Don’t Depend on Obama
“Whatever happens in November, our job doesn’t change,” said anti-racism activist Tim Wise, author of Dear White America: A Letter to a New Minority. “The symbolic value of a Black face in a high place does not necessarily translate into structural change.” A mass movement is necessary to force elected officials to address social issues, “because they are not going to do it in and of themselves.”
COINTELPRO Never Ended
The government’s Counter Intelligence Program of the Sixties was never shut down, said Larry Pinkney, former Black Panther and political prisoner. The Feds continue to plant provocateurs in activist ranks. “It’s the oldest trick in the book,” said Pinkney, “and the reason it has consistently worked is, we’ve got too many ‘sheeple’ out there who are about to find themselves in a situation where they have no Constitutional or human rights.”
Offshore Trillions
Measuring the global elite’s offshore cash stashes is “like estimating the size of a black hole,” said James Henry, author of Tax Justice Network-USA study titled “The Price of Offshore, Revisited.” Between $21 trillion to $32 trillion is hidden from tax collectors, said Henry, a former chief economist for the McKinsey consulting group. Developing nations are actually net lenders to First World countries, “to the tune of $11 trillion, which is exactly opposite the way global capital markets are supposed to function.”
Africa at Crossroads
“The African Union has proven itself incapable of resolving armed conflicts” in Libya, the Ivory Coast and Guinea-Bissau, said Dr. Gerald Horne, professor of history and African American Studies at the University of Houston. South Africa, the sub-Saharan powerhouse, is key to continental security. “It’s either get South Africa off the sidelines or invite in the United States or some outside power – and, obviously, the latter is too ghastly to contemplate.”
Black Agenda Radio on the Progressive Radio Network is hosted by Glen Ford and Nellie Bailey. A new edition of the program airs every Tuesday at 4:00pm ET on PRN. Length: One hour.
Dr. Bertrhude Albert joins us to discuss the construction of the Ouanaminthe Canal, the history of the Massacre River, and the project's importance to the Haitian people.
Dorsey Nunn joins us to discuss a proposed amendment to California’s state constitution, ACA 8, which aims to abolish involuntary servitude as a form of criminal punishment.
Israel is crowing about rescuing four people held hostage and killing more than 200 Palestinians in the process. It is typical behavior for the apartheid state but all of the pressure it exerts can’t…
This short history of the Workers Party of Jamaica (WPJ) demonstrates that there was a moment in time when a radical remaking of Jamaican society seemed possible.
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR’s poet-in-residence, pays homage to San Francisco’s late shipyard artist, JoeSam.
