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 
by Jahan Choudhry, Comments Editor
03 Jul 2019
Letters from Our Readers 
Letters from Our Readers 

This week Venezuela, Zionism in the Congressional Black Caucus, and Gandhi and the anti-colonial movement are discussed.  We received comments for “Why Venezuela Is the Vietnam of Our Times” and “Will New Black-Jewish Caucus in Congress Advocate for Israel?” We also received more feedback for radio segment “Gandhi’s Struggle Relevant to 21st Century Anti-Imperialism”and “Philadelphia to Celebrate Mahatma Gandhi and the Black Freedom Movement.”  [These pieces refer to an initiative this writer is involved in. This writer authored the latter piece.]

In “Philadelphia to Celebrate Mahatma Gandhi and the Black Freedom Movement” Jahan Choudhry provides an analysis of Gandhi’s importance as an anti-colonial theorist and leader in light of a Philadelphia campaign to commemorate him in his 150thbirth anniversary.  Dr. Anthony Monteiro argues that activists must look to Gandhi to complete the movement from colonialism and imperialism to freedom, justice, and socialism.  

Youri Smouter wrote in last week about these articles.  He follows up to the authors’ responses from last week by writing:

“I'm dismayed by Dr. Anthony Monteiro reactions to the legitimate criticisms of Gandhi and the inflammatory remark that Arundhati Roy is a ‘bourgeoise liberal.’ That's just not true if you read her book about the current state of India, Capitalism a Ghost Storyand her many writings and comments against India's trajectory towards ‘western modernization,’ her support for the Maoist rebels in India, her criticisms of what she calls the Hindu corporatist state of India and its media organs then that comment just doesn't hold water. On Gandhi she simply is reminding people to not overlook Gandhi's part as being controlled opposition and part of the Indian National Congress which is part of the Indian Misleadership Class which has failed decade after decade in eliminating the caste system and sectarianism and if we explored the often overlooked dark side of Gandhi, not just on caste but his own racism against our own black folk it would give answers as to why the Indian National Congress has been an obstacle to ending extreme poverty and the caste system in India and why our anti-colonial/imperial struggles have a hard time building solidarity and united front. So sadly the type of reaction Dr. Monteiro and others have displayed proves my point that though we should honor elements of Gandhi and his influence on non-violence and civil disobedience we shouldn't lionize him as an infallible deity, especially when he was often times controlled opposition and when it came to Black folks in South Africa he saw us as the untouchables in a racial pyramid -- and that's just the tip of the iceberg with Gandhi..”

Jahan Choudhry responds:

“The question is not whether Gandhi or other anti-colonial leaders were infallible or not. Also, I fail to see how Gandhi, who led the first successful major anti-colonial movement of the 20thcentury, can be a ‘misleader’ for not being perfect.   The problem with this criticism, or that made by figures such as Roy, is that it makes the fallacy of arguing that the incompleteness of Gandhi’s anti-colonial project means that it is morally and politically wrong. Simply because Roy and her ilk criticize the West does not mean they are anti-Western.  A revolutionary and anti-colonial analysis must not just critique but offer an alternative.  The best alternative to the Western imperial project is offered by the anti-colonial project of the 20thcentury, of which Gandhi is an ideological and moral pillar. By attacking the anti-colonial movement as fundamentally flawed, Roy and others leave no alternative for the majority of humanity other than the European enlightenment project or romantic but directionless violence such as Naxalism.  This radical chic may appeal to Westernized Indians and Western activists but it remains at its core another variant of bourgeois liberalism.

“As for the allegations of anti-black racism against Gandhi they are based on sentiments he had when he himself was in the process of shedding the Western education he absorbed in Britain.  Much of the language he used and beliefs he had are not so different from how Westernized African elite described the African masses.  The maturing Gandhi had to undergo a process of shedding his elite education and thinking that set a precedent for many future anti-colonial leaders. I reiterate the recommendation to read E.S. Reddy’s detailed piece on the evolution of the Mahatma’s views on Africa and Africans.  The crystallization of Gandhi’s thinking on the unity of Pan-Africa and Pan-Asia resulted in independent India’s commitment to decolonization in Africa and the formation of the Non-Aligned Movement as a powerful Afro-Asian bloc.  The smears of the anti-Gandhi critics are a direct attack on this anti-colonial process.  The completion of this process in our time is the most crucial task in building a world of peace and justice for the darker peoples of the Earth.”

