When Paul Robeson Denounced a President to His Face Dr. Gerald Horne, the prolific professor of history and African American Studies at the University of Houston, has turned out another book. Paul Robeson: The Artist as Revolutionary , explores the career and politics of the actor, singer, athlete, linguist, author, public intellectual and human rights activist who was, at one time, probably the most famous American in the world, yet died in state-enforced obscurity in Philadelphia. Dr Horne recounts how, at the White House, Robeson 'got in Harry Truman's face and wagged his finger and castigated and denounced the U.S. president for his lethargy in prosecuting lynchers' of Black soldiers 'at the same time that the Truman administration was vigorously prosecuting Nazi war criminals at Nuremburg.'
White and Black Joblessness: Two Separate Worlds The lowest Black state unemployment rate (Virginia) is equal to the highest white state unemployment rate (West Virginia), at 6.7 percent, according to an analysis of employment statistics by Dr. Valerie Wilson, of the Economic Policy Institute. "When you put that in the broadest context, that 6.7 percent is the worst that whites are doing in the country, you more fully understand just how unacceptable rates of Black unemployment are," said Dr. Wilson.
Turkey Tries to Wag U.S. Dog Into Wider War Turkish President Recep Erdogan is threatening to invade Syria, in league with Saudi Arabian military forces. "Erdogan is trying to use a tail-wagging-the-dog situation where he can force the United States and NATO into a confrontation" with Russia, said political analyst Eric Draitser, speaking on Russia Today’s "Cross Talk" program. Erdogan wants to 'double-down' in order to save his failed Syria regime change strategy, said Draitser, publisher of StopImperialism.org.
Definition of Disaster: Hillary Clinton, Commander-in-Chief A Hillary Clinton presidency 'would be a real disaster,' said Dr. Stephen Zunes, professor of International Studies at San Francisco University. "In many ways, her thinking parallels the neoconservatives," he said. President Obama "is going to come off as downright enlightened and moderate compared to what we're going to see under a Clinton administration."
Beyoncé Video is Capitalist-Minded In her "Formation" video, Beyoncé "talks about being a 'Black Bill Gates in the making,' clearly a reference to the hegemony and importance of a capitalist value framework," said Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and co-founder of the U.S. Human Rights Network. She tells oppressed people to "seek revenge through accumulating 'paper,' meaning money. These messages are quite conservative, quite accommodationist," said Baraka, speaking on Jared Ball's "I Mix What I Like" program on The Real News Network.
Kathleen Cleaver: Origins of a Panther Former Black Panther Kathleen Cleaver, honored at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, in Detroit, recounted how she was drawn to the Black movement in 1963 when, as a high school student, she saw a photo of three Black girls in the back of a paddy wagon, singing on their way to jail for protesting racial injustice in Georgia. "I wanted to be like them, I wanted to be in that organization," she said. Three years later, Cleaver joined the Black Power-era SNCC, and met her future husband, Eldridge Cleaver, a top leader in the Black Panther Party.
Mumia Plugs Angela Davis Book The nation’s best known political prisoner, Mumia Abu Jamal, gave a boost to former political prisoner Angela Davis’ new book, Freedom is a Constant Struggle . “At times history lesson, political education, world studies and gender theories, Angela Y. Davis gives us all a lot to ponder,” said Abu Jamal, in a Prison Radio commentary.
The Movement Needs Dragons Khalil Bennet, one of several thousand prison inmates sentenced to life for offenses committed when they were juveniles, said many of his comrades “have been detained since the late 1970s, “raised and trained by the best revolutionaries in the worst conditions that America produced.” Many are now eligible for release in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that such sentences are cruel and unusual punishment. The former “juvenile lifers” could become the cadre for an emerging movement. “When the prison gates open,” said Bennet, “the real dragons fly out.”
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Saladin Muhammad was the founder of Black Workers for Justice. He played a key role in developing Black revolutionary labor organizing.
This week’s featured author is Andrea Freeman. Freeman is Professor of Law at the University of Hawaii William S. Richardson School of Law. Her book is Skimmed: Breastfeeding, Race, and Injustice.
Statues of Limitation
The Black Alliance for Peace AFRICOM Watch Bulletin #41 analyzes how white supremacy operates through the actions of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. As always the AFRICOM Watch…
Zambia is heading toward critical negotiations to restructure its mounting debts. The IMF has approved a $1.3 billion bailout plan for the country, which will impose cruel austerity measures on the…
