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

When Movements Embrace Police Abolition, the Rich Resurrect “Reform”
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford
09 Mar 2021
🖨️ Print Article

Margaret Kimberley · When Movements Embrace Police Abolition, the Rich Resurrect “Reform”

“As soon as movements emerge that identify the normal operations of the police” and other capitalist institutions as the problem, the regime directs the language of the debate towards reform, said Dylan Rodriguez, professor of medica culture at the University of California at Riverside. “People are no longer tolerating anti-Black police terror,” said Rodriguez. To change the subject from police and prison abolition, the system’s defenders pretend the debate is centered on preservation of these institutions, through reform.

Police Repression

Related Podcasts

BAR Radio Logo
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
Black Agenda Radio January 23, 2026
23 January 2026
In this week’s segment, we cover state repression and regime change efforts.
ICE Protest
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
ICE Domestic Repression in Minnesota
23 January 2026
Mnar Adley is the founder and director of MintPress News, an independent media outlet.
Ilyasah Shabazz
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
Shabazz Family Lawsuit Against the FBI and NYPD
03 October 2025
The investigation of the 1965 assassination of El Hajj Malik El Shabazz, Malcolm X, was compromised by the NYPD and the FBI from the very beginning

More Stories


  • Is the UAE in Control in Somalia?
    Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    Is the UAE in Control in Somalia?
    07 Jun 2023
    Many Somalis think that the United Arab Emirates is now as much or more in charge in Somalia than the Somali government.
  • Another June 1
    Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    Another June 1
    07 Jun 2023
    Another June 1
  • BAR Book Forum: Interview with Mukul Sharma
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Interview with Mukul Sharma
    07 Jun 2023
    This week’s featured scholar is Mukul Sharma. Sharma is Professor of Environmental Studies at Ashoka University. His article is “Caste, Environment Justice, and Intersectionality of Dalit–Black…
  • Not One Step Backwards! FBI Attacks the Black Liberation Movement…again. Drop the Charges NOW!
    Ekenge Mayele
    Not One Step Backwards! FBI Attacks the Black Liberation Movement…again. Drop the Charges NOW!
    07 Jun 2023
    The Black is Back Coalition issued this call to their 14th annual national conference to be held in St. Louis, Missouri on August 12 and 13.
  • Jamaica: the Rendezvous of Shame
    Isabelle Papillon
    Jamaica: the Rendezvous of Shame
    07 Jun 2023
    Since the summer 2021, after the assassination of Haiti’s de facto president, Jovenel Moïse, the U.S. and its western imperial partners have been trying to send armed foreign military to forcefully…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us