over every vacant building. And, despite all the high hopes among Black voters, President Joe Biden is already deporting huge numbers of Black immigrants. But first – David Stovall is a professor of African American Studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and an organizer with the Peoples Education Movement. Dr. Stovall is deeply involved in the fight to slow down and reverse the ongoing Black exodus from Chicago. He’s author of an article titled, “Engineered Conflict: School Closings, Public Housing, Law Enforcement and the Future of Black Life.” Dr. Stovall explained why he thinks the conflicts affecting Blacks in the cities are “engineered.” That was Dr. David Stovall, speaking from Chicago. No big city has seen more gentrification and Black push-out than San Francisco. Nevertheless, black trans anarchist organizer Jemma DeCristo is still there, in the city by the bay. DeCristo is in full agreement with a recent Truthout article on the mostly white and affluent folks that call themselves “YIMBYs.” These YIMBYs say “Yes” to the proliferation of high cost housing in their own backyards and throughout the city. But Jemma DeCristo says what the rich gentrifiers are actually saying when they call themselves YIMBYs is, “Yes to white supremacy in my backyard.” That was Jemma DeCristo, speaking from San Francisco. SEE-ON Gurmu is Legal Director of the Black Alliance for Just Immigration, or BAJI, which advocates for the rights of Black immigrants to the United States. BAJI is part of the Black Immigration Network. SEE-On Gurmu says the new Biden administration immediately showed its hostility to Black immigrants  

Welcome to the radio magazine that brings you news, commentary and analysis from a Black Left perspective. I’m Margaret Kimberley, along with my co-host Glen Ford. Coming up: Corporate Democrats and Republicans have long had a near- monopoly on electoral politics. But the Black Is Back Coalition wants to put Black Liberation in the U.S. electoral mix. And, the term fascism looks quite different from a Black historical perspective. Ajamu Baraka takes an in-depth look at the subject. But first – We’ll hear from Samaria Rice, mother of Tamir Rice, the 12 year-old Black youth who was shot to death by Cleveland police in 2014. She’s joined with Lisa Simpson, mother of Richard Risher, the 18 year-old shot dead by Los Angeles police in 2016, to demand accountability from the small group of people that control millions of dollars in Black Lives Matter donations. The mothers are demanding a meeting with Patrisse Cullors, Sean King and Tamika D. Mallory to address a whole range of proposals on the future of the Black liberation movement. Ms. Rice is advised by activist and academic Dr. Joy James and Fred Hampton Jr., son of the assassinated Chicago Black Panther Leader. Rice says it’s time that the Black Lives Matter hashtag folks answer to the Black community. That was Samaria Rice, mother of Tamir Rice, speaking from Cleveland. On April 10 and 11, the Black Is Back Coalition for Social Justice, Peace and Reparations will hold its yearly Electoral Campaign School – digitally, of course. Black Is Back chairman Omali Yeshitela tells us how the electoral school became a yearly feature of the Coalition’s schedule. That was Omali Yeshitela, chairman of the Black Is Back Coalition. The Black Alliance for Peace is one of the member organizations of the Black Is Back Coalition. Alliance National Organizer Ajamu Baraka recently addressed the subject of fascism. We think Baraka’s remarks are a useful addition to Omali Yeshitela’s position on fascism.

