Black Agenda Radio for Week of April 23, 2018
Corporate Media “Could Care Less” About International Law
University of Illinois professor of international law Dr. Francis Boyle said the illegality of U.S. attacks against Syria and occupation of its territory is a non-issue for U.S. corporate media. “They couldn’t care less,” said Boyle. “They’re all bought and paid for by big business and interlocked with the arms industry. We have the best media that money can buy, just like we have the best Congress that money can pay for.”
Durham NC Bans Police Exchanges With Israel
A ten-group coalition won unanimous passage of a bill prohibiting the Durham police department from exchanges of training or information with Israel -- the first city in the U.S. to do so. “If you’re going to exchange information and be trained by Israel, that means you’re going to get trained in apartheid tactics,” said Ajamu Amir Dillahunt, of Black Youth Project 100, part of the Demilitarize Durham2Palestine Coalition.
South Carolina Wants to Silence Inmates at Troubled Prison
“Brothers are going to find a way to communicate with the outside, and they will no longer tolerate the kind of human rights abuses that previous generations experienced,” said longtime prisoner rights advocate Efia Nwangaza, director of the Malcolm X Center for Self-Determination, in Greenville, South Carolina. The state’s governor blames cell phones for violence that left 7 inmates dead and at least 17 injured at the Lee County corrections facility -- the deadliest prison disturbance in a quarter century. Nwangaza said any effort to confiscate all cell phones behind the bars would result in “all out war.”
Homecoming for Two of the Bronx 120
Two years ago, New York City police and federal agents stormed into five housing developments in the Soundview section of The Bronx and swept up 120 young men on criminal conspiracy charges. Officials claimed it was the biggest “gang” raid in NYC history. This Friday, community organizers will welcome home two of those arrested. Kraig Lewis was doing graduate studies in college when the raid hit. “It felt like they were kidnapping us,” he told Black Agenda Radio producer Kyle Fraser.
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.
Boots Riley says Spike Lee’s new movie is propaganda designed to make police look like allies in the fight against racial oppression.
Memphis cops blatantly flaunt their targeting of Black activists, despite a judge’s ruling that the cops have violated a federal consent decree by continuing political surveillance.
At root, striking prisoners demand they be treated as human beings; the rest of their demands flow logically from recognition of their humanity.
This book asks readers ‘to follow Ezili’s lead by imagining worlds in which black women, black queer folk, masisi…ev’ry body has value—ev’ry black body is a divine gift.’”
Unapologetic lays out a case for the abolition of the prison industrial complex and a pathway towards transformation that is paired with accountability.
