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
  • omnibus

Letters from Our Readers 
Jahan Chowdhry, BAR Comments Editor
24 Apr 2019
Letters from Our Readers 
Letters from Our Readers 

This week readers discussed identity politics and imperialism, the Green New Deal, and the legacies of communism and NATO.  We share comments for “Green Party Necessary to Pass Green New Deal,” “Global NATO: A 70 Year History of Oppressors in Crisis,” and “Freedom Rider: The ‘Resistance’ is Silent on Julian Assange.”

In radio segment “Green Party Necessary to Pass Green New Deal” Howie Hawkins that since the proposal will face stiff resistance from House Democratic leadership, the Green Party is necessary to push for the Green New Deal. 

Ed Humphrey writes:

“Democratic party leadership may not be able to stop it. Reality is fast catching up and may drive the necessity like a wild fire that just overtakes them. This Summer/storm season is going to be an eye opening b***, as if the past several years haven't been enough yet. Plus there is a lot of clamor in the party to run on climate change as the center issue. The Green Party needs to just keep building, providing a platform which at some point necessity may dictate discontent will coalesce behind it.”

In “Global NATO: A 70 Year History of Oppressors in Crisis” Horace Campbell details the racist, imperialist history of the alliance and calls for progressive forces to unite in dismantling it.

Ifaroju Obatala writes:

“Please stop the stupidity! Ask any ex-Soviet countryman of Latvia, Estonia, Ukraine or Croatia if they miss being a part of the Soviet Union and they will tell you NO! We have to stop being pawns for other people’s agendas and start looking through the lens of the African Spirit as the top priority.”

LP Ernestoresponds:

“I have talked to many people from Hungary, Romania and other countries. They strongly oppose being part of NATO. Most of them see the fall of communism as tragedy for their lives.
“But in any case, what does that have to do with calling out NATO imperialism? Have you ever read the history of Africa in the 20th century? Do you know which countries and organizations created empires in Africa in which country supported independence movements? Do you know the role of the Soviet Union in Africa?”

In “Freedom Rider: The ‘Resistance’ is Silent on Julian Assange” Margaret Kimberley exposes the imperialist nature of the so called “anti-Trump Resistance.”

Trish Driscoll writes: 

“Recently I was practically burned at the stake by several friends in the LGBTQA+ community -- of which I am a member -- when I called into question the veracity of Rachel Maddow on the question of Russophobia and issues like trusting the CIA (surprisingly they did).  

“Later, while discussing this rather shocking event, another friend pointed out that Rachel is a lesbian, which was news to me as I unplugged from the msm matrix long ago.  It then struck me that here was a case of identity politics getting in the way of truth.

“Particularly sad for me was the failure of any speaker at our recent annual Transgender Day Of Visibility event to mention Chelsea Manning, her role in revealing horrific war crimes, her imprisonment, or her torture in solitary confinement.   Another case of identity politics overruling exposing the truth. Neither Bernie nor any Democratic politician who posted rainbow flags outside their offices on that day mentioned her either, hypocritically playing identity politics.”

Combating pro-imperialist identity politics is a major task for the black liberation movement today.  With your comments we think through the ways to conduct this ideological struggle.

Jahan Choudhry is Comments Editor for Black Agenda Report.  He is an organizer with the Saturday Free School based in Philadelphia, PA

COMMENTS?

Please join the conversation on Black Agenda Report's Facebook page at http://facebook.com/blackagendareport

Or, you can comment by emailing us at comments@blackagendareport.com

Comments

Do you need and appreciate Black Agenda Report articles. Please click on the DONATE icon, and help us out, if you can.


Related Stories

Letters from Our Readers
Jahan Choudhry, BAR Comments Editor
Letters from Our Readers
21 April 2021
This week pro-Zionist censorship and police brutality were on your minds.
Letters from Our Readers
by Jahan Choudhry, Comments Editor
Letters from Our Readers
07 April 2021
In "On Anarchism and Black Revolution" Peter James Hudson examines the historical roots of critiques of anarchism a
Letters from Our Readers
Jahan Choudhry, BAR Comments Editor
Letters from Our Readers
31 March 2021
This week the U.S. state’s propaganda and the Black elite were on your minds.
Letters from Our Readers
Jahan Choudhry, BAR Comments Editor
Letters from Our Readers
10 March 2021
This week Pan Africanism and the Black Panther Party were on your minds.
Letters from Our Readers
Jahan Choudhry, BAR Comments Editor
Letters from Our Readers
03 March 2021
This week the blackout in Texas, the recent film on Fred Hampton, and Democracy Now’s international coverage were on your minds.
Letters from Our Readers
Jahan Choudhry, BAR Comments Editor
Letters from Our Readers
24 February 2021
This week you discussed the struggle against the dollar and neocolonialism.
Letters from Our Readers
Jahan Choudhry, BAR Comments Editor
Letters from Our Readers
17 February 2021
This week color-blindness on the left and the Black Misleadership Class were on your minds.
Letters from Our Readers
Jahan Choudhry, BAR Comments Editor
Letters from Our Readers
10 February 2021
This week you discussed the multilayer crisis facing American people.
Letters from Our Readers
Jahan Choudhry, BAR Comments Editor
Letters from Our Readers
03 February 2021
The federal government’s stimulus payments and the role of black police officers were on your minds.
Letters from Our Readers
Jahan Choudhry BAR Comments Editor
Letters from Our Readers
27 January 2021
This week our readers talked about the weakness of the U.S. left, the storming of the Capitol, and the crisis of U.S. imperialism.

More Stories


  • Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    Washington DC Mayor Muriel Bowser Epitomizes Black Misleadership
    20 Aug 2025
    Mayor Bowser going along to get along with Donald Trump is unsurprising to anyone who has followed her political career. She is the Black misleader par excellence.
  • Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    ESSAY: The Haitian Revolution and its Impact on the Americas, Michel-Rolph Trouillot, 1991
    20 Aug 2025
    “To understand the history of the Americas we must pay tribute to…Haiti.”
  • Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    Delirious New Cold Warrior Ted Cruz Proposes US/Israel/Taiwan/Somaliland Pact
    20 Aug 2025
    Senator Ted Cruz has written an open letter urging Trump to recognize Somaliland, causing jubilation among Somaliland secessionists.
  • Jon Jeter
    Clutching at Pearls, the World’s Largest Criminal Enterprise, the US, Cracks Down on Crime
    20 Aug 2025
    The latest liberal discourse on crime offers gardening as a panacea for violence and pathologizes communities while absolving the state of its role in creating the conditions of poverty and despair.
  • Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    Ms Maxwell and The Art of The Deal
    20 Aug 2025
    "Ms Maxwell and The Art of The Deal" is the latest from BAR's Poet-in-Residence.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us