Welcome to the radio magazine that brings you news, commentary and analysis from a Black Left perspective. I’m Margaret Kimberley, along with my co-host Glen Ford. Coming up: There are many obstacles to Black American liberation. We’ll speak with a young writer and activist who says one of the primary impediments to a more powerful liberation movement is the Black elite, whose main goal is to prosper under capitalism. And, we’ll take a look at the life and work of Audre Lorde, the poet and Black feminist thinker. But first – Transgender people attempting to migrate to the United States have a difficult time, especially if they’re Black. A young woman who goes by the name Deborah “A” is a national organizer for the Black LGBTQIA+ Migrant Project – or, “BLMP,” for short. Deborah “A” says the BLMP works through regional networks across the country. That was Deborah “A”, of the Black LGBTQIA+ Migrant Project. It’s bad enough that Black liberation movements have always encountered massive white American hostility, but elite sectors of Black America have often opposed mass Black street action. Kandist Mallett is a columnist for Teen Vogue magazine. She’s author of a recent column titled, “The Black Elite Are an Obstacle Toward Black Liberation.” That was writer and activist Kandist Mallet. Jack Turner is a professor of political science at the University of Washington, and co- editor of the book, “African American Political Thought: A Collected History.” Turner’s contribution to that collection is a chapter titled, “Audre Lorde’s Politics of Difference.” It’s a rich subject. Audre Lorde was an important Black poetic and feminist luminary who was New York State Poet Laureate in the last years of her life. Professor Turner says Lorde clashed directly with President Reagan when the U.S. invaded the Caribbean nation of Grenada, in 1983. Professor Jack Turner, speaking from the University of Washington. With U.S. media describing the past 12 months as the “worst year ever,” imagine if you were locked up in even closer confines, with no defense against Covid-19 for a solid year. Long term Pennsylvania prison inmate Segio Hyland filed this report for Prison Radio. And, here’s another report from a Prison Radio correspondent – Tabitha Maynerd, incarcerated in Michigan.    

Welcome to the radio magazine that brings you news, commentary and analysis from a Black Left perspective. I’m Margaret Kimberley, along with my co-host Glen Ford. Coming up: the prolific radical professor Joy James speaks out on decolonizing the Black movement in the United States. Dr. James urges activists to condemn the militarization of US African policy, as well as militarized policing in Black communities in this country. And, Great Britain, which grew rich through centuries of global looting and mass enslavement, is now eager to deport thousands of Black residents as morally unfit to reside in the United Kingdom. But first – the United States and Europe are the wealthiest nations in the world, but have done very poorly in coping with the year-long Covid-19 epidemic. So have most of the former white settler colonies of Latin America. Layla Brown-Vincent is a professor of Africana Studies at the University of Massachusetts, at Boston, and author of a recent article titled, “The Pandemic of Racial Capitalism: Another World is Possible.” She says that Cuba showed, early in the epidemic, that its practice of socialist internationalist medicine is the global gold standard. That was Dr. Layla Brown-Vincent, speaking from the University of Massachusetts, at Boston. In celebration of International Women’s Day, the Decolonial Feminist Collective recently hosted an online interview with Dr. Joy James, the prolific author and Professor of Humanities at Williams College. The talk was entitled, “Radicalizing and Decolonizing Feminism.” Dr. James says the subject has revolutionary roots. Dr. Joy James was interviewed by Jalessah T. Jackson, and Salome Ayuak, of the Decolonial Feminist Collective. Around the turn of the 21 st century, Great Britain began a wave of deportations of Black residence with roots in Jamacia and other former colonies in the Caribbean. Luke De Noronha, a writer who teaches at the University of Manchester, is author of the book, “Deporting Black Britons: Portraits of Deportation to Jamaica.” According to De Noronha, the British government claims it is only ridding itself of “foreign criminals.”

