Black Agenda Radio for Week of December 11, 2017
Universities Nurtured Ideology of Slavery
A group of Black students at the University of Chicago is demanding the institution acknowledge its financial roots in the slave system and make reparations to the Black community. Kamm Howard, co-chair of NāCOBRA, the National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America, supports the studentsā demands. Howard said U.S. universities ālaid the moral, intellectual and so-called scientific foundation for the institution of enslavement. They produced tons of pseudo-science that led to the dehumanizing of African people.ā
Puerto Rico Crippled Before Hurricane Hit
Harsh austerity measures imposed by a federal financial oversight board set Puerto Rico up for disaster, said Lara Merling, a researcher for the Washington-based Center for Economic and Policy Research. A new study shows about 1,000 more deaths resulted from Hurricane Irma than were officially reported. āItās not surprising that the Puerto Rican government had no ability to respondā to the storm, as a result of the spending cuts, said Merling.
International Commission Probes U.S. Police Impunity
Maria Hamilton, mother of Dontre Hamilton, a mentally challenged young Black man who died in a hail of Milwaukee police gunfire in 2014, was among those that testified at hearings of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, in Washington. Cops have killed thousands, ābut there has been no justice in any of these shootings,ā said Hamilton. āWe are fighting for our childrenās lives who are no longer here.ā
The U.S. Supported Anti-Black Forces in Libya
It should have come as no surprise that the same ārebelsā the US supported in its 2011 war against Libya are now selling Blacks into slavery at auction, said Robin Philpot, who published Maximillian Forteās influential book Slouching Toward Sirte. Assassinated Libyan leader āMuammar Gaddafi made it very clear that Libya was committed to African unityā under his government. U.S.-backed ārebelsā targeted Black Libyans for death and detention ā and now, enslavement.
Mumia Thanks His Supporters
Activists gathered in Philadelphia to march, attend teach-ins and demand freedom for Mumia Abu Jamal, who has spent 35 years behind bars in the death of a policeman. From his confinement, Mumia told supporters, āThrough it all, I have never felt alone. Behind brick and steel, I felt your loveā¦ever present.ā
Black Agenda Radio on the Progressive Radio Network is hosted by Glen Ford and Nellie Bailey. A new edition of the program airs every Monday at 11:am ET on PRN. Length: one hour.
The Black Alliance for Peace released a statement in solidarity with the people of Gaza and all Palestinians under occupation in the racist, apartheid settler state of Israel.
The current political turbulence in Franceās former colonies in Africa can perhaps be understood as the continuation of an unfinished project of decolonization.
No one better exemplifies the Democratic Partyās overarching identity politics than California Governor Gavin Newsom.
For the tenth time in the last 30 years, the United Nations vote to authorize an occupation of Haiti.
Millions of people voted for Green Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader in 2000 but now he has denounced them and himself by proclaiming his support for Joe Bidenās re-election.
