Black Agenda Report
Black Agenda Report
News, commentary and analysis from the black left.

  • Home
  • Africa
  • African America
  • Education
  • Environment
  • International
  • Media and Culture
  • Political Economy
  • Radio
  • US Politics
  • War and Empire

Black Agenda Radio for Week of February 8, 2016
09 Feb 2016
🖨️ Print Article

McKesson Parachutes into Baltimore Democratic Mayoral Primary

DeRay McKesson, the Twitter communicator who heads Campaign Zero, is a “ridiculous” candidate for mayor of Baltimore, said Jill Carter, the most radical member of the Maryland state legislature. “He hasn’t been part of any movement or struggle here, or any social circles other than, possibly, social media.” McKesson, a Teach for America alumnus and staunch advocate of charter schools, “may also cause a greater wedge in the justice movement” in Baltimore, said Carter, who notes that corporate media have given the McKesson campaign more play than the rest of the crowded field of candidates.

Movement Must Fulfill Its Obligations to Political Prisoners

People’s lawyer and former political prisoner Lynne Stewart and Ralph Poynter, the veteran human rights activist and educator, said the current movement must reaffirm its support for political prisoners and prisoners of war. “Let us not divert our energies into the courts, because if we do that, we lose the streets, and the streets is where it’s got to happen,” said Stewart, who spent 28 months in federal prison for the crime of zealously defending her client. Her husband Poynter said lawyers must defend “those brothers and sisters who defied the government in the same way that the government defied their rights – by using force.”

McKinney: “Selective Outrage” Over Flint

The Democratic Party is displaying “selective outrage” in its attempts to gain political points from the poisoning of Flint, Michigan’s water system, said Dr. Cynthia McKinney, the former six term congresswoman from Georgia and Green Party presidential candidate. “Where has the Congressional Black Caucus been on Detroit, where you’ve got all that water, but they were turning people’s water off?” she said. McKinney noted that the Black Caucus has failed to support Rev. Edward Pinkney, the Benton Harbor, Michigan, community activist who is imprisoned on political charges for opposing corporate domination of his majority Black town.

Good Riddance “Sweet Mickey”

The Haitian people are glad at the exit of Michel “Sweet Mickey” Martelly, the U.S.-backed president chosen five years ago in a blatantly rigged election, whose term of office ran out last Sunday, said Jerome Franz, a Haitian community activist living in Miami. Public outrage over voting fraud forced the cancellation of run-off presidential elections and the appointment of a transitional government. Were it not for massive voter suppression, former president Jean Bertrand-Aristide’s party, Fanmi Lavalas, “would sweep every single post,” said Franz, because “Lavalas is the party of the popular movement.” Martelly’s party’s strength flows from the huge sums of money put at its disposal by the U.S. and other foreigners.

CLICK BELOW TO HEAR BLACK AGENDA RADIO

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.



Your browser does not support the audio element.

listen
http://blackagendaradio.podbean.com/mf/play/s3z5hn/BAR_020816.mp3

More Stories


  • x
    Djibo Sobukwe
    Fidel Castro, the Cuban Revolution and Africa
    11 Aug 2026
    In commemoration of the Fidel Castro centenary on August 13, 2026, we present remarks given by Djibo Sobukwe at The Symposium on Fidel Castro and the Cuban Revolution on January 21, 2017,…
  • Karin Stanford
    Afterlife of a Hijacker
    11 Aug 2026
    Former Black Panther Deputy Minister of Defense Byron Booth's journey from Compton to Cuba, Algiers to Lagos, reveals the global reach of Black radicalism in a 2016 interview.
  • Orinoco Tribune
    ‘To the Victor Belong the Spoils’: Trump Flaunts US Plunder of Venezuela
    11 Aug 2026
    The U.S. is not shy about proclaiming its control of Venezuela and its resources.
  • Kit Klarenberg
    Collapsing Empire: US Creates New African Psyops Unit
    11 Aug 2026
    From boots on the ground to battles for the mind, an examination of the Pentagon's new psychological operations unit illustrates Washington's bid to reclaim influence in Africa.
  • Ali Ridha Khan
    The Assassinated Word: Kanafani at 54
    11 Aug 2026
    "54 years after his assassination by the Zionist entity, Ghassan Kanafani’s career, politics, and dedication to the Palestinian Liberation struggle remain instructive for anti-imperialist struggle in…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us