Welcome to the radio magazine that brings you news, commentary and analysis from a Black Left perspective. I’m Margaret Kimberley, along with my co-host Glen Ford. Coming up: The Black Is Back Coalition is made up of 15 organizations that work together on issues of mutual concern. We’ll hear from two activists who spoke at a recent Black Is Back Coalition webinar. And, if colonialism is dead, then why are European nations effectively doing border patrol thousands of miles deep inside the African continent? We’ll explore why so many African migrants are drowning at sea, while Europeans and Americans establish military bases all over the continent. But first – at least 25 organizations around the country are fighting to establish community control over the police. One of them is Pan-African Community Action, or PACA, in the Washington DC area. But PACA organizer Netfa Freeman says some activists mistakenly think that community control over the cops means keeping the blue “army of occupation” in place. In reality, says Freeman, community control is the best – and most democratic -- way to achieve both defunding and total abolition of the police. That was Netfa Freeman, of Pan-African Community Action, speaking from Washington DC. The Black Is Back Coalition for Social Justice, Peace and Reparations has been around since 2009 and is now made up of 15 organizations, all of which are united around a 19 point National Black Political Agenda for Self-Determination. The Coalition held a webinar, last week, on the subject: “Fascism, Neoliberalism, and the Way Forward.” We’ll hear from two of the speakers. Jihad Abdulmumit is chairman of the Jericho Movement, which fights to free political prisoners. And, Ajamu Baraka is national organizer for the Black Alliance for Peace. We begin with Abdulmumit, followed by Baraka. That was Ajamu Baraka, of the Black Alliance for Peace. Ever since Barack Obama’s administration, the African continent has once again been crawling with European and American soldiers and foreign military bases. We spoke with Ampson Hagan, a PhD candidate in anthropology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He’s been doing research on how Europeans, in partnership with the United States, have essentially extended their borders deep into Africa in order to keep Black migrants from getting anywhere near Europe. Hagan says the focus of this containment policy is the former French colony of Niger.

Welcome to the radio magazine that brings you news, commentary and analysis from a Black Left perspective. I’m Margaret Kimberley, along with my co-host, Glen Ford. Coming up: Calls are mounting to abolish the cops on US college campuses. And, where does the US get the right to dictate who governs Haiti? We’ll speak with a longtime fighter for Haitian sovereignty. But first – It’s been confirmed that the nation’s best known political prisoner, Mumia Abu Jamal, has been infected with Covid-19. Abu Jamal is a senior citizen prisoner, having spent the last 39 years in the Pennsylvania prison gulag. Longtime Mumia supporter Dr. Johanna Fernandez held a press conference to demand that Abu Jamal and all elderly inmates and political prisoners be set free. Fernandez was joined by Mumia’s movement doctor, Ricardo Alvarez, and Rev. Kieth Collins, who has known Abu Jamal since they were both youngsters in Philadelphia. Dr. Fernandez said setting Mumia freeis good medicine, as well as justice. That was Rev. Keith Collins, speaking from Philadelphia. The modern Free Speech Movement began on California college campuses in the Sixties, and soon led to demands that campuses be free of police. But instead, cops have become even more deeply entrenched and militarized at US colleges, just as in the larger society. Dylan Rodriquez is a professor of Media and Cultural Studies at the University of California at Riverside, and he has plenty of experience combating the cops. Dr. Rodriguez says both the university system and its campus police are undergoing a crisis of legitimacy. That was Professor Dylan Rodriguez, speaking from the University of California, at Riverside. The Haitian people have made it plain that they want to be rid of Jovenel Moise, the incredibly corrupt president imposed on Haiti by the United States. Thousands of Haitians have been in the streets for weeks, demanding that Moise step down. But the regime refuses to budge, and has responded with gunfire that has left dozens dead. Dr. Jemima Pierre is an anthropologist in the Department of African American Studies at UCLA, and an activist with the Black Alliance for Peace. Pierre was interviewed by Dr. Jared Ball on his influential podcast, “I Mix What I Like.” She says Washington is the source of Haiti’s misery.

Welcome to the radio magazine that brings you news, commentary and analysis from a Black Left perspective. I’m Margaret Kimberley, along with my co-host Glen Ford. Coming up: Some say the term fascism was born when Europeans started treating each other the way they’d been treating the colonized people of the world for centuries. We’ll discuss the subject with Omali Yeshitela, of the Black Is Back Coalition. And, Ajamu Baraka, of the Black Alliance for Peace, warns that you can’t effectively fight police repression at home while condoning the U.S. acting like the policeman of the planet. But first – a new newspaper has hit the streets in Philadelphia, dedicated to the liberation of the nation’s best known political prisoner, Mumia Abu Jamal. Pam Africa is coordinator of International Concerned Family & Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal. She wants folks to sign a petition, in the newspaper, demanding that Philadelphia’s district attorney stop standing in the way of Abu Jamal’s freedom. That was Pam Africa, of International Concerned Family & Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal. Mumia has been confined to the Pennsylvania prison system for the past 39 years. He filed this report for Prison Radio, in memory of Cicely Tyson. At noon on Saturday, March 6, the Black Is Back Coalition for Social Justice, Peace and Reparations will hold a webinar on “Fascism, Neoliberalism, and the Way Forward.” The Democratic Party claims that it is a bastion of resistance to Republican fascism – but it is the Democrats that are most eager to put limits on free speech and access to the Internet. Black Is Back Coalition chairman Omali Yeshitela offers this analysis. That was Omali Yeshitela, of the Black Is Back Coalition, speaking from St. Petersburg, Florida. The U.S. Peace Council recently held a joint webinar with the Venezuelan section of the Committee for International Solidarity and Struggle for Peace. The event’s lead speaker was Ajamu Baraka, national organizer of the Black Alliance for Peace.  