In “Why Venezuela Is the Vietnam of Our Times” Celina della Croce discusses the hybrid war on Venezuela and the ways in which the significance of its battle against imperialism is the same as Vietnam’s was during the Cold War.

Youri Smouter writes:

“Interesting the Vietnam comparisons, I would also add that Venezuela is the Haiti of our, the Nicaragua and Guatemala, Chile, Brazil, Grenada of our times, as once again a democratic socialist government or social democratic government is under sieged, slandered as a communist one party tyranny, and enough Western NGOs and enough controlled opposition leftist are helping in the slander and the beat to war. Sadly, there is no global protests against Venezuela like there was against World War I, the Vietnam War or the second Iraq War, no one arguing in conversations or placards and protests like Iraq "NO War for Oil" and instead the pathetic excuse of a left we have in the West with regards to Venezuela, want socialist reforms at home but ironically imperialism abroad in Venezuela. So sadly, Venezuela isn't the Vietnam or Iraq of our times, it is the Manifest Destiny and Scramble for Africa of our times due to much of the Western governments and other forces endorsing this grotesque act of imperialism the Maduro government and its mass supporters face.”

“Will New Black-Jewish Caucus in Congress Advocate for Israel?” by Josh Reubner examines the founding of the new caucus and the ardent Zionism and Islamophobia of leading Jewish representatives in it.

Bobby Floyd writes:

“It’s sickening to me all these new quasi-Black Caucuses they are creating. (I just learned last week that there is a Black-Caribbean Caucus). These things aren't empowering us, but only help to destroy Black political power and render us irrelevant.”

Ben Eli Osterburgh writes:

“Never underestimate how conservative and fearful establishment Democrats are, and CBC is no exception. Rep. Lewis should take a good look in the mirror and think about retiring from the Black Misleadership Class.”

This week we got into some important debates.  Let us continue discussing the controversies and central questions of the day on this page.

Jahan Choudhryis 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

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 and its relation
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


  • Black Agenda Radio March 24, 2023
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Radio March 24, 2023
    24 Mar 2023
    In this segment, we learn why Atlanta is the site of the planned Cop City police training facility in what purports to be a Black mecca
  • Ray McGovern Connects Anniversary of Iraq Invasion and Ukraine Proxy War - Part 1
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Ray McGovern Connects Anniversary of Iraq Invasion and Ukraine Proxy War - Part 1
    24 Mar 2023
    Ray McGovern served as a CIA analyst for 27 years, from the administration of John F. Kennedy to that of George H. W. Bush.
  • How Atlanta Politics Led to Cop City
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    How Atlanta Politics Led to Cop City
    24 Mar 2023
    Tea Troutman is a community organizer, urbanist, and cultural critic from Atlanta, Georgia. They are currently a Ph.D. student in Geography at the University of Minnesota working on a dissertation…
  • Biden Continues Punitive Immigration Policies - Part 1
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Biden Continues Punitive Immigration Policies - Part 1
    24 Mar 2023
    Aly Wane is on the advisory board of the Immigrant Justice Network. He joins us from Syracuse, New York to discuss Biden administration immigration policy and its similarities with that of Trump and…
  • Commemorations of the Attack on Iraq March 20th and Libya March 19th Reaffirm that the U.S./EU/NATO Axis of Domination Remains the Greatest Threat to International Peace on our Planet
    ​​​​​​​ Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist
    Commemorations of the Attack on Iraq March 20th and Libya March 19th Reaffirm that the U.S./EU/NATO Axis of Domination Remains the Greatest Threat to International Peace on our Planet
    22 Mar 2023
    Iraq and Libya were both targeted by the U.S. in the month of March. The anniversaries of these war crimes must be commemorated, and the nature of the US/EU/NATO war machine must be understood.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us