Black Power Matters in 2016 “Fear of fascism being ‘right around the corner’ – this time in the form of Donald Trump – always means a vote for some kind of Democrat, as opposed to building our own independent political power,” said Omali Yeshitela , chairman of the Black Is Back Coalition for Social Justice, Peace and Reparations. The Coalition will hold a national conference on the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election and the Struggle for Black Self-Determination, in Harlem, New York City, on April 9 . “What we’re seeing with this election is real evidence of the political weakness” of Black revolutionary forces, who have failed to keep Black self-determination at the forefront, said Yeshitela.
All Power to the Disrupters Bernie Sanders apparently believes socialism can be achieved without much disruption of the prevailing order. The Democratic presidential candidate recently denounced all “disruptions” of political gatherings, including Donald Trump events. Veteran activist and historian Paul Street , author of They Rule: The 1% vs. Democracy , called “disruption” a “legitimate part of American life.” Said Street: “I guess Bernie needs to go back and re-read Howard Zinn’s best selling, classic People’s History of the United States .” Or anything by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Flint Isn’t EPA’s Only Victim A Virginia Tech professor of Environment and Water Resources accused the federal Environmental Protection Agency of being “willfully blind to the pain and suffering of Flint residents, unremorseful of their role in causing this man-made disaster, and unable to learn from their mistakes.” Prof. Marc Edwards testified before a congressional hearing on the poisoning of Flint, Michigan’s water. “Malfeasance at the EPA from 2001 to the present has harmed cities all over the United States,” said Edwards.
Death of a Political Poet and Prisoner Mondo Welanga , born David Rice 68 years ago, died in a Nebraska penitentiary cell after spending the past 46 years serving a life sentence, along with Ed Poindexter, in the death of an Omaha cop. Amnesty International recognized Welanga and Poindexter as Prisoners of Conscience. Mumia Abu Jamal , the nation’s best known political prisoner, called them “soldiers for the people, dedicated to their defense and security.”
Walanga was a poet, some of whose works appeared on Prison Radio. His 2015 poem When It Gets To This Point condemns those who “replace facts with spin” as
“the beatings and the chokings and shootings
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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.
The United States has declared war against the Cuban people for more than 60 years.
Read this essay by Afro-Surinamese writer and resistance fighter, Anton de Kom, about the entrenched legacy of Dutch racism and colonialism in the Caribbean.
Dr. Cornel West announced a presidential run as a People's Party candidate but later announced he was seeking the Green Party nomination.
This week’s featured author is Dixa Ramirez-D'Oleo. Ramirez-D'Oleo is Associate Professor in the English department at Brown University. Her book is This Will Not Be Generative.
