Wyclef Jean Godsend for U.S., France; NYPD Top Cop is “Rogue”; Cynthia McKinney Bikes for Peace; Blacks Get Little News Coverage
by Nellie Bailey and Glen Ford
Wyclef Jean’s “Divisive” Role in Haiti
Should we take entertainer Wyclef Jean’s candidacy for the Haitian presidency serious? “In normal times, in a country that was functioning normally,” said community activist and radio host Roger Le Duc, “it would be a joke.” But with the state that Haiti is in today, Jean’s role could be to “divide the popular masses” to the advantage of American, French and Canadian overseers.
Blacks Not Newsworthy
A Pew Research Center study shows African Americans and their issues “attracted relatively little attention in the U.S. mainstream news media during the first year of Barack Obama’s presidency” – only 1.9 percent of total coverage. “Race, or the impact of White supremacy on Black people,” says BAR’s Dr. Jared Ball, “has disappeared from the mainstream.”
NYPD’s “Rogue” Police Commissioner
Raymond Kelly, the New York City police commissioner who has presided over a draconian stop and frisk policy targeting mainly Blacks and Latinos, is a “rogue” cop who practices blatant and “illegal racial profiling,” says Noel Leader, co-founder of 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care. Stop and frisks reached nearly 600,000 last year.
From Katrina to the Jena Six
People learned to fight for their rights “in really inspiring ways” in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and the unjust arrest of six young Black men in Jena, Louisiana, writes New Orleans-based journalist and activist Jordan Flaherty. His new book, “Floodlines: Community and Resistance, from Katrina to the Jena Six” examines the changing methods of struggle in the 21st century.
McKinney’s Bike4Peace Journey
Former Georgia congresswoman and Green Party presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney is traversing the country by bicycle in the service of peace. “On the way,” she said, “we are finding that we are, indeed, the majority. The majority of people don’t want war, and certainly we don’t need war as an energy solution.” The bike caravan arrives in Washington, DC, September 22.
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 4:00pm ET on PRN. Length: One hour.
Construction of the Ouanaminthe Canal is a declaration of self-determination for the Haitian people.
The Fair Access to Victim Compensation Act was recently signed into law in New York.
Some of Israel's defenders want to do away with the concept of genocide in hopes of washing away its war crimes. Any redefinition would allow the U.S. to disappear the many genocides it has committed…
Palestinian poet Refaat Alareer, a martyr of zionist state genocidal violence, has left us with a tale of resistance and hope.
Black Agenda Report Editor and Columnist Ajamu Baraka has thoughts on Black Misleadership, faux human rights, the decline of the Empire, white Social Democrats, and other issues.