Welcome to the radio magazine that brings you news, commentary and analysis from a Black Left perspective. I’m Margaret Kimberley, along with my co-host Glen Ford. Coming up: Black people in Britain go to prison at roughly the same rate as African Americans, and British activists are also demanding prison and police abolition. Dr. Gerald Horne says the United States is finding out that it’s no longer a uni-polar world, with Washington in command of everybody else. And, we’ll hear two essays from prisoners of the American Mass Black Incarceration Regime. But first -- SAHM-ah Mcgona SEE-say is a Justice Fellow at the Center for Constitutional Rights, and an organizer with the group called “Survived and Punished.” Police claim they are the force that fights for the rights of victims. But in fact, says SEE- say, the police, prosecutors and prisons only create more victims. She explains. Many Americans are unaware that Black people in Great Britain have a long history of urban rebellions against racist policing. We spoke with Dr. Elliot Cooper, a Research Associate at the University of Greenwich, who sits on the board of The Monitoring Group, which challenges state racism and racial violence. Dr. Elliott-Cooper is co-author of a scholarly article on Britain, race and the criminal justice system, titled “Moral Panic(s) in the 21 st Century.” Dr. Gerald Horne is professor of History and African American Studies at the University of Houston. Horne, a prolific author, was interviewed on a Sputnik Radio program hosted Dr. Wilmer Leon the Third, in Washington. Dr. Leon noted that president Joe Biden has been making noises about maintaining strong US economic sanctions against governments he doesn’t like, and insisting that US allies go along with Washington’s dictates. But, Europe seems tired of being bossed around the U.S, as Dr. Horne explains. This week, we’re featuring two items from deep inside the U.S. prison Gulag. Laura Taylor is locked up in the Pennsylvania state penal system. She’s composed a message to the guards that boss her around every day and night. Ms. Taylor calls it a “Resignation Letter.”

Welcome to the radio magazine that brings you news, commentary and analysis from a Black Left perspective. I’m Margaret Kimberley, along with my co-host Glen Ford. Coming up: A professor at Morgan State University sees today’s Black Americans as still living in the wake of slavery. He calls social activism “wake work.” And, a professor of theology believes t  hat religion remains a great resource for social transformation, despite the great harm perpetrated by organized religion over the centuries. But first -- Ajamu Baraka, national organizer for the Black Alliance for Peace, recently spoke at a webinar put together by the Dissenters organization. The subject: How the new Democratic administration is attempting to refurbish and strengthen the Euro-American world order, under the leadership of US Imperialism. Dr. Corey Miles teaches sociology and anthropology at Morgan State University, in Baltimore. He says today’s Black US population is living in the “wake” of centuries of slavery, and that the work activists are doing now should be called “WAKE work.” “Wake” is not the same as “woke” – but Professor Miles says both concepts can be understood through Hip Hop.   Dr. Vincent Lloyd, a professor of theology and Africana Studies at Villanova University, says a progressive, liberationist theology can be useful to the movements against both police repression and U.S. imperial wars. However, Dr. Lloyd acknowledges that Christianity is a two-edged sword. Jesus is often called the Prince of Peace, but hundreds of millions have been killed or enslaved in the name of Christianity.