This week the blackout in Texas, the recent film on Fred Hampton, and Democracy Now’s international coverage were on your minds. We share your letters for “Freedom Rider: No Human Rights in Texas,” “Judas and the Black Messiah: A Missed Opportunity,” and “Democracy Now Provides Cover to State Department Propaganda Campaign Against China.”
“Freedom Rider: No Human Rights in Texas” by Margaret Kimberley examines the failures of politicians, the media, and the economic system in meeting the needs of ordinary people in Texas.
Bill Rood writes:
“Margaret's comments in the article are spot on. I especially like her subtle criticism of AOC, ‘Stupid politicians, tit for tat attention seeking, and feel-good fund raising are not the point of the matter.’ Certainly Cruz is worthy of criticism for his callousness, but what else is new? The same is true of AOC's grand-standing. What else is new?
“What's new is the now glaring evidence of Texas' underlying failures in maintaining its infrastructure and safe-guarding the welfare of its people. There is simply no refuting the observation that the upper Midwest and Canada did not suffer similarly, which is not to brag that political systems there are any better. All are driven by the profit motive. Texas utilities saved a lot of money by ignoring the unpredictability of Texas winter weather and preparing accordingly, and the Energy Reliability Council of Texas failed in its regulatory capacity.”
In “Judas and the Black Messiah: A Missed Opportunity” Dante James critiques the recent film for its pessimistic and apolitical of Fred Hampton and the Black Panther Party.
Anti-Racism Media writes:
“Dante James says it right, a lost opportunity. The continuation of the controlled narrative is evident from the lens of the story. The lens is that of a Race Manager. The Power of the Spirit of Self Determination is given only glimpse. The window from which we are allowed to see is the uplifting of the controlled narrative. The controlled negro. The Proxy Racist has been given the story. The Revolutionary Spirit is relegated to sound bytes of slogans.... yeah you right Dante, more than a missed opportunity, you have called out what should be obvious, Black Power is the threat to the control apparatus.”
“Democracy Now Provides Cover to State Department Propaganda Campaign Against China” by Danny Haiphong argues that the show has become a reliable platform for uncritical regime change propaganda aimed at the enemies of the US state.
Stanley Laham writes:
“I began to suspect that something was amiss with a Democracy Now since the mid 90s. Their approving coverage of the Clinton Administration’s perfidious neoliberal assault on Haiti totally surprised me. At first I thought it was an honest misunderstanding of what was really going on. A policy supported by a completely bought off Black Caucus led by the corrupt Maxine Waters. I wrote repeatedly to DN and Amy Goodman trying to elucidate what was really going on. After a few attempts I came to the same conclusion pointed out by this article.”
Nina Felshin writes:
“Very brave of you, Danny, to tackle this subject. Very few, if any, have spoken out about her shocking positions on China, Syria, Russia, etc. How about a follow up piece that explores what's behind this? If it is about "following the money," how about digging into that and exposing it? I've also noticed that she most frequently references the MSM these days, including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and even the Atlantic Council.”
Struggling against imperialism in progressive circles remains a constant challenge. A serious US left will oppose imperialism in all its forms.
Jahan Choudhry is Comments Editor for Black Agenda Report. He is an organizer with the Saturday Free School based in Philadelphia, PA.
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