Black Agenda Radio for Week of Nov. 7, 2016 | Black Agenda Report

Black Agenda Radio for Week of Nov. 7, 2016

08 Nov 2016

🖨️ Print Article

Hi-Tech Production in the Service of Humanity in Mississippi

Renaissance Jackson, the organization that briefly won the mayor’s office in predominantly Black Jackson, Mississippi, has launched a campaign to purchase a coding and programming capacity and a 3-D fabrication facility. They call it “Fab Lab.” This technology, “if it is democratically controlled, could actually serve humanity,” said Cooperation Jackson spokesman Kali Akuno. These kinds of projects are crucial, “first and foremost, to satisfy some of the basic needs of our community, and -- on a deeper level -- to really put this means of production directly in our community’s hands.” High tech is “one of these areas of the so-called ‘digital divide’ that Black people have been sorely and strategically absent from,” said Akuno. “So, we are doing it for ourselves.”

Obamacare “Imploding and Beyond Repair”

The current wave of insurance rate hikes and medical service cutbacks is the predictable result of an Affordable Care Act (ACA) that “was pretty much a gift to the health insurance industry” when Congress passed it, in 2010, said Dr. John Geyman, professor emeritus of family medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine, in Seattle. ACA “was never designed for affordability -- it’s a misnomer in the name of the bill,” he said. Obamacare is “imploding and beyond repair,” and unsustainable. “Tweeks cannot work in the long term. The main fight should be for what will save money and give universal coverage to everyone: namely, single payer national health insurance.” Dr. Geyman said single payer healthcare could save $500 billion a year -- about the same as the entire U.S. “defense” budget.

The Fight for Education for Liberation in Detroit

At a “Community Conversation on the Crisis in the Schools,” Detroit activists, educators and parents gathered to address the question: “Who Created the School Crisis, and How are We Responding to it?” Among those wrestling with the issue was Dr. Thomas Pedroni, professor of Curriculum Studies at Wayne State University. He said the decline began with the state takeover of schools in the 1990s, and worsened dramatically after the imposition of state-appointed “emergency managers.” “School could be one of the most meaningful places for our communities, but instead, it’s deadened,” Dr. Pedroni told the crowd at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History. “But, we’re going to fight to get back to the place where we have culturally relevant curriculum, not just producing a test score but to develop people who are self-empowered and who know how to fight for their community.”

Venezuela Weathering Financial Storm, Despite Disinformation Campaign

“I challenge you to find one item of news that is positive to Venezuela in these last 16 or 17 years,” said Maria Paez Victor, a Venezuelan-born sociologist living in Toronto, Canada, and author of an article titled “Hating Venezuela.” Ms. Victor said the United States and its rightwing allies in Venezuela have kept up a non-stop disinformation campaign ever since the late Hugo Chavez and his Socialist Party were democratically elected in 1998. A crisis triggered by the collapse of world oil prices allowed the opposition to capture the legislature, last year, but Victor says the government is coping. “Venezuela has managed to weather a terrible financial situation, but this is bad news for corporate capitalism and for the United States, because they want Venezuela to be controlled by their lackies.”

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.

listen

http://traffic.libsyn.com/blackagendareport/blackagendaradio_20161107.mp3

More Stories

Salvador Ousmane
Nigerian government unleashes massive repression after #endhunger protests
25 Sep 2024
At the beginning of August this year, tens of thousands of Nigerians rose up to denounce the government in a movement that was organised under the slogans #endbadgovernance and #endhunger. For too…
The Cradle News Desk
Israel considers plan to impose siege, expel 300,000 Palestinians from northern Gaza
25 Sep 2024
The plan is being promoted by Reserve Major General Giora Eiland, who has encouraged the spread of disease among civilians in Gaza to help Israel win the war against Hamas.
Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist , Danny Haiphong, BAR Contributing Editor , Garland Nixon
Hezbollah Readies War, Israel's Pager Attack Ignites Fury | Garland Nixon & Margaret Kimberley
25 Sep 2024
BAR executive Editor, Margaret Kimberley, and Garland Nixon join Danny Haiphong to break down Israel's devastating pager attack on Lebanon and what it means for the possible outbreak of war after…
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
Black Agenda Radio September 20, 2024
20 Sep 2024
In this week’s segment, we learn about Aurora, Colorado, where a landlord used right-wing media to create a story of a non-existent gang crisis just as he was ordered to court to address violations…
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
Dr. Butch Ware on his Green Party Vice Presidential Campaign
20 Sep 2024
Dr. Butch Ware joins us from Santa Barbara to discuss the Green Party’s campaign, why it is under a sustained attack by Democrats, and what that means for black voters.