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

Spike Lee Movie Whitewashes Police Repression of Blacks
Black Agenda Radio with Nellie Bailey and Glen Ford
17 Sep 2018
🖨️ Print Article

Robin DG Kelly, the author and essayist, agrees with Boots Riley’s critique of BlacKkKlansman, the Spike Lee movie whose hero is a Black cop who spies on Black activists. “It basically erases state violence,” said Kelly, a professor of history at UCLA. Riley wants to “focus our attention on the larger question: What has been the function of the police in relationship to our struggles for land, bread, freedom, justice and power?”

Police Repression

Related Podcasts

BAR Radio Logo
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
Black Agenda Radio January 23, 2026
23 January 2026
In this week’s segment, we cover state repression and regime change efforts.
ICE Protest
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
ICE Domestic Repression in Minnesota
23 January 2026
Mnar Adley is the founder and director of MintPress News, an independent media outlet.
Ilyasah Shabazz
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
Shabazz Family Lawsuit Against the FBI and NYPD
03 October 2025
The investigation of the 1965 assassination of El Hajj Malik El Shabazz, Malcolm X, was compromised by the NYPD and the FBI from the very beginning

More Stories


  • Philadelphia to Celebrate Mahatma Gandhi and the Black Freedom Movement
    Jahan Choudhry
    Philadelphia to Celebrate Mahatma Gandhi and the Black Freedom Movement
    19 Jun 2019
    The Indian freedom struggle inspired liberation struggles in Africa and Afro-America.
  • Will New Black-Jewish Caucus in Congress Advocate for Israel?
    Josh Ruebner
    Will New Black-Jewish Caucus in Congress Advocate for Israel?
    19 Jun 2019
    Congressman John Lewis has joined a new caucus that will likely rally other Black lawmakers in defense of the apartheid state.
  • The Age of Surveillance Capitalism
    Ico Maly
    The Age of Surveillance Capitalism
    19 Jun 2019
    Surveillance capitalism is profoundly antidemocratic and follows the logic of the quest for profit.
  • Chicago Police Tortured Victims With Electric Shocks, Burns and Beatings
    Flint Taylor
    Chicago Police Tortured Victims With Electric Shocks, Burns and Beatings
    19 Jun 2019
     “All you could feel was that machine he was running, that box with the wires on it.”
  • An Intersectional Labor Movement Must Resist “Colorblind” Approaches to Organizing
    Tamara Lee
    An Intersectional Labor Movement Must Resist “Colorblind” Approaches to Organizing
    19 Jun 2019
    We must explicitly reject “melting pot” approaches to class solidarity.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us