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


  • Sentencing Reform Bill Moves Forward on Capital Hill
    Nellie Bailey and Glen Ford
    Sentencing Reform Bill Moves Forward on Capital Hill
    19 Feb 2018
    The Senate Judiciary Committee’s passage of a drug sentencing bill is a significant step forward for criminal justice reform, said Kara Gotsch, of The Sentencing Project, especiall
  • U.S. Prepares Armed Intervention in Venezuela
    Nellie Bailey and Glen Ford
    U.S. Prepares Armed Intervention in Venezuela
    19 Feb 2018
    Ajamu Baraka, lead organizer for the Black Alliance for Peace, believes the U.S. is actively preparing a military intervention against the elected government of Venezuela.
  • intersectionality a path to power?
    Bruce A. Dixon , BAR managing editor
    Are Intersectionalism Or Afro-Pessimism Paths To Power? Probably Not. Part 3 of 3
    16 Feb 2018
    In parts one and two of this series I’ve talked about the fact that there are two conflicting versions of intersectionality, one employed by some honest to god leftists who reach backward across de
  • jackson ms
    Adofo Minka
    Jackson MS: Police Killings Continue Amid Mayoral Silence in the "Most Radical City on the Planet"
    15 Feb 2018
    In the last few months Jackson's supposedly radical mayor has lifted residency requirements for city police officers, and remained silent on a wave of officer involved shootings
  • Bandit Baltimore Cops and the Black Misleadershp Class
    Glen Ford , BAR executive editor
    Bandit Baltimore Cops and the Black Misleadershp Class
    15 Feb 2018
    “The nominally Black-controlled local government is incapable of meaningful response.”
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us