by Christopher Thompson

The Pentagon is embarked on a massive effort to
militarily secure African oil assets for the United States. Under cover of the
so-called "war on terror," the U.S. is deepening its military ties to
"friendly" African regimes, enhancing their capacity to deal with internal
dissidents and external rivals. From the Horn of Africa to the Gulf of Guinea
and the Niger Delta, the Americans bolster authoritarian regimes and flaunt
U.S. air, naval and "special operations" power. Even the FBI has gotten into
the act, performing interrogations of hundreds of "suspects" swept up in
Ethiopia's invasion of Somalia and brutal suppression of internal foes.

by Laura
Carlsen

The basic elements of a horror story are being
assembled on the U.S. southern border, which in the next decade or so may
become the scene of perpetual low-level warfare. An "American Militarized
Security Zone" is slowly taking shape, fueled by racist rhetoric and a fortress
mentality that can only lead to transformation of the U.S.-Mexican border into
a permanent battleground. In an extrapolation of current realities into the
future, the author presents a nightmare scenario of a garrisoned region where "body-counts"
and marshal law are the order of the day.

by Richard Gott

A viewer of Venezuela's
RCTV's game shows, newscasts and talk shows would have been led to believe that
Venezuela was a lily-white nation, rather than a country that is 70 percent
indigenous and African descended. When President Hugo Chavez yanked the racist
outlet's license, corporate "journalists" around the world cried foul. In
reality, RCTV was an integral institution of the white minority power structure
that has repeatedly tried to overthrow Chavez's democratically elected
government, with the support of the Bush regime. The station's conversion to a
people's broadcast outlet has empowered the non-white majority, and inflamed
the privileged minority that has held sway since the days of the conquistadors.

America's love affair with the gangster-killer-thug
Soprano family proves beyond doubt that white violence is exalted in the
culture, while Black violence is Public Enemy Number One. Tony Soprano needs a
high-priced psychiatrist, but a million Black men and women deserve a living
death in prison. Gangster-actors Edward G. Robinson, James Cagney and Humphrey
Bogart are revered as cultural icons, while Seventies so-called
"Black-sploitation" films and contemporary rap recordings are condemned as
symptoms of African American social pathology. Violence, apparently, is an exclusive White Right.

by Leutisha
Stills, chief congressional correspondent, CBC Monitor

Congressional Black Caucus leadership insists on
continuing its indecent dance with FOX News despite public and internal
opposition to a joint CBC-FOX Democratic presidential debate. With only three
candidates now willing to participate, it is doubtful the accursed event will
occur as planned, in September. However, the Caucus' willingness to partner
with Rupert Murdoch's racist propaganda machine reveals a deep corruption among
the Black misleadership class. If they are willing to tango with FOX News,
they'll have illicit relations with anybody.

by BAR contributing
editor Nathaniel X Turner II

Barack Obama is a double-whammy: a pretender to Black
leadership who refuses to even acknowledge the existence of a "Black America."
With an Audacity of Arrogance, this self-styled "Joshua" claims unearned moral
authority to demand loyalty from African Americans, while avowing that he
himself has no loyalty to any "tribe." Far from representing the fulfillment of
Blacks' historical dreams, Obama's candidacy is anathema to the very concept of
African American self-determination.