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Black Prison Gulag and the Police State

Tue, 03/04/2008 - 18:00 — Glen Ford

by BAR executive editor Glen Ford

The U.S. is King of the global prison hill, the result of a ferocious policy of mass Black incarceration. A new study by researchers at the Pew organization shows the U.S. is number one in numbers of prisoners per capita and sheer size of the national inmate population - many more inmates than are incarcerated in 1.2 billion population China. Seven times more Americans are locked up than during the early 1970s, when the prison explosion began, with non-whites now representing large majorities of prisoners. Mass Black incarceration is a deliberate policy of every state in the nation - a furious backlash against Black gains during the Sixties that continues unabated, disconnected from actual crime rates. Prison "reform" is a worthy goal, but the ongoing crime against African Americans as a people must be tackled head-on, by confronting the true nature of the beast.

Obamarama: Is it a Movement? Or is it Marketing? And What Should We Be Doing?

Wed, 02/27/2008 - 11:11 — Bruce A. Dixon
no_honest_abe
 A Black Agenda Radio commentary by Bruce Dixon
 
Is the Barack Obama campaign actually what it claims to be - the heir to and continuation of an historic and broad-based transformative movement for social change? What exactly are the differences between a social movement, a political candidacy, and a marketing campaign? How do we begin to unravel how much of Obamarama is movement and how much is marketing, and where will the promised and hoped-for "change" actually come from, if it comes at all?
  We regret that the audio of this Black Agenda Radio commentary is no longer available.

No Arms! No Transfers! No Military Aid! It's Time To Demilitarize US Policy in Africa

Wed, 02/27/2008 - 10:53 — Anonymous

by BAR managing editor Bruce Dixon

072_BAR_diego_garcia_airfield

Since the end of the Cold War, under
Democrats and Republicans alike, the US has provided tens of billions
of dollars worth of military aid, military training and arms transfers
to 50 of the 54 nations in Africa. America's militarized foreign policy
has transformed Africa into the poorest and most war-ravaged continent
on earth, with several armed conflicts raging at any one time over the
last two decades, and American arms and training a factor in at least
one of each. It is the militarization of US policy toward Africa that
has manufactured the "failed states" which, like the Congo are ideal
for the extraction of African resources, as well as the desired excuses
for further military intervention.

The
only solution is the complete de-militarization of all US foreign
policy on the African continent, and the withdrawal of all US bases and
troops from Africa.

Freedom Rider: Progressives Cave to Obama

Tue, 02/26/2008 - 18:00 — Margaret Kimberley

by BAR editor and senior columnist Margaret Kimberley 

FRObama_Money

The rush to tag along with Barack Obama's
presidential juggernaut shows beyond doubt that progressive "movement" politics
is "on its death bed" in the United States, on both sides of the racial divide.
Move On gave its millions-strong mailing list no choice but to endorse one or
the other of the political twins, Clinton or Obama, affirming its allegiance to
"lesser-of-evils" politics. The Nation magazine noted the glaring
evidence that Obama is no progressive - and then rewarded him with an
endorsement for "reaching out to independent and Republican voters." Race pride
motivates veteran activists and rank-and-file African Americans to imagine
Obama's program for racial equality actually exists, despite all evidence to
the contrary. White and Black Democrats reveal that they want nothing more than
a ceremonial "seat at the table" - anything to avoid the hard work of
opposition to corporate rule.

James Orange, Civil Rights Legend

Tue, 02/26/2008 - 18:00 — Heather Gray

by
Heather GrayRevCloseFaceCap

He was the quintessential activist, a man who
addressed all other strivers for social change as "leader." Rev. James Orange,
an indispensable leader who was "central to virtually every critical movement
for justice in the South and the country since the 1960's," was laid to rest in
Atlanta last weekend, mourned and celebrated by hundreds of the many millions
whose lives he touched. Rev. Orange is said to have been arrested at least 100
times since offering himself as a foot soldier in the Freedom Movement in
Birmingham, 1962. He committed his phenomenal organizing skills to the service
of peace and social justice around the globe, never wavering in selfless
dedication to the cause of universal human rights. A true leader of the people,
Rev. Orange exemplified and personified the meaning of the term, "anointing
thousands around the country and the world with that very mission."

U.S. Among Harshest for Sentencing Children

Tue, 02/26/2008 - 18:00 — Daniel Macallair

by Daniel Macallair

PrisonHandsBars

The American Prison Gulag, the shame of the
planet, reveals its utter barbarity in condemning thousands of children to
permanent imprisonment. The U.S. "justice" system far outpaces the world in
handing down life sentences to those who are not yet adults. "South Africa has
four, Tanzania has one, and Israel has seven. In contrast, the United States
has 2,270 children serving such a sentence." In gross violation of
international conventions, American child sentencing practices are "inhumane
and inconsistent with civilized society and thus rejected by the rest of the
world."  Rightwing, racist ideology has
"created a political culture where politicians compete over who is more
ruthless in sentencing offenders." The primary mechanisms for permanent child
incarceration are felony murder statues, abhorred as unjust by most of the
globe.

Bahia, Brazil,1798: The Revolution of the Black Jacobins

Tue, 02/26/2008 - 18:00 — Mário Maestri
 by Mário MaestriBrazilMullatoWithGun

Brazil, with the largest Black population outside of Africa, once showed promise of becoming a planetary powerhouse of racial equality and social democracy. In the revolutionary period following France's declaration of the "Rights of Man," Brazilians of all hues and many classes were stirred to action - "conspiracy" - to overthrow Portuguese colonial despotism based on slavery. In the forefront were Black slaves and freemen, and "colored" artisans and soldiers who schemed to achieve a nonracial society in the southern hemisphere. They were repeatedly betrayed by a multi-racial caste of informers, and by an ambitious white elite that "dreamed about the independence of Bahia," the center of Brazil's slave trade and economy, "but were afraid about the liberation of the captives."

