by BAR executive editor Glen Ford
Since the onset of the Obama phenomenon, Dr. Martin Luther King’s birth and death days have been “polluted” by false and ahistorical comparisons between Obama and MLK. The two men represent opposite political poles: one, a radical opponent of imperial war and concentrated economic power, the other, an ally of Wall Street and commander-in-chief of “the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today.” In focusing on King, the man of peace, Tavis Smiley’s PBS special corrects a history that has been distorted, sometimes beyond recognition – not the least by the revisionist and poseur in the White House.
The New York City police department keeps a list of 42,000 alleged gang members, and uses it to bring conspiracy charges that have resulted in mass arrests in Black and brown neighborhoods.
For the past five years, Buffalo, New York, cops have concentrated their checkpoints on the Black side of town, raking in record revenues from fines.
Cities have gone billions of dollars in debt to pay for court settlements and judgments against brutal cops, with the profits from these so-called “brutality bonds” going mainly to large banks.
Being the only sober guy at a victory party isn't fun.
The Drone Ranger’s wife purred, “When they go low—with boots on the ground—we go high with drones.” And Negroz got giddy— repeating ad nauseam…
