Black Agenda Report
Black Agenda Report
News, commentary and analysis from the black left.

  • Home
  • Africa
  • African America
  • Education
  • Environment
  • International
  • Media and Culture
  • Political Economy
  • Radio
  • US Politics
  • War and Empire
  • omnibus

Black Agenda Radio for Week of June 22, 2015
23 Jun 2015

Charleston Massacre: Vintage Americana

Activist and writer Kevin Alexander Gray lives in Columbia, South Carolina, not far from the Charleston church shooter’s home town, where “a Confederate flag on the bumper of a car is just as common as a stop sign.” It’s also where Dylann Roof learned that Blacks are constantly raping white women and trying to take over the nation, said Gray. “That kind of racist talk is as old as the relationship between Black folk and white folk in America.”

Black Church Needs to Beef Up Security

“This is an assault against the Black church and its members,” said Rev. Anthony Evans, executive director of the Washington-based National Black Church Initiative, a multidenominational coalition of Black churches across the country. Rev. Evans has gone South to advise coalition congregations “how to harden their church in terms of the safety of men, women and children. They don’t have to worry about this in a white church,” he said. “We only have to worry about this in the Black church.”

People’s Power vs Black Political Class

The Winchester and Sandtown neighborhoods of Baltimore were the centers of protest against the police killing of Freddie Gray. The experience “has opened their eyes to the role of the state” in fostering poverty and powerless,” said Andre Powell, of the People’s Power Assembly. Although Black politicians may appear to run the show in the majority Black city, “the big financial boards, the Chamber of Commerce, those are the folks that really decide what’s done in Baltimore,” he said.

Mass Movement Needed

Maryland is the fourth Blackest state in the nation, but solving the state’s problems is “not all Black and white,” said Dr. Kenneth Morgan, who teaches Urban Studies at Coppin State University. Morgan works closely with the Ujima People’s Progress Party, which is trying to get a spot on the statewide ballot. “Our efforts are to organize and mobilize a mass movement, and to help rekindle a national movement.”

Dominican Republic Seeks to Deport Dark-Skinned Residents

Nearly a million Haitian migrant workers and descendants of Haitians face deportation from the Dominican Republic. Two deadlines for registration with the government have passed, but only a minority of those affected have succeeded in navigating the process. The DR depends on Haitians for low wage labor, but wants to keep the migrants insecure in order to further exploit them, said Dahoud Andre, a New York-based Haitian community activist and radio host. “At the same time that they threaten to deport hundreds of thousands, don’t be surprised that they are bringing in other Haitian workers to replace them.” The dispute is inextricably entwined with Dominican racism against Black Haiti.

Eritrean Identity “Most Sought After” Among African Refugees

A UN report claims the tiny East African nation of Eritrea is responsible for a huge share of the refugees fleeing to the West. The report characterizes Eritrea’s compulsory national service as a form of slave labor. In an interview on Iran’s Press TV, journalist Thomas C. Mountain, who has lived in and reported from Eritrea since 2006, said the report is “a complete fabrication,” but conceded that national service “is very hard on our kids,” who want “to go out and make some money.” The Eritrean refugee numbers are vastly inflated, said Saba Gebregiorgis, an Eritrean living in Britain. “European countries give preferential treatment to Eritreans” as political refugees, said Gebregiorgis. “This has resulted in the Eritrean identity becoming the most sought after identity among the whole African population, including Ethiopians, Somalis, Sudanese, and even West Africans,” who pretend to be Eritrean for asylum purposes.

Black Agenda Radio on the Progressive Radio Network is hosted by Glen Ford and Nellie Bailey. A new edition of the program airs every Monday at 11:00am ET on PRN. Length: One hour.

 



Your browser does not support the audio element.

listen
http://blackagendaradio.podbean.com/mf/web/5swuif/BAR_062215.mp3

More Stories


  • White Supremacy, Nazism and Fascism R U.S.
    Philippe Gendrault, Wendy C. Ong
    White Supremacy, Nazism and Fascism R U.S.
    01 Dec 2021
    Only the United States and Ukraine voted against a UN Resolution denouncing the "glorification of Nazism." History proves that racism in all its forms is foundational to this country and contin
  • Potential Legislation on China Amounts to a New Cold War
    Aída Chávez
    Potential Legislation on China Amounts to a New Cold War
    01 Dec 2021
    The $250 billion "Innovation and Competition Act" leverages industrial policy to ratchet up militarization and potentially instigate global conflict with China.
  • Ethiopia: The West’s Diplomats Meet in Secret to Decide How to Help the TPLF
    Jeff Pearce
    Ethiopia: The West’s Diplomats Meet in Secret to Decide How to Help the TPLF
    01 Dec 2021
    Former and current diplomats from the US, EU and UK met with representatives of the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF).
  • WHO Stands with African Nations and Calls for Borders to Remain Open
    World Health Organization
    WHO Stands with African Nations and Calls for Borders to Remain Open
    01 Dec 2021
    Scientists in Southern African nations revealed the presence of the Omicron Covid-19 variant but the good deed was punished with worldwide travel bans. The World Health Organization makes clear
  • Anti-Communism, Anti-Blackness, and Imperialism
    Charisse Burden-Stelly, PhD
    Anti-Communism, Anti-Blackness, and Imperialism
    01 Dec 2021
    In this talk prepared for the Albuquerque Anti-War Coalition‘s 
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us