Poetry from Kemet Mawakana

Tue, 02/26/2008 - 18:00 — Kemet Mawakana

7_foot_poet_upright_250wideaka "The Seven-Foot Poet"

 

"FARE" 

 

Our resident poet contemplates the "Fare" that Black folks are required to pay. When you read and hear this week's offering from Kemit Mawakana, you'll get his meaning.

To experience the written or audio versions of FARE, click the link below. 

 

 

Black Caucus Pitches Fit at Union Over Wynn Loss

Tue, 02/26/2008 - 18:00 — Leutisha Stills

CBCEdwardsHeadShotby Leutisha Stills, CBC Monitor

Members of the Congressional Black Caucus are "seething" with anger over Rep. Al Wynn's Democratic primary defeat at the hands of Donna Edwards, in Maryland earlier this month. The Service Employees International Union did what unions are supposed to do: financially support a progressive challenger over a corporate-bought incumbent. But enraged CBC members see the handwriting on the wall: they too can be ousted by BlackCBCseiuLogo progressive campaigns energized by labor dollars. Given the CBC's continuing drift to the Right, members feel threatened. In typical fashion, they insinuate that the heavily Black SEIU is meddling in intra-Black political affairs - when the truth is, Caucus members increasingly rely on corporate funding for job security, and vote accordingly. The CBC's panicked reaction to Donna Edwards' victory speaks volumes about their growing capitulation to Big Business.

A Black President? Sure. But If We Don't Do Nothin' He Won't Do Nothin'

Wed, 02/20/2008 - 03:31 — Anonymous

amiri_baraka_02

a speech by Amiri Baraka, recorded earlier this month in Newark

Give Obama a break, some of his supporters argue. He's got to get elected first.  Till them he can't be seen acknowledging the needs of Black America for job creation on a vast scale, for an end to foreclosures, the repeal of No Child Left Behind, the equitable rebuilding of the Gulf Coast, and lowering of the prison population and cutting military budget to free up money for these and other human needs. 

Poet, playwright and longtime activist Amiri Baraka has a different take on the Obama candidacy, and the responsibility of the politically conscious. 

In this speech he cautions those who imagine  Obama will make a difference without a strong left movement pressuring and pushing him further and faster than he and his corporate backers really want to go.  

Freedom Rider: Bush Wins in 2008

Tue, 02/19/2008 - 18:00 — Margaret Kimberley

by BAR editor and senior columnist Margaret Kimberley

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The Great Global Power Shift: It’s Already Here

Tue, 02/19/2008 - 18:00 — Glen Ford

 

A Black Agenda Radio commentary by Glen Ford

We're sorry but the audio for this commentary is no longer available.

The American disinformation regime - a hermetically sealed "bubble" - convinces its citizens that the U.S. is and forever will be supreme on the planet. Ignorance may be bliss, but cannot alter the facts of rapid U.S. decline, a spiral that is the inevitable "blowback" of 60 years of undeserved, coerced, and artificially constructed dominance. The tools and traps that were designed to ensnare the planet in the U.S. corporate/military web, have instead led to American shrinkage in all things except military might. But weapons of war cannot replace a bulldozed manufacturing base, or reinvigorate a service sector whose services are increasingly unwanted, or repair a U.S.-led financial system that is terminally choked with worthless paper "instruments." The West-East, North-South shift is well underway - whether Americans know it or not.

On Black Violence

Tue, 02/19/2008 - 18:00 — Mel Reeves

by Mel ReevesViolenceCrips

Often with the best intentions, many African
Americans have effectively joined our worst enemies in proclaiming
"Black-on-Black" violence to be the main problem afflicting Black America.
"There is no such thing as black-on-black violence, there is just violence," says
the author. Violence is real, but misdiagnosing the problem diverts attention
from the real source, "a lack of will on the part of the US government and its
ruling class to grant real opportunity to all of its citizens." Those Blacks
that turn away from struggle against the propagators of inequality, come perilously close to blaming their own people for the mayhem. Yes, violent crime is up, but so are all the
social indices that lead to homicidal crime in the inner cities. Confusing
cause and effect is politically suicidal, and only tends to confirm racist
claims that Black American culture is, at root, "pathological."

Poetry from Kemit Mawakana

Tue, 02/19/2008 - 18:00 — Kemet Mawakana

7_foot_poet_upright_250wideaka "The Seven-Foot Poet"

Black Agenda Report introduces to these pages our resident poet, Kehmit Mawakana, also known as the "Seven-Foot Poet." An acclaimed spoken word artist and author, Mawakana explores the totality of African/human existence from his Washington, DC-based vantage point - like the confluence of behaviors and attitudes encountered both in church and on the subway, where "they got people and cameras watching you - just like at church."

To read, or listen to "Palm Sunday", click the link below.

 

Framing Muslims and Locking Up Their Money

Tue, 02/19/2008 - 18:00 — Cynthia McKinney

by
Cynthia McKinneyCynthiaMuslimWomenPray

The U.S. government has for years been engaged
in a witch hunt against Muslim charities, seizing assets and persons on little
or manufactured evidence of "terrorist" activities. Meanwhile, blatant spying
on behalf of Israel goes unprosecuted, and is even rewarded with promotions to
the highest, most sensitive levels of government. Human rights cease to exist
in a legal free-fire zone in which all things Muslim or Arab are deemed
subversive. All pretense of constitutional government vanishes when
institutions and individuals are targeted based on ethnicity and religion. The
real conspiracy against so-called "American values" is headquartered in U.S.
law enforcement and "security" agencies that "wreak
fear and terror inside this country's Muslim community